Aloha, Pluslings!
September! Fall is upon us, as our colleagues return from their vacations and the children resume their educations and the sun temporarily abates in its campaign to murder us all. When I was a child, the fall sometimes lasted weeks or months, and the leaves piled up in the streets in kickable stacks. I miss those days, but I’m still looking forward to the three or four temperate days that our present carboniferous hellscape has to offer before the chill rolls in. Happy Labor Day! Lots to read.
From Slate
- Michelle Goldberg is customarily sharp and humane on Anthony Weiner’s (latest? final?) downfall.
- Sasha Issenberg explains what the modern political “ground game” looks like and why Donald Trump can’t afford to go without one.
- Jack Hamilton pays tribute to the great De La Soul and reviews their first album in a decade.
- Jamelle Bouie takes down Donald Trump’s pathetic “outreach” to black voters.
- Will Oremus describes what happened when Facebook tried to automate its “Trending” news section (hint: nothing good).
- L.V. Anderson tried to find evidence that workplace “wellness incentive programs” do any good at all. She couldn’t.
- And Leon Neyfakh talked to law professor and former cop Seth Stoughton about what it means that so many police officers also work for private employers.
Not from Slate
- The most common disability among vets isn’t post-traumatic stress disorder—it’s hearing loss. Here’s what that means for a generation of former soldiers.
- Oliver Stone is making a movie about Edward Snowden, which will almost certainly be less entertaining than this amazing New York Times Magazine piece.
- The Washington Post’s report on the only known lynching on a U.S. military base—and the FBI’s lackluster investigation—is a haunting read.
- I had never thought about the relationship people with severe food allergies have with their EpiPens until I read this clever essay.
- “Get ready to start shaking your head, because this is one of the most infuriating stories you’re going to hear today.”
- Scam stories are always delicious unless you’re the mark, and this one, which reveals the naïveté of wealthy wine collectors, is full-bodied and powerful, with accents of honeysuckle and schadenfreude.
Very Short Q-and-A
This week’s personal question is addressed to Slate’s nights and weekends home page editor Seth Maxon.
Seth! You are returning to Slate’s New York office after a year in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where you worked from home. What are you looking forward to? What will you miss?
Working from home had some advantages. I liked being able to do errands or relax up until the minute I started my workday at 2 p.m. After breakfast I could go for a run, shower, and eat lunch while watching Netflix and still be on time for work. I will miss working in Umbros and flip-flops, and I’ll miss the extra time I got to spend with my wife, who was home a lot studying for her master’s program.
But I am happy to be returning to office life, and I’m looking forward to seeing my colleagues every day again. I got really stir crazy sometimes. It’s easy to not leave your apartment for a few days and find yourself questioning your existence. There’s an energy and camaraderie in the office that you just don’t feel in your Umbros. Plus there are often free baked goods.
Thanks, Seth!
And thank you for your Slate Plus membership, which makes our journalism possible. See you next week!
Gabriel Roth
Editorial director, Slate Plus
