#Hannah Giorgis

[theculturedmarxist]

Immediately after Joe Biden announced that he would not seek re-election and instead endorsed Kamala Harris, she was anointed as the Democratic Party presidential nominee with little analysis of her record or her program. In fact, her website, KamalaHarris.com , makes no mention of a political program at all. While foolish debates about whether she should be considered Black garner media attention, questions about policy are largely ignored. Black Agenda Report has been writing about Harris for some time, and we share what we and others have noted about her record over the years.

Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, July 19, 2017 Kamala Harris and America’s Oligarchs Briahna Joy Gray, Current Affairs, September 3, 2017 How Identity Became a Weapon Against the Left Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, January 16, 2019 Kamala Harris Destroyed Black Lives Teodros Fikre, Ghion Journal, January 16, 2019 Evoking Muckrakers: Hannah Giorgis’s Devastating Critique of Senator Kamala Harris Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report, January 24, 2019 Bernie Sanders vs Kamala the Jailer and Her Corporate Backers Danny Haiphong, Black Agenda Report, January 30, 2019 The U.S. is a Political Prison, Kamala Harris is a Prison Guard Teodros Fikre, Black Agenda Report, January 30, 2019 When Politicians Use Marginalized People As Human Shields

Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, February 20, 2019 Kamala Harris: The Fix Is In Marjorie Cohn, Black Agenda Report, July 10, 2019 Kamala Harris Has a Distinguished Career of Serving Injustice Danny Haiphong, Black Agenda Report, July 24, 2019 Kamala Harris Embodies the Most Dangerous Myth of American Exceptionalism Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, August 14, 2019 No Racism, Just Russians

Erica Caines, Hood Communist, August 13, 2020 Political Copaganda and the November Elections

Ahjamu Umi, Black Agenda Report, August 19, 2020 Kamala Harris: Class Struggle and the Illusion of Identity in Capitalism Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, August 19, 2020 “Feet to the Fire” and Other Lies Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Black Agenda Report, August 26, 2020 Obama, Harris and the Ruse of Racial Representation

Julie Kuttapan, Black Agenda Report, August 26, 2020 "Kamala Auntie": On the Vulgarity of Bourgeois Identity Politics in 2020

Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report, October 15, 2020 The Useful Tool: Kamala “Heartbeat Away” Harris Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, November 11, 2020 The Real Resistance Begins Tye Salandy,Trinidad and Tobago News Blog, November 13, 2020 Biden-Harris and the Diverse Faces of U.S. Imperialism

Erica Caines, Hood Communist, February 21, 2021 The Caribbean Diaspora Has a SOUTHCOM Problem

Erica Caines, Hood Communist, June 10, 2021 Kamala Harris and the Americas Ready for Revolution, Hood Communist, January 27, 2022 Biden Harris and the Never Ending Commitment to War Gyasi Lake, Black Youth Project, August 8, 2022 There’s No Such Thing as a “Progressive Prosecutor” In a System Designed to Criminalize Blackness Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report, April 7, 2023 Ajamu Baraka Discusses the Zone of Peace and Kamala Harris’ Trip to Africa | Black Agenda Report Salifu Mack, Hood Communist, July 6, 2023 More Than Meets the Silk Press: Kamala Harris and U.S. Imperialism Peoples Dispatch, March 25, 2024 Puerto Ricans Take to the Streets Against Kamala Harris Visit

Ajamu Baraka, Black Agenda Report, July 24, 2024 War, Genocides, and Coups: Biden/Harris and the Irreversible Crisis of Neo-Liberal Fake Democracy Jacqueline Luqman, Luqman Nation, The Coup for the Democratic Nomination, July 26, 2024 Darker Than Blue 7/26/24: The Coup For The Democratic Nomination

[ericdeggans]

The Peabody Awards 2024: Learning how "Stories That Matter" is so much more than a catchy slogan

(The author with Reservation Dogs executive producer Taika Waititi, Peabody judges Hannah Giorgis and Lorraine Ali, Peabody staffer Maggie Stephens and, below, Rita Ora and Kali Reis)

Midway through the ceremony, a thunderbolt struck in the form of a passionate speech from Sir Patrick Stewart, reminding me exactly why the George Foster Peabody Awards are such a special experience for judges, winners, staffers who works on the honors and media itself.

