The Atlantic: Ta-Nehisi Coates

On Monday, 66-year old Joan Tarshis accused Bill Cosby of raping her. Tarshis says the attack took place in 1969, when she was 19 and working as comedy writer: ... [H]e told me that he wanted to work on a monologue together, and I had an idea for something about an earthquake that had just happened. It was my first earthquake. Tarshis is the fifth woman to publicly accuse Bill Cosby of raping her. Perhaps it is not fair for a journalist to consider, or even publicize, anonymous allegations of criminal activity. Most of these allegations came after Constand sued Cosby in civil court. A defense of Cosby requires that one believe that several women have decided to publicly accuse one of the most powerful men in recent Hollywood history of a crime they have no hope of seeing prosecuted, and for which they are seeking no damages. I spent parts of 2006 and 2007 following Bill Cosby around the country. The author of this moment is Bill Cosby. It was not enough.

The Atlantic: James Fallows This morning I had the privilege of giving the commencement address at the University of Vermont—UVM, home of the Catamounts, in Burlington. My wife Deb and I, and our colleague John Tierney, visited UVM several years ago and wrote about it in our American Futures series, notably with John’s piece about the school’s emergence as a “public Ivy.” Seven Days, the financially-and-journalistically successful weekly based in Burlington (which I’ve also written about), has a story about today’s commencement, here. The University’s story is here. Since the talk drew on various themes that recur in this “American Futures” thread, I’m attaching the text, below. Go Catamounts! Commencement remarks University of Vermont May 21, 2017 James Fallows President Sullivan, Governor Scott, honorary degree recipients, faculty and staff, friends and family, people of Vermont and beyond, and above all members of the class of 2017 — greetings, and congratulations! Let’s go into that case. Let me explain.

ΜΑΓΙΑ Η ΜΕΛΙΣΣΑ - ΕΠΕΙΣΟΔΙΟ 1 Cut Off Your Hands Google Margaret Cho Blog I ran into one of my favorite photographers at TribalCon in Atlanta, so we decided to do a quick photoshoot! Thank you Pixie! As soon as I had my hands on my Blueberry guitar I could not let it go. It’s an extraordinary instrument. Not only is it beautiful to look at, it sounds incredible and imbued with a mystical spirit that makes me a better player. It is stunning for stage – it looks like no other guitar out there – and Read More We love our new podcast artwork! Listen to Monsters of Talk on SoundCloud or subscribe on Itunes! I got in “trouble” for outing someone. I got in big Twitter fights about it. from Salon.com Excerpted from “No Kidding: Women Writers on Bypassing Parenthood” edited by Henriette Mantel. I don’t have children, and I am not sure if I have wanted them or never wanted them. I deeply respect runners. It must be incredible to actually complete a marathon. I returned to the Aroma spa today, and I was late. My incident last week there, which I wrote about Read More

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