Following the attacks in Brussels, there’s been a huge debate about how the media covers terrorism outside of the West. This debate, which also came up in the wake of the Paris attacks last November, has sparked many pieces of analysis, but the one I liked best is a piece by The Guardian’s Martin Belam, where he digs into why the site’s readers were more interested in Brussels than the recent attack in Lahore.
North Carolina has been in the news recently for passing a law that allows for anti-LGBT discrimination. Writing for The Atlantic, David Graham explains why the law managed to pass in North Carolina. This great piece from a local station in North Carolina also offers a useful fact check on a “fact vs. myth” press release sent around by the governor’s office, in response to criticism of the law.
In stories that are not pegged to the news cycle, I loved this piece in The Offing by Mimi Wong about what she refers to as “slut lit,” stories where women who pursue pleasure pay a price for it. Wong takes a look at the trope and some of the ways that it has evolved.
And of course, I cannot mention reads this week without speaking about that completely insane essay in the Observer. In the process of eviscerating Elle magazine for supposedly ruining an interview with a reclusive and legendary designer, Jacques Hyzagi also manages to burn a long list of publications and public figures — including the Dalai Lama.