the double text #22
if it quacks like a duck
Friends,
Yesterday was *cracks knuckles* a real rat fuck.
Now, here’s your double text—
links
On MLK Day, Bernice King shares photos of her father in color. The one of MLK on the phone is my favorite. And here is Part 2.
I’m including the Transcript of this chat I had last summer with Forth’s CEO and Co-Founder, Jared Wiener. Forth is an app that is a newsfeed for fact-checked news. No need to parse through the muck of misinformation. I think we need this app more than ever before.
TikTok is back, but I’m already gone. It was a poor head fake, a weak cliffhanger, and all-in-all, just another mind game by Tr*mp, hoping we, the audience, would yell and scream for him to come back out for an encore.
TikTok’s “soft language” is detrimental to discussion by Parker-Hodges Beggs. I really agree with this - so many users were having their videos flagged and shadowbanned for using the real words of tough subjects. I hope all the TikTok creators find a new home that fits them best.
- is a beautiful tribute to the late Cecile Richards, who dedicated her life’s work to women.
Mel Robbins still hasn’t apologized to Cassie B. Phillips for the “let them” concept that Robbins has been touting around town as her own. Here’s more of the paper trail if you want to read about the original source that started a movement: Mel Robbins and Plagiarism by
Keep an eye on this: Great novels by female authors r/suggestmeabook
The way I writhed and how my skin crawled reading Tony Tulathimutte’s The Feminist, a short story part of his collection Rejection, which I’m reading right now. Reading Tulathimutte is like going around too fast on a playground spinner, and when we crash into the end of his stories, you hope you don’t hurl and that your feet find grass - and I mean this in the best possible way. h/t to my friend Eva for this phenomenal recommendation.
Lalalala, when all the things we said would happen, happened! ‘Twas a really big day for the 34x convicted felon, adjudicated rapist, and draft dodger who did lots of insane things among his contemporaries on his first day back in office. Not a single thing will be cheaper, and especially not prescription drugs for Americans. There are no eggs where we’re going.
Joe Biden had one job. And he failed by Mehdi Hasan
If you’re in the mood to go a little deeper into the relationship between the press and former presidents - a Journalism professor at NYU, Adam Penenberg, offers some historical perspective.
Wondering if what you saw was the Nazi salute? Well, the ADL will tell you Musk was just showing enthusiasm. But David Gilbert writes a clearer picture - Neo-Nazis Love the Nazi-Like Salutes Elon Musk Made at Trump's Inauguration. If it quacks like a duck.
Read about Skye Perryman’s morning routine by Andrea González-Ramírez
Ray Bradbury, The Art of Fiction No. 203
Parents of a school shooting victim created a video game to honor their son and send a message to America. How a School Shooting Became a Video Game by Simon Parkin.
REBBENG
Is it the job of an artist to be relevant? Or is it to be revelatory, revolutionary, revenant?
-Patrick Rosal and Collaborators, from Atang, an altar for listening to the beginning of the world
watch
Shrinking
I blame Severance (and some of you) for finally hooking me into this series. We’re finally BACK at Lumon, but we're only getting one episode a week, so as I was looking for the next thing—
I am here to confirm: It’s funny. It’s chaotic. It’s a lil cheesy. It’s a world that has darkness but makes me feel safe. Sitcom vibes are IN, and odd, overly involved neighbors inspire a life for suburbia. I would love to live back deck to back deck with my best friends. Also, Jessica Williams is reason enough.
Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action
There are only two episodes, but it is a pretty explicit explanation of how/why America is the way it is!
Lastly, a big note: If you’re a paying monthly subscriber to Cold Copy, you’re overpaying! What I mean by that is — Substack would only let me price the monthly subscription at $5/month, but my yearly subscription is $36/year, so if you want to save a few bucks and continue to support my work financially (which means a whole helluva lot and allows me to keep writing!), please upgrade.
See you soon. And please share this newsletter with anyone you think would enjoy reading it. xVLB