Our weekly recap highlighting the best feature stories from around the internet.
M.I.A. performing in NYC last year. Photo: AFP
How M.I.A. Is a Lifeline in Times of Terror – by Anupa Mistry, Pitchfork
“When your body is political the issues are no longer abstract. Yes, M.I.A.’s politics have long been imperfect, but she keeps trying, like many of us who aren’t simply ideologically committed to justice, but are tethered to the fight because of the color of our skin.”
The Women of Hollywood Speak Out – by Maureen Dowd, The New York Times Magazine
“Female writers in Hollywood told me they are used to hearing things like ‘‘Can you insert a rape scene here?’’ or ‘‘Can they go to a strip club here?’’ or ‘‘Can you rewrite the fat friend for Eva Mendes? She has high marks for foreign distribution.’’ They trade stories about how a schlubby male studio head mutters that he doesn’t want to look at ‘‘ugly actresses,’’ and how schlubby male directors, caught up in their fantasy world, choose one beautiful actress over another simply because she has a hair color that fits their customized sexual daydream.”
Goodbye, Number 11 – by Ben Stanley, The Pantograph Punch
“How do you describe Jonah? A picture of him at his very best is a good place to start: he was a colossus. Two massive brown tree-trunk legs; hard, sinewy and long like kauri logs. That brutally powerful right-arm fend. Just the silhouette of Jonah in action remains a silhouette of rugby at its best.”
The Five Stages of Ghosting Grief – by Rachel Fields, The New York Times
“I didn’t care if he was a non-texter — and what does that even mean in this day and age? If you’re a 20-something urban professional who doesn’t text, you’re pretty much impossible to be friends with. For a friendship to exist in 2015, people need to know they can text “ugh I love oysterrrrs” at 2:15 p.m. on a Friday and get a response by 2:30.”
The other side of 'I do': how the weight of wedded bliss forever changed me – by Elizabeth Wurtzel, The Guardian
“I used to have a past, but now I have a future. Marriage is an intense institution. You commit to stay with your spouse no matter what, when it would be easier to walk away simply because you are annoyed. This is quite a deal we strike up: for better and for worse. What a crazy thing to agree to. And yet here we go.”
Reporter tells of the 'slip of the tongue' that helped convict a killer – by Sam Boyer, Stuff
“I've interviewed a lot of crooked people and been told some extraordinary things, but never have I finished an interview with the realisation I may have just caught out a killer. His defence lawyers will later push the point, when I am in the witness box in the High Court at Wellington, that it was merely a slip of the tongue. I couldn't disagree. He clearly slipped up, he didn't mean to tell me that, to tell me he'd done it.”
Don’t Cry For Tracy Morgan - by Michael Paterniti, GQ
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