Ann Friedman - You're hot then you're cold

Surprise Me

August 18, 2023

A white person with feminine features wears a white bathing cap and a tight white dress that expands into large triangular shapes at the end of the sleeves. Her arm are above her head and to the left, against a blue background.

Lewitzky Dance Company, U.S. Information Agency Posters

I have a nasty summer cold (why do colds always feel worse in hot months?) so I'm moving us right on to the links today...

-AF

READ

What if protecting trees doesn't always mean leaving them alone? Kristina Rizga learns how to garden a forest.

Oh yeah, the simplest explanation. She must have been poisoned—she is a Russian journalist. Elena Kostyuchenko on how she was one of a series of female Russian journalists in Europe who have been targeted for assassination.

Eamon Whalen is your tour guide to the "manosphere," online self-help for men that's influenced by reactionary ideas. If you recognize the name Andrew Tate but haven't really engaged, this is a good place to start.

Emily Atkin and Arielle Samuelson on the young Hawaiians (and Montanans) suing their state government for ignoring the climate crisis.

Too late for the last thing, too early for the next: Daisy Alioto considers the meaning of lifestyle.

Ira Madison III on "matchbook hauls" and social media aesthetics.

PIE CHART

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LOOK & LISTEN

Mimi Plumb photographed the wild horses of Kings Canyon in beautiful black and white. What happened when a whole community was taken from the Philippines and put on display at the 1904 Worlds Fair in St. Louis—and a brain-stealing Smithsonian anthropologist entered the picture.

A MOMENT

A kid lies facedown in an inflatable pool wearing a rainbow swimsuit. Her arms are raised out of the water, giving two thumbs up

This delightful pic of my niece doubles as an out-of-office message.

THE CLASSIFIEDS

Expert video therapy. Astute and kind, pro-feminist sensibility. I help people in all seasons of their lives. Let's meet and see if we are a fit.

You have Big Dreams for living a Big Life, but you have one Big Problem—you don’t trust yourself. Learn how to let go of that self-doubt and change your life in Stop Waiting for Perfect, the debut book from award-winning journalist (and self-professed success junkie) L'Oreal Thompson Payton.

In her new book, Survivor Injustice, journalist and Jezebel staff writer Kylie Cheung exposes the insidious—and often unseen—connections among domestic abuse, state-based violence, political disenfranchisement, and the carceral state. Out now wherever books are sold!

An American lecturer in Australia explores what it means to be human (and enjoy it) in a digital, AI-obsessed world. Subscribe FREE to Still Human.

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ENDORSEMENT

Five tips to become a kid's favorite adult. I love practical advice about how to inhabit less-defined community roles. If you like this article, I really recommend Mia Birdsong's How We Show Up as a deeper read on the topic.

TESTIMONIALS

"This was my favorite surprise me yet!!! Thank you for giving me much needed joy!" - Kathleen. This is your occasional reminder that the tiny "Surprise Me" link in the upper left corner does, indeed, contain surprises.

This newsletter is breathing through its mouth.

Forward it if you've been there.