The Indians behind glass:
Late fall is Indian history season, Veronica Pasfield says knowingly. In the run-up to Thanksgiving, public schools always teach kids about Native Americans. In November 2001, Pasfield’s son’s third-grade class in Ann Arbor, Michigan, started a unit about a Great Lakes people called the Potawatomi. They visited the Great Lakes Indians dioramas in what was then called the Exhibit Museum of Natural History in Ann Arbor for their final activity.
Afterward, the boy illustrated the cover of his folder that contained all the worksheets from his unit on the Potawatomi Indians. He drew three deep graves with skeletons at the bottom and tombstones that said “R.I.P.”
“This was devastating to me as a mother,” Pasfield says, “because my son is an enrolled tribal member.” The family belongs to the Bay Mills Indian Community. They are also Anishinabe, a grouping that includes the Potawatomi. “He has been ritualized properly for his age. He has been a participant in ceremony his entire life.” They had taken him to language classes. He had helped build a community canoe. Yet something about seeing the Exhibit Museum’s wall of glassed-in, miniature Great Lakes dioramas made him think of death.
A very sad RIP to Leslie Feinberg:
Leslie Feinberg, who identified as an anti-racist white, working-class, secular Jewish, transgender, lesbian, female, revolutionary communist, died on November 15.
Julia Wong on “Serial” (no i still haven’t listened i know, but that’s no reason you cannot have your own sprightly disagreements!):
But in the latest episode of Serial, “The Deal with Jay,” my reaction to Koenig and her all-white production team’s attempts to portray non-white subjects tipped from discomfort to distress. The episode provides the series’ first in-depth discussion of Jay, a black friend of Adnan’s on whose testimony the entire case rests. The problem of Jay’s inconsistent but damning testimony has been teased since the beginning of the podcast — Adnan is only innocent if Jay is lying. Koenig’s treatment of Jay provides the ugly counterpoint to her portrayal of Adnan and Hae. In Episode 8, it becomes clear that Koenig is deploying another classic racial trope — that of the “model minority.”
Remember the “Poor Teeth” essay? Here’s a great interview with the author:
Most journalists, I’d wager, don’t have direct experience with poverty but are somewhat aware of their own privilege, and that translates to treating reporting of poverty preciously and yet at a distance—this pity tone, which is just an indirect outlet for their own fears and biases. Do you think you’re telling the untold story because you drove your own car into the ghetto to get some quotes and a few shots of shivering children for a 10-inch write-up on the cost of natural gas and a family who had their heat turned off? If you’d stuck around you might have seen that family build an electric-blanket fort in the middle of the living room, huddle over a game of Monopoly and crack up all night long about how screwed they are. You’re not qualified to pity anyone, and you’re not necessarily envied in the ways that matter most.
Azaria Chamberlain was killed by a dingo and your jokes are not funny and what happened to the Chamberlains IS REALLY FUCKING SAD:
The Chamberlain saga managed to find a niche in American pop culture. It was the case that launched a thousand quips, on shows like “Seinfeld” and “The Simpsons,” and in the 2008 film “Tropic Thunder.” That unfamiliar word, dingo, had something to do with it. So did a 1988 film, “A Cry in the Dark,” in which Meryl Streep resorted to another of her many foreign accents to play Lindy Chamberlain. The mother’s cry, “The dingo’s got my baby,” became a punch line, usually rendered in a mock Australian accent as “The dingo ate my baby.”
Yeah, they know it’s Christmas.
Just a heads up if you’re at work or wherever that the video in the Azaria Chamberlain link autoplays.
Leslie Feinberg wins for that intro sentence alone. A+.
Her last words were “Remember me as a revolutionary communist.” Amazing. Stone Butch Blues is such a great, defining read.
God I should make that my sig-line at work
Oh man, I binge-listened to Serial during my train journey this weekend. I haven’t gotten to the episode Julia Carrie Wong is referencing but reading her piece definitely brings into focus some small, heretofore peripheral disquiet I’ve had about the show and its treatment of race.
I haven’t finished listening, so haven’t read most of the recent critiques to avoid spoilers or whatever… BUT Why is ANYONE AT ALL surprised by a This American Life spinoff being so, so This American Life-y? I totally get that this points to bigger issues about race and journalism, which, fine.. But the show is principally one of storytelling to me and less about hard-hitting journalism.
The price on that Dakota apartment is 26,000,000….that cannot be right?!?!?!?!?!?!
I don’t know. That’s about 100 times what my house cost. That sounds about right? I mean, location location location, after all.
Ya, you know I was so convinced it must be a mistake but then I looked around a little and…I don’t know. Having that kind of money is unfathomable to me.
Unfortunately, not a typo. The NYTimes real estate section does a story about the highest-price transaction in the city each week and they are generally in that range.
According to a web site, the apartment was appraised at $9 million, and so “of course” it’s on the market for $25 million.
That’s about right. The Dakota is one of the most desirable buildings in the city. It’s notoriously difficult to get board approval (they rejected Madonna at one point) and is incredibly stunning. The walls are over a foot thick and the apartments are pretty much unmatched in Manhattan, or maybe anywhere. Throw in that Bacall magic, with a sprinkling of residual Lennon lore, and voilá, $26,000,000.
totally crazy, man.
yes! and rosemary’s baby happened there, too, so if you do buy the apartment don’t go to any parties at the neighbors’ okay?
