Digital Culture

Conor Friedersdorf, “The Strangest Interview Yet With the Outgoing Head of the NSA.”

And here’s John Oliver’s interview with General Keith Alexander, outgoing head of the NSA.

Adam Kirsch, “Technology is Taking Over English Departments: The False Promise of the Digital Humanities.”

Nilay Patel, “The Internet is Fucked.”

Mark Sample on torture in videogames, “Sites of Pain and Telling.”

An interview with Brian Tomasik, who thinks killing videogame characters is immoral.

On work in videogames: Steven Poole, “Working for the Man.”

Rey Junco, “Beyond ‘Screen Time’: What Minecraft Teaches Kids.”

Literature

A very important essay that’s been making the rounds: Junot Díaz, “MFA vs. POC.”

Prachi Gupta, “Inside Junot Díaz’s Class at MIT: What the Writer Wants His Students to Read.”

Will Self, “The Novel is Dead (This Time It’s for Real).”

Matt Daniels, “The Largest Vocabulary in Hip Hop” (no surprise, it’s Aesop Rock).

 

Miscellaneous

Roc Morin on Rob Rhinehart and Soylent, “The Man Who Would Make Food Obsolete.”

Lisa Wade, “What Do Professors Do All Day?”

Laura Tanenbaum for Jacobin, “Mad Men in a Mad World.”

Paul Krugman on Cliven Bundy, “High Plains Moochers.”

Charles B. Pierce, “A Fan’s Worst Nightmare: The Many Problems with Donal Sterling.”