Ann Friedman - Postcard from sick kingdom

My entire household took a 3-day trip to the kingdom of the sick this week. Like most people without chronic illness, I tend to forget about my dual citizenship until the rare occasions when I have to flash the passport. On weeks like this, I remember. And it becomes clear just how much of my world (cough, cough, the world) is built on an assumption of wellness. My body is in the kingdom of the sick, but my mind is still on the time zone of the healthy, persistently annoyed that I am not able to do what I want to be doing. It has me wondering what my life—or our entire society—would be like if it were reimagined for the assumption of illness, be it chronic or occasional. For all citizens.

I've been following Jane Arraf's reports from one of the last functioning hospitals in Rafah. I tried to use several different adjectives (graphic, terrible, gut-wrenching, horrifying) in the preceding sentence, and nothing was enough. I made a donation to the Palestinian-American Medical Association after reading.

Reproductive justice is big enough to encompass not just abortion access, but the right to not be coerced into long-term birth control, and the right to express your sexuality without having sex. Alana Semuels and Maria Yagoda report.

"The package deal of country, Country, and Christ": Rafil Kroll-Zaidi wrote the feature about Branson, Missouri that I've long wanted to write myself.

Hanif Abdurraqib and André 3000 on fame, freedom, and flutes.

“There are so many ways to have children in your life." Kim France on the joys of auntiedom.

Xintian Wang on the feminist roots of the Chinese qipao.

"We’ve all got our journey, us widows," writes Amy Satterthwaite Pappas. "Some of us squeal in hot, and some of us shuffle in weary. We can learn from each other. I’m a villain in my own story. Use me as a cautionary tale if you want."

Emily Kirkpatrick on how Bravo's brand of reality TV became a template for real life.

In defense of the single-use object. 2022 writing fellow Celia Mattison asks, "When did you last do one thing at a time?"

The Rural Indexing Project. Sweeping Promises, via Kathleen Hanna.

The creative anti-establishment energy of this photorealistic boat fence, via Monterey County Now:

In July of last year, the City of Seaside sent a letter to Etienne Constable, a resident, giving him notice that the boat parked in the side lot of his house was in violation of city code. It had been there for years without complaints, but since the city ramped up its code enforcement over the past few years, it suddenly became a problem for him. 

So Constable turned it into an opportunity—he built a 6-foot fence to comply, and came up with the idea to paint over the newly built fence in front of his boat that would look exactly like the boat and surrounding plants. 

It's a 5-minute game: Dial +1 (323) 909-XXXX, let it ring 6 times, listen to a 2-minute message from me, and (if you like) leave one in return. That's it! In the time it takes you to play today's Wordle (maybe? if it's an easy one?), get a little dose of asynchronous human interaction.

The Hotline is for paying members only right now. Join this weekend and I'll send you the full number on Monday.