The FADER Weekend Reading List
Eight articles we liked a lot this week! Starring Tinder, Sesame Street, and prescription LSD.
The Psychiatrists Prescribing LSD And Ecstasy
Sam Wong, Digg
Mental illness can be truly devastating if not treated, and some of today's medications simply don't work for everybody. LSD and MDMA were originally created to treat illnesses like depression, and today some psychiatrists are picking up the experiments again. But it's getting them in trouble! Read about the history of these treatments and the current experimental trials that these psychiatrists are prescribing.
What Will HBO’s Sesame Street Look Like?
Jessica Pressler, Vulture
For many of us, Sesame Street was a staple of our childhoods. We grew up knowing our ABCs like nobody's business, and it just made it all the better that it was on public television (PBS to be exact). Now, our favorite educational bonanza is moving to HBO. Jessica Pressler explains exactly what that means for the age-old public TV show to be on a very private (and also expensive) network.
Gentrification X: How An Academic Argument Became The People's Protest
Dan Hancox, The Guardian
There's a housing crisis in London. Gentrification is causing low-income families to be displaced to the outskirts surrounding the city, removing them from friends, family, school, doctors, and basically everything else. In response, there is outrage, and protest—like Reclaim Brixton, a group formed last year to fight the gentrification of south London. It's something that's happening in cities all over the world, and thus it is crucial to understand the implications.
Meet Aristophanes, The MC Taking Mandarin Rap Global
Lisa Blanning, The FADER
Aristophanes is just starting her global takeover. Here, Lisa Blanning talks to Aristophanes about how she's blending influences ranging from hip-hop, jazz, and literature, and taking it worldwide. So. Cool.
London Music Logos Explained
Ali Gitlow, Red Bull Music Academy Daily
A follow up to Red Bull's explanation of N.Y.C. record label logos is this super cool look at the imprints of London's iconic labels. Beyond the logos are some tidbits of insights on these mainstays of U.K. music including Young Turks, Boiler Room, Rinse, and more.
Tinderization of Feeling
Alicia Eler and Eve Peyser, The New Inquiry
In this really smart piece, Peyser and Eler (who also wrote this about "winning" Tinder) break down what exactly what it is about the simplicity of Tinder that makes it so appealing to millennials and the like. "Tinder is more than a dating app," they write. "It is a metaphor for speeding up and mechanizing decision-making, turning us into binary creatures who can bypass underlying questions and emotions and instead go with whatever feels really good in the moment." Just remember that Tinder does not have to result in "Tinderization," though, as long as those who use the app (or ones like it) maintain intricacy in their human interactions. Swipe with your heart. <3
Blackstar Is David Bowie’s Final Gift, But It’s Not Goodbye, and Following David Bowie's Lead Means Listening To Ourselves
Patrick D. McDermott, Amy Rose Spiegel, The FADER
An elegy of a review of David Bowie's final album, and a tribute to the bright galaxy of the incomparable man's life.
The Beginning Of A Goodbye To Obama
Vinson Cummingham, The New Yorker
President Obama gave his very last State Of The Union address on Wednesday. Many people had many different thoughts on the speech, naturally. But this piece in particular is not an analysis of POTUS' address, it's just the start to a farewell to Obama, because he still has some time left yet. Vinson Cummingham begins his goodbye with a poignant account of how it felt to witness the very first black president's very first State Of The Union.