Weekend Reading: May 20, 2016

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Weekend Reading: March 13, 2016

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Bad portents: Drop in Silicon Valley ping-pong table sales.
Whatever happened to Reagan Democrats?
Punks on film; a brief guide.
When dudes start book clubs (with food).
All the many, many pundits who were wrong this black-swan year.
Even the Economist agrees: The Avengers need U.N. supervision.
Citizen Khan not interested in Donald’s proposed exception to the Muslim ban.
What’s the answer? Google’s knowledge panels know.
Print and read: Barry’s mind meld guy; plus: Jeffrey Goldberg’s response to being named in it as White House stooge.

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One (rich) taxpayer moves to Florida and the entire state’s budget goes to hell.
After those protesters broke into the Green Zone, it’s becoming more clear that Iraq is hanging by a thread…and that’s without ISIS.
A quarter-century on, does The Artist’s Way say anything of value?
Superbad was awesome, yes, but also maybe homophobic?
Going to be in Cognac in the year 2115? That’s where (and when) John Malkovich and Robert Rodriguez’s movie 100 Years will be premiering.
Helpful hints for stopping the Donald; first rule: Don’t shout.
Hints of what’s to come: Feds give $1 billion to help states fight effects of climate change.
Print and read: Andrew Sullivan reads Plato to figure out how democracies fall in the age of Trump; they get too damn democratic.

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Maybe now polls might be somewhat worthwhile to look at. Maybe.
Is it even possible? Saudi Arabia and an economy not based entirely on oil.
Consolation prizes that won’t happen: Cruz for the Supreme Court.
And here’s how the Democrats could win back the House (and no, it won’t be easy).
But some states should be easy for them if Trump is the nominee, “unless we throw up on ourselves.”
Game of Thrones books vs. series in one easy graphic.
Beyonce, the CIA, and other … ideas.
A scientist on reasons why Gwyneth Paltrow (all of celebrity culture, really) is wrong about everything.
Rich people over here, poors over there; everybody in their own neighborhoods.
Print and read: Who can’t put their hands on $400 in a pinch? Most of us.

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Calling all booksellers, tell your tales of wonder and woe to StoryCorps.
Everyone except rich young college grads without kids is still moving to the ‘burbs.
The alternate universe of “black privilege.”
Welcome to the convention! Don’t forget yer guns.
So what happens if this dam, well, collapses?
How do you profile a terrorist? Mostly, you can’t.
Facts, those quaint things, might now be dead; they had a good run.
Print and read: The Veterans Administration isn’t broken, it’s actually the best healthcare in the country.

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How would you break up the banks, anyway?
Men quit books faster than women, and other surprising finds from literary moneyball.
Next up at Universal Studios: the Walking Dead…something.
When robots can tell a joke, then come talk to us about artificial intelligence.
So that’s why Lorne Michaels banned the Replacements from Saturday Night Live.
The “Ferguson Effect” as the Keyser Söze of criminology.
Of Trump, tomatoes, Wendy’s, and slave labor.
Why a punk anniversary is ridiculous; burn it all.
How do you legalize discrimination? Like this.
Print and read: Maybe it’s not so crazy to say that you can derive real meaning from your work.

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Proposing at the bookstore.
Curious about how Trump would be as commander in chief? Just watch Starship Troopers.
“Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” new-millennium propaganda, and the USA Freedom Kids.
Teddy Roosevelt, the Whigs, the Southern Strategy, and other reasons why the GOP, if it splits, will quickly reform.
Would you like your entire genome sequenced and sent to your cellphone for about $1,000? You’re in luck!
Obama writes introduction to latest volume of The Complete Peanuts, which he calls “our own daily security blanket.”
Norway (you know that very mountainous country that’s cold and dark for much of the year) is building a billion dollars’ worth of “bike highways” (speed limit: 25 mph).
Why are they still making Fast and Furious movies, anyway?
Print and read: This town in Michigan is the only place in America with a majority-Muslim city council.