There really weren’t at the time though. The Harry Potter series was first published when middle grade fiction was basically dead. There were a lot of serials but no continuous stories. Things like Goosebumps and the Babysitters Club. There are better series, Susan Cooper’s “The Dark is Rising” is better written and…

I think a larger part of the issue is that this has the most support by groups who don’t vote consistently. It’s most heavily supported by younger people who historically don’t vote at all. We can talk about all the reasons for that, but ultimately it doesn’t matter. If you’re not showing up to vote, no one cares about…

I moved to South and the amount of hard working dedicated activists here is impressive especially Black women. My local BLM group flipped my county blue. They registered voters during protests and promoted local candidates that gave a shit about the community. I’m so tired of white progressives and liberals talking…

He could’ve just not spoken badly of his kids' mother. Shutting up is free.

I work in insurance/risk management (not health insurance), and I really have no idea how blockchain would benefit a consumer. Everything is contractual. Most disputes that go to court revolve around the language used in the contract. Insurance company says X isn’t covered. Lawyer says “well this language is ambiguous…

Reddit pretty much says everyone crosses a line. Women who won’t fuck them. People who ask them to stop being racist. Autistic people who ask them to stop claiming to be autistic everytime they’re awful to other people. Women who say please stop sharing my stolen nudes. There are some wonderful subreddits, but it’s…

A rape victim I know talked about a scene in the show where Mariska’s character assured the victim that she didn’t need to feel guilty for not fighting her rapist because her only goal is to survive and she accomplished that. It meant so much to them and I think that idea being put out into the world is a good one.…

I love that movie and I will hear nothing bad about it. You’re 100% correct though. I do think that Geraldine McEwan, Michael Wincott, and Michael McShane were also pretty great. I feel like Rickman, McEwan, Wincott, and McShane were the only people who understood what movie they were in and they really leaned into…

I think that allowing student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy would change the entire equation. Banks would give less loans which would force colleges to adjust their tuition. It might even force employers to reconsider requiring a college degree for every job regardless of whether it makes sense to require it. I…

I really enjoy the Dublin detective series by Tana French. I think about how many people would be shot if it the books were set in the US. I think there was 1 shooting in the entire books which are all about investigating murders. The whole attitude is different. I found it striking in the same way you did the book…

Someone I know was raped by her father who was raped by his father. She’d prefer that her father have received help rather than having help after she was raped. It completely disregards the potential victims to say these people shouldn’t receive help to prevent them from offending.

This sort of cycle of outrage over the tone deafness of rich assholes is counterproductive and serves as fodder for the right wing nut jobs who point at our reactions as evidence that we’re out of touch. Teigan is terrible for myriad reasons but this is just internet nonsense. It might be tone deaf, but I don’t think…

I agree that we need to look at historical figures as complicated people, but I also think that we need to highlight that their views aren’t always representive of the times and that even when they are a lot of those views are more controversial than they’re portrayed. Abolition campaigns had already begun before…

Small metal, hardcore and punk shows are remarkably friendly. Injuries happen in pits, but it’s generally accidental and not losing control. If you fall, someone will help you up. If you’re a dick, you will be escorted from the pit and possibly out of the venue by your fellow attendees.

That was really common historically. The winners raped the losers of battles regardless of gender. We have an aversion to talking about male rape and its rarely depicted in media, so we kind of deny it. It definitely happened though. There's some thoughts that the prohibition against gay sex in Abrahamic religions is…

I've spent a lot of time in different hospitals with a relative. Including in some of the best renowned hospitals in the country. There are some shockingly dumb nurses. To the point that I really question the quality of some nursing schools and the hospital's hiring procedures. 

I understand what you’re saying, but I would suspect that your mother has some stories about they way she was treated growing up that you haven’t heard. People born with even mild disabilities were treated incredibly poorly. I strongly suspect it’s a large part of why ablism is such a problem. A relative born in the…

I don’t believe that people are able to maintain the secrecy necessary to repeatedly pick a fall guy to deny the will of the American people. It’s far more likely that the segment of the American population who votes isn’t as progressive as we would like. It’s true that most of the individual pieces of legislation…

It is very weird. I think Joe Rogan plays both sides well enough that people overlook a lot of what he says. They defend him by saying, “He’s just allowing both sides to speak.” “He doesn’t understand because he’s rich and would hire a nanny.” It’s all nonsense, and I think they give him a pass because they want to be…

I don’t think authorial intention matters very much. We’re all informed by our experiences and our personal views. That’s going to seep into our work. Tolkien served in WW1. That’s life changing and it’s inevitable that some of that will slip into his work. I don’t think Lovecraft ever announced that The Horror at Red…