Now presenting a very special LILFs. It’s Kate’s last.
My pal Meredith Haggerty is really proud of the latest edition of her podcast and I am too. It explores women who write frankly and lyrically about their lives in voice-driven newsletters — the newest medium for exorcising and exercising the very personal.
When 4chan users send waves and waves of Domino’s pizza to your house, covered in meat, followed by all kinds of take-out, and then post escalating swatting and rape threats on their forums, a funny thing happens: nothing. This is Anna Merlan’s story of the lame duck policies around reporting violent online threats.
The glorious EJ Dickson attended the 2015 Adult Entertainment Expo to ask how people really feel about porn behemoth Pornhub. Take a look:
“This is the thing,” he says, nursing his Cosmo. “You can go on-fucking-line and see naked women any time you want. I gotta be honest, they’re just naked fucking women. Here, they’re gonna try to bullshit you and say, ‘Blah blah blah, pay me and see me fuck,’ but they’re naked women. That’s all they are.”
A few minutes later, Otto excused himself to catch up with his friends. He’s meeting them at the Pornhub booth. He will leave having seen some more naked women, but he probably won’t buy any of their photos, or shake their hands, or learn their names. He will know them just as naked fucking women, because to him, that’s all they are.”
The great poet Rod McKuen has passed away at age 81.
Western Massachusetts, the primordial soup of indie rock, is thriving again. Pitchfork introduces us to the next must-listen acts like And the Kids and Speedy Ortiz. It’s a hot bed of creative energy, DIY outfits, and liberal, academic propulsion. Plus, as a former resident of the Pioneer Valley, I’m partial to it.
This is why music is kind of like a prayer: “As it turns out, the awe we experience for both music and spirituality comes from the same place. Neuroscientists are beginning to understand more about the connection. When the brain is faced with complex patterns, as it is in music and religion, it engages in the same way it would with a fellow human being.”
I’m almost convinced that listening to Marc Maron interview Louis CK in 2010 changed my life. Listen to it. You will not have complaints.
Don’t settle because others do.
— marc maron (@marcmaron) January 30, 2015
I can also give you this, if you press play. All I know is what I read in books.
Speaking of things I wish to force upon you, have you listened to Harry Nilsson yet? He’s not a new artist, but he is impeccable. What are you waiting for?
