badly_behaved

Obviously not OP, but "Papaoutai" by Stromae is one piece of French-language Belgian hip-hop that is very much worth listening to. If you're not a French speaker, the music video does a pretty good job of getting the gist across.

edit: correction of artist's nationality thanks to u/sofyyxx below.

Since this story broke, it seems like most reactions I've seen share a common assumption that everything about Larson's ideology and candidacy are super radical-fringe, the likes of which have never been seen before.

What do you make of the similarities in belief between him and not just people like Roy Moore, but also people like former governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, or Courtland Sykes, currently running for U.S. Senate from Missouri?

For reference, in his college thesis, McDonnell "described working women and feminists as 'detrimental' to the family. He said government policy should favor married couples over cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators.' He described as 'illogical' a 1972 Supreme Court decision legalizing the use of contraception by unmarried couples."

And Sykes was recently quoted to say that feminists have "nasty snake-filled heads," that he "expects dinner on the table every evening at 6 p.m., hopes his hypothetical future daughters do not turn into 'career obsessed banshees' and believes that feminism has 'oppressed natural womanhood.'”

IKR?!?!?!

Margaret Atwood is my very favorite author. Her work has been formative in my life. I don't do celebrity hero worship at all, but I've been dying to have a chance to pick her brain since I was 14, and I missed it by 20 minutes?!?!?!

1. To what do you attribute the virulent strain of anti-intellectualism currently on display on the world stage and what do we do about it?

2. Since you brought it up (and mine is coming up in the next few months), how should one celebrate their 42nd birthday?

Hi, Scott!

My son started figure skating at age 5. He transitioned to hockey around age 11. Both of these activities were invaluable in his physical, emotional, and character development.

Here's my question:

As working-class parents, we were extremely fortunate to gain access to both sports via our local public recreation department. They even offered loaner equipment for the first season to assist kids who wanted to try it out, but whose families couldn't make the required financial investment for gear. My son was very lucky to have had these opportunities, but most communities lack these sorts of programs.

What are your thoughts about how to expand access to sports like figure skating and hockey for kids who are outside the upper middle class?