“Do They Know It’s Christmas” is the worst Christmas song ever, followed only by “Christmas Shoes.” Why do they feel the need to put it out into the world again???
My vote for worst Christmas song ever goes to “Happy Christmas (War is Over)” but then, thankfully, I have never heard “Christmas Shoes.”
Grown up Christmas List should be top 5 at least.
Do yourself a “favour” and listen to Christmas Shoes. Bring insulin. Seriously, it will put all other Christmas songs in a whole new light for you.
Realistically I am probably only going to listen to Mariah Carey’s seminal hit “All I Want for Christmas is You” for the next 2 months.
it’s the only real christmas song
I would also like to contribute the Pet Shop Boys’ “It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas,” which is lesser-known but still great, equal parts cynical and sweet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZJNNUahv5c
And John Prine’s “Christmas in Prison,” a truly great Christmas song. It’s a waltz: “The searchlight in the big yard swings round with the gun/ and spotlights the snowflakes like dust in the sun/ It’s Christmas in prison, there’ll be music tonight/ I’ll prob’ly get homesick. I love you. Goodnight.”
I would just like to point out that the above-quotes lyrics can also be sung to the tune of “Happy Christmas (War is Over).”
Back Door Santa – simultaneously not actually a Christmas song, and yet the only Christmas song you’ll ever need.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtTfosvGdTY
White Wine in the Sun by Tim Minchin (yes, the comedian). I actually tear up hearing it.
Edit: This is an actually good Christmas song, just to be clear
Has there been any new “classic” Christmas song since that one came out?
IMHO the definitive version is her backed by The Roots (and their roadie, Jimmy Fallon) on classroom instruments: YouTube link.
THAT IS WONDERFUL.
You’re making such good choices
“Christmas Shoes” is about a little boy buying shoes for his mother who’s in the hospital with cancer, so that she can look nice “if Mama meets Jesus tonight”. It’s barf-inducing and there’s (of course) a Hallmark movie based on it.
Is it possible this little boy had confused Jesus with Clinton Kelly from What Not to Wear?
This happens to me all the time.
I put a lot more stock in what Clinton Kelly thinks of me than what Jesus thinks of me.
So, what I took from this song:
1. What Christmas, apparently, is all about is cancer and boys losing their mums to horrible diseases.
2. Women *love* shoes, even when dying, possibly in excruciating pain.
3. Jesus is fashion savvy/has a shoe fetish? Or maybe Heaven has a no shoes/no service policy?
(The video clip is all sorts of creepy, btw.)
I think I’ll stick with the awesomest epitome of all awesome awesomeness, that Dropkick me Jesus jewel of a song which someone, bless their soul, mentioned in a comment to that truckin’ article.
We sing Dropkick Me Jesus once a year at my church – at coffee hour on Super Bowl Sunday. People get a kick out of singing it as they eat their doughnuts.
I have been listening to “Dropkick Me Jesus” over and over, and I have also branched out to all the songs in the related videos column. Including, but not limited to, “You’re the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly,” “The Lord Knows I’m Drinkin’,” and “It’s Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long.”
Thank god, I’m not the only one! I’ve been listening to it repeatedly *and* going around the house, humming and singing it 😀
My favourite by the same lyricist is Lean On Jesus (Before He Leans On You). At this point I’m not even sure if they’re being serious or ironic, but just the fact that someone came up with stuff like this makes me inordinately glad 😀
There’s a really great parody of Christmas Shoes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-O8clB0JvE
Or, if you’re much more cynical, it’s about a brilliant child con artist who’s going around scoring shoes from all the local stores by claiming Mama’s on her death bed and he just wants her to look nice for Jesus (and also she really likes those nice ones over there in the corner).
Mama’s probably waiting in the car to drive him to the next shoe store with a list of all the colors she wants.
Oh, I’ve always assumed he would come back after shift change to return the shoes for cash.
Even better!
You can tell I’d make a terrible con artist because I always forget you can do things like return purchases.
I’m just glad that we both arrived at the conclusion “That kid has to be scamming SOMEBODY.”
It’s what the season’s all about!
Ohhhh, “War is over” is what those children are singing!
War is over if you want it! If we all just want really hard, we can achieve world peace! Thanks, John Lennon!
Be careful! Two years ago I mentioned to someone that I had never heard “Christmas Shoes.” Next thing I know, it’s playing in the store as I’m walking the aisles looking for stocking stuffers. Truly terrible.
It is just so bad! I heard it recently and was shocked by how incredibly terrible it is.
There’s a wonderful edition of Desert Island Discs featuring Dame Claire Bertschinger, a nurse and humanitarian who was in Ethiopia doing famine relief work when that noxious song first came out. In the radio show she describes driving in her car listening to it, and thinking “Band Aid? They’re going to need more than a band-aid to deal with this. And what is this about Christmas? There’s a different religious calendar here–what are they talking about?” And she goes on to say nice things about the ultimate benefit gained from the huge publicity to the crisis, because, you know, she’s a nice person with her eye on the prize, etc., but I just loved that moment because it totally captured the absolute absurdity of the whole thing.
Tl;dr: that song is terrible. Desert Island Discs embiggens us all.
Somewhat unrelated, but did you see Kirsty Young talking about how overwhelming sexy Tom Jones was? he ‘pulsated sexuality’! . The interview is on iplayer-you can practically hear her swooning, it’s the best.
