Culturebox

What Happened at Slate This Week?

A Slate social media staffer on her favorite reads of the week.

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Illustration by Slate. Portrait by Charlie Powell. Image by Milanares / iStock.

Hey Slate Plus members!

I’m Lisa, and I help run Slate’s social media channels. Mostly Facebook and Twitter, but did you know that Slate is also on Instagram and Pinterest?

I spend my days at Slate reading pretty much everything that’s published on the site, as well as keeping a close eye on trending topics, retweeting like a maniac, and thinking quickly and carefully about how to frame stories for social media. Some of my most exciting moments at Slate have been getting retweeted by Taylor Swift, Amy Schumer, and Alain de Botton.

This week, the horrific shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, weighed heavily on everyone’s minds. Slate had some superb, thought-provoking stories in the aftermath, including why Emanuel AME Church was a target, the deadly history of “They’re raping our women,” and how hate groups turned the deaths of Trayvon Martin and other black men to their advantage.

As a San Francisco native—who pays less rent in New York than in San Francisco—I found this story about how suburbs can fix San Francisco’s housing problem particularly interesting. And speaking of Frisco, one of my all-time favorite movies set in that city is Sneakers. Here’s a tribute to the 1992 film’s hauntingly beautiful score and its composer, James Horner, who died in a plane crash this week.

I worked at a modern art museum before I arrived at Slate, so I was excited to take this quiz asking whether you can identify these portraits by well-known artists from just one eye. (Nine out of 13 correct! My only defense is they weren’t all modern artists.) I also can’t wait to hear the Culture Gabfest on the new Whitney Museum, which recently moved to Slate’s neighborhood.

Ah, podcasts. I’ve been a devout listener and fan of Slate’s podcasts for the past decade, especially the Political and Culture Gabfests. It is really a trip to hear a familiar voice around you in the office, and look up and see an actual person there behind that voice you’ve heard in your headphones for so many years.

Finally, this is the best tweet I have ever written and will ever write.

See you on the feeds, and thanks for your membership!
—Lisa