Mid-Week Links: 13 Nov 2024

what is reality anyway

Welcome to my mid-week link round up!

How are we feeling today? It’s getting proper cold here in London, the thermals are well and truly out. As a reminder, this link round-up will go behind a paywall in the new year (inshallah). Plenty of time to subscribe - but of course, the Sunday newsletter will remain available for all. Right, let’s get into it!

Read:

• “A defining quality of this election cycle has been that few people seem to be able to agree on who constitutes “the media,” what their role ought to be, or even how much influence they have in 2024.” An incisive piece by Charlie Warzel on legacy media vs the current ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ reality we live in.

• I’m obsessed with the new show ‘The Day of the Jackal’ by Top Boy’s Ronan Bennett (Northern Irish, pro-Palestinian, we stan). Anyway, found myself amused by this review in the (LOL) Spectator which was like… “this is a good show… but the problem is… the woman”. The reviewer says: ‘This series would have made much more sense as a Heat-style scenario in which both the main characters – the cop and the crook – were played by men, because that is just how the world is…we are seriously overdue the rejection of this utterly nonsensical trope whereby female leads in movies are just like men only tougher, better at hand-to-hand combat and more deadly with firearms…But maybe that’s the deal when you write for Sky: the DEI is non-negotiable.’ Screaming. I—

• A piece about political optimism disguised as a piece about a George Saunders short story. After I published my piece on curiosity last weekend, I’ve noticed like three other pieces on curiosity as an approach to the current moment. Maybe there’s a vibe shift?

• On the importance of seeing things as they are, on independent journalism in flawed democracy. A fantastic interview with veteran journalist, Ken Silverstein, also including this gem of a quote from Janet Malcolm: “We are all perpetually smoothing and rearranging reality to conform to our wishes; we lie to others and to ourselves constantly, unthinkingly. When, occasionally—and not by dint of our own efforts but under the pressure of external events—we are forced to see things as they are, we are like naked people in a storm.”

• On racism in Germany and the idea of ‘Aggressive Apathy’, another piece by the wonderful Musa Okwonga. A reminder not to normalise racism, to resist accepting the unacceptable.

• A fascinating read on the ‘new aid enigma’, Sudan’s Emergency Response rooms. These grassroots groups have succeeded so well at supporting their own communities they have become targets of violence and threats. How will they survive and evolve as the war drags on?

• An enjoyable interview with video artist Jordan Stone. They speak on ‘inspiration, AI as humanity's mirror, core core, and celebrate being extremely online.’ I felt seen.

@jrdnstn @jrdnstn ♬ original sound - Jordan Stone

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Watch: Black Tea

A fascinating film by director Mauritanian-born Malian director Abderrahmane Sissako of Waiting for Happiness (Heremakono) and Bamako fame. I saw it as part of the African Film Festival programming here in London, but not sure what the distribution across the world is like - keep an eye out for it in your home towns!

The film is a love story between a Ivorian woman and an older Chinese man, in Guangzhou, China. It was fascinating to see a film about diaspora and migration that was not centered around the white west. It felt like the conversation I should be paying attention to, it felt like the future.

Listen: Dip into History with Search Engine

So many excellent podcasts this past week, processing the election. My friend

Chinazo Ufodiama

recommended this comforting dip into history, a welcome (or unwelcome?) reminder that humans don’t seem to change, and nothing is truly unprecedented.

Bonus: Radiohead

I’ve never quite understood why people are obsessed with Radiohead, but I found this song via The Day of the Jackal and this video clip is just… aw man. Have a watch.

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Do we like this link round up in the middle of the week, or at the end? I’m loving getting your poll responses, so let me know!

Thanks as always, y’all!

Yassmin

got book club coming next week - and i’ll probably be in the same comfy jumper…hehe