"A magazine that wishes to make its fortune should never waste its columns and weary readers by praising anything."
-Anthony Trollope, The Way We Live Now (quoted in Issue 22).
Happy Friday, Bafflers. In case you missed them on the website this past week, here are the treasures hiding in our archives that we brought out and published online for the first time:
From Issue 20, MATT HINTON's essay on scandal-plagued, money-dripping Division I athletic departments and the workers (i.e., athletes) who are disenfranchised by them felt very timely this week, as Northwestern college football players successfully lobbied for the right to unionize. HEATHER HAVRILESKY's examination of the depictions of work and money in TV shows like HBO's Girls did, too, because, Girls.
BARBARA EHRENREICH's essay from Issue 21 is also now online for the first time this week: "The Missionary Position" considers a number of science fiction renderings of the concept of God, as well as what they mean for us earthlings. In our current issue, WILLIAM T. VOLLMAN explores the narratives of failure in the novels of John O'Hara.
This week we brought out some poems from our archives, including beauties by CATHY PARK HONG, KYLE DARGAN, andFORREST GANDER.
We also debuted the new fiction from our current issue, "Bcc: Dridge," by PAUL MALISZEWSKI and J. WAGNER. It's a scary story about workplace surveillance, featuring recording devices and shoulder cameras; it's accompanied by a weird and wonderful original illustration by JONATHON ROSEN, pictured above.
Over on the BLOG this week, JIM NEWELL considered the Democratic party's flip-flop on Nate Silver and the odd legal arguments involved in a (lesser-known) Obamacare battle. CHRIS BRAY skewered ill-considered columns in Bloomberg View and the Washington Post.
Wait, there's more! KATHLEEN GEIER discussed the criminally-underreported wage-fixing scandal in Silicon Valley, and, last but not least, debut Baffler blogger KYLE CHAYKA inspired us to reject the start-up culture's obsession with physical fitness. Sloth as a revolutionary act? Say no more, sign us up.
Have a great weekend, and feel free to say hi some time.
