Link Roundup! -The Toast

Sansa enjoys having many toys, and also sleeping during Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Small things non-Muslims can do to support Muslims right now (I would never actually start a convo with someone on public transportation under literally any circumstances short of “I am bleeding to death, please call 911,” or assume a person is Muslim based on their dress, FWIW, but the rest of the list seems pretty basic human responsibilities):

If you see a Muslim or someone who might be identified as Muslim being harassed, stop, say something, intervene, call for help.

If you ride public transportation, sit next to the hijabi woman and say asalam ‘alaykum (That means ‘peace to you.’). Don’t worry about mispronouncing it; she won’t care. Just say “peace” if you like. She’ll smile; smile back. If you feel like it, start a conversation. If you don’t, sit there and make sure no one harasses her.

If you have a Muslim work colleague, check in. Tell them that the news is horrifying and you want them to know you’re there for them.

If you have neighbors who are Muslim, keep an eye out for them. If you’re walking your kids home from the bus stop, invite their kids to walk with you.

BIG OL’ HAMILTON INTERVIEW KLAXONNNNN:

Daveed Diggs: One day I was running to the gym, and I got lost. I’m in the Bronx somewhere. And this, like, seventeen-year-old kid is crossing the street. I’m running past him, and he dropped his stuff on the ground. “Oh my god, you’re Thomas Jefferson!” [laughs] I was like, “That’s the first time anyone’s ever said that to me, but yeah. I am.” And then, you know, he took a bunch of selfies, and we talked for a little while.

ahhhh

Groff: My aunt and uncle, who are Mennonites, came to see it. They’re literal dairy farmers from the fields of Pennsylvania. And they were blown away. And I was like, “Did you follow, like, the rap and stuff?” And they were like, “Totally! We got all of it!” And [my uncle] was like, “It’s this, and Fiddler on the Roof. Best shows I’ve ever seen.” I was like, there you go.

Also, my perfect niece just linked me to the Chicago tour announcement on Facebook and said “HEY, AUNT NICOLE, GUESS WHAT WE COULD DO FOR MY 21ST BIRTHDAY?” (love and respect the hustle) and now I’m plotting what a great excuse it would be to take her and her equally perfect younger sister to a show and a MASSIVE Chicago dinner, “for their education.” Also, I will obvi host a Chicago meet-up.

Why Stan Grant wants to cover Indigenous issues instead of his foreign policy beat going forward:

Few Australians could have known how we – Indigenous people – felt when we heard the booing of Goodes. They could not have known what wounds that reopened; what painful memories it revived.

I had been back in Australia for a while by then but this felt like my true homecoming. This was a reminder of the country I had grown up in, a country that made us feel apart; a country in which the black kids I went to school with all sat apart in our own section of the playground. It was a country I had thought – had hoped – we had moved beyond.

In July I wrote an article for Guardian Australia that sought to tell our story; not to look into the minds and hearts of those who were booing Goodes, but to tell readers how we felt; what we heard in those boos. I wrote how we felt estranged in our land and how that humiliation of Goodes roared like a howl across our history of dispossession, injustice and suffering.

This piece on the story behind Spotlight destroyed me:

The first stories in the series included a telephone number at the Globe that people could call to report additional clergy sexual abuse, and survivors came forward in droves. More documents came to light, and the story grew and grew. “It kept tentacling,” Pfeiffer said. “Ben Bradlee, Jr.”—then the assistant managing editor, played by John Slattery in the movie—“once we got all these personnel files, he started saying, ‘We can’t just do these priest-du-jour stories anymore.’ There were horrific stories in the files. But at some point you just stop writing about individual stories. We began looking at larger issues. Why did it happen? What was the role of the laity or the lack of the role of the laity? What’s the psychology of the priests? Why did there seem to be more boys and men coming forward than girls and women?” (Some reasons: priests had access to boys that they didn’t have to girls, in church, in their homes, on camping trips; and, chillingly, because more boys were targeted, in part because they were less likely to talk. Poor families were targeted, too: mothers who needed help, children who needed care.)

bitches gotta eat: Do black girls even get depressed?

no one in my house was talking about depression. that’s something that happened to white people on television, not a thing that could take down a Strong Black Woman. which also fucked with me on the “why are you listening to smashing pumpkins instead of [insert name of popular early 90s r+b artist]? are you even black!?” level. siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh. so i was 1 super fucking depressed 2 super fucking depressed with no one to talk to about it who wasn’t going to immediately suggest child services remove me from my home and 3 super fucking depressed while clocking in on the low end of my skinfolk’s negrometers because i identified hard with courtney love and read sassy magazine because essence wasn’t really speaking to me yet so wasn’t this whole thing yet another way i was trying to be white?

Academic Job Listings for My Exes is a scream in every sense of the word:

Macalester College’s Department of Art and Art History will receive applications for the position of Assistant Professor of Studio Art with expertise in Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. Preference will be shown to candidates whose mothers still pay their car insurance. A willingness to serve the program, department, college, and university communities via housework, cooking, or cunnilingus is not required. For full consideration, submit cover letter, CV, and three letters of eviction.

Denzel Washington is going to produce all ten of August Wilson’s plays for HBO:

“I’m really excited that [the estate] would put that in my hands and trust me,” Washington said during the event. “That’s good enough for me. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

The premium network would role out one film a year, Washington said. In addition to Fences, Wilson’s ten-play collection consists ofRadio Golf, King Hedley II, Jitney, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, The Piano Lesson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and Gem of the Ocean.

Mallory handles this question well, but I am just…

Q. Christmas Hell: My problem is that the holidays is the only time that everyone gets together. It is crowded, hectic, and fun. Except my sister insists that her autistic son be involved in all activities with his cousins. He is sensitive to noise, flashing lights, and can melt down into tantrums that leave holes in walls. Last year, he threw a lamp into a TV while several of the boys played video games. My sons will do puzzles and spend time with him but have asked me why they are being punished by having to “babysit” him all the time. I keep biting my tongue but how do I tell her I think she is the problem here?

I would usually find a Wesley Crusher-esque dude like this annoying, but I knew him in college and he was really sweet and cool and goodthinkful, and so I can only wish him the best as he invariably becomes President in twenty years.

Which US TV shows are the most popular in various countries! FASCINATING. Sweden’s top US show is Mr. Robot!

Sansa likes her car harness, and was very good at the vet, who was unable to contain his enthusiasm for her beauty: