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‘Junction 48’ Film Review: Permission to Rhyme

Khelil Bouarrouj Palestine Square
Udi Aloni's Junction 48 is a melodic drama set Isreal in the town of Lydd (Lod) with a nearly all-Palestinian cast that forcefully confronts anti-Arab racism in Israel by shining a light on the oft-forgotten Palestinian citizens of Israel (PCIs). (The title Junction 48 presumably refers to Lydd’s historic transit-point between Palestine and Egypt and the designation often applied to PCIs as “’48 Palestinians.”)

THE TEST TUBE CHEF

Bianca Bosker The Atlantic
At a time when much of the culinary world believes in farming like pioneer settlers and looking its meat in the eyes, This wants us to abandon peas and carrots (“Middle Ages!”) for their constituent parts—glucose, sucrose, cellulose, amino acids, and more.

To be a Mexican

Hugo Esteban Rodriguez Castañeda Heart Journal Online
The Mexican-born Texas poet Hugo Esteban Rodriguez Castañeda suggests a Latino identity based on hardship, danger, fear, but also an enduring spirit of survival that is as indigenous as el huizache--the acacia tree--which also happens to be the name of "The Magazine of Latino Literature."

Camus on Trial

Jeffrey C. Isaac Dissent Magazine
While Camus was a vocal advocate of Arab rights since the 1930s, his fictional universe seemed blind to their existence. . In 1957 Albert Camus uttered a widely misquoted criticism of terrorism. What he meant to say, what he in fact said, is that a policy of killing innocent civilians - whether his own mother or the mother of his adversary - is not properly named "justice."

Taking It to the Street

Jill Leovy American Scholar
In this review, Jill Leovy looks at two new studies of contemporary US poverty.

Anita Hill on HBO Film 'Confirmation,' Joe Biden's Legacy and Bill Cosby

Tessa Stuart Rolling Stone
"In the eyes of the Senate, it was about [Clarence Thomas'] gender. It was about male privilege. Who do you believe? You believe the guy who is a guy like you. Even the public -- 70 percent of the public when polled after the hearings, believed Clarence Thomas. They were willing to dismiss my experience as insignificant, both racially and in terms of gender... We've got to make the decision that we're going to reject people who behave badly, who are sexually abusive."

THE NEXT BIG THING IN FANCY FOOD

SARAH LASKOW The Atlantic
Instead of seeking out farms growing delicious fruits and vegetables, chefs look one step deeper into the food production system—to the plant breeders who provide farmers with seeds.

'Scandal’ Keeps Missing Opportunities to Address Olivia Pope’s Mental Health

Stacia L. Brown The Washington Post
According to data from the Center for Disease Control, black women have long faced high rates of depression and low rates of treatment. “Scandal” has been so groundbreaking in many ways; it’s curious that it hasn’t seized a really ripe, low-hanging opportunity to be more progressive in its depiction of black women’s struggles to safeguard their mental health.

No search, no rescue

Jehan Bseiso Electronic Intifada
The Palestine poet Jehan Bseiso depicts the desperation of refugees, pushed from home by war--"barrel bombs and Kalashnikovs"--and lured toward a dubious safety by "a little bit of hope."