In an article titled “How the Trump Campaign Is Drawing Obama Out of Retirement,” New York Times reporters Glenn Thrush and Elaina Plott offer some insight into the current state of the former president’s next memoir. In a package deal, Random House bought the memoirs of Michelle and Barack Obama’s memoirs in 2016 for $56 million. Michelle’s Becoming arrived in 2018. The publication date for Obama’s book is not yet set. According to the article: “The book’s timing remains among the touchiest of topics. Mr. Obama, a deliberate writer prone to procrastination—and lengthy digression—insisted that

The first episode of Diversity Hire, a new podcast (and newsletter) about being a “person of color” in media, is out now.

Yesterday, the New Yorker Union undertook a half-day work stoppage to demand a “just cause” provision in their contract. The union stated that employees “will not participate in the production or promotion of content for the print magazine or the website,” from 9am to 1pm and reserve the right to take further action if management doesn’t adequately respond.

At The Cut, Claire Lampen details “What We Know About the Killing of Elijah McClain.” McClain, an unarmed

In the London Review of Books, Amia Srinivasan examines the history of gender-neutral pronouns: “What words mean and which words exist is not up to any single person. But it is up to us, collectively. When an individual refuses the application of a word that applies, by the rules of public language, to them, or when an individual applies to themselves a word not yet in the public lexicon, they are making a move that they hope others will take up—and that will, in turn, change how they are seen and treated by others. Words can change the world.”

Nikole Hannah-Jones on why it is time for

President Trump’s younger brother has taken legal action in an attempt to block the publication of a tell-all book by the president’s niece, Mary L. Trump.

In the New York Times opinion section, Wesley Lowery looks at the question of objectivity in the media and the ways in which white ideas and opinions are considered “neutral.” Lowry calls for a new standard of fairness and truth-telling: “instead of promising our readers that we will never, on any platform, betray a single personal bias . . . a better pledge would be an assurance that we will devote ourselves to accuracy, that we will

At The Cut, Gabrielle Bellot looks at the case of Breonna Taylor and asks, “When Will Black Women See Justice?” It has been 101 days since Taylor was shot to death by police, and, so far, only one of the three officers has been fired and none have faced criminal charges. Bellot examines the ways in which violence against Black and Brown women is portrayed in the media, and notes that when women speak out against these injustices, they are chided for not doing so properly: “We are asked why we did not speak up in fury about our traumas immediately after they occurred; we are criticized, in turn,

On Friday, the Associated Press changed its style guide to capitalize the “b” in “Black” in cases in which that word refers to people in a “racial, ethnic or cultural context, weighing in on a hotly debated issue.”

The Washington Post is creating newsroom positions that will focus on race. The new roles will include a managing editor for diversity and inclusion, “a senior leadership position with responsibilities such as convening regular coverage discussions focused on race and identity and the identification and recruitment of candidates.”

After facing financial setbacks that almost led to

At The Nation, Jamaal Bowman writes that it’s time to make Juneteenth a national holiday. The National Archives has located the original Juneteenth order, a handwritten military letter freeing slaves in Texas. At the New Yorker, Annette Gordon-Reed remembers childhood celebrations of the holiday, and Jelani Cobb observes that “Juneteenth exists as a counterpoint to the Fourth of July; the latter heralds the arrival of American ideals, the former stresses just how hard it has been to live up to them.” At the New York Times, Jamelle Bouie writes about “Why Juneteenth Matters,” and authors and

At Literary Hub, Willow Curry reflects on the connection between activism and art. “There has been no modern freedom struggle without its painters and poets, storytellers and speakers and songwriters,” she writes. “The radical artist’s work in absorbing the nature of the world around them and translating that into tangible objects is vital in helping people make order out of what can seem like chaos.”

The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses announced the finalists for its Firecracker Awards yesterday. Nominees include Trisha Low’s Socialist Realism, Carley Moore’s The Not Wives, and

The International Center of Photography and the Black Press Freedom Fund are working together to offer grants for personal protective equipment to Black photojournalists who are documenting the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests. “There are an incredible number of talented, gifted, and brave black storytellers on the frontlines, many of whom are risking their personal safety to document the historic protests currently taking place over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and countless other Black Americans who have suffered police brutality and systemic

Over one hundred UK authors have formed a new group to address inequality in the publishing industry. In an open letter, members of the Black Writers’ Guild—including Bernardine Evaristo, Candice Carty-Williams, and Kit de Waal—asked the Big Five publishers to make the publishing process more transparent and to hire more black editors and employees, among other recommendations. “Publishers have taken advantage of this moment to amplify the marketing of titles by their black authors and release statements of support for the black communities who have been campaigning for equality for decades,”

At least six members of the National Book Critics Circle’s board of directors have resigned following the publication of an internal email written by board member Carlin Romano, in which he responded to the board’s collective effort to publish a letter stating its support of writers of color. Among other things, Romano wrote, “I resent the idea that whites in the book publishing and literary world are an oppositional force that needs to be assigned to re-education camps.” Poet and board member Hope Wabuke tweeted portions of Romano’s letter. She has resigned, stating: “It is not possible to

Nieman Lab is collecting tweets from journalists of color detailing their experiences of workplace racism and discrimination. “Many journalists have shared their stories on Twitter, often risking job security and violating NDAs to do so,” they write. “One story is one story, but as the stories pile on top of each other, it becomes obvious that racism in news media is institutionalized across the United States.”

At The Guardian, Queenie author Candice Carty-Williams asks why the work of Black writers is still considered to be outside the “mainstream.” “For all its workshops and meetings, the