Before we delve into the posts we’re reading and loving elsewhere on the internet, don’t miss Philippa Willits on the case for abolishing marriage.
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‘The Daughter as Detective‘ (Alice Bolin for Longreads)
What do our libraries tell people about us?
The patently adorable and weird quality of their first date seems to have set the tone for their entire relationship. Early on, my dad gave my mom a copy of one of his favorite books: Roseanna, the first in a series of ten mystery novels by Swedish writers Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö that follow the detective Martin Beck. “You’ll find it ironic,” he told her coyly, and she did: the title character, whose murdered corpse washes up on the shores of a Swedish lake, is a librarian in her 20s from Lincoln, Nebraska. My mom was not put off by the implications of this macabre coincidence, and she and my dad are still together now, many decades later. Improbably, my parents’ marriage echoes the Dead Girl story, but with a happy ending.
‘Rejected by A.A.‘ (Katrine Jo Andersen and Cecile Maria Kallestrup for New Republic)
A.A. can be tremendously helpful for some people struggling with alcoholism. But for those with opioid addiction, the story can be very different.
The Crossroads of Louisville methadone clinic is situated on a dead-end road. Two large spotlights shined on the parking lot, making the ground look glassy in the light rain, as Michael made his way hastily towards the clinic. On busy days, when clients are called five at a time, and lined up against a wall festooned with inspirational quotes, Michael almost feels like he is in prison. Today, the nurse only called Michael, went over his dose, and dispensed 16 mg of methadone in a small plastic cup. Michael swallowed the cherry-flavored shot and rinsed with water. “That’s how it’s supposed to run, so it doesn’t interfere with your day so much,” he said. “But it doesn’t happen like that every day. It rarely happens like that, actually.”
‘The People Who Are Afraid of Food‘ (Virginia Sole-Smith for Medium)
Our broken relationship with food is feeding a new generation of eating disorders.
Elyse has eaten this way for as long as she can remember. But until a therapist diagnosed her eating disorder last year, nobody knew why. When she was growing up, doctors and family friends told her parents they just needed to be more strict. But when her parents did try to force her to eat, Elyse gagged or vomited up every bite. She avoided sleepovers or birthday parties. Sometimes the other kids’ parents pushed her or thought she was being rude.
‘The First Family of Counterfeit Hunting‘ (Amy Ridout for Narratively)
The family that busts crime together stays together.
When Rob married his wife Nastassia, he’d use a trick from his parents’ playbook, taking her with him to stores where he suspected counterfeit goods were stashed behind the counter. “Having a guy walk in and ask for a Chanel purse isn’t the right profile,” Rob observes. “My wife would come in wearing her fancy clothes, designer this and designer that. She fit the part, and she’d ask if he had anything nicer.”
‘Japan’s Vegetable-Eating Men‘ (Amy Westervelt for Topic)
If you want to make parenthood accessible, you have to involve both genders.
As government officials began to meet with researchers throughout the country trying to understand why, it became clear that they’d been focusing on the wrong gender. To the extent that women found motherhood unappealing, it wasn’t because of their jobs so much as the lack of involvement of their male partners.
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Photo: Carol VanHook/Creative Commons