Lots going on but I’ll quickly share some linky goodness:
Via Pearce – an excellent ten-minute breakdown on how rappers execute rhyme and wordplay. Great for anyone interested in words and rhythm – poets & English teachers will like this!
And related: Hamilton and the glory of language
“America’s economic illness has a name: financialization. It’s an academic term for the trend by which Wall Street and its methods have come to reign supreme in America, permeating not just the financial industry but also much of American business.” From Time: “American Capitalism’s Great Crisis
Via Rachel B – can you guess the correlation?
The Atlantic has an interesting interview about how much of our experience of reality is illusory. There’s not enough here to be convincing, but I’m curious to know more.
Also from the Atlantic, here’s the latest bout of Conor Friedersdorf “university students are coddled entitled milliennials” pearl clutching, linked so I can hate-read it later: The perils of writing a provocative email at Yale.
Via David R, how the myth of Irish slaves became a favourite meme for racists
Film Crit Hulk writes some fascinating stuff about new (online) media channels and the future of TV. Features the McElroy brothers, whose D&D podcast The Adventure Zone is reliably entertaining – the Alligator put me on to that one last January.
This NYT account of the aspiring novelist who became Obama’s foreign policy guru really explains a lot about the Obama administration. I figure this guy would not have fit in with any other President in recent memory, and wouldn’t work with any of the candidates for the office either. Fascinating. West Wing enthusiasts are particularly recommended to read this.
And finally, Hobbes & Me