In this week’s edition of Link Loves, we look at essays on music, classic literature, race and reality, and of course, a little bit of history. I did take a break from social media this week, deleting apps from my phone, so there’s less focus on that in this week’s links too.
I don’t watch a lot of movies, but this short video moved me to tears. I mean, I tend towards the teary side of things whenever I watch something, even someone winning a prize or someone being reunited with a loved one. Yeah. Anyways. Here’s the link.
I went to the MSO free concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne on Wednesday night, so this piece on Bach that appeared in my feeds was charming.
I’m keen to read Elisa Gabbert’s essays in The Word Pretty in the near future, but this one on Frankenstein, which I’m currently rereading (the Shelley movie is also on this to be watched list), is a fascinating one.
I adore James Baldwin, and this piece on race and reality is rather prescient. A very important read.
Again, more on books. I love The Book Thief, and actually finally finished watching the movie on the plane from London to Kuala Lumpur (that set off the tears and was not a pretty sight). So, of course, I am keen to read Markus Zusak’s latest, Bridge of Clay. And here he is in conversation with Graham Norton. It’s a little old but I just got round to listening.
The Obama administration may look amazing in comparison to the current one, but this is a balanced piece in the NYT that piqued my interest for its relationship to public history.
A funny Mashable one on Twitter, and one where we can commiserate together.
Anyone who knows me will know I study medieval/renaissance history, and when A Discovery of Witches was recommended to me last year, I read it and discovered the TV adaptation was just around the corner (thankfully, seasons 2 & 3 are coming soon!). This in-depth study of its academic side is a great read to further delve into this world.
And back to race: Yassmin Abdel-Magied on this NPR program on bias and perception is a great one.
This week, I went back to an old favourite album of mine, the New York Trio’s highly underrated Always:
So enjoy, and I’ll be back next week -nat ♥️🥀