Weekend Reading: June 23, 2017

On June 23, 2017June 22, 2017 By chrisbarsantiIn Omnium GatherumLeave a comment

Yes, even with the opioid epidemic, meth is still a very big problem.
Why are people protesting at Julius Caesar?
The right’s voter-ID law suppressed 200,000 votes in Wisconsin last year; Trump won the state by a little over 20,000.
Things to worry about in 2100: Heat, heat, and the heat.
What the hell is “the flippening“?
“People just have all their friends from kindergarten” and other reasons it’s hard to make friends in St. Louis.
Don’t count the Democrats out yet.
Is Michael Bay a genius? Kinda, and yet not.
Back in 2015, Seattle raised the minimum wage to $15 and now the analysis is in: The sky didn’t fall and jobs didn’t flee the city.
Several CIA contractors fired for stealing over $3,000 worth of snacks from vending machines at Langley.
Print and read: Mark Bowden on North Korea, the worst problem on Earth.

Weekend Reading: March 17, 2017

On March 17, 2017March 16, 2017 By chrisbarsantiIn Omnium GatherumLeave a comment

New low or just more of the same?
Hidden Figures, a film about black women scientists and the space race without a single explosion, has now made more money at the domestic office than Jason Bourne, Star Trek Beyond, and X-Men: Apocalypse.
The politician from Iowa who believes he will determine what constitutes a real American.
The author of Hillbilly Elegy is moving back to Ohio and starting a foundation to fight the opioid epidemic.
The no-good, very bad, truly lousy repeal, broken down.
Here’s what everyone is doing at the White House these days (hint: work isn’t the priority).
Ivanka downscaling her brand to a more affordable style.
How a family dispute over the Trump inheritance resulted in the president taking away health coverage from his nephew’s sick child.
In case you didn’t know, America is going (softly, ever so softly) to war in Syria.
Print and read: North Korea is assuming they will need to strike first with nuclear weapons.

Reader’s Corner: The Fiction Pulitzer

On April 16, 2013April 16, 2013 By chrisbarsantiIn BooksLeave a comment

So the wise folks over at the Pulitzer committee gave out their 2013 awards and there was a nice surprise there in the fiction column. The winner was Adam Johnson’s brilliantly perverse black comedy of North Korean mind tricks, The Orphan Master’s Son.

I reviewed the book for PopMatters when it first came out in early 2012, here. It’s available now in paperback.

And since we’re in that brave new world of video book publicity, here’s the novel’s trailer:

Chris Barsanti

Tag: North Korea

Weekend Reading: June 23, 2017

Weekend Reading: March 17, 2017

Reader’s Corner: The Fiction Pulitzer