Need Something to Read?

Try out some of the movers and shakers in new media from Mallory Ortberg's (herself a fabulous writer) A List of One's Own at The Toast. These writers (who, in case you didn't get the Woolf reference, are women) are doing all kinds of interesting, innovating work. Check 'em out!

Lake Bell to direct "The Emperor's Children"

I loved Lake Bell's In A World - it was really funny and sweet and had a slower pace (in a good way) than most comedies. I'll be interested to see what she can do with The Emperor's Children, which follows some 30ish Brown grads as they navigate life before and following 9/11. Not really a topic I'd want to hear about normally (thus why I haven't read the book it's based on), but it might be worthwhile with Bell at the helm. Best of luck to her!

[Read more about Bell's sophomore pick over at /Film]

Tobacco is Wacko if You're a Teen Farmer

Daily Show did a great segment on the super, horrible legal loophole that allows teenagers to work on tobacco farms:

The Daily Show
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The saddest part of the segment is how self-aware the tobacco farmer is - he's not just some deluded guy they found. He legitimately knows what he's doing to these kids and thinks it's totally ok.

Also, Sam Bee = amazeballs.

#YesAllWomen

ICYMI: This New Yorker article does a good job of distilling the recent, explosive #YesAllWomen hashtag. Other great articles on it at Slate, TIME, and WaPo. I'm sure I'm missing some, too, so please feel free to reply with your favorite articles or tweets.

I'm on vacation right now, and I sometimes miss the big news stories while I'm away. I'm glad I didn't miss this one. I won't go into a long discussion or a series of stories on this subject, but to address the utter banal truth of #YesAllWomen, here's a quick anecdote:

There are two ways to walk the two blocks home from the subway after work: the shorter way and the populated way. For the first several months we lived in our new apartment, he would lead us the shorter way and I would lead us the populated way. Finally, I told him, "I don't want to go that way anymore at night." "But this way is so crowded." "Yes, which means it's so safe." He had never thought of it that way. Here was an open, perceptive, feminist man who completely missed that #YesAllWomen have to choose between safety and convenience.

Also, when to and not to wear my headphones while walking alone is a nightly battle.

Read "The Case for Reparations"

If you haven't had the chance yet, here's the link. Give yourself some time and read it.

Real Life Inspiration for "Up"?

Who knew?

Fantastic Super Bowl Ad

Although it won't be playing during the Super Bowl itself, this ad from the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is super relevant to "the big game"



I figured out about halfway through the ad why they were only using one word at a time. It's a really smart, moving way to prove how destructive and reductive a term like "redskin" can be, in general usage and especially for the name of a football team.

I'm not sure even Budweiser's "horse and dog are friends" ad can beat that.

[ThinkProgress]

Washington Metro's Super New, Super Sexist New Ads

Shout out to my friend Shira for writing a great Happy Place article about the horribly sexist new Washington Metro ads claiming that, basically, "Women Be Shopping!" Give it a read!

Actor Paul Walker Has Passed Away

At age 40, actor Paul Walker (most well known for his Fast and Furious series), died in a car crash while attending a charity event north of Los Angeles today. A friend of his, driving the car, also perished. Walker was known for using his fame and fortune to help causes he cared deeply about, especially shark conservation. /Film wrote about the accident and a little about Walker himself, and included a statement from his representation. Variety has a full obituary. It's horrible when anyone so young passes away. He will be missed. My thoughts go out to his friends and family during this terrible time.

THR: Animals Were Harmed

This Hollywood Reporter feature on the complete inadequacy of AHA regulations and oversight is both revealing and horrifying. I had heard rumors about this for years. I'm glad that THR was bold enough to print this. I hope the outrage it causes effects the changes that are clearly necessary to get this reprehensible problem under control.

15 Things to Know from the IPCC's New Global Warming Report

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) released a new report last week. The biggest news is that it specifies that scientists have a 95-100% certainty over humans' role in climate change which is, that we're causing it. ThinkProgress has a solid round-up of 14 additional highlights from the report.