As a former judge and chair of the board of jurors, I had traveled to Los Angeles for the first Peabody awards held in person since the COVID lockdowns of 2020. It was also the awards’ first time taking place in Los Angeles, signaling a shift from the news-centered operation of old to a more Hollywood friendly production. And it happened to be the first awards ceremony since I stepped down as chair of the jurors in 2019, rotated off the panel – as is customary - after six years of service. (I was the first African American to hold the chair's job, in fact.)

It is tough to describe what a special experience it is to be among the judges helping hand out such a prestigious honor. The first time I served, among the projects we gave prizes to were House of Cards and Scandal – two shows which heralded the rise of streaming and the impact of diversity on television. I was part of the panel which decided to hand special honors to Jon Stewart, Rita Moreno and Carol Burnett at various times, recognizing the world-shaking impact of legendary performers and satirists.

Deliberations take place over three separate weeks in different locations, with our debates centered on impact, originality, scope, quality, substance and diversity — among other considerations — always with an eye on what the bright light of a Peabody win might accomplish when trained on a deserving project.

(The Peabody judging panel during my last year in the group.)

At the end, judges must have watched/consumed every entry under consideration and we must agree unanimously. With a judging panel that ranged from world class academics to high achievers in media, expert journalists and critics and more, we bonded like rowdy siblings at a media nerd’s ideal summer camp.

(Chilling with Tony Goldwyn and Jeff Perry from Scandal during my very first Peabody awards ceremony in 2014.)

But when Sir Patrick rose in the middle of Sunday’s ceremony to speak eloquently of the amazing work on display in the acceptance speeches of winners, I realized why the Peabodys were truly special. Conceived as the electronic/broadcasting/TV equivalent of the Pulitzer Prizes, the Peabodys this evening united Hollywood favorites like FX’s The Bear and HBO’s The Last of Us with searing journalism, like the PBS NewsHour’s coverage of war in Gaza or Tennessee investigative reporter Phil Williams’ dogged exposure of a mayoral candidate’s ties to white supremacists in a tony Nashville suburb.

Ravish Kumar, the news anchor in India who serves as the centerpiece for the POV documentary While We Watched, gave a passionate speech criticizing mainstream news outlets in his home country for enabling Hindu nationalism by spreading misinformation. Ron Nyswaner, creator and showrunner for Showtime’s LGBTQ-focused limited series Fellow Travelers, talked on how “art is about trying to make people think and feel.”

And Larry Wilmore, co-creator of Black-ish and host of the late, lamented Comedy Central news satire The Nightly Show, cracked a joke on how supremely compromised Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is kind of a dick. (Hey, everything can’t be highbrow during a three-hour show).

It occurred to me, that too many Hollywood awards shows are mostly about the star power and glamour of supremely acclaimed stars. Don’t get me wrong: it was gratifying and heartwarming to see the entire place leap to their feet for enduring icon and Career Achievement awards winner Mel Brooks, or Donald Glover presenting the Trailblazer award to his good friend Abbott Elementary star/creator Quinta Brunson or – for this Star Trek nerd anyway – the astonishing sight of watching castmembers/producers from Picard, Discovery, Enterprise and other corners of Trek gather onstage for the Institutional Award.

(The Star Trek crew, including LeVar Burton, Rebecca Romijin and Jeri Ryan, at the Peabody awards Sunday.)

But the secret sauce of the Peabodys is the way it utilizes Hollywood glamour to shine a light on quality journalism and public service programming like the micro-documentary series The Hidden Racism in New York City or PBS Frontline’s reporting on America and the Taliban or Dallas-Fort Worth NBC station KXAS’ look at how an organization of sheriffs were quietly radicalizing law enforcement officers across the state.

So, even though I’m no longer taking part in the long hours of viewing and debate required to pick these standout honorees – and it is part of the deal that every judge has to agree on every winner and finalist – I couldn’t be prouder of the selections my successors have assembled. We are all now part of a family dedicated to upholding the best in media, highlighting important work in a way almost no other modern awards ceremony can do.

(Me at this year's Peabody awards.)

See the list of Peabody winners HERE.

[uselectionnews]

"Make Grits a Regular Part of Your Dinners," by J. Bryan Lowder in Slate.

"It’s not just Paris. There’s a “global resurgence” of bedbugs.," by Benji Jones in Vox.

"Glenn Youngkin thinks he has a Republican response to Democrats’ abortion attacks," by Zach Montellaro in Politico.

"A Masterpiece of Cringe," by Isabel Fattal in The Atlantic.

