The Crucible of History Surrenders To the Furnace by Erin Thompson

Writing for The New York Times, Erin Thompson details efforts to destroy the various Confederate statues and other tributes to white supremacy that have been justly removed from public squares in recent years. Rather than put them into storage (effectively created what Thompson cunningly calls “America’s strategic racism reserve”), some groups advocate melting the detestable constructs down and using the recycled resources to create new art. Thompson’s writing is insightful and powerful, making a strong case for the importance of the public reckoning the country has gone through with the ongoing eradication of these appalling tributes to historical figures who should be viewed with nothing but contempt.

Penn & Teller Don’t Mind Being Fooled by Robert Ito

Robert Ito writes about Penn & Teller: Fool Us, a CW show that has long been a weirdly appealing morsel of audio-visual comfort food for me. Although I’d never thought that much about it before, I believe the prevailing kindness of the duo’s approach that’s identified in the article goes a long way towards explaining the appeal, especially because I well remember their earlier days as a performers when there was a lot of aggression laced through their shared stage persona. I liked that era, too, but I suppose I’ve mellowed in the same way they evidently have. This article is published by The New York Times.

I’ll also admit that I shared the above article, grateful for its timeliness, mostly so I could also embed the below video, which features Jillette’s kid Moxie appearing on the program in one of the current season’s episodes. It is charming and an utter delight. (Note that the title of the video misgenders Moxie, which was also done on the show. Moxie explained the choice to do so on Instagram: “It’s mostly because of the current political state and wanting to prevent people getting into my personal life. But I am his son and I am proud!!”)