Things I Read That I Love #17: Robo-Readers

HAYLO and welcome to the 17th installment of Things I Read That I Love, wherein I share with you some of the longer-form journalism/essays I’ve read recently so that you can read them too and we can all know more about Angie Xtravaganza and law school! This “column” is less feminist/queer focused than the rest of the site because when something is feminist/queer focused, I put it on the rest of the site. Here is where the other things are. The title of this feature is inspired by the title of Emily Gould’s tumblr, Things I Ate That I Love.

Firstly, let’s talk about how the This American Life episode about the Foxconn Apple factory, which I once TIRTL’ed, has now been “redacted.” YUP:

The 38-minute monologue was an excerpt of a one-man show by Mike Daisey, in which he describes his experience visiting a Foxconn Technology Group factory that produces Apple iPhones and iPads in Shenzen, China.

In the monologue, Daisey details harsh working conditions and dramatic encounters with workers at the factory, some of which did not actually take place, the show said today.

Also if you’ve not yet read Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs, then you probably should, everybody keeps talking about it. Anyhow, onwards and upwards!

The Case(s) Against Law School (March 2012), New York Magazine – So o, some lawyers are suing law schools who overstate the possibilities of their graduates getting jobs, which could end up being a very very very big deal.

Housed (March 2012), Guernica – A real estate story by a writer who married a poet and tried to find a home in the Bay Area because it was her Mom’s one true dream –> “Is homeownership, despite three presidents’ best efforts, out of reach for the sinking middle-class? Good riddance, says one former homeowner.”

No Earthly Trace: The Vanishing of Justin Gaines (March 2012), Atlanta – Is this the 500th article I’ve read about parents who lost a child, like had their child disappear? I feel like it is.

The Slap of Love (1995), Open City – “This is the story of Angel Segarra, a Puerto Rican kid from the South Bronx who became Angie Xtravaganza, doyenne of the drag world made briefly famous by Jennie Livingston’s acclaimed 1990 documentary, Paris Is Burning.

Honor Thy Father (June 1998), Texas Monthly – What strikes me about this one is how hands-off the community seems to have been despite the fact that the Dad in this story was clearly a complete fucking lunatic abusing his children.

On The Market (March 2012), n+ 1– “A classmate from college set me up at Sotheby’s, a company I knew little about. In my interview, I told my future boss that I had never been able to imagine an idea that could be best expressed by painting it. “But,” I added, making exaggerated eye contact, “appreciating art doesn’t mean you can send effective emails. I can write. I can make your job easier for you.” This is the best thing to say in an interview if you are young and unqualified to do anything other than maintain a personal blog. I started three weeks later. “

Bizarro World (August 2007), Boston – “That’s what my wife and I entered when we drove up to an arcade in Weirs Beach, New Hampshire, where she would attempt to break an official world record in the classic video game Tetris.”

Those Fabulous Confabs (February 2012), New York Magazine – “Smart talk has never been such a valuable commodity. It’s spawned conferences like TED, Davos, and now a slew of upstart competitors. It has made the eighteen‑minute TED lecture a viral online phenomenon. But are we running out of things to say?”

The Difference Between Public and Private Morality (March 2012), robertreich.com –  “Republicans have morality upside down. Santorum, Gingrich, and even Romney are barnstorming across the land condemning gay marriage, abortion, out-of-wedlock births, access to contraception, and the wall separating church and state. But America’s problem isn’t a breakdown in private morality. It’s a breakdown in public morality.”

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

Riese

Riese is the 41-year-old Co-Founder of Autostraddle.com as well as an award-winning writer, video-maker, LGBTQ+ Marketing consultant and aspiring cyber-performance artist who grew up in Michigan, lost her mind in New York and now lives in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in nine books, magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Nylon, Queerty, Nerve, Bitch, Emily Books and Jezebel. She had a very popular personal blog once upon a time, and then she recapped The L Word, and then she had the idea to make this place, and now here we all are! In 2016, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism. She's Jewish and has a cute dog named Carol. Follow her on twitter and instagram.

Riese has written 3164 articles for us.

10 Comments

  1. I would like to thank this column for introducing me to the New York Magazine and Texas Monthly (I am in a different hemisphere). I have a very boring desk job where I am required to do very little actual work, news/current events sites are some of the few that aren’t blocked by our content keepers. I’ve spent hours that are usually spent staring at the ceiling learning things instead. Autostraddle: making people smarter even when you can’t get past the giant ADULT CONTENT!! WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!! signs.

  2. I’m actually oddly obsessed with missing person cases, so that article was extremely interesting to me. Thanks Riese!

  3. I would just like to say that this is why I love NPR. Accountability! Responsibility! This wasn’t real and we’ll tell you!

    • i recently listened to the post-retraction “this american life” episode in which ira glass grills daisey in-studio to try and squeeze something resembling an apology out of him. it’s almost painful to listen to the guy try to continue to absolve himself of personal guilt in increasingly ridiculous and euphemistic ways. basically an amazing lesson in how not to behave as a journalist or a human being.

  4. you are killing me I have so much to do and was just gonna quickly check on AS and there you are with your ARTICLES THAT I READ NONSTOP THAT WILL GET ME IN TROUBLE BECAUSE I WILL BE EVEN LATER TO MY OBLIGATIONS.
    Rationally I do realize this is not your fault.
    Thanks for posting another one.

  5. I have so so so much school work to do but just read all of these and feel smarter anyway. The Sotheby’s one was my favorite, probably, but they were all interesting. I love these posts, thanks!

Comments are closed.