Weekend Reading: The Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham edition

Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham roughly translates to "sometimes happy, sometimes sad" and that seems to fit this week's links. Also, I watched the movie last night! More on that below.

This has been a very eventful week. First of all, I posted the pre-order pages for Academaze. Then Don't Call It Bollywood came out. And then I co-hosted a Twitter watchalong of Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham with the author of Don't Call It Bollywood. That was really a lot of fun, but it took 3.5 hours. It was so much fun that I think we'll do another watchalong, but not until later in the summer. And maybe I'll aim for a weekend afternoon/early evening, because my kids were not at all pleased when I told them they had to go to bed with an hour left in the movie. (Yes, both kids watched the movie, too. They loved the dance scenes. Pumpkin didn't mind the subtitles at all, and Petunia kept asking me what was going on.)

Anyway, I created a storify of the watchalong, so check that out... and next time, consider joining in the fun.

Also, I've posted an excerpt of Don't Call It Bollywood. I picked the chapter about the difference in movie-watching style and expectations for audience behavior between Western and Hindi films. It is one of my favorite parts of the book, and is a good representation of how reading the book will change how you view the films. 

Finally, I sent out the link to advance review copies for Academaze, so if you think you volunteered to be a reviewer but didn't get an email from me, let me know.

OK, on to the other links.

While I was enjoying the high quality escapism of Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham, the Trump rally in San Jose degenerated into violence. I am scared for my country. I still think we'll defeat him at the ballot box, but I am frightened by the violence he has unleashed, and the legitimacy he has given to hate speech. I worry about how his supporters will react when he loses. I worry the win won't be convincing enough to send the message that there is no place for the hatred and xenophobia he espouses. And mostly, I am just sickened by and angry at the mainstream Republican leaders who are enabling him. In my opinion, they have no place in public office, because they have shown that either  they care more about their own power than our democracy or that they are fools. Or both.

Anyway, here's David Frum on the damage the Trump candidacy is doing to our democracy.

And here's Josh Marshall on why we need to prosecute the people who committed violent acts in San Jose, regardless of which side they were on.

Here's Jeet Heer on Pat Buchanan's column arguing that Donald Trump is "The Great White Hope."

Maybe when (if?) we survive this test to our society, we can work on convincing the angry white men (and, to a lesser extent, women) who make up the core of Trump's support that there is a place for them in the diverse society we've become, and that this is a better society for all of us than the one they are nostalgic for. I mean that. Deriding their feelings of loss and hopelessness might feel good, but will not help us make a peaceful transition to the better society we can be. Yes, they should just get with the program, but there are clearly enough of them to be a threat to the rest of us, so it doesn't really matter what they should do. We need to deal strategically with what they are doing.

That's enough of that.

We've got an antibiotic resistence problem brewing, and it is showing up in UTIs. This is another thing that scares me.

There's now a species of praying mantis named for Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Listeners complained there were too many stories about women in a history podcast... but only ~20% of the stories were about women.

Jessica Abel's essay on changing her personal business model is a really good read, even if (and perhaps especially if) you don't think you have a personal business model.

I really loved this essay about the Jennifer Berman club.

This story about Hokule'a, the Hawaiian canoe sailing around the world by the stars, is great.

A writer pays a fortune to take his daughter to see Hamilton and it is worth every penny.

Speaking of Hamilton...

-Did you read him his Miranda rights?
Yes, Sarge.
-His LIN-MANUEL Miranda rights?
(sigh) (puts on costume) "How does a suspect, defendant--"

— John Moe (@johnmoe) May 26, 2016

I want to visit this place:

Sunset in a life-sized LEGO landscape, Broken Hill, New South Wales, 2012. pic.twitter.com/mqAIDUIWW5

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) June 3, 2016

Happy weekend, everyone!