TODAY: In 1996, Rent opens on Broadway.
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A hundred days into Joe Biden’s presidency, Rebecca Solnit looks back to the last presidency: “It was a disorder from which we were forever trying to emerge into order, like people clawing a slimy bank, only to slump back into the ooze.” | Lit Hub Politics
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“I felt like that girl from The Twilight Zone, lost in another dimension watching myself live like a child but not really feeling like one.” Brandi Carlile remembers the existential dread of an 80s childhood. | Lit Hub Music
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The 11 best book covers of April have it all: humor, attitude, and no small amount of Gen Z yellow. | Lit Hub
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Anjali Enjeti talks to Devi Laskar about reckoning with white supremacy and feminism, her writing practice, and the non-neutrality of silence. | Lit Hub
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Cecilia Muñoz considers the myths and emotions wrapped up in immigration policy, and what happens when those stories are exploited. | Lit Hub Politics
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On the specific struggle of writing about a close group of friends hanging out together, during a year when you can’t see your friends. | Lit Hub
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Capitalism will have a heyday with our emotional attachments to AI, says Kate Darling. Exhibit A: Sony’s robot dog, which costs a cool $2900. | Lit Hub Tech
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Nicole Eustace examines the Great Treaty of 1722—in which colonialists unintentionally preserved Indigenous ideas about crime and reconciliation—before it disappeared into obscurity. | Lit Hub History
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Parul Sehgal on Alison Bechdel, Hermione Hoby on Jhumpa Lahiri, Leslie Jamison on Susan Taubes, and more of the Reviews You Need to Read This Week. | Book Marks
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Jesse Q. Sutanto on crafting a cozy mystery inspired by the cheerful, conflicting advice of her wacky Indonesian family. | CrimeReads
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If reading this year has been particularly tough, these books might help you refocus. | The Guardian
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In spite of some gains in disability representation in publishing, there is still “a lack of both understanding and specific initiatives among some (though not all) publishers,” Margaret Kingsbury writes. | Book Riot
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“Tan inspired me and so many others who followed to write the stories that only we could tell.” Vanessa Hua on the incalculable impact of Amy Tan. | PBS American Masters
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Read the story behind Whoever Said Dykes Can’t Cook?—the 1983 lesbian cookbook that combined art, food, and fundraising. | Atlas Obscura
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“Inside the classroom, we tidied up our diction. But outside, I spoke guid braid Fife, ken.” Val McDermid stands up for the Scots language. | Financial Times
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Why are we so fascinated by full moons? Nina MacLaughlin ponders humanity’s lunar love affair. | The Paris Review
Also on Lit Hub: Josh Mecouch offers realistic affirmations for artists • Read a poem by Sarah Burgoyne • Read from Daniela Krien’s latest novel, Love in Case of Emergency