HELLO and welcome to the 339th installment of Things I Read That I Love, wherein I share with you some of the longer-form journalism/essays I’ve read recently so that you can know more about getting charged with manslaughter for having a miscarriage! This “column” is less queer focused than the rest of the site because when something is queer focused, I put it on the rest of the site. Here is where the other things are.
The title of this feature is inspired by the title of Emily Gould’s tumblr, Things I Ate That I Love.
The Collapse of Self-Worth in the Digital Age, by Thea Lim for The Walrus, September 2024
“I tell you all this not because I think we should all be very concerned about artists, but because what happens to artists is happening to all of us. As data collection technology hollows out our inner worlds, all of us experience the working artist’s plight: our lot is to numericize and monetize the most private and personal parts of our experience.”
America’s Newest Hit Candy Is Gummy, Crunchy and Printing Money, by Suzanne Vranica and Ben Cohen for The Wall Street Journal, October 2024
As the popularity of its signature candy began waning, an unlikely new product was launched to revitalize it — and these addictive little fuckers now comprise 90% of Nerds’ overall revenue, posting growth and popularity previously unheard of for its category. This article gives us the whole damn history of it all and you know I was here for it!
How the WNBA Became the Most Fun, Complicated, and Exciting League in Sports, by Emma Carmichael for GQ, September 2024
Carmicheal, who’s currently working on a book about the history of the WNBA, tells a story here that is as fun, complicated and exciting as the league it profiles.
McDonald’s Macarons, by Clarissa Wei for The Dial, October 2024
“Sure, to some degree these chains are Americanizing the world, but the world has had just as much of an impact on them: Egg tarts are available at KFC’s throughout Asia. Macarons can be found in McCafé locations across Europe and Australia. This dynamic has a term: glocalization — how global products are adapted to respond to localized needs. The one thing that has remained consistent is that these spaces will always serve comfort food — whatever that might mean for the local clientele. “
The Hidden Cost of Free Returns, by David Owen for The New Yorker, August 2023
I keep thinking about this one, perhaps because I do find myself often returning things, and because the scale of it all is beyond measure. You might think your returned goods return to the shelves — but more often than not, they do not.
The Return of Ta-Nehisi Coates, by Ryu Spaeth for New York Magazine, September 2024
“How could he have been so wrong before? The fault lay partly with the profession he loved. In journalism, he had found his voice, his platform, his purpose in life. And yet, as he sees it, it was journalistic institutions that had not only failed to tell the truth about Israel and Palestine but had worked to conceal it. As a result, a fog had settled over the region, over its history and present, obscuring what anyone at closer range could apprehend easily with their own two eyes.”
Maylia and Jack: A Story of Teens and Fentanyl, by Lizzie Presser for Pro Publica / Teen Vogue, September 2024
Maylia was 15 years old and already the top dealer of Percocet in her school, but the Percocet wasn’t percocet, it was fentanyl, like all Percocets were in her community. Her mother neglected her, her older sister had achieved financial freedom through dealing only to end up in jail. Jack was 18, had a mother who cared deeply for him, and had just returned from rehab when he bought a pill from Maylia that killed him. On both ends, the teens were victims of a system unprepared to handle kids on either side of the drug trade.
She Said She Had a Miscarriage — Then Got Arrested Under An Abortion Law, by Caroline Kitchener for The Washington Post, October 2024
I prefer Jezebel’s headline for their story about this story, which reads, “Cop Who Got a Woman Arrested for Her Stillbirth Kept the Fetal Remains,” and points out, “Frazier’s story highlights how law enforcement will use any tool at their disposal to criminalize people for pregnancy loss.”
How Cheerleading Became So Acrobatic, Dangerous and Popular, by David Gauvey Herbert for The New York Times, October 2024
I thought a lot about the TV show and literature Dare Me while reading this piece about the high rates of injuries in cheerleading and the corporation that has dominated the competitive cheerleading universe, covered up sexual abuse, squashed competition and exploited families financially.
The Border Crisis Won’t Be Solved at the Border, by Jack Herrera for Texas Monthly, November 2024
Haha can you tell I am panicking about the election and thus reading a lot on relevant issues…. so Texas’ economy has been thriving, powered by new construction and enabled by a workforce comprised of undocumented immigrants who have no legal recourse for exploitation and mistreatment. There’s been a massive shift away from learning trades like construction amongst American citizens, and Texas has just 80 workers for every 100 open jobs. Politicians like the Texas governor are engaging in “border theater,” where they want to appear “tough on immigration” but also know that doing so would destroy their economy. This is long but really interesting.
What I Saw Inside the Love Is Blind Control Room, by Kathryn VanArendonk for Vulture, October 2024
This is full of behind-the-scenes tidbits that flesh out the Season Seven story but also surprising to me was learning that “the most common topic of conversation on Love Is Blind rarely appears on the show. Everyone talks about being on Love Is Blind.” While we only see them talking about “the experiment” they’re participating in to find love, they are in fact discussing their producers, how the show pushes them towards a specific outcome, and whether or not to leave the show and date each other instead of getting engaged and staying on it.
Ready for all of these but the most out of left field is the Nerds one – and i’m here for it