As an Africanist scholar friend of mine pointed out recently, Yes, in the Ebola-stricken parts of West Africa, YES THEY KNOW IT’S CHRISTMAS, because MANY OF THEM ARE CHRISTIAN.
My wife has a soft spot for “Christmas Shoes,” and I cringe every year when it comes on in the car. But she has to listen to my endless parade of podcasts.
Christmas Shoes is loathsome, but as someone who grew up in Oregon, “Christmas in the Northwest” takes the cake for awfulness. The first holiday season I spent on the East Coast, I realized I’d probably never hear Christmas in the Northwest again and I was SO HAPPY.
I lived in Seattle 7 years and never heard this song and intend to keep it that way, just the title sounds awful.
OH MY GOD. I FORGOT ABOUT THAT SONG.
THAT SONG IS SO BAD. *sobs*
oh GOD that is terrible. It’s the worst late-80s/early-90s sentimental crappy elevator music bullshit, it’s what your terrible aunt listens to while bitching about the price of Frangos at the mall.
Oh yeah was just coming down here to shudder about “Christmas in the Northwest”. Best part of living in CA is not hearing that terrible song.
“Clanging chimes of doom.” I do not even.
Do They Know It’s Christmas at least provides the opportunity to mimic the spotlight hogging Bono line “WELL TONIGHT THANK GOD IT’S THEM INSTEAD OF YOUUUUUUUU” in the privacy of your own car. “Wonderful Christmastime” by McCartney is the absolute worst. As soon as I hear that synthesizer intro I want to run screaming.
Ironically, U2’s version of Baby Please Come Home is probably my favorite pop Christmas song.
I love that version so much it pains me.
I Bono this at my sister whenever she’s complaining about something. I find it at least 600x funnier than she does.
You are a good sister.
Nice job. Extra props for turning Bono into a verb.
I think it’s important that all of you who have never heard “Christmas Shoes” continue avoiding it and listen to Patton Oswalt’s bit about it instead, which is glorious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq10bz3PxyY
When I saw him live, he did two bits BY REQUEST. This was one of them, along with angry comedy magician.
I would like to nominate the song (thankfully I do not know/remember its name) that my brother chose to play first thing on Christmas morning a few years ago about a cat sacrificing its life to save a mouse from the cold on Christmas, which made all of Christmas morning a real weepy downer.
No need to thank me 😉
My favourite line is “He was on his last legs and was almost *froze*”.
Other than this – hell’s bells and buckets of blood! What kind of twisted mind comes up with shit like this?
On the plus side, the line cat constellation made me think of Bertie Wooster, so all’s well with my little world tonight 🙂
“Just as you say. Well, A is male, B female. You follow me so far?”
“You have been lucidity itself, sir.”
“And owing to … what’s that something of circumstances you hear people talking about? Cats enter into it, if I remember rightly.”
“Would concatenation be the word for which you are groping?”
“That’s it. Owing to a concatenation of circumstances B has got it into her head that A’s in love with her. But he isn’t. Still following?”
“Yes, sir.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29N10-TQ9KE
My high school calc teacher had a small number of topics that would derail him instantly from any serious conversation or lesson he was involved in. (I wrote them all in very small print on a scrap of paper and tucked it into my book’s binding, for the good of all.) First and foremost on that list was “Christmas Shoes.” He hated it so very much, he said it was all a conspiracy, the kid was clearly sent on a mission by his – healthy – parents to steal from a mom & pop store, etc.
My favorite time of year was the first Monday after Thanksgiving, when radio stations started playing holiday songs… inevitably someone would mention it (I took one for the team a couple times) and no more work would get done that day.
I am like that with Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. One mention of it and I’m off on a rant about how bullshit it is. So Rudolph is bullied because of his nose, right? And what happens? It turns out he’s special – because of his nose. And not only that, he’s Santa’s favorite – because of his nose, natch – so everyone has to treat him well or get in trouble with Santa.
So here we have two fundamental problems. First, does Rudolph have any other qualities? Does he have a personality? Apparently not, because in the supposed happy ending of the song, he is still defined only by his nose – it just turns out to be a good thing rather than a bad thing. Second, as soon as Santa turns his back Rudolph is going to end up at the bottom of a pit somewhere. Some happy ending.
Off-topic but I’m reeling from a terror attack in Jerusalem that happened today. Praying for peace.
I’m always ambivalent about essays criticising journalists for pitying poor, because on the one hand, yeah, that’s true, people can live good and happy lives even in the worst of circumstances, and it’s not really on any of us to pity someone else, definitely.
But on the other hand, I think a lot of journalists actually DO know that, and also, “Look, poor people are so happy with their electric blanket fort and their monopoly games” is exactly the argument that shitty people use to justify not raising the minimum wage, not providing TANF assistance, not funding Medicare.
So, like, it’s true that life is more than the shitty parts of being poor, but also I think there’s some good reasons why it’s the shitty parts that people focus on.
I’m sure it’s just coincidental that “stop trying to emphasize you’re always going to do it wrong” is an argument in a neoliberal age, right?
I think you mean “empathize”? If so, excellent point.
Yes, that is what I meant. D’oh.
Oh, dang, okay. I thought “emphasize” was a pretty okay point, but “empathize” makes more sense, I’m with you.
