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Bondage Love

John J. Brugaletta Writer's Almanac
California poet John J. Brugaletta explains the silent magic of Houdini and why the public adores escape artists.

The Last Time a Wall Went Up to Keep Out Immigrants

Linda Gordon The New York Times
A new history of bigoted opposition to immigrants through the manipulation of fake science shows the most vociferous baiters of emigres in the past were among the most privileged U.S. ruling class members.

Brotopia

Shannon Liao The Verge
This book has received a lot of attention since its publication, as a pioneering study of not just the fact of gender discrimination in the tech industry, but also as a glimpse into how such discrimination works.

The American Paranoia of Stranger Things 3

Sophie Gilbert The Atlantic
Stranger Things 3 is more deeply informed by American paranoia than ever before, as the show starts to mine classic, Cold War–inspired works of the mid-1980s.