IT’S A DAY of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a comfy chair.
We’ve hand-picked the week’s best reads for you to savour.
1. Bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do?
You no doubt remember the show Cops, the US-based real-life police show, which showed footage of arrests, pursuits, and all sorts of police activity. It was a polarising show, as this longread about its popularity shows.
(The Marshall Project, approx 32 mins reading time)
But just like the cell phone–captured deaths of Walter Scott and Eric Garner, the “Cops” clip seemed to expose a set of deeply personal beliefs about our frontline guardians of law and order. In one set of videos, they are the ruthless agents of a racist justice system; in another, they are unflinching heroes conquering the forces of depravity.
Ben Raines, a journalist writing for the site AL.com, believes he has located the wreck of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to journey to the United States. The remains are partially buried in mud in the lower Mobile-Tensaw Delta, and were exposed during the recent bomb cyclone.
(AL.com, approx 33 mins reading time)
The vessel also bore telltale signs of being burned, as the Clotilda reportedly was. In later years, the slavers bragged of burning the ship at the conclusion of their voyage in July of 1860 in an effort to hide proof of their human trafficking. Evidence of a fire on the wreck included a distinctive patina on wrought iron chain plates used to hold the masts and bowsprit in place, and charred beams and timbers in the ship’s interior.
The fantastic film Lady Bird hits Irish screens next month – to whet your appetite, have a read of this interview with its director, Greta Gerwig. Saoirse Ronan has been nominated for an Oscar for her role in the film.
(Vulture, approx 25 mins reading time)
As what the New York Observer once called “the Meryl Streep of mumblecore” — the hyperlow-budget late-aughts movie movement led by directors like Joe Swanberg and the Duplass brothers — Gerwig was near-instantly labeled an “It” girl and invested with all sorts of theories about what her success and acting style meant. Her brand of hipness was confusing — was she really that earnest? Were they all that earnest? How could that possibly be cool? Critics, especially those of an older generation, were suspicious.
Marilyn Hartman was found stowing away on a flight this week – but it wasn’t her first time. In fact, she is a serial stowaway, as this article shows.
(The Guardian, approx 10 mins reading time)
The techniques that got her into the UK last week mirrored those she’s been practicing since 2009, according to multiple police reports. These include ducking under the velvet ropes, piggybacking her way into small groups, presenting other people’s boarding passes, or simply answering “yes”, when airport staff ask leading questions such as: “Are you Maria Sandgren?”
5. The latest search for the MH370
A ship called the Seabed Constructor is searching what could be the final resting place of the Malaysia Airlines jet the MH370, which vanished in 2014 with 239 passengers on board. But the project is shrouded in mystery. Here’s what we do know.
(New York Magazine, approx 11 mins reading time)
In a final report issued last October, officials lamented their failure to find the plane, a turn of events they labeled “almost inconceivable.” To explain the plane’s absence, officials surmised that something peculiar must have happened. Perhaps whoever was flying the plane descended and then flew in circles for a while before heading south. If that was the case, the plane could have ended up in a 25,000-square-kilometer area to the north of the completed search area. But Malaysia, the country ultimately responsible for the search, didn’t feel confident enough in the idea to green-light a continuation.
6. Can Planet Earth feed 10 billion people?
That’s what this article is asking – and scarily enough, it says we have just 30 years to find out the answer.
(The Atlantic, approx 44 mins reading time)
Exactly how much more meat tomorrow’s billions will want to consume is unpredictable, but if they are anywhere near as carnivorous as today’s Westerners, the task will be huge. And, Prophets warn, so will the planetary disasters that will come of trying to satisfy the world’s desire for burgers and bacon: ravaged landscapes, struggles over water, and land grabs that leave millions of farmers in poor countries with no means of survival.
…AND A CLASSIC FROM THE ARCHIVES…
The incomparable Mark E Smith died this week, aged just 60. Here’s an old interview he did with The Quietus.
(The Quietus, approx 21 mins reading time)
“I think that’s probably right, yeah. I don’t think they appreciate what they’ve got, but you’ve got to be careful because you end up sounding like a grumpy old man. It was like this when I was fucking 12. I used to read all the fucking time, but I was the only one at the fucking school who did. I went to a grammar school but I was the only one who actually read anything. It’s not because of computers or anything. People have always been pig ignorant! Ha! There’s nowt you can do about it! Ha ha ha! Cheers!”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say