But her point isn’t really about the right way and the wrong way for people with comfortable backgrounds to write about poverty, is it? Its about a lack of diversity in the profession. If journalism as a profession were representative of the population it’s rresenting, then the complexity of poor people’s experiences will come through without anyone taking a class on “how to represent The Poor.”
Your jokes are not funny, indeed! In another inappropriate reference, Oz’s band name in Buffy always leaves me with such a bad taste in my mouth.
Many of the quotes cited in the Serial article are descriptions from other people than Sarah Koenig. And yeah, I get that she has the editorial ability to pick and choose which quotes… but framing Jay as the “thug” seems like a natural progression of how she is telling the story? Jay even calls himself the criminal element of the school- and he says that TO THE COPS.
So now I find myself in the awkward position of having to defend an all-white staff (a thing that is unfortunate) against my white friends emailing me these race articles and asking my perspective since I’m first gen Asian American (yikes). But then again, as shit goes, I’m probably just a whitewashed model minority asshole myself so maybe I’m too far gone?? I’m usually fairly sensitive to this so it’s surprising to me that my spidey senses haven’t gone off.
ETA: I like the podcast a lot, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a lot of problems. For example, it’s probably a literal nightmare for everyone involved right now (except Mail Ch/Kimp).
I think this did a good job of explaining why these “the problem with Serial” pieces aren’t clicking with me (though, also, I am white, and may just not be picking up on things): http://jaimegreen.net/post/102812521331/the-probl…
Thanks for posting. That does a great job summarizing the position I was struggling to articulate. Basically, both of these pieces on race would seem really persuasive to someone who was’t a Serial listener (Nicole is a prime example), but taken in context the examples feel cherry-picked.
It also seems weird coming after the most recent episode. Until this, I was 100% on the Jay is shifty train, and after listening, I’m not so sure. He sounded like a confused and upset kid! Maybe (probably) mixed up in something really awful, but that episode made me sympathize with him for the first time. Also, was he ever identified as black before this most recent episode? I definitely didn’t realize until Sarah Koenig talked about the jury.
Totally agree! This was the first episode that made me feel bad for him/seriously consider the possibility that Adnan is the one who’s been lying this whole time. Koenig’s description of him as seeming like he was frustrated and wanted to hit something didn’t make him sound thuggish–it made him sound like someone who could be having a natural reaction to a really stressful situation of journalists showing up unannounced at his house/the resurfacing of a traumatic experience he thought was over.
Also, it doesn’t much help Wong’s argument to take quotes from other people (the “gen pop” joke and other students saying Jay was shady) and criticize her for using them and giving them their appropriate context.
I guess I generally agree with everyone that the all-white staff is a problem just in and of itself, and the podcast definitely has issues–but these aren’t them.
Not disagreeing or agreeing (I always struggle with these kinds of things- first, the sharp pang when I hear that something I enjoy has been criticized, then trying to read the critical opinions and understand them, then waffling between “what! no way” and “this is horrible how did I not see this!” and talking with other people about it and maybe eventually deciding for myself how I feel)
I would like to point out that what I read in Wong’s argument on the quotes from other people (and maybe this is reading too much into it) was that while the words weren’t Koenig’s, she or someone on her staff CHOSE them to represent Jay out of the soundbytes they were presented with. Was it necessary for her to include the “gen pop” explanation, or the descriptions that he was shady? Maybe she was just presenting everything she heard in equal measure but what Wong is (I believe) saying is that it’s likely the story was edited in a way to portray Jay in a specific way that Koenig and her team didn’t necessarily consciously choose but nevertheless might show their basic biases. Like they could have introduced Jay as a lacrosse player who held a job down and supported his mom and grandmother, and Adnan was a guy who had many girlfriends and lied to his parents about them.
Yeah, the first episode, you hear the police interrogation/interview and he’s identified as “Jay [redacted], black male.”
Thanks! I must have missed that (probably because it was the first episode/before I got hooked and started listening with hyper concentration haha).
I totally agree. I’m sure it is at least somewhat problematic in the simplistic way that race is handled, but every thinkpiece that I’ve seen on ‘Serial’s race problem’ has been unsuccessful in its appeal. The “model minority” argument that leads the Buzzfeed article is just proposterious:
Hae is introduced to us as “smart and beautiful and cheerful and a great athlete” as well as that most Asian of Asian stereotypes — “responsible.” Adnan fills the role as well. Koenig allows Rabia Chaudry, a family friend, to provide our first portrait of Adnan: “He was an honor roll student, volunteer EMT. He was on the football team. He was a star runner on the track team. He was the homecoming king. He led prayers at the mosque. Everybody knew Adnan to be somebody who was going to do something really big.”
This is how they were described by friends, people who actually knew them. These are facts. That Hae was smart and beautiful is just how it was; it’s not deifying her race. That Adnan was an honor roll student and a volunteer EMT is presented as a contrast to the state’s view of him as a cold-blooded killer.
Also: I’m from a non-US country so I might be reading the culture wrong, but I think it’s a stretch to incorporate Pakistani immigrants into the model minority myth. I don’t think Pakistani immigrants are seen through the same favorable stereotypes, and certainly being muslim brings a whole shade of suspicion and hostile treatment into the picture, which I think lumping the two together conveniently ignores.
