My doom-scrolling has become a problem. In an effort to tear my eyeballs from the feeds of misery on my phone and repair my short-term memory, I’ve given myself a quota of long form articles to read each week. Here I’ll be posting my favorite reads of the week:
Palestine has gifted the world with exceptional journalists – too many of whom have been assassinated by Israel. Abubaker’s reporting, while he was trapped in Gaza and continuing after his escape, is both defiant and devastating. This week he reported on the return of football in Gaza after three years of a genocide that has not stopped.
Beautiful Struggles: Critics of Color and the Pop Music Landscape is a collection of essays about the current state of pop culture criticism from the perspective of critics of color. I have never been pretentious about the music genres I enjoy – pop music holding a special place in my heart. With the rise of streaming, shuttering of music publications, and labels tailoring artists for a TikTok generation, I’m deeply concerned about the state of the industry. This collection is a timely case for the value of diverse voices in criticism.
On Friday, somebody shorted the oil market by $275M – the next day there was a massive escalation in the Strait of Hormuz with U.S. Navy ships being targeted by hypersonic missiles. This write-up does a great job explaining why that may be happening (and will likely continue).
A CIA agent died this week.
Spider-Noir was weird, audacious, visually striking, and one of my favorite shows of the year – of course Amazon cancelled season 2.
Cam Belle Writes 