Reading List

The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.

Why Taylor Swift made herself the villain

Even with 38 ways to buy it, Taylor Swift’s fans aren’t living for The Life of a Showgirl.  When Swift dropped her 12th studio album earlier this month, people were already primed to hate it. As part of her rollout, she released a concerning amount of products around the release. From “The Shiny Bug Vinyl […]

Why every website you used to love is getting worse

TikTok and airlines have something in common with your search engine, your grocery app, and (increasingly) your car: They start out great, lock you in, and then quietly get worse while you keep using them. That very familiar decline now has a catchy name: “enshittification.” Cory Doctorow has been writing about this for decades as […]

What a pastor saw ICE do to protesters outside Chicago

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview located outside of Chicago has become a focal point for protesters who want to resist the agency. A viral photo of an ICE agent at the site pepper spraying a pastor in the face has come to exemplify the aggressive and violent tactics federal officers are […]

Is the US killing innocent people?

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump sanctioned Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Friday, his latest retaliation after Petro accused the US of murdering an innocent man.  What happened? […]

How the US turned sports into one big casino

Sports betting has become so ubiquitous and so massive in the US that it can be difficult to remember that at the start of 2018, it was only legal in four states, and only in Nevada could you bet on individual games.  All that changed in May of that year, when the Supreme Court stuck […]