The narrative that “the U.S. created the Taliban” is just another flavor of American exceptionalism that can’t believe anything happens in the world that isn’t ultimately about the US, and is rooted in the assumption that developing world polities have no agency of their own.

Adding to your list - it sucks for her too. There’s no reason to celebrate this anymore than one would celebrate her not being able to compete because of illness or injury.

This was lovely. Best writer on this site.

This is, amazingly, *less* over-the-top than the article on Naomi Osaka’s Netflix doc.

For what’s it’s worth, Salt (with Angelina Jolie) also featured a de facto re room in 2010. The concept of training/brainwashing kids to be elite soldiers is *really* widespread in a bunch of different genres.

Well, when you’re wrong, you’re wrong.

I mean, sure, but that seems like Allure flunked a test they hadn’t been told about. If someone tells me that they are fine being called Nicky and also Nicole, I wouldn’t find it to be a particularly fair criticism that I took them at their word in picking one of those options.

Looking at Allure’s corrected article, it appears that the magazine went with sometimes using she/her, sometime they/their. Assuming that’s what Halsey is looking for, I have to wonder if she intends to audit all the articles written about them to ensure the proper pronoun ratio?

“Alarming.” Definitely in the top 20 of the strongest words to indicate opposition to something. Top 30, max. 

That it feels to you that CaptOtter us saying something that they have not said reveals more about the arguments you would prefer to be making, but nothing about the argument that you are actually in.

A pint of blueberries is $2.58 where I am. What are you paying for them?

If you have found a way to make human decency mandatory, you should share that trick with the world. We could really use it.

I think the author’s Osaka fandom is causing her to dramatically overestimate the potential impact of a brand-managing Netflix documentary to “alter the sports world altogether”, especially when it is not actually advocating for any changes within even her own sport.

I really think describing this as bullying, per the headline, really downplays what occurred here. Call it assault and abuse. Don’t cover for it.

Don’t forget about the wacky tidbit about the marital status of the woman married to a serial rapist. Fun stuff!

The bit where you wrote “caveats from psychologists reminding the audience that consuming all this crime is probably okay, a public good even,” followed by the quote “My research suggests that women are drawn to true crime because of the information they can learn from it,” is highly misleading. The quote explains why…

The noise of the hammering required to get the square peg of your argument into the round hole of your premise drowned out the potentially interesting point you nearly made. Such a shame.

This was a lovely read. Shows how much better articles are when written by authors able to get outside of their apartments and talk to people for their stories rather than just link-farming.

Bridgerton is to period dramas what Star Wars is to science fiction. As such, complaining about the accuracy of the costumes is like declaiming that a hyperspace jump couldn’t destroy a star cruiser while stroking the acne where your beard should be.

It says the books “were given” so they weren’t necessarily assigned for class: sometimes books are just donated to schools as giveaways for the kids.