Weekend Reads: End of an Era

Well, I'm currently in Washington D.C. preparing for the Women's March. I'm so happy that my college roommates decided to plan a mini reunion so we can attend together--I'm feeling inspired and hopeful. Here's what I posted on Facebook yesterday. My reflections on an excellent presidency.

On his last day as President, I'm thinking about 44s dignity, inclusiveness, intelligence, thoughtfulness, and kindness. I'm proud that we elected him twice and proud of everything he was able to accomplish--from (not perfect but better) health care reform, to the way he stood up for marginalized groups, to the stimulus that helped America escape a full-on depression, to repealing 'Don't Ask Don't Tell,' to abiding by the Geneva conventions, to the inspiring Paris Accord and boosting fuel efficiency standards and increasing investment in green energy, to making so many parks protected federally, to giving the FDA the power to oversee the tobacco industry, to the way he epitomized #dadgoals, I'm proud of him. I hope we continue to find ways to make sure every American has a chance to participate, be heard (particularly through their vote), challenge authority, innovate, make a difference, and move forward. #thanksobama

Radical empathy. Wow. (via NYMag)

Time to get some Microfiber cloths! (via The Kitchn) Trader Joe's best of 2016 Booze has been around for 9K years.  (Nat Geo)

Sturgill Simpson and his 11 piece band were on SNL last week and they were AWESOME. Wow. A year of knots.

How the Presidency changed Obama (via NYTs) Obama’s Secret to Surviving the White House Years: Books (via NYTs--also, neat little thing happened on that front page) Letters to Obama (via NYTs)

The 1913 march during Wilson's inauguration, for Suffrage. (via Buzzfeed) A reflection on Michelle Obama (TMR) Meet Edna Lewis (via Food52) The ladies of the march (via InStyle)  Donna Carpenter, the woman who runs Burton is amazing (via HuffPo)

National Book Critics Circle Finalists (via NYTs) Banned books your kids should read (via NYTs) Obama's book recommendations (via EW) Michiko Kakutani interviewed Obama

This article about how Iceland stopped teens from smoking/drinking/drugs is insane and awesome (via Mosaic Science) Great little meditation on Oprah and Dieting (via Food52)

Not normal:
I wanted to Embed Obama's post, but can't seem to figure out how to do it
The threat of Moral Authority (via NYBooks)
Keep a list of changes (via Medium)
Office of Ethics, Shaub should be supported (via WaPo)
Remind me what the up sides are to repealing Obamacare again? (via NYTs)
Teen Vogue has a piece on how to spot fake news
"Nine billionaires possessed as much wealth as the poorest half of the planet in 2016" (via NPR, gross)
This would be funny if it wasn't so true (via the NYer)
His predecessors are Nobel Prize winners for Physics and the chairman of physics at MIT. Perry has a degree in animal husbandry. YIKES. (via NYTs)
These confirmations are insane and frightening (via the NYer)