This week took away the soothing balm of the World Cup and Wimbledon, leaving us with only the tawdry and the tragic — the two settings of the Trump administration. Late-breaking news that “Manhattan madam” Kristin Davis is being subpoenaed by Robert Mueller suggests the investigation is entering its deranged, inbred Hohenzollern phase. The probe still means basically nothing in political terms, but it’s looking to get nastier and grosser by the minute. Huzzah!
Meanwhile, we succored ourselves with the brilliant new film by Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You, and a host of excellent samplings from the liberal (nay, communist) media. Among them, a great essay from friends-of-the-blog Nursing Clio on dealing with online harassment; a piece by ToM’s own Sara Patenaude (ahem, Dr. Patenaude — congrats!) and the legendary activist Azadeh Shahshahani on Georgia politics; and a delightful riff on the uncelebrated 1994 schlockfest Street Fighter. You know you want it.
I Was Trolled – Here’s Why I’m Turning It into a Teaching Opportunity (Nursing Clio)
Watching the World Cup in Tehran (Popula)
Historic First Meets Racist History: Republicans Campaign on Hatred in Georgia (Rewire)
America Is Running Out of Family Caregivers, Just When It Needs Them Most (Wall Street Journal)
Japan’s Ninja Shortage (NPR)
The New Gwen Stefani Is A Lot Like The Old One (BuzzFeed)
Everything Is Alive: The Life Story of a Can of Cola (99% Invisible)
Donald Trump is taking America back — to 1798, when John Adams colluded with an enemy power (Salon)
‘I punched him so hard he cried’: inside the Street Fighter movie (The Guardian)