Welcome back for another edition of Hot Links! This time we’ll take a tour of Amor Towles’ home library, learn about lots of corporate malfeasance, hear about a woman who was wrongfully accused of generating AI deepfakes (and what that means for our increasingly confused understanding of what is even real anymore), discuss some of the downsides of the modern web, spend some time with the very unpredictable Kid Rock, get a few local restaurant recommendations, and more!
Book Tour: At Home with Amor Towles
from Washington Post
With his short story collection Table for Two recently released, the author of hit novels like Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow gives reporter John Williams a tour of his very nicely appointed library.
Link (Gift): https://wapo.st/4e3K6iu
How 3M Discovered, Then Concealed, the Dangers of Forever Chemicals
from The New Yorker
In collaboration with ProPublica, reporter Sharon Lerner looks at the effects of chemicals created by 3M known as PFAS, the shocking extent to which they have contaminated everything and everyone, and the ways that the corporation hid the truth from the public long after they first knew about it.
Link (Free*): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/27/3m-forever-chemicals-pfas-pfos-toxic
How Walmart’s Business Model Encourages Gender Discrimination
from Literary Hub
In this excerpt from their book Fair Shake: Women & the Fight to Build a Just Economy, authors Naomi Cahn, June Carbone, and Nancy Levit look at the way Sam Walton exploited his female employees to maximize profits, and the ways that some of these practices remain core to the company’s operations.
Link (Free): https://lithub.com/how-walmarts-business-model-encourages-gender-discrimination
Waste Deep: How Tyson Foods Pollutes US Waterways and Which States Bear the Brunt
from the Union of Concerned Scientists
Omanjana Goswami and Stacy Woods provide an in-depth summary of the group’s analysis of the massive poultry processing company’s dumping of harmful chemicals between 2018 and 2022.
Link (Free): https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/waste-deep#top
She Was Accused of Faking an Incriminating Video of Teenage Cheerleaders. She Was Arrested, Outcast, and Condemned. The Problem? Nothing Was Fake After All.
from The Guardian
Reporter Jenny Kleeman interviews Raffaella Spone, who was falsely accused of and subsequently pilloried for allegedly harassing her daughter’s cheerleading competitors with deepfake images designed to get them in trouble. A chilling lesson in the ways that people will use the threat of little understood new technologies to try and get themselves out of trouble, with no thought for who might suffer the consequences.
This Irresistible Revolution: On Digital Tech and Antón Barba-Kay’s A Web of Our Own Making
from The Point
“Do you remember what it was like to wake up before you had a smartphone? For me, it happened either slowly or all at once: perhaps I would smile at my wife, say something sweet or ridiculous to her, judge the light through the window; alternatively, if I had to get up quick, I’d jump up and take the dog outside, shoulders squared against the weather. Now I wake up in exactly one way every day: I reach for my phone.”
Link (Free*): https://thepointmag.com/criticism/this-irresistible-revolution/
We Need to Rewild the Internet
from Noema
Very knowledgeable writers Maria Farrell and Robin Berjon draw parallels to ecological destruction and rewilding to explain the ways that the internet has gotten worse and what can be done to fix it.
Link (Free): https://www.noemamag.com/we-need-to-rewild-the-internet/
How Kid Rock Went from America’s Favorite Hard-Partying Rock Star to a MAGA Mouthpiece
from Rolling Stone
David Peisner sits down with Bob Ritchie aka Kid Rock to talk about his career and increasingly vocal support of Donald Trump (it’s no secret that Rolling Stone is not a fan). The resulting interview may be one of the strangest ever conducted but it makes for riveting reading.
Link (Free*): https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/kid-rock-republican-mouthpiece-trump-maga-bff-1235019530/
30 Essential Eats Down the Shore
from Philadelphia
The Philly-based magazine writes up 30 of their favorite New Jersey shore eateries, including Avalon’s own Summer Salt, Fishin’ Pier Grille, and Kohler’s Bakery. Any favorites you think should have made the list?
Link (Free*): https://www.phillymag.com/foobooz/best-shore-restaurants/
Tales from the Trenches of Red Lobster’s Endless Shrimp
from Slate
Speaking of food, reporter Luke Winkie talks to the employees of the suffering seafood chain about their experience working during the era of unlimited shellfish.
Link (Free): https://slate.com/life/2024/05/red-lobster-restaurant-closing-bankrupt-endless-shrimp.html
Ranking Science Fiction’s Most Dangerous Awards
from Reactor
James Davis Nicoll lists the SF & Fantasy lit trophies that are the most likely to be useful for “legitimate self-defense.”Â
Link (Free): https://reactormag.com/ranking-science-fictions-most-dangerous-awards/
Does One Line Fix Google?
from Tedium
While it may not fix all of the growing issues with Google Search, there is a quick fix one can make to at least make it look the way it did 20ish years ago, free of all the ads and irrelevant AI summaries.
Link (Free): https://tedium.co/2024/05/17/google-web-search-make-default/
* = This site offers readers a limited number of free views per month, or other possible restrictions like requiring registration.
The library does not receive any compensation for sharing links to outside sites.
The opinions expressed here or on the linked sites do not reflect the opinions of the Avalon Free Public Library or its employees.
Image created with Midjourney prompt: a river leaking colorful chemicals into the ocean.
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