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Dispatches From the Culture Wars

Portside
Civility is where you find it; The power behind the primary; Race shaming as S.O.P.; Rearming labor; Momentous marches

Leave No Trace Is a Shattering, Essential Drama

David Sims The Atlantic
Leave No Trace is a film about living off the grid in America, but not as a political act or as a desperate struggle to survive. It’s a story of a family seeking harmony with the land, and with their country.

Grand Scheme

Jason Pramas Dig Boston
Mass legislature helps, harms workers in “deal” with labor and business lobbies

An MSG Convert Visits the High Church of Umami

Helen Rosner The New Yorker
Ajinomoto produces umami at its panda-themed headquarters
Monosodium glutamate is a compound molecule in which glutamate is the amino acid responsible for the mysterious deepening of flavor. Its once-vilified reputation has been ascribed to illogic, superstition and even racism.

The Immigrants Fueling the Gig Economy

Lauren Markham The Atlantic
man driving car
The short-term promise of easy cash can trap individuals in bad long-term conditions. This article is the third in a series about how the gig economy is shaping the future of labor and what that means for workers.