Bob Peterson off "The Good Dinosaur"

Bob Peterson has been taken off as director of The Good Dinosaur. No replacement has been made yet. Pixar has replaced directors in the past (most controversially Brenda Chapman from Brave, possibly leading to the addition of a bunch of unnecessary, goofy humor that didn't really fit in with the mother-daughter story... though we'll never know whose idea it was to - spoiler alert - turn the mom into a bear, which was really the part of the story that took away from the strength it had in the first act). In one instance, this worked really well - when Brad Bird took over for Ratatouille and made it a truly beautiful, heartfelt, original movie. Of course, it very well may have been just as wonderful had it been with the original director, but Bird certainly produced a great product. In other instances, it certainly hasn't turned out bad, and probably was for the best (it's really impossible to know).

Honestly, The Good Dinosaur is not the Pixar film I'm looking forward to most (that would be Inside Out, although the untitled Day of the Dead movie is a close second), so I really don't think it'll be that big of a deal. That being said, it always sucks to get replaced. It's a lot easier when they bring in a co-director to help out instead of full-on replacing (like Jennifer Lee is doing with Frozen, although that movie may have issues even she can't fix - goofy snowman and dog-like reindeer-sized issues). But it seems like here he's getting fully taken off the project, leaving co-director Peter Sohn to stand in until the Brain Trust finds a replacement (or maybe they'll just let Peter finish it up). I mean, it does premiere in less than a year after all!

Bob obviously knows how to make a great movie, as evidenced by his work co-directing Up. So here's hoping he's off working on something else great, and that the break was at least somewhat mutual. And, of course, let's hope that The Good Dinosaur is as brilliant and original as every Pixar film should be.

Women's Right to Choose Under Attack

It's happening all over the country. This is a good (if a few weeks old) overview on the State of the Union re: women's bodies. There is a lot to be done to fix all this mess. I wish I knew where to begin!

Better Get Started on Climate Change or Miami's Gone

Well, this is horrifying. Especially speaking as someone who lives on a tiny island.

Different Perspectives

Super fascinating looking at the makeup and demographics of the world in terms of 100 people.

[via The Hairpin]

Read 'The Extraordinary Science of Junk Food' Now!

This is one of those articles where every worst fear you've had about the food industry is proven true over and over again. It's almost painful to read, but very worth it. Recently, I had started eating dry cereal in the morning because I kept forgetting to bring in my (unsweetened!) yogurt - NEVER AGAIN. It's awful. I mean, I knew it was awful, but this is so many pages of factual awfulness.

America needs to get on the Unprocessed October train every month of the year now - RIGHT now.

Eternity? Is 600 Years Close Enough?

In a move that surprised no one, a Swiss court relieved a farmer of his 655-year-old debt to a Catholic church. The unsurprising part? That a Catholic church would assume that a farmer (who may or may not even be related to the original debtor) would pay a debt "for eternity" as the debtor originally promised or that this Swiss debtor, his family, and descendants would continue to pay the debt for 655 years? No, it's that only in 2013 would it come to a head either way - a) that the church would try to get the debt in writing and "legitimize" it (after 655 years!) and b) that the family would finally say "enough is enough! 655 years is close enough to eternity!"

My favorite part, though, is that the court ruled against the church because "the legal customs practised in the 14th century had ceased to be valid when Switzerland reformed its lending sector in the mid-1800s." As Marshall would say...

[via The Hairpin]

Best Week Ever Best Be Back!

And it is! It is back! And I know one of the new cast members, Jared Logan. He's super funny - you can meet him, too, right now via the internet!

Get More: 

Funny Videos, Viral Videos

I also know one of their writers and he's super funny, too! The new Best Week Ever is going to be the best Best Week Ever!

[via Vulture]

Pixar in Space!

To infinity... and costumes!

Someone over at NASA clearly just watched the Toy Story series...

[via VideoGum]

Remember When Fox News Imploded? Here's a Reminder

Just in case you forgot that other thing that happened on election night:

The Daily Show
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What a delight. What a DELIGHT!

[for more context]