“The Diva and Her Demons,” Rolling Stone
Amy Winehouse is back in public discourse (if she ever left) with the release of Asif Kapadia’s documentary “Amy” about the singer-songwriter’s life. It felt like a good time to revisit this 2007 Rolling Stone profile, back when Prince was still covering her songs and she was still four years away from her untimely death. —Briana Bierschbach, politics reporter
“I, Racist,” Medium
John Metta’s riveting “sermon” on why he doesn’t talk to white people about race focuses on how whites don’t think in terms of a group: “White people do not think in terms of we. White people have the privilege to interact with the social and political structures of our society as individuals. You are ‘you,’ I am ‘one of them.’ Whites are often not directly affected by racial oppression even in their own community, so what does not affect them locally has little chance of affecting them regionally or nationally.” —Corey Anderson, web editor
“Don Oberdorfer, Longtime Diplomatic Correspondent for The Post, Dies at 84,” The Washington Post
Emily Langer of the Washington Post shows off the skill of a fine obit writer, in this piece about the Post’s great diplomatic correspondent, Don Oberdorfer. (Don’s son, Dan, is a local lawyer who serves on MinnPost’s board.) —Joel Kramer, CEO/editor
“Listen to the Instrument da Vinci Invented but Never Got to Hear,” MPR
Nearly 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci imagined a new instrument he never got around to making. A Polish pianist spent 5,000 hours building one, and it’s strange and complicated and beautiful. Classical MPR reports and