I lied—it’s me again at the helm of the Digest, after a long week in which a lot went down—including Confederate monuments and Steve Bannon. Here’s what you need to read to catch up:
From Slate
On Charlottesville: Dahlia Lithwick asserts that the white nationalists who marched on her hometown have been replaced, and collects first-hand accounts of what the “alt-left” was doing on Saturday. Jack Hamilton witnessed the University of Virginia at its best at Wednesday’s stirring vigil.
President Trump shocked and appalled with his response to the events, and stood by his words again. But Jamelle Bouie argues that we shouldn’t be confused by Trump’s remarks, that the GOP isn’t innocent either, and it’s time for white Americans to end the fight over Confederate monuments.
Isaac Chotiner talks to the New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb about whether we should label neo-Confederates as “Nazis.” Henry Grabar explains that using a car as a weapon has been an ISIS tactic, and had even been previously endorsed by Fox News.
On those monuments: Stonewall Jackson’s great-great-grandsons ask for the removal of his statue: “We are ashamed to benefit from white supremacy while our black family and friends suffer.” Rebecca Onion offers one alternative. Susan Matthews points out the monuments Trump should be supporting instead.
Oh right, it’s Friday: In the latest White House dismissal, Steve Bannon is out. Still, don’t expect much change; Trump himself surely hasn’t taken the opportunity to distance himself from white nationalism. Meanwhile, the editor at his other former employer, Breitbart, hints at #WAR?
Not from Slate
- There was a pro-Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden in 1939.
- Michiko Kakutani may have left the Times, but don’t expect the influential book critic to disappear altogether.
- How two college-aged guys in Florida are gaming the hypercompetitive world of streetwear with the help of bots.
- On the complex emotional experience of participating in spelling bees.
- The Culture Gabfest’s own Stephen Metcalf on the history of “the reigning ideology of our era”: neoliberalism.
- Annie Dillard’s classic essay on watching a solar eclipse: “What you see in an eclipse is entirely different from what you know.”
- How Google should have responded to James Damore’s anti-diversity memo.
Finally, a Reason to Look Up
With appropriate protection, of course. Monday is eclipse day, when all of North America will witness the most accessible total solar eclipse in nearly a century. Excited observers are setting out for all the small towns along the path of totality, and scientists expect observations could provide a glut of new information about our sun and solar system. You shouldn’t miss out. Forgot to make eclipse-watching plans? (Or procured faulty gear?) We’ve got you.
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Chau