Prior to 9/11, I think all South Asians were painted with the model minority brush. That being said, yeah, it’s been complicated a bit by the US’ War on Terrorism, but by and large I think South Asians immigrant communities in the US (Pakistanis included) are still seen as being more upwardly mobile than Blacks, so the whole “model minority myth as a veiled tool of anti-Black racism” thing still applies.
The interesting thing to me as an outsider to both communities is that I think 9/11 made some South Asian Americans more politically progressive and more sympathetic to Black folks because there was suddenly a whole “ohhh so this is what it’s like to be racially profiled” feeling. But by and large, Pakistanis (and South Asian communities as a whole) tend to have more postive economic and educational indicators in the US in comparison to Black communities, which then in turn reinforces the model minority myth. <a href=”http://(http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/asianamericans-graphics/smaller-groups/)” target=”_blank”>(http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/asianamericans-graphics/smaller-groups/)
Of course, if I’m totally off, I would def appreciate a counterargument! I’m also incredibly conscious that a lot of things can be hidden by economic and educational indicators too.
***preposterous
disclaimer: I haven’t listened to the podcast!
Okay, that aside, I don’t think it’s a stretch that their friends and acquaintances would have viewed them through the lens of being a model minority; it’s an image that 1) many people think is okay and 2) many Asians and Asian Americans internalize. I don’t think that’s far off at all for Wong to call out the reinforcement of that notion in this piece–I’ve been on the receiving end of that through my entire time in school (eta: by many former friends and acquaintances).
I do think its interesting though that apparently being an athlete is portrayed as being part and parcel of it though because I don’t think that’s part of larger Asian stereotypes! But I think that’s something to tease out later.
While I mostly disagree with the Buzzfeed article, I also disagree with the notion that “these are facts.” Yes, these are quotes from people who know and are describing Hae, Adnan, and Jay. However, it’s Koenig and her team that are molding these quotes into a (very compelling) story. I don’t believe that Koenig and her team are purposefully trying to push in certain directions, but I do think that the questions they choose the ask, the way they frame and tell the story are colored by their assumptions and biases. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; how could they not be? Our view of the world is colored by our background and experiences. I think one of the most fascinating aspects of Serial is this idea of competing narratives and how each side has used certain “facts” to craft a narrative. Adnan had numerous relationships. To the prosecution, this fact is proof that he’s a liar and thus a killer. To the defense, this is proof that he wasn’t hung up on Hae. It’s all about how you frame the story. I think it’s interesting and sort of meta to think about how Koenig and her team are approaching this story.
I really agree with you Jen. I think there are absolutely biases, but I don’t think Koenig’s been falsely representing herself as objective. Part of why I like listening to the podcast is reacting to Koenig’s conclusions – a lot of the time critically. Like, the “Moor/Muslim” comment made me cringe. Sometimes she sounds like Liz Lemon trying to be progressive. It makes me think about what I would do in her shoes, as a writer- would I be better?
But on the other hand, when Adnan told Koenig she didn’t really know him, and she was just flabbergasted by that because she assumed their phone conversations gave her the full picture and she had to reassess, I found that moment to be really enlightening and a self-aware move by the editors.
So basically I think that Serial’s depiction of race is flawed, but it brings up a lot of interesting questions about perspective due to its format that could open the door to conversations ABOUT race so I’m hesitant to dismiss it entirely. That being said, the power imbalance created by the lack of diversity on staff is not cool. Although is it better that Koenig tries to get to the bottom of it (and possibly help Adnan if he’s innocent) than no one at all? I don’t know. Also she WAS asked to look into it, although I assume the podcast was not part of that request. Well, it is making me think!
Yes, I don’t think that Koenig’s misrepresented herself; I’m responding to allofthewhine’s (that screename is perfect, btw) assertion that “these are the facts.” When I listen to Serial, I think of Koenig as part of the story. I think that’s why you can have podcasts about the podcast and so on. Sure, people are speculating on what happened to Hae, but like you, they are also reacting to Koenig’s conclusions and choices. Why did she follow x lead but not y? Why does she lend credence to one witness (say, Asia), but not to others (Cathy?)? The point isn’t to dismiss her as an oblivious white lady who doesn’t get it, but rather that she’s not an omniscient narrator that’s just relaying the facts. I disagree with the Buzzfeed article’s argument that Koenig has framed some of the actors in the model minority mindset, but I wouldn’t go so far to say that she’s “just reporting the facts either.” I have no idea what questions she asked or what the entire interviews sounded like unedited. For me at least, it’s part of what makes the show so awesome and fascinating.
Re your ETA: I can’t imagine how it feels for any of the families involved at this point. Hae’s family is having to relive this horror on a weekly basis and consider that maybe their daughter’s killer was never caught and that an innocent man is in jail. If (a big If, obviously) Jay is innocent, his name has just been dragged through the mud again and for what? Quality entertainment?
As much as I’m enjoying the story, the fact that these are real people, real lives in the balance ethically makes me feel very uncomfortable.
That’s assuming that Hae’s family is listening at all.
It’s the #1 podcast in the US and is in the top 10 most downloaded podcasts in a half dozen other countries. I think it’s a stretch to imagine they aren’t aware of it at all.
They don’t have to be listening to every episode to be aware that someone is doing some investigating because they don’t believe the state’s story of Adnan as the murderer.
