The catfishing scandal that sacked the career of Manti Te'o. Plus: That time Sarah met Mikhail Gorbachev, Portland violence, and a head-scratching NYT column on "the myth of maternal instinct"
Here's my addition to the hotbox: the new Patrick Radden Keefe collection Rogues - many of the New Yorker long articles he's written. I didn't know his work before Say Nothing, but I remembered well several of the articles in the collection, so it was a pleasant surprise to see he'd written them.
Manti Te'o - I was really impressed by his grace towards Ronnaiah/Naya. I remember that story well, if only because I'm from Alabama, meaning that all of college football is unavoidable (and that's who Notre Dame played in the 2012 Nat'l Championship Game).
re: "college football unavoidable" -- I'm chuckling because I'm in Columbus Ohio and college football is also unavoidable in this town, and, speaking of Notre Dame, seems they were in town as well this weekend.
She does a great job of breaking down the problems -- and also the valuable points -- of that essay. I'm chewing on her point about the consequences of taking equality to its ultimate end-point: "it might be more accurate to say *equality* is erasing women. If you pursue the logic of absolute parity between the sexes all the way down, you hit a brick wall of evolved sociobiological differences, that has emerged over millennia in connection with historically distinct roles in raising kids." A lot of my work over the past few years (whether drinking, dating, fertility) has focused on how living "like a man" didn't serve me/us/young women, and wondering how we balance equal value with biological difference. Anyway, thanks for sharing the link! -- SH
I've been reading and listening to Mary on podcasts for several months and I'm really looking forward to her book (currently being written). She's not been writing for that long but her thoughts on feminism and technology, among other things, are really on my wavelength. It's the mainstreaming of evolutionary biology that seems to have laid the groundwork for a secular (and therefore, capable of being taken seriously by the secular) critique of a lot of what happened in the 20th century. Even though the reasons may ultimately be quite similar, the Overton window won't accommodate any perspective that explicitly cites a religious tradition, but, at least so far and in some cases, consider one based in science.
Nice podcast walk. Love the Gorbachev story. That made me think of the Six Degrees of Separation concept - nothing quite like meeting somebody as well connected as he was.
Speaking of documentaries, would love for you to watch Keep This Between Us and tell us your thoughts (student/teacher relationships - in high school). Kind of ties into the I'm Glad My Mom Died memoir by Jennette McCurdy. The sexualization of teenagers. Ugh-ly world we've created, in the name of "girl power".
I'd never heard of Michael until I started listening to the Fifth Column. I was shocked that I didn't know him, because a) he's a dynamo and b) we'd both been kicking around the NY media scene for a while at that point. We probably fell off a few bar stools near each other at Brooklyn dive bars without knowing it, but I only met MM last year. -- SH
The Imposter about the French guy who faked being a kidnapped American boy is a great documentary but you all have probably already seen it because it’s been out for many years. If not it’s on Tubi (free streaming App)
Re your discussion of maternal instinct. I once had a college professor who noted that we are descended from men who like to fight and women who love babies. This is because the men who liked to fight killed off the men who didn't, and the women who didn't love babies saw their genes for maternal apathy die along with their infants. I don't really like this idea but it's a theory that fits the facts.
Here's my addition to the hotbox: the new Patrick Radden Keefe collection Rogues - many of the New Yorker long articles he's written. I didn't know his work before Say Nothing, but I remembered well several of the articles in the collection, so it was a pleasant surprise to see he'd written them.
Manti Te'o - I was really impressed by his grace towards Ronnaiah/Naya. I remember that story well, if only because I'm from Alabama, meaning that all of college football is unavoidable (and that's who Notre Dame played in the 2012 Nat'l Championship Game).
re: "college football unavoidable" -- I'm chuckling because I'm in Columbus Ohio and college football is also unavoidable in this town, and, speaking of Notre Dame, seems they were in town as well this weekend.
Another response to the maternal instinct column: https://unherd.com/2022/09/the-left-has-mummy-issues/
She does a great job of breaking down the problems -- and also the valuable points -- of that essay. I'm chewing on her point about the consequences of taking equality to its ultimate end-point: "it might be more accurate to say *equality* is erasing women. If you pursue the logic of absolute parity between the sexes all the way down, you hit a brick wall of evolved sociobiological differences, that has emerged over millennia in connection with historically distinct roles in raising kids." A lot of my work over the past few years (whether drinking, dating, fertility) has focused on how living "like a man" didn't serve me/us/young women, and wondering how we balance equal value with biological difference. Anyway, thanks for sharing the link! -- SH
I've been reading and listening to Mary on podcasts for several months and I'm really looking forward to her book (currently being written). She's not been writing for that long but her thoughts on feminism and technology, among other things, are really on my wavelength. It's the mainstreaming of evolutionary biology that seems to have laid the groundwork for a secular (and therefore, capable of being taken seriously by the secular) critique of a lot of what happened in the 20th century. Even though the reasons may ultimately be quite similar, the Overton window won't accommodate any perspective that explicitly cites a religious tradition, but, at least so far and in some cases, consider one based in science.
Oooh I’m so glad she cites the book Mom Genes in her article. That book talks about some absolutely fascinating research.
Wow, Nancy! Thanks for that Portland update. I had no idea. Not a rant at all. That was energizing.
Nice podcast walk. Love the Gorbachev story. That made me think of the Six Degrees of Separation concept - nothing quite like meeting somebody as well connected as he was.
Speaking of documentaries, would love for you to watch Keep This Between Us and tell us your thoughts (student/teacher relationships - in high school). Kind of ties into the I'm Glad My Mom Died memoir by Jennette McCurdy. The sexualization of teenagers. Ugh-ly world we've created, in the name of "girl power".
Oh, I will check that out. A subject of fasciation for me. -- SH
ex·hil·a·rat·ing.
I remember that Louis Vuitton ad campaign! Didn't Angelina Jolie do one on a wooden boat in SE Asia?
https://reason.com/2007/07/27/gorby-corporate-shill/
Sounds like Sarah and Michael came to the same conclusion about the absurdity of Gorbachev for LV! We're you guys aware of one another back then?
I'd never heard of Michael until I started listening to the Fifth Column. I was shocked that I didn't know him, because a) he's a dynamo and b) we'd both been kicking around the NY media scene for a while at that point. We probably fell off a few bar stools near each other at Brooklyn dive bars without knowing it, but I only met MM last year. -- SH
Such a small world!
The Imposter about the French guy who faked being a kidnapped American boy is a great documentary but you all have probably already seen it because it’s been out for many years. If not it’s on Tubi (free streaming App)
RE terms that sound pornographic. "Hotbox" sort of fits the category.
Re your discussion of maternal instinct. I once had a college professor who noted that we are descended from men who like to fight and women who love babies. This is because the men who liked to fight killed off the men who didn't, and the women who didn't love babies saw their genes for maternal apathy die along with their infants. I don't really like this idea but it's a theory that fits the facts.