TheNewsGal, Edition No. 78
What a week! Here's what you missed.
All the things
USPS trucks don’t have air bags or air conditioning. They get 10 mpg. And they were revolutionary. Love a good deep dive on something random. (Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, ~9 min.)
Burnout: Modern affliction or human condition? Just the right piece at exactly the time I needed it. Historian Jill Lepore is a national treasure. (Jill Lepore, New Yorker, ~15 min.)
How booksellers were complicit in the resurgence of white supremacy and the rise of Donald Trump. And they still are. (Josh Cook, Literary Hub, ~6 min.)
How does Black food go viral among white folks? Notes on hot chicken, race, and culinary crossover. More people need to read this. (Dr. Cynthia R. Greenlee, The Counter, ~13 min.)
Mo Pinel spent a career reshaping the bowling ball’s inner core to harness the power of physics. He revolutionized the sport — and spared no critics along the way. Among those lost to covid? The world’s premier bowling ball designer. (Brendan I. Koerner, Wired, ~25 min.)
Sex, deceit, and scandal: The ugly war over Bob Ross’ ghost. This story is hands-down nuts. (Alston Ramsay, Daily Beast, ~49 min.)
The State of Waiting: Separated by war, boundaries, and immigration policies they cannot control, one young Yemeni couple refuses to give up on love. Beautiful and devastating. (Caitlin Dwyer, Longreads, ~28 min.)
What the Tulsa Race Massacre Destroyed. A stunning interactive piece that really deepened by understanding of the massacre. (Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, Anjali Singhvi, Audra D.S. Burch, Troy Griggs, Mika Gröndahl, Lingdong Huang, Tim Wallace, Jeremy White, and Josh Williams, New York Times, ~14 min.)
Home Truths: How HGTV, Magnolia, and Netflix are building a massive space in the stream. Finally dipping my toe into the crazy housing market, and I’m newly fascinated by this entire genre of reality TV. (Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair, ~13 min.)
I thought I was done with Iraq. Then a fellow Marine’s Purple Heart turned up at auction. A terrific Memorial Day weekend read. (Ben Kesling, Wall Street Journal, ~21 min.)
You Can’t Stop Suni Lee: The 18-year-old gymnast has dealt with death, injury, and a postponed Olympic dream. Now she’s fighting to make history in Tokyo. And her bars are STUNNING. (Rose Minutaglio and Madison Feller, Elle, ~7 min.)
The Marathon Men Who Can’t Go Home: In the north Bronx, a small group of elite Ethiopian runners struggle to survive. The persecution they fled was far more harrowing. Holy schnikees. (David Alm, GQ, ~22 min.)
Doing the Work at Work: What are companies desperate for diversity consultants actually buying? I’ve been waiting for someone to write this. I work in the staffing industry, and DEI has been the major topic of conversation this past year. (Bridget Read, The Cut, ~22 min.)
When No Landlord Will Rent to You, Where Do You Go? How extended-stay hotels and motels became the last housing option for thousands of low-income Americans. Until this story, never was quite able to wrap my head around this part of the housing crisis. (Mya Frazier, NYT Magazine, ~33 min.)
Julie, Charlie, and the women of color Friends failed. Nails it. (Amanda Mitchell, Marie Claire, ~8 min.)
If you read one thing this week
The Millennial Vernacular of Fatphobia. Our teenage girl years were the worst teenage girl years. Fight me. (Anne Helen Petersen, Culture Study, ~14 min.)