A post about race and racism from The Relevant‘s former managing editor went viral, and the fallout “has already led to a ‘sabbatical’ for Relevant Media Group’s founder and CEO, an outpouring of solidarity from other ex-employees, and a sprawling online conversation about race, gender, and office politics in Christian organizations.” – Slate
Category: words
There Are 633 Languages Spoken In New York City
Some have few speakers, 12 speakers of Wakhi, for example. “For all the justifiable concern about language loss — thousands may go dormant globally — there have been success stories, like Irish, Maori and Hawaiian. These are languages that overcame considerable stigma.” – WNYC
Google Tells France It Won’t Pay Publishers For Search Listings And Will Change How It Shows Results
The announcement pours cold water on publishers’ hopes of obtaining more money from the tech giant for displaying their content under the European Union’s new copyright regime, which France was the first to transpose into national law. – Politico
Congressional Fan Fiction — Slash Fiction, Really — Is Now A Thing
“Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) are nestled in one another’s arms, sweat glistening on their muscled chests. They kiss softly and tenderly. It’s the middle of the night in a hotel somewhere on the campaign trail, and they are in love.”
“Since the 2016 election, as American political engagement has boomed … fan fiction scholars have noted a spike in stories featuring the U.S. Congress. … [And] the more I spoke to authors, the more congressional fan fiction began to make perfect sense as a response to our high-strung political moment.” – Longreads
New Queens Library As “Third Place”
“With this project, Steven Holl ran with the idea that architecture could sculpt the experience of bringing together a community in a free-of-charge, 22,000-square-foot “third place,”—reflecting the belief popularized by urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg that people need a place to socialize that is neither home nor the ubiquitous privatized realm.” – Architectural Record
Canadian Publishing In 2019: Sales Flat, Some Structural Issues
A recent survey of independent bookstores across Canada by BookNet received responses from a total of 69 stores, with 80 locations. One consequence of this dearth is that online book purchases surpassed purchases in bookstores, with 53% of customers surveyed by BookNet saying that they now primarily ordered books online, a trend that has flipped in Canada in the past two years. – Publishers Weekly
Fantasy Writer Camp: Spend A Lot Of Money, Dream You’re A Writer
There has been a proliferation of luxury celebrity writer “camps” that promise insight on how to be a successful writer. Is this an indulgence for the well-off or something practically useful? – The New York Times
For First Time, Complete Text Of ‘Darkness At Noon’ Is Available In English
“Arthur Koestler’s classic story of Stalinist purges has hitherto been known through an incomplete translation by his girlfriend – until a student found the original in an archive.” – The Guardian
Vox Media Buys New York Magazine
“On Tuesday, Vox Media agreed to acquire New York Media, the company behind the biweekly print magazine and five popular online offshoots, in an all-stock transaction. … While consolidations in the media industry typically mean cutting costs at the expense of quality journalism, Vox and New York said their combination was something different.” Said New York Media’s CEO, “It’s not out of need. It’s out of ambition.” – The New York Times
Let’s Face It: Book Publishing Has A Serious Fact-Checking Problem
“In the past year alone, errors in books by several high-profile authors … have ignited a debate over whether publishers should take more responsibility for the accuracy of their books. … While in the fallout of each accuracy scandal everyone asks where the fact checkers are, there isn’t broad agreement on who should be paying for what is a time-consuming, labor-intensive process in the low-margin publishing industry.” – The New York Times