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Wright loved cars, understood their coming importance, and had a favorite color, Cherokee Red. Wright was one of the few architects and planners to realise very early on in the 20th century that the car, even in its crude, spidery, pre-1910 form, would transform life in the decades to come. Wright developed some of the first buildings that acknowledged the influence of the car. He realized that the humble petrol station could be a center of travel and community life, and designed a prototype in the late 1920s. [more inside]
posted by MovableBookLady at 7:47 PM PST - 24 comments

Be Better at Listening by Pomplamoose. Pomplamoose previously (which has more previously)
posted by Caduceus at 6:16 PM PST - 26 comments

After a remarkable 33-year run, Broken Arrow, the venerable journal of all things Neil Young, ceased publication four years ago. Now, every single issue of Broken Arrow has been indexed, catalogued, and made available for free browsing and downloading at the equally venerable Neil Young setlist site Sugar Mountain. [more inside]
posted by Dr. Wu at 3:22 PM PST - 13 comments

Why Casting Nagini as an Asian Woman in 'Fantastic Beasts' Is So Offensive [Vice] “There is no way to anticipate the plot of a movie that has been kept so tightly under wraps, but the trailer itself already perpetuates a number of harmful stereotypes about Asian women. Nagini, played by Claudia Kim, is in a cage while an audience watches her transform into a snake, echoing historical strains of the sexy, dangerous "dragon lady.” She also quite literally houses a piece of Voldemort’s soul, acting as a guarantor of his immortality, thus reifying the trope of Asian women as submissive. It is doubly hurtful because Nagini will be the second character of significance in the Harry Potter universe to be of East Asian heritage, following Cho Chang as Harry’s early love interest.” [YouTube][Trailer] [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 1:01 PM PST - 120 comments

Maimouna Youssef aka Mumu Fresh is an artist that any fan of gospel, jazz, soul and hip-hop needs to know. The Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and emcee is often playing a supporting vocalist role for The Roots, Femi Kuti, Common (and previously on NPR Tiny Desk) and many other big names in music. However, judging by her recent NPR Tiny Desk appearance, her talent definitely stands on its own. Want some more? Great! She has posted more than a dozen solo and group releases on Bandcamp. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 12:38 PM PST - 2 comments

The United States House of Representatives has introduced a resolution invoking the War Powers Act and directing President Donald Trump to withdraw US support for the ongoing War in Yemen. A similar measure was blocked by the United States Senate last March.
Trump's Dirty War In Yemen. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:04 AM PST - 15 comments

This Podcast Can’t Legally Tell You Amway Is a Pyramid Scheme. The Dream is a new podcast that explores "pyramid schemes, multi-level marketing, and all the other businesses that require their members to recruit their nearest and dearest in hopes of a commission." The first episode covers the "Airplane game," a prominent 1980s pyramid scheme. [more inside]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:01 AM PST - 43 comments

I will be ranking the sled dogs from least to most soft, on a scale of 1-10. To do this, I will use a scientific scale known as the SDSI, or Sled Dog Softness Index. Each dog’s score is based on two categories: the softness of individual hairs, and overall fluffiness.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 10:43 AM PST - 20 comments

How BBC Africa investigated a recently gone viral war crimes video (slTwitter) and found where it took place, when it took place and who committed them. CW: the video is included in the Twitter thread with the actual murder omitted. [more inside]
posted by MartinWisse at 9:42 AM PST - 7 comments

"Shula" was a 1990 hit of the israeli salsa fusion band "Atraf", that probably was about not falling in love with, but using the services of, a prostitute. The lyrics were so obscene but the band members were so desperate to have a prime TV airtime, that they were forced by the executives to change the lyrics. The clean lyrics were so lame and out of context, but who cares as we have this neat looking anti-mohawk bald mullet bassist? [more inside]
posted by avi111 at 8:25 AM PST - 10 comments

"While naming and arranging corals in the Natural History Department of the British Museum, William Saville-Kent daydreamed of seeing the beautiful grey organisms in front of him “in their native seas and wonderful living tints.” Years later he would realise his dream at the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland" - here are 16 full-colour lithographs from William Saville-Kent’s The Great Barrier Reef of Australia (1893).
posted by ChuraChura at 8:20 AM PST - 3 comments

MeFi's own Countess Elena reflects on how the sex scenes in Jean M. Auel's The Valley of Horses "depicted something I had never imagined: truly safe sex—respectful, reverent, healthy. Auel envisioned a world in which life was dangerous, but men were not, and a woman could lead a life of adventure with a partner, not for him or against him."
[via mefi projects]
posted by ITheCosmos at 7:52 AM PST - 62 comments

(Left) Neoliberalism "vs." Democratic Socialism (also btw Hayekian communism)
posted by kliuless at 6:24 AM PST - 13 comments

"The first building, named Alku (Finnish for “beginning”), was completed that year. Within a decade, there were almost 30 Finnish-owned co-op buildings in Sunset Park, with carrying costs (a monthly maintenance fee paid by each household) around half the rent of similar apartments in privately owned buildings. Members were forbidden from selling their units at a profit to ensure lasting affordability. In a pattern that would be repeated for decades to come, the housing co-ops became part of a local co-op ecosystem that included a restaurant, bakery and grocery store."The NYC labor movement built 40,000+ units of low-cost co-op housing for workers- So what happened? What can we learn? (In These Times) Next System Podcast on community control of land and housing, which includes a discussion of actionable policies that cities can take to push back against gentrification and build community wealth. (Transcript and Report available) In North Carolina, co-ops are building a more democratic economy.
posted by The Whelk at 6:19 AM PST - 10 comments

Thanks to the ubiquity of modern digital photography, this type of tall tale is now backed by evidence. Seal slaps kayaker in the face with an octopus in New Zealand.
posted by adept256 at 2:29 AM PST - 45 comments

Ventriloquist Nina Conti In Therapy - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (nsfw swearing)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:27 AM PST - 16 comments