Adam Serwer on anti-Black racism, anti-Semitism, how race is "malleable enough to be made to serve the needs of those with the power to define it," and how those definitions have historically differed in the U.S. and Europe.

A dispatch from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where P.E. Moskowitz introduces us to teen football player Kris Wilka, who, "along with his deeply supportive community—is upending the outdated debate about transgender athletes in schools." Bookend it with an essay by Lucy Santé on coming out later in life.

In Maryland, a memorial for two lynching victims reveals how America is grappling with its history of racial terror, Clint Smith reports. The Cut has a package of reflections on the first decade of the Black Lives Matter movement, and I'm still chewing on Camonghne Felix's essay on the meaning of Obama's presidency. And Anti-Racism Daily has some concrete actions for marking Black History Month.

What was the TED Talk? A "seemingly endless index of stories about the future—the future of science, the future of the environment, the future of work, the future of love and sex, the future of what it means to be human—that never materialized," writes Oscar Schwartz. 

"A smart half-Korean cookie like myself is the last teen anybody expected to wind up pregnant," writes Rebecca Fontenot. "It took me a long time to learn that having a baby didn’t mean that my life was over."

Profiles of a few creative women: Margaret Wise Brown, the writer of Goodnight Moon. Concetta Antico, a painter who can see 100 million colors. And Wendy MacNaughton, who makes an art show for kids "that feels like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, if Fred Rogers drank six cups of coffee, enrolled in art school, and entered a time machine, emerging as an exuberant 40-something lesbian in a jumpsuit, beanie, and high-top sneakers." (You can listen to an interview I did with Wendy for CYG back in 2016 here.)

This is your friendly reminder to consider supporting this newsletter for just $15/year. A stat for you: There are 15,000 (!!) of you who open this thing every single Friday, and fewer than 5,000 paying members. 🤔 If you can afford it, I'd love your financial endorsement.

---

Thank you for being a friend (you know who you are!) who sent me Cher covering "Thank You for Being a Friend". New Mitski! Tracee Ellis Ross on Hot Ones.

---

Huge hats. I'm not talking about a Jamiroquai/Pharrell situation. I'm talking about big beanies. Sky-high stocking caps. Towering knits.

I don't even live in a cold environment ("all hat, no winter"), and yet I wear this yellow one, purchased from a secondhand store when I was cold while traveling in 2016, practically every day: Improbably, this look is trending. The designer Elizabeth Spiridakis (who created the cover of Big Friendship!) has been documenting the recent attack of the 50-foot beanies. I nearly asphyxiated myself laughing at a photo she posted of her husband Preston, an adult human man, wearing one of these things unfurled to its full height. I am reposting it with joy and permission: This has not been photoshopped!! (Are you laughing? I am still laughing.)

I have a few theories about why winter hats are so big right now:

1. Practicality. Sometimes a tiny Steve Zissou peak just does not cut it, warmth-wise. Tall beanies are really toasty. All that space creates a heat pocket atop your head! 
2. Fashion. Scale = drama = high FASHIONNNN. They "literally make every outfit," as Elizabeth says. There's nothing more chic than wearing a ridiculous item with confidence.
3. Humor. Again, they are ridiculous. In these difficult times, wearing a hat of this scale is a way to participate in everyday comic relief. See: Preston, above. Thank you for your service.

I'd also like to shout out the balaclava. This concludes the first-ever AF WKLY winter fashion report.