"Exclusive: Christie's low burn-rate gives him runway to New Hampshire," by Erin Doherty and Alex Thompson in Axios.

"Israel says it has killed a top Hamas commander," by David Cohen in Politico.

"Pete Davidson Might Be the Comedic Hero We Need Now. No, Really.," by Hannah Giorgis in The Atlantic.

"‘I only knew that from the Nazis’: Israeli forensic experts identify tortured and burned bodies," by Peter Wilke in Politico.

"U.S. senators visiting Israel take shelter amid rocket fire," by Shauneen Miranda in Axios.

"Water runs out at United Nations shelters in Gaza," by AP in Politico.

"Dems warm to empowering McHenry as GOP chaos persists," by Andrew Solender in Axios.

"Man died after jail staff ignored him lying facedown for 3 days, family says," by Praveena Somasundaram in The Washington Post.

[usatricks]

The Unwritten Rules of Black TV

The Unwritten Rules of Black TV

Listen and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts The Atlantic staff writer Hannah Giorgis grew up in the ’90s, watching dozens of Black characters on TV. Living Single, Sister, Sister, Moesha, and Smart Guy were just a few of the shows led by Black casts. But at some point in the 2000s, those story lines and some of the Black writers behind them seemed to disappear. In…

[whileiamdying]

CULTURE: The Final Word on Tina Turner

The HBO documentary Tina gives the singer the last say on a life that was, for long periods, out of her own hands.

HANNAH GIORGIS March 27, 2021

📷 RHONDA GRAAM / HBO

Before “What’s Love Got to Do With It” was a Grammy Hall of Fame record, the title of an Angela Bassett–fronted biopic, or a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, it was a breathy little ditty sung by the British pop group Bucks Fizz. After the ABBA-reminiscent band recorded its rendition, the songwriter Terry Britten took his track to a very different artist who initially disliked it, before she brought it to life with a new vigor. “They weren’t used to a strong voice standing on top of music, but I converted it,” Tina Turner recalls in Tina, a new HBO documentary about the famed musician. “I made it my own.”

Turner did with that sleepy song what she always did with rock and roll as a genre: claim it. When the music industry didn’t open its doors to her, or to Black women more broadly, she found a window to climb through—or kicked the door down altogether. Just look at what she did for Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary” in 1971. “Turner upped the intensity of [John] Fogerty’s country-rock anthem by a factor of 10,” the author Jason Heller recently wrote. “It’s Turner’s soulful ecstasy that sells it.” The song may have helped liberate Tina, as Heller notes, but her cover also pushed the genre forward.

The documentary, from Oscar winners Daniel Lindsay and T. J. Martin, premiering today, isn’t a neat story of one woman’s triumph against the odds. Instead, it follows the artist’s constant battles for control of her life, career, and legacy. Through 2019 interviews with Turner at her home in Zurich, as well as archival footage, the film chronicles her fight for personal and creative autonomy. “Look what I have done in this lifetime, with this body,” she says at one point, her voice sounding at once triumphant and incredulous. The gravity of that contradiction hangs over Tina, which reminds its viewers not just of the star’s talent but of all the turns at which that vibrance was nearly cut off from the world altogether.

The struggle of navigating public life as a high-profile Black woman musician has been explored in other recent works: The December documentary Billie and the February biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday both track the blues singer’s contentious relationship with the media and the music industry. And like those films, past documentaries and biopics about Whitney Houston and Nina Simone, in addition to forthcoming works about Aretha Franklin, all lack an element that differentiates Tina: the subject’s voice. In works of biographical entertainment, the impulse for an artist to control their own narrative can lead to hagiographies that strip their subjects of unflattering histories. But, like the biopic and musical before it, Tina doesn’t avoid the darker chapters of the star’s life. Framed as Turner’s farewell to public life, the documentary instead allows her to define her story in its totality, in part by revisiting—and in some cases rewriting—the eras in which others wrote it for her.

Tina homes in on two related struggles: Turner’s insistence on making it as a rock musician and her commitment to owning, and reinventing, her name. Born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, Tina Turner wasn’t destined to perform for crowds of more than 100,000 people around the world. The first of Tina’s two acts introduces her early years and the subsequent move to Missouri, where she met the locally famous musician Ike Turner. It was Ike who first called her “Tina,” a name that he chose partly for its closeness to “Sheena,” the name of a racy, jungle-dwelling comic-book character. By attaching his own last name to Tina when they became a musical duo in 1960, and then marrying the young singer in 1962, Ike hoped to keep her from abandoning him after they found success, she explains. “I was truly a friend to Ike, and I had promised to help him,” Tina says of their embattled marriage and creative partnership. “So I was still trying to help him get a hit record.”

