Hand sanitizers don't do jack to protect you from the flu, says Slate. Bonus fun fact: "In 1847, Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis discovered that washing one's hands with chlorine between deliveries practically eliminated fatal infections among laboring women. (His colleagues ignored him and later committed him to a mental hospital, where he was beaten to death by guards.)" @2:35 PM 20
et alS, with Cord Jefferson: Obama's Kinda Meh First Year @3:40 PM
What were you doing over the Thanksgiving break, friend? Drinking? Eating? Pitying your one cousin who could have been totally cool if your aunt wasn't such a Christian whackjob? Of course you were—and good for you! That's what people do.
Me on the other hand, I'm not a person, I'm a vegan, from even before that neon green book came out. So I was doing what all vegans do when you sickos annually sacrifice poultry to long-dead Puritans: straight up fuming, about absolutely everything. Here's a fume about how hard it is to find grocery store stuffing that doesn't use chicken broth. There's a fume about how Lil Wayne actually sucks, and just the general idea of Nike. And of course, right here's a fume about Slate, a website that I love, but also one that tests my patience from time to time. READ MORE 20
et alS, with Cord Jefferson: Newspapers Are Doing As Badly As You Think @12:30 PM
Oh, look! Ha ha ha. Slate's been at it hard this last week with the counterintuitiveness. That's Slate's "thing," you know, much like there's always one guy at the dinner party whose "thing" is to go on and on about how Mein Kampf is "actually very lucid." Last week, the band Creed was good, instead of being unlistenable Jesus-growling for hockey moms. Then? Newspapers were fine! That's right, newspapers—those shuttering, bankrupt, decreasingly-staffed things everyone throws in the garbage as soon as they get to the top of the subway steps—"aren't doing as badly as you think." Hmmmmmmm. READ MORE 13
All Up In Your Mouth @4:42 PM
Oh, by the way, we were being critical of one of the pieces in this Slate series about dentists, and while we disagree with some of it, also it is only fair to mention that the other recent pieces in the series—such as this, on the lives of dentists, and this, on the cost of dentistry, are fascinating. Apparently tomorrow brings the piece about the insane disparity in rich/poor dental care, which, yes please. 0
The Great Dentist Crisis! Is It? @4:09 PM
Slate claims that no one wants to be a dentist anymore, and that everyone hates them because of the movies. (There may be some truth in that! But I think people hated them first. Mostly people hate them because people hate dental work and are suspect of anyone who would do it all day!) Says Slate: "during the 20th century's final decades, a dwindling number of Americans chose to become dentists. In the early 1980s, U.S. dental schools produced about 5,750 new graduates per year. In 2007, with a population that's nearly one-third larger, there were about 4,700." And that: "In 1980, the United States had 60 dental schools; today there are 58, and class sizes are smaller." That is one way to look at the history of dentists! But let's pull some teeth here. READ MORE 29
No More Music Magazines: The Problem With Publicists and the Celeb Industrial Complex, Part XXVI @12:30 PM
Slate's Jonah Weiner writes a good piece about why music magazines are dying. Part of the problem is what they like to call "access": "When I profiled Beyoncé for a 2006 Blender cover story, I was granted one hour to interview her and one hour to observe her at a video shoot. I stayed on the set for three hours, hoping to wring some lively detail from the mundane proceedings, until a bodyguard showed me the door. Beyoncé's mother, Tina, gave me a warm goodbye, then called a publicist to chew her out for letting me hang around so long and accused me of 'going through Beyoncé's underwear.' (I'd quizzed a seamstress about a pair of hot pants she was mending.)" 4
Thanks To David Plotz, It Is Nearly Always 'August' At 'Slate' @2:00 PM
It does indeed, it has been brought to our attention, happen every year. In late July of 2001, just before irony died, David Plotz published a screed against August. (Let's do away with it, he suggested in Slate!) Plotz, a Slater since day one, is currently the editor. His piece against August is nearly as long-lived as he is! The next year it was recycled, and the next, and the next (with an NPR link added!), and then IT DISAPPEARED in 2005 for reasons unknown. It then was recycled in 2006, with a wee excerpt, and THEN, in 2007, it was reprinted in full, and again last year. So far, in the fine year of 2009, we are still kept waiting for a new chance to read it again. Although! On Friday, came the "Abolish August Gabfest" political podcast, which we have not listened to, even though it includes the lovable John Dickerson. That put me on pins and needles. Will August appear again? Is Slate still committed to the abolition of August? Will they turn their back on this annual tradition, which is so much like an annual reading of A Christmas Carol and yet so much shorter in length? 2
Slate Continues Crusade Against Black Eyed Peas @1:50 PM
Slate today takes the Black Eyed Peas to task for "selling out" with their new Target ad (above). Whether the concept of "selling out" still holds currency, one thing is definitely clear: Slate hates the Black Eyed Peas. Just like Perez! 10
Depilatory tips. @11:00 AM
"If she feels about you the way you feel about her, surely she wants to snatch this opportunity to make a good impression on your parents…. Since she's lived a cross-cultural life, she knows that making a small gesture can be all that's needed to keep from muffing a sensitive encounter…. Explain that if her pubic hair is also her public hair, you're going to want to hide in the bushes."
Slate offers advice on how to get your girfriend to trim her triangle. Clearly, I am no longer needed now. 0
