Letters, Barbie and The Romance of American Communism
My email addresses keep getting disabled. I’m going to try sending out future letters over seven days. Some will be emailed the day before I post, so it won’t make sense to report my weekly publication numbers. I’ll let you know if my letters end up in any big newspapers.
My next one makes the environmental case for increased public funding for cultivated-meat research. If you’d like to send out your own letters, check this out: https://slaughterfreeamerica.substack.com/p/how-to-write-letters-to-newspapers-6eb
Anyway, it’s time for (Cell) Culture Talk. Here’s what I’ve been reading and watching lately.
Book — The Romance of American Communism by Vivian Gornick. Ever since it was re-released, I’ve seen nothing but glowing reviews of the 1977 title. It’s an oral history about life in the American Communist Party during the organization’s heyday. The author, who was a red-diaper baby, interviewed members of her parents’ generation. For me, the book lived up to hype.
Movie — Barbie. This is funny and surprisingly subversive. Margot Robbie is great in the titular role. Ryan Gosling is excellent as Ken. The two characters leave their home of pink plastic to explore the real world, which isn’t what they expected. I’ve now seen a grand total of three films that were nominated for Best Picture at last week’s Oscars. That’s actually better than I’ve done in some recent years.
Movie — The Creator. John David Washington stars as a soldier assigned to track down and kill the developer of an artificial intelligence that is at war with humanity. I was impressed with the world building and visuals, but found the characters underdeveloped. The movie didn’t really earn the emotions it wanted you to feel.
Sports — Knicks beat 76ers, 106-79. OG Anunoby was back and what a difference it made! Now we just need Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson to get healthy. I get the sense New York may be delaying the former’s return to minimize his risk of reinjury before the playoffs.
Sports — Knicks beat Blazers, 105-93. Jalen Brunson scored 45 points in what felt like just another day at the office for New York’s point guard. Then again, his normal style of play involves him getting knocked around a lot, so I don’t want to downplay Brunson’s effort. Condolences to former Knick RJ Barrett, whose brother died.
Sports — Knicks beat Kings, 98-91. Brunson had another big night, scoring 42 points. Apparently, he’s the first New York player to have back-to-back 40-plus-point games since Carmelo Anthony in 2014. It was a hard fought victory. Sacramento is a good team.
Sports — Riptide lose to Rush, 17-15. It’s been a minute since I checked in on the National Lacrosse League. Apparently, New York is relocating to Ottawa, which is a bummer. Is Saskatchewan’s goal celebration the chest-thumping thing from The Wolf of Wall Street?