Without glossing over the wrenching details of Ike’s physical and emotional abuse (the late singer admitted to hitting Tina, but claimed that the abuse allegations are exaggerated), the documentary highlights the moments when Tina got some respite. Recording with the producer Phil Spector in 1966, she was able to sing without Ike controlling her arrangements only because Spector had paid him not to be present. “That was a freedom I didn’t have,” Tina says of singing with boundless might over the monumental orchestration of “River Deep – Mountain High.” “You’re like a bird that gets out of a cage.” The song didn’t become a hit in the United States—unlike in the U.K.—but it planted the seeds for Tina’s genre-defying musical repertoire separate from Ike.

In the film, Turner explains why she doesn’t consider Private Dancer, the first commercial success she achieved following her divorce from Ike, a comeback record: “Tina had never arrived,” she says. “It was Tina’s debut for the first time. This was my first album.” Most often, she speaks about the immense toll of wresting her identity back from Ike—and from the subsequent media attention. Speaking about her 1978 divorce proceedings, for example, a younger Tina corrects a journalist who comments that Ike wanted to own all of the duo’s artistic work. “No, he wanted to own me,” she says.

It’s no wonder, then, that the 1986 autobiography in which Turner detailed their relationship was titled I, Tina. The journalist Kurt Loder, with whom she wrote the book, appears in the new documentary, as does Katori Hall, who co-wrote the 2019 Broadway musical about the singer’s life, also titled Tina. Hall notes that the musician’s decision to claim her name in court during a divorce in which she got nothing else was its own rebellion against Ike: “You gave me this name,” she imagines Tina thinking then. “But watch what I build with it.” There’s no shortage of works that detail or recreate the abuses the singer has suffered. But Tina, importantly, also doesn’t lose sight of how she’s remade herself after her traumas with rigor and acumen.

The constant media coverage of Ike’s alleged abuse was not the only persistent tedium the singer faced. Plenty of the documentary’s second act focuses on the barriers Tina encountered in trying to establish herself, explicitly, as a rock artist. She speaks candidly about the calculated choices she made to push back against an industry that saw her as too Black to make “white” music, listeners who suggested that she was straying from her roots, and rock critics who accused her of toying recklessly with the genre. She wonders aloud how listeners would have responded to her music if it had been released without her face—without any indication of the artist’s race—on the marketing materials. “My dream was to be the first Black rock-and-roll singer to pack places like the [Rolling] Stones,” she muses.

Undoubtedly, many of the objections to Tina’s ascent were rooted in racist perceptions of who could lay claim to rock music. One particularly revelatory moment in the documentary quotes the late John Carter, the Capitol Records executive who signed Tina as a solo artist, remembering the racist, vitriolic response of a label co-worker at the time. But other industry players recognized that her artistry pointed clearly to the genre’s Black origins. Though many of the most celebrated rock stars have been white men, its earliest pioneers were Black artists such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a multi-instrumentalist whose early-20th-century recordings brought the ecstatic expression of Black southern gospel to secular music. Along with Black radio stations, the Black church shaped the musical stylings of white rockers such as Elvis Presley. As the cultural anthropologist Maureen Mahon writes in Black Diamond Queens: African American Women and Rock and Roll, “Turner was arguably the genuine article, someone who had the vocal sound that white rock vocalists from Mick Jagger to Janis Joplin to Robert Plant to John Fogerty were trying to achieve. She had the wrenching strain, the effortless rasp, the wails, volume, and passion, as well as the ability to somehow sound both hot and cool.”

The HBO film is certainly a celebratory work, but it doesn’t feel like a sterile product of image management. In capturing the 81-year-old singer’s reflections while she is still alive to give them, Tina offers an intimate examination of what it means for any artist—and especially a Black woman whose music has challenged the narrow confines of genre—to create her own mythos. It lets viewers, even those familiar with the arc of her career, appreciate the monumental work it took for Tina to make rock her own.

HANNAH GIORGIS is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covers culture.

[jamesmurualiterary]

AKO Caine Prize for African Writing 2022 shortlist announced.

