This week: J. Lo’s halftime show still resonates / When another woman supports you / Another, bigger spy for the Soviets / Advancements in football gear / Ideas for a new NYC subway mascot
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1. The J.Lo Super Bowl Discourse Is All About the Invisibility of Middle-Aged Women
By Tracy Clary-Flory | Jezebel | February 2020
“In that halftime show, as with her existence on any stage or screen, J. Lo demonstrates the possibility of being a 50-year-old sex symbol, an older woman on display. There is cognitive dissonance here, because women of her age are so infrequently seen in this way: sexy, vivacious, and worthy of the camera’s zoomed-in gaze.”
Also see: I Feel Personally Judged by J. Lo’s Body
2. That Feeling When Another Woman Hypes You Up
By Jenny Tinghui Zhang | The Cut :: New York Magazine | February 2020
“You’re waiting for the toilet, washing your hands, or fixing your hair. Another woman, a little tipsy, maybe topsy-turvy drunk, accosts you with her sweet, eyes-half-shut warbling. She tells you you’re both doing great. She tells you you look beautiful. She tells you she loves you.”
3. For women, running is still an act of defiance
By Rachel Hewitt | 1843 :: The Economist | June / July 2019
“Female runners have long fought for the recognition and status of male ones. Rachel Hewitt asks why running doesn’t offer women the freedom it should”
4. The NYC Subway Needs Its Own Mascot. We Have 12 Contenders
By Ben Yakas | Gothamist | January 2020
“Some of them are animals, and some of them are superheroes; some of them are based on already-existing characters, and some of them are clearly attempts to grab the zeitgeist. All of them are beautiful freaks.”
5. NFL At 100: From head to toe, players equipment has evolved
By Dennis Waszak Jr. | Associated Press | January 2020
“From the crude, oblong leather helmets to the sparsely padded brown and blue vertical-striped uniforms of the Chicago Bears, it’s easy to see how equipment has drastically evolved in the NFL since the days of The Galloping Ghost in the 1920s and ’30s.”
6. Buc-ee’s: The Path to World Domination
By Erik Benson | Texas Monthly | February 2019
“Beaver Aplin built the quirky convenience chain into a Texas empire. Will his tactics translate outside the state?”
7. Fourth Spy at Los Alamos Knew A-Bomb’s Inner Secrets
By William J. Broad | The New York Times | January 2020
“Historians recently uncovered another Soviet spy in the U.S. atomic bomb program. Fresh disclosures show he worked on the device’s explosive trigger.”
8. This courageous historian fought to make Black History Month possible
By Erin Blakemore | National Geographic | January 2020
“Determined to counter racist stereotypes, Carter G. Woodson worked tirelessly to promote the accomplishments of African Americans.”
9. Tracing The Expanding Definition Of Fatherhood
By Cameron Pollack | The Picture Show :: NPR | June 2019
“It was important to Anschütz to show the personal relationships between the fathers and sons. As a result, he decided to only use first names. He intended for the project to be more art than journalism.”
10. Designer destination: architects’ favorite hotels
By Sarah Miller | The Guardian | January 2020
“From a rocket tower and a pasha’s palace to a beachside bungalow and a geometric masterpiece”
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stillness of heart 