I’m sure they are aware of it. Didn’t Sarah say at one point that she had talked to them but they didn’t want to be involved? (I might be making that up.) But as far as being the most popular podcast in America, well, that doesn’t mean everybody listens. I live on the internet, but have never seen an episode of American Idol, GoT, Mad Men or Walking Dead. Popularity =/= ubiquity.
You may not have seen a single episode of those shows, but I bet you can tell me some very basic facts about them; you are aware of them by being exposed to pop culture on a daily basis.
My point is that it’s very popular media story that’s getting a lot of press. They have heard of it, they are aware of it, those wounds are getting opened again.
I’ve read actually that Hae’s family has returned to Korea and SK was unable to even locate them for an interview, so they may very well not be aware. (If they were present and available, would the podcast have proceeded the same way, I wonder?)
Do you think the podcast is setting up Jay as the potential killer? I couldn’t tell if the podcast was trying to set it up as “Adnan did it OR Jay did it, end of story.” I would hope that’s not what they are trying to do, because it seems to me to be such a false dichotomy. After six episodes, the only thing I’m sure of is that Adnan should not have been convicted–not that he’s not guilty, just that there’s not enough evidence to prove that he is. And the case against Jay is even flimsier, I think.
ETA: It’s quite possible that the episodes I haven’t heard yet will disabuse me of these notions.
I don’t know if it goes that far, but it definitely introduces reasonable doubt into the equation. Jay’s story changes multiple times (including in ways that are illogical), he admits to lying under oath, and he seems to be hiding something. I think their argument is that he is far more involved than he admits and, thus, probably should not have gotten such a sweet deal.
Part of what I find problematic about the show is that Sarah clearly really likes Adnan, so she doesn’t *want* him to be guilty and the only other suspect that we’ve heard anything about is Jay.
I’m not sure how far you are, but having listened to all of it so far I don’t think the podcast is trying to set up that dichotomy. Edit: While the podcast floats the idea of a third party the only other suspect that is discussed is Jay. So I can see how someone might be led to think that way.
(some minor spoilers from here to the end)
Other than some vague suspicions at the beginning, I don’t feel like the podcast is leading me to believe that Jay killed her (edit: although that could be the effect of the most recent episode, which paints Jay more sympathetically than the rest of the episode). It very much is leading the listener to believe that Jay knows more than he lets on (possibly to protect himself, or someone else).
Spoiler/crazy theory alert!
Stephanie. Everybody keeps saying the third person is Jenn. What if it is Stephanie? She is the one who connected Adnan to Jay, after all. Both of them would have reasons to try to protect her. She was the only one who went with Jay to his sentencing and she has refused to talk to anyone about it from the very beginning.
Someone claiming to be Hae’s brother showed up on reddit and said it’s been really tough. The mods verified him, so take that as you will… https://www.reddit.com/r/serialpodcast/comments/2…
I know this isn’t the open thread, but my day started off with a fire drill, which involved almost half a hour of standing outside in subzero temperatures and inadequate footwear, and then I got back to my desk to find a job rejection email. You’re welcome to join me in my pity party. Bring snacks.
You need some kind of reward. Like a brownie. Or an entire pan of brownies.
My aunt made a pan of brownies yesterday & hid them from her fiance! My hero.
I made a pan of brownies on Sunday and between my husband and I we have now eaten all but four. Oops.
I made lemon squares on Saturday night and divided the pan into 10 squares and had eaten 8 of them by Sunday night. I’m on the Anne Blythe diet.
I love you.
whoah! that’s some high quality shitty day starters you have going there. i have a (probably flawed) personal belief that everything happens in a balanced way, so when lots of shit is going down, I comfort myself with thinking that it’s preparing me for tons of awesomeness. Feel free to hop on my pseudo-religion train if it helps you too <3
Ughhh I hear that. Stuff at my job is all messed up today, boss is nowhere to be found, and I got rejected from a job I interviewed for a couple weeks ago that was the first bite I’d had in forever. It’s basically a “try not to cry at your desk” day.
There’s another job I had applied for where I met virtually all the stated criteria (it was pretty much exactly what I am currently doing) and they never got back to me, and then reposted the job. Ugh.
I am sure you and I will both find something eventually, but the waiting and hoping and being let down is so brutal.
Oh, inadequate footwear is The Worst. Hot chocolate with all the whipped cream?
Where do I apply to become this dog
Wow, I had no idea the “Dingoes ate my baby!” thing had a basis in a real-life case. Kind of reminds me of the woman who sued McDonalds when their coffee burned her – she’s been mocked and turned into the punchline of frivolous lawsuit rants, but she was actually very badly burned and McDonalds was completely irresponsible. Terrible how frequently and easily victims’ stories can be twisted against them.
The NYT did a great mini-documentary about that case: http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000002507537/s…
(I’ve actually liked all of their Retro Report stories.)
Thanks for introducing me to Retro Report! I found learning about topics that irritate me (e.g. the three strikes law) while vigorously scrubbing the fish tank is very therapeutic.
There’s an excellent documentary on Netflix called “Hot Coffee” about that case and the fucked-upedness of our legal system in general. I also learned that the lady was extremely badly burned, and that she wasn’t driving, and that the car was parked, and that McDonald’s had received hundreds of complaints about the coffee before. So now I defend that case to anyone who mentions it!
THIS SONG. For one thing, shoes are about the least practical present you could get for someone who’s bedridden. Can’t she meet Jesus in a nice hat or something?