AKO Caine Prize for African Writing 2022 shortlist announced.

The shortlist for the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing 2022 has been announced today, June 8, 2022. It consists of Joshua Chizoma, Nana-Ama Danquah, Hannah Giorgis, Idza Luhumyo, and Billie McTernan. The AKO Caine Prize for African Writing is awarded annually to an African writer published in English for a short story. The prize has recognised some of the most famous writers working today…

[scientologisabethmoss]

i think you fine people have convinced me to give lovecraft country a go. at first i was put off because angelica jade bastién really didn’t like it, and i’ve respected her media opinions for years, but i’ve read so much fascinating commentary and analysis of the show on this website that i feel like it’s really worth a shot. if so many of you brilliant people love the show, there must be something to that! at the very least, it sounds like a very challenging and innovative piece of media, even if it might not succeed all the time at what it attempts to do.

[akajustmerry]

really hope people are engaging with Black criticism about Lovecraft Country, especially criticism written by Black women because your understanding of a piece of Black media and its discourse shouldn’t come from non-Black critics and fans. Black critics like Maya Phillips, Hannah Giorgis and Soraya Nadia McDonald have written vital essay’s about LC’s lackluster deconstruction of anti-Blackness. JM Mutore has a great piece on how LC’s mythologising of racism is harmful, and Seren Sensei has a whole vlog review series where she breaks down the short comings of LC’s centricism and muddled storytelling. support Black critics in their critiques of Black media because thats more important than you virtue signalling your own support/discontent.

[thebookbreeze-blog]

THREADS IN TIME by Hannah De Giorgis THREADS IN TIME by Hannah De Giorgis / Sci-Fi / Released Jan 2019 Twenty-two-year-old Lyndall Huxley wakes to find herself thousands of years into the future.

[thinkveganworld]

Articles on the facts about Kamala Harris

Articles about Kamala Harris: 

https://frontpageconfidential.com/kamala-harris-2020-candidate-the-dirty-truths-behind-her-progressive-persona/Also recommended in this article: (Links to the articles are included below.) FOR FURTHER READING: “KAMALA HARRIS WAS NOT A ‘PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTOR,’” BY LARA BAZELON (NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED) “KAMALA HARRIS’S POLITICAL MEMOIR IS AN UNEASY FIT FOR THE DIGITAL ERA,” BY HANNAH GIORGIS (ATLANTIC.COM) “THE PHONY FEMINISM OF KAMALA HARRIS,” BY ELIZABETH NOLAN BROWN (REASON.COM) “KAMALA HARRIS’ NEW BOOK TRIES TO MASSAGE HER RECORD AS A PROSECUTOR, BUT THE FACTS AREN’T PRETTY,” BY  C.J. CIARAMELLA (REASON.COM) “KAMALA HARRIS HOPES YOU’LL FORGET HER RECORD AS A DRUG WARRIOR AND DRACONIAN PROSECUTOR,” BY JUSTIN MONTICELLO & KATHERINE MANGU-WARD (REASON.COM) “TWENTY THINGS YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS,” BY JIM GERAGHTY (NATIONAL REVIEW

[zirephotos]

What Did This Neguh Just Say?

An Ethiopian writer by the name of Hannah Giorgis, of the Atlantic magazine recently express her (and possibly her publishing handler’s views) on the new tv series - Lovecraft County... After being presented the article in a Black Film group I am associated with, I have come to the inclusion that the article was a beautifully written subliminal BLM Feminist agenda driven bullsh!t. 

I feel Ms. Giorgis is defending racism. She is making an excuse for Black viewers not to see the oppression and hatred inflicted by Caucasoid-Americans claiming that the experiences endured were not as brutal and horrific as it was to the Black Americans and indigenous people who lived and died during that time. She also inserts a political agenda by referencing the current president.

In the attempts to get votes for peoples who may be involved in child trafficking, she defended racism with this quote ”Though white supremacy was certainly a danger at the time of the book’s release, daily life without a deadly pandemic and a virulently racist president felt altogether less eerie.” WHAT DID THIS NEGUH JUST SAY??? HOW THE F%CK DOES SHE KNOW WHAT THEY FELT???

Was the writer making tuna casserole during the scene when they were driving for their lives to cross the bridge by sundown from a so-called police that wanted to kill them? That wasn’t an eerie scene? Was that not a monster chasing them? Let me guess, she was probably cooking mayonnaise in the oven while peaking at the screen and thinking the scene was another over exaggerated incident that never ever happened. The writer needs sit and talk to people in North Chicago who still live near Sundown towns today.  

