Link List #136: Streaming wars, live television debates, and the importance of the novel - Friends of Friends / Freunde von Freunden (FvF)

Link List #136: Streaming wars, live television debates, and the importance of the novel

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Link List #136: Streaming wars, live television debates, and the importance of the novel

This week we’ve been reading about what it’s like participating in live debates for women of color, the unexpected consequences of watching your favorite Netflix shows, and how the search for Instagrammable moments is impacting design.

Photo: Cesar Rubio for Facebook/courtesy Studio O+A
    • “This ability to capture ‘the unrestrained freedom of life’ is the stuff of which great novels are made,” argues novelist Eimear McBride in an impassioned article for The New Statesman on why the art form still matters today.
    • Is designing for Instagram hurting design? Writing for Fast Company, Verda Alexander, Co-Founder of San Francisco-based design practice Studio O+A, looks at how the desire to create spaces filled with “wow moments” might actually be getting in the way of functionality.
    • Is participating in live television and radio debates worth it for women of color? Journalist and gal-dem opinions editor Micha Frazer-Carrol no longer thinks so. Using the example of a “blisteringly uncomfortable” exchange in which author Afua Hirsch had to explain to a panel of white people why tweeting a picture comparing the British royal baby to a chimpanzee is racist, Frazer-Carrol explores the trauma that can come from being called upon to talk about race in a hostile environment.
    • Are you someone who rides a Lime scooter to work, catches an Uber to meet friends for drinks, and then goes home to cook a meal using your Blue Apron subscription kit? If so, says Derek Thompson, Staff Writer at The Atlantic, your life is about to get much more expensive.
    • As Elizabeth Warren surges forward in the polls, the calls to break up media giants are growing. On Medium, tech writer Paris Marx looks at how consolidation of media businesses caused by “the streaming wars” could create a new oligopoly.

Hopefully you enjoyed the reads from this week’s Link List, but if you’ve still got an internet itch to scratch, you can find more here.

Also, be sure to check out FvF Mixtapes for some tracks selected by our friends and favorite artists, and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with FvF stories.

Text: FvF Team

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