How Kamala Harris Is Already Changing the Face of Presidential Power by Tressie McMillan Cottom

Writing for The New York Times, Tressie McMilan Cottom does an exceptional job of explaining why this particular political moment feels transcendent. Not that long ago, Kamala Harris being treated as a viable vision of what the U.S. presidency could look like was the most distant of possibilities, an option that was painfully relegated to a potential future far from now. The speed as which the implausible has become possible, perhaps even likely, is dizzying in all the best ways.

Racism Is Why Trump Is So Popular by James Risen

I sincerely hope we’re approaching the breaking point for the weird journalistic decorum that treats the current Republican presidential ticket’s abject bigotry as if its just another benign way of looking at the world, as calling for police state–style mass deportations is the same as having a slightly different view of where the corporate tax rate should be set. In this article, James Risen is refreshingly blunt about the prejudiced, hateful viewpoints of the GOP standard bearer and correctly unforgiving of those who continue to support him. This piece is published by The Intercept.

Hot Summer Threatens Efficacy of Mail-Order Medications by Emily Baumgaertner

The relentless demands of capitalism have driven an ever-increasing portion of the U.S. population to rely on the mail service to get their prescription medications, and the rising temperatures brought on by climate change have exacerbated a problem of those medicines being compromised by insufficient care in transporting them during high-temperature days. Emily Baumgaertner reports on the problem for The New York Times, taking special care to include information about lobbyists and their purchased politicians — mostly on the Republican side, to be clear — who kill any legislation that might help protect the citizenry from getting desperately needed medications that simply won’t work.

Watch One Heartbreaking Scene to Understand Gena Rowlands’s Genius by Manohla Dargis

I wrote my own remembrance of Gena Rowlands the other day, and I’m completely comfortable acknowledging that there are others who have done a better job than I did conveying the astonishing power of her acting. Writing for The New York Times, Manohla Dargis frames her eulogizing around one scene in the greatest performance Rowlands ever gave. Dargis perfectly captures what was wondrous about the great actress working at the the absolutely pinnacle of her craft.

A Tribute to ‘Premium Rush’: The Most August Movie of the Century by Scott Tobias

Writing for The Reveal, the online shingle he co-runs, Scott Tobias astutely highlights the pleasures (and fairly acknowledges the flaws) of David Koepp’s Premium Rush, a movie I harbor significant affection for. Hell, I very nearly included Michael Shannon’s grandly nutso acting in the film in my personal Oscar nominations preferences for that year. I think Tobias is also spot on in assessing the oddball joy of a late-summer movie that operate with a freewheeling eagerness to entertain.

‘ESPN Bet’ Is A Black Hole by Patrick Redford

I was a devoted follower of Major League Baseball and a curious, if casual, observer of many other sports. That interest has been all but eradicated of late. There are several reasons for the change, ranking highly among them is the complete rot of introducing breathless celebration of gambling into every aspect of sports culture. Programs such as ESPN Bet are a blight. Patrick Redford writes about it for Defector.