In another quote she states “As is, the show inadvertently simplifies the realities of white supremacy with its monster allegory, while treating the Black cast less as characters in their own right and more as vehicles for a sweeping critique of American racism.”  WTF!? Someone please ask Ms. Giorgis, what is the allegorical meaning of wicked Caucasoids feeding black babies to dogs and alligators? I would like to know.

The BLM supporting feminist foreign writer was also okay with the completely unnecessary homosexual/pedophile scene at the bar. I guess that's why Planned Parenthood is a sponsor of the Atlantic publication with a ad sitting next to the article. 

And I guess if it was Letitia roped up naked in front of a European man, the writer might have mentioned it. Ha, if the sister was roped up butt-naked in front of a black man, I can GUARANTEE that writer would have an issue with it. Yet, that was overlooked because possibly because it is a Black Man that is being exploited. 

Giorgis references men’s characters in another tv series article celebrating the stripper lifestyle “…scantily clad symbols of men’s power and wealth.” 

These publications are diabolical for finding black talent and using them as vehicles to sway people from the truth. I know people advocate reading is fundamental, but what happens when the people who control the books you read also pollute them with nonsense and more confusion by using writers who look like you but are guided by the hands of a beast? When do people think for ourselves? 

Article - https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/08/lovecraft-country/615259/?fbclid=IwAR2_Syhm4XGOxSzqduzVUPUqeSMebYGd5YlCYHUkbZU40ZvypKcSJ4fNug8

[nolabballgirl]

Hello, how are you? Do you have another tumblr that you dont mind sharing and you are more active on (or some tips for resources that you like to frequent for academic reading or just for intelligent and/or thoughtful views on different topics)? You seem really smart and i would like to get that level too. I know I will need to work on my English some more, but I have great aspirations for myself and i am very inspired when I see people who have a great command of the English language

hi, Anon! thanks for asking - i’m doing quite well on this lovely Monday! and thanks for your questions and compliments as well! you are too kind!

first of all, i think you have an excellent command of the English language. i’m a native English speaker, and seriously, i’m so impressed by so many of you on this site where you’re able to articulately and cogently write meta, critiques, fic, etc. in multiple languages. it makes me miss my university and language learning days. so keep reading, writing, and practicing!

second, i don’t have another tumblr (this particular blog has transformed over the years from a sports blog to a law school blog to now being resurrected as a skam remake blog 😅 but maybe one day!) however, i do read a ton! there are so many different types of writing styles, and traditional academic writing can differ based on whether it’s a peer-reviewed publication, critical analysis, commentary, essay, etc. for example, a lot of the legal articles i read are quite different in style and tone than most of the pop culture articles. so i personally try and read as broad a variety as possible to help improve my own critical thinking and writing skills.

this is only scratching the surface. but as far as writing styles, here are some of my favorite current English-language commentators and publications:

TV/Film/Pop Culture

Emily Nussbaum at the New Yorker, Sonia Saraiya at Vanity Fair, Jia Tolentino at the New Yorker, Mo Ryan at Vanity Fair, E. Alex Jung at New York Magazine, Angelica Bastien at Vulture.

Law/Politics/Science/Sports

Dahlia Lithwick at Slate, Hannah Giorgis at the Atlantic, Vann Newkirk at the Atlantic, Ed Yong at the Atlantic, Katie Barnes at ESPN, Grant Wahl formerly Sports Illustrated, Mark Joseph Stern at Slate. I enjoy Roxane Gay and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s writing as well.

and there are so many awesome tumblr blogs that i’ve encountered over the years sharing great content too. if anyone else has any favorites, please feel free to share as well! hope this helps!  😊

[thirstaidkitpodcast]

THIRST AID KIT | S3E01 | TO THE ONLY BOY WE EVER LOVED

YOU KNOW WE HAD TO DO IT — PETER KAVINSKY, FIRST OF HIS NAME, DRINKER OF YAKULT AND KOMBUCHA, MOVER OF THE POPCORN, BASHFUL HOT TUB WATER-SPLASHER, CHIN SCAR-TOTING, WRITER OF NOTES, PROM KING OF OUR ADOLESCENT LOINS, SEASON THREE OPENER THIRST OBJECT,

WE SALUTE YOU.