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: THE DECEMBERISTS ARE COMING TO CANADA YESSSS
I didn’t get a job I really wanted for totally stupid logistical reasons that aren’t my fault and I’m pretty sure my current job is going to be relegated to part-time instead of full-time, so I really shouldn’t be spending the money on tickets, but I’ve been waiting to see them live for ages and goddamn do I need something to look forward to.
thank you for alerting me of the new tour dates I have a mighty need
Okay, my actual contribution to today’s link roundup is this video of a retirement home in Germany that has THERAPY ALPACAS for its residents https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMm4LMF16SY
Imagine hearing a knock at your apartment door so you open it and AN ALPACA TROTS IT SO YOU CAN WATCH TV TOGETHER, that is the world I want to live in!
Speaking of alpacas (THEY ARE SO AWESOME), here is a picture of an alpaca I met this summer. His owners have decided he must be gay, because he will happily hang out with the females, but never they never mate with him. (alpacas only mate if the female wants to – alpaca consent!)
Ooh, I saw this yesterday and audibally squealed in delight! Alas, I am not in Germany; I shall have to be content with the llama that lives alongside my two very furry horses.
(He’s pretty sweet for a llama, even though he bogs off at any attempts of friendship and smells incredibly, um, earthy.)
I’m not really fond the German language or food, but I will gladly embrace both if I can move here and hang out all day with alpacas!
Well, we live in a world where 4-H alpaca obstacle courses are a thing (the goat obstacle courses are pretty good, too, but watching 13 year old girls gently drag their alpaca through an obstacle course is a wonderous thing). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0abbeOLY8E. I’ve seen such a thing live- it is a true delight.
I’m so pleased that one of the regulation obstacles is “a small child tries to pet the alpaca.”
That was great! for the non-German speakers – the young woman is talking about how she got the idea from seeing alpacas on TV because they adjust well to living with humans and are as empathetic as dolphins.
Please allow me to alleviate everyone’s Christmas Song Suffering by offering Bob and Doug McKenzie’s “Twelve Days of Christmas” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DTwLqR071M
I haven’t heard that since high school.
One of few Christmas songs I’m OK with hearing prior to November 28. Thank you.
And here’s my little offering. The wonderful Neil Innes, he of Monty Python fame 🙂
“I don’t believe in Santa anymore
He’s never answered anything I’ve written
Him and all his “have you been a good boy?”
To me he’s just a silly fat old git
Now I don’t believe in Santa anymore
My trust in him was all a big mistake
Whoever saw him climbing down a chimney
And as for red nosed reindeer, what a fake
Each Christmas Eve I’d lie in bed and stay awake
Just to catch a glimpse of his white beard
I suppose it’s just coincidence that I was fast asleep
Whenever he appeared
Now I don’t believe in Santa anymore
With all his jingle bells and yo ho ho
Scaring kids and ripping off their grannies
He’s just a bloke in some grotty grotto
Now my credulence in Santa has run out
From now on he’s just a monumental bore
Since I found another way to have a stocking filled
I don’t believe in Santa anymore”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPQypHnmUe4
Can we also talk about the Indians Behind Glass piece? I grew up in a pretty mixed culture, where museums were rare. I have very distinct memories of Native American dioramas and the feelings they left me with on the rare occasions I saw them at museums. In particular, I remember going to the Smithsonian during a rotating exhibit series (each exhibit featured one of the 50 states, and it was my state’s turn). The exhibit featured so many weird things that my friends and I felt were not at ALL indicative of what our state was about, and I know I myself felt very much like The Other by the time we left. I think it’s great that so many museums are finally getting the hint and are taking down these awful dioramas. I know some institutions are working with tribes (gasp!) to either get artifacts returned to them or at least present things in a way that is respectful of the current tribal members.
Gah, I have so many thoughts about this, especially as someone who not only has Native heritage, but has studied archaeology and has worked in museums. Anyone else have experiences like this??
I’d love to hear other people’s experiences, too. This particular topic really resonates with me for whatever subconscious reason.
I would love to talk about that piece, but to be honest, I would mostly like to listen to other people talk about that piece. I don’t have any Native heritage (to the best of my knowledge, but the odds are pretty low) but I do have a BA in anthropology from a school with a pretty strong emphasis on North and South American archaeology, and one of the reasons I didn’t take any of the field school or grad school opportunities in the field was my uncomfortableness with the way my professors complained about NAGPRA and how hard it made their lives.
I am a big fan of museum dioramas in general but I absolutely understand and agree with the objections to the Native Culture dioramas. I did visit the BC Museum last summer and absolutely loved the walk-in displays, which I think are great in that they present the same point of view that the punchline of that article describes – the point of view of living among these objects in this setting, rather than the point of view of watching other people use them, and I think that’s pretty powerful.
I can’t tell you how angry it makes me as a person and an archaeologist to think that people are against NAGPRA. UGH. The idea that academics (of any field) think that they have a better right to tell people how to treat their own culture is just infuriating. Especially since anthropology and archaeology don’t exactly have stellar track records in regards to treating other cultures with anything remotely resembling dignity or respect.
I am definitely curious about the BC Museum now, after reading your comment and MilesofMountains below!
