Slits guitarist and memoirist Viv Albertine talks to The Guardian about her childhood, female rage, and her new book, To Throw Away Unopened. Albertine says that her newest book “is essentially about rage and being an outsider.” “Female rage is not often acknowledged—never mind written about—so one of the questions I’m asking is: ‘Are you allowed to be this angry as you grow older as a woman?’ But I’m also trying to trace where my anger came from,” she explained. “Who made me the person that is still so raw and angry? I think that it’s empowering to ask that question.”
The New York Times looks at the South China Morning Post, which was bought by Alibaba last year, and wonders whether the acquisition has softened the paper’s criticism of the mainland Chinese government.
At the Village Voice, Roy Edroso examines conservative media’s persecution complex.
“All of the biggest issues right now that we’re reckoning with—economic inequality, the expansion of the criminal justice system, attacks on immigrants—also touch on sex workers’ lives,” said Melissa Gira Grant in a discussion of why and how the media should report on sex work. “Those are all entry points into covering sex work that aren’t about identity per se, but about power, influence, and money.”
LA Weekly has started a #SpeakTruth campaign to repair their reputation and fight back against a boycott that they say is based on “lies and half truths.” The Outline’s Ann-Derrick Gaillot calls it “a frankly creepy attempt to delegitimize” the boycott, which was started by former writers and readers of the paper after its new owners made drastic staffing and editorial changes. “Considering the transparency of the effort, and the alt-right-esque language meant to appeal to its longtime readers, who theoretically used to read the alt-weekly for its progressive values, the #Speaktruth website comes off as nothing but a pathetic and weird joke,” Gaillot writes.
Tonight at Books are Magic in Brooklyn, Jia Tolentino talks to Meg Wolitzer about her new novel, The Female Persuasion.