Look, it was patently clear there could be no other Thirst Object to kick off our third season, because no one owned the summer quite like Peter Kavinsky and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before did. In this episode, we take a long look at why and how he (and the actor who plays him, Noah Centineo) is so hot. Consider:

Consent is sexy (right down to a physical contract if need be!)

Tender vulnerability? NOTHING HOTTER, BRUH

That whole... Baby-Ruffalo Vibe? EFFECTIVE, SIS

Like, are you fucking kidding me right now

But then we also looked at the movie as a whole. A big part of why the film works so well is because of the source material aka the books written by Jenny Han. We spoke about her creation, and the importance of the casting remaining true to the books, and what it means that Lara Jean is half-Korean, and that she looks looks like Lana Condor and how important it is that she looks and acts like an actual teenage girl in the year of our lord 2018. 

And speaking of that, there was no implicit shaming of Lara Jean in TATBILB, on anything. She did not radically change in order to make herself more “worthy” of Peter Kavinsky’s (or anyone’s) love. Her boundaries were respected, and shifted and grew right along with her, always in concert with herself alone. You can have fun within clearly set boundaries! THIS IS NOT DIFFICULT!

We also touched on the teen movie canon as a whole, and so many other things, not least the absolute truth that the best romantic comedy/fanfic trope in all of the world is the fake relationship trope and you don’t have to argue with us; take it up with your parental figure. 

Naturally, we also brought back the best segment in the whole wide world, Fanfic Wars, interpreted two very different ways this week, so strap in, thirst-buckets!

You can listen to the whole beautiful episode RIGHT HERE (more links to listen are down below).

SOME STUFF TO WATCH AND READ, IF YOU LIKE!

This op-ed from Jenny Han on the importance of Lara Jean’s “spirit” (read: ethnicity) remaining intact

This Noah story that killed us dead

Jenny Han made Lana and Noah and the TATBILB cast recreate some iconic movie bits and the results are uneven but adorable

This piece by our pal, Hannah Giorgis, on this trope’s endless appeal

We’re not quite here, but we see the appeal of Old Aidan, bless

We’re on Twitter at @bimadew and @tnwhiskeywoman; the The show is on Twitter at @thirstaidkit. Send us your Thirst Sommelier requests at 765-884-4778 aka 7658-THIRST (international listeners: send us a short recorded message via email, please) and your (short!) drabbles at thirstaidkit@buzzfeed.com. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, please; we love that shit!

TO LISTEN

Subscribe to get new episodes delivered to your device automatically every Thursday. We’re on: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google Play | Podbean | or you can search ‘Thirst Aid Kit’ wherever you get your podcasts.

STAY HYDRATED — MAYBE TRY KOMBUCHA? 

[qualr]

The Genre-Defying Rage of Rico Nasty

HANNAH GIORGIS  | APR 25, 2019 | THE ATLANTIC

The [hip hop lyricist] Rico Nasty begins her latest project, Anger Management, with a scream. For fans of the eclectic Maryland-raised artist, that yell conjures a feeling akin to the pleasant stomach churn of a roller-coaster climb: When Rico shouts “KENNY!,” the name of her longtime producer, you know electrifying chaos is about to ensue.

Rico metabolizes life’s frustrations by raging about them—and invites her audience to do the same. Anger Management is Rico’s first tape released entirely as a collaborative project with the DJ and producer Kenny Beats, but the two have already established a signature sound, one that spans a wide range of influences, particularly punk and heavy metal. The 21-year-old [femcee] has been a prolific musician since she was in high school, and her work showcases not just her own tremendous range but also the limitless sonic possibility within [hip-hop] as a genre: For every subdued “Sugar Trap,” there’s an amped-up “Smack a Bitch.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

[protoslacker]

Much of that nuanced characterization can be traced directly to Ejiofor’s commitment to William Kamkwamba’s story. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a film drawn from real-life circumstances, and Ejiofor was careful to contextualize the characters’ strife within the sociopolitical conditions that shape them. “I just always felt and recognized when I was reading the book that the struggles that they face aren't created out of air,” he said. “That famine, for example, was an economic famine. It was literally based on the fact that the price of grain was not regulated in any way. And so when the amount of grain went down, the prices of it shot up and froze out the farmers.” He continued: “That’s a very specific thing; that’s not a randomized event. So it comes from these very specific and very detailed choices that people make, either at a governmental level, at a personal level—the decisions one makes about sending somebody to school, not sending somebody to school, the interpersonal dynamics of all of those things and choices.”

Hannah Giorgis in The Atlantic. Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Expansive Vision of Africa

The 12 Years a Slave actor on writing and directing his first feature film, about a Malawian boy’s innovation in the face of famine: “There is no generic African space.”

[steffaniemoyersjensen]

BoJack Season 5: Feminism & Forgiveness

A little over a week ago, BoJack Horseman debuted its fifth and perhaps most powerful season. As an avid fan since season one, there are times BoJack hits me sideways and the only way I can process the emotions it’s left me reeling with is to write it out. Please note there are SPOILERS AHEAD!

Season four dug up BoJack’s familial trauma to a new extent with flashback episodes from his mother’s childhood; showing how far trauma can interlope across generations. This look into his mother’s past unearthed new empathy for our self-destructing protagonist. Season five delves deep into BoJack’s rampant addictions and inherent lack of ability to set boundaries, particularly with women he has a professional relationship with (Diane, Ana, Princess Caroline, his new costar Gina).

This season was penned prior to the Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo movements that poured out late last year. Season 5 touched incredibly well on the raw realities of feminism within entertainment industry and the men that want to keep women silent. In one episode, BoJack is seen as a venerate feminist, touching upon the notion that more people are willing to get behind a male feminist, than a woman speaking up for herself. Diane is understandably pissed that, throughout the course of her life on the show, we see men (including her ex-husband Mr. Peanutbutter) putting her down for speaking up when she feels something is wrong. However if BoJack comes in to “save the day”, everyone praises him. He loves it, because gets to play the hero and not the victim. Diane says to BoJack “you can leave this life whenever you want. I can’t. I have to stay here.”

Later in the season on a Halloween flashback episode, the show angles on the wrong-doings of the happy-go-lucky Mr. Peanutbutter. The view of this episode flashes to 4 different occasions he went to this Halloween party with four different women. At the start of each night, he is excited and hopeful and blames his “last girl” for being negative and ruining the night, hoping the new girl will be “more fun and easy going”. Each time, we see that it is really the fault of Mr. Peanutbutter not listening to his dates wants and needs. He does not see this, however, and ultimately blames each nights downfall on them not being “fun and easy going”, which in itself is a sexist stereotype of female emotions. 

Diane asks him what he thinks the repeated pattern is, to which he asks, “they’re mean?” thus contributing to even a seemingly innocent male’s defensive perception that the woman must be in the wrong and not himself. Diane says to him, “No.You don’t listen. It is annoying that you don’t listen”. To quote Hannah Giorgis from The Atlantic review, “It’s difficult, cathartic television. It feels personal.”

Five seasons in, it definitely feel personal. We feel tied to BoJack. This self-loathing eponymous character somehow earns our empathy season after season, questioning if there’s a point in which he could lose it on his meandering path to forgiveness, most of all of himself. The show’s creator had this to say:

           “I’m very interested in the idea of forgiveness. I think it is important for us as people to forgive the people in our lives, and find ways to allow them to redeem themselves, and for us to be able to forgive ourselves and find ways to be better.”

This concept is one of the reasons I’m personally drawn to the show. In one episode they remark how happy endings don’t exist in sitcoms because then there would be no story left. Or if there is a happy ending, it’s simply to a story that isn’t over yet. BoJack has now perpetrated two horrific assaults on women; his encounter with Penny which finally unveils to Diane and his pill-hazed paranoia with Gina…where he chokes her on set.

That episode was particularly hard to watch. It was planned roughly half a season after the “BoJack is a Feminist” episode where he so aptly coins the feminist phrase, “don’t choke women”. While most of the season touched on silencing women within the industry, there were more intimate story lines occurring simultaneously. Such as Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane’s divorce, Todd figuring out his own personal relationships and career, and the bottle-necked monologue episode where BoJack gives a 25min euology at his mother’s funeral with the summation, “my mom died, and all I got was this churro”.

I am profoundly impressed, season after season, how this show has yet to get stale or veer off in a distasteful direction. BoJack ends the season by finally admitting himself to rehab. Diane is sure to point out, “it’s not a cure all” and that he shouldn’t look to it to make his life better overnight. Rather, it’s a way to “be responsible for [his] own happiness,” to quote Diane from the season one finale. I’m curious to see if and where, BoJack’s story and relationship with the women in his life will continue from here.