As an ethnic minority within Judaism and a veteran of a lot of crunchy-granola singing groups, I may have experienced something similar in a performing sense. I get very tired of Sephardic music being performed with this throaty sobbing wailing affect and a sense that its ancient and exotic and timeless and stuck in the past and full of womanly woman-ness and like, belted out of the uterus in a primal wail or something, when that hasn’t been my experience with that tradition at all (for one thing, men sing it too, and the default vocal tone is not a sobbing whine). I mean, this is my living identity, and it’s more to me than a colorful, misinterpreted footnote that supposedly provides a glimpse into the past.
Incidentally, I worked at the National Museum of the American Indian a bunch of years ago, and while I was there I heard that there was some animosity between NMAI (where exhibits are meant to show living Native cultures) and the part of the Natural History museum that focused on Native tribes, which was still very much of the glass case/Othering diorama mentality at the time (I don’t know if they’re still like that or not).
I think your experiences with your performing groups is completely related. It’s still the idea of presenting another culture as something mystical, ancient, or other-wordly, rather than as something that people (real people! Current people!) live and breathe and experience every day.
If I recall correctly, the beginning years of NMAI were very rough for those exact reasons. It’s my understanding that there was a lot of resentment that it even existed. Hopefully things have smoothed out over the years, but I can’t say.
The funny thing is that I grew up going to the Royal BC Museum regularly, and they have a few dioramas of a village, but they had no interest to me as a kid and I never really saw people looking at them. The rest of the exhibit was FAR more interesting, with huge totem poles, a walk-in longhouse, a life-sized pit house, and a dark hall full of masks that would light up one by one as an elder’s voice told you the character and story each depicted. The dioramas are so static and “dead” I don’t see the need for them, there are much more interesting and dynamic ways to talk about native history.
Of course, there’s a whole other can of worms about museums having the artifacts in the first place, and the ongoing disputes about the way they’re cared for (and whether it should be based on Western ideals of physical preservation vs. First Nations’ ideals of culturally appropriate preservation).
I got really excited by your reply, and then shockwave made The Toast completely crash when I tried to respond. Sigh. Second attempt!
That’s the thing – the dioramas are never that interesting. If anything, you can look at them as examples of decay within a museum (I have a morbid fascination with examining stuffed/taxidermied critters that are falling apart). I never got to have the experiences that you and jenavira have with the BC Museum (which I am adding to my list of places to visit if/when I ever make it to Victoria), so I think that’s why I have such a visceral reaction to them. There was never a second option, or a way to say “Okay, they did have these super boring dioramas, but look at all this cool stuff over here! I can walk through whaaat? AWESOME!”
The artifact can of worms is a fascinating one. I think a good example of an institution trying to “do good” would be the Peabody Museum at Harvard, where they regularly allow tribal members to have access to the collections, and have come to agreements on what can and cannot stay in the collection, what can and cannot be preserved, etc. I think they’ve done a really good job of trying to work with *living* cultures as opposed to simply representing native cultures as dead. No institution is perfect, but still. It gives me hope.
The “Indians Behind Glass” piece was SO interesting – thanks for posting! If anyone else has an interest in museum studies, or our performances of history, I really recommend Paige Raibmon’s “Authentic Indians”. It also includes a piece on the living dioramas of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, which is my favorite World’s Fair, and likely everyone’s.
This royally pissed me off today – http://pamie.com/2014/11/barbie-fucks-it-up-again… .
The link was posted in a chat room I share with two women I work with. They are part of a team that maintains thousands of machines probably worth in the millions, running a 24/7 graphics heavy service. And never once do they call for a Brian or Steven to help. Well, to be technical, we do have a Steven, but he sure as hell doesn’t do all the work for the women on our team.
I read it and it was the best thing I could do not to burst out laughing at work.
“Barbie not only waits until the next morning to return her sister’s computer, she completely takes all the credit that it’s no longer broken! What an asshole!”
But seriously, what? The moral of the story is, “tee hee, girls can’t actually use computers”???
Nicole, every “Link” post, and I mean EVERY one, has taught me or at least made me aware of the complexities, the joy (and, unfortunately, the evil) that the world can hold. The Native American piece is a perfect example; super informative, well written and now I know how cool/uncool museum dioramas can be in depicting aboriginal cultures.
I just love what your choice of links, is what I’m saying!
Unfortunately, my mother ADORES “Do They Know It’s Christmas” (she was in law school when it came out) and last night she cranked it up really loud and started singing along and it was then that I understood the true meaning of Hell.
Gloria Steinem is coming to my campus! My very far away from everywhere campus!!!
Jaime Green wrote a response to Wong’s article about Serial, if you want some more spritely debate points! 🙂 “…[If] a student of mine wrote this about Serial, I’d tell them they were mischaracterizing their source. …In this analysis of a moment from Serial, Wong implies that Koenig doesn’t interrogate these impulses and responses in herself, neither in the immediate vicinity of this moment nor throughout the rest of the podcast. When in fact, as any listener of Serial would know, the exact opposite is true.” http://jaimegreen.net/post/102812521331/the-probl…
Nepotism gave us George W. Bush as president. I don't think anything more needs to be said.
Thank god, I'm not the only one! I've been listening to it repeatedly *and* going around the house, humming and singing it 😀
My favourite by the same lyricist is Lean On Jesus (Before He Leans On You). At this point I'm not even sure if they're being serious or ironic, but just the fact that someone came up with stuff like this makes me inordinately glad 😀
Wait, the facebook tag is “Come and get your links” and no mention of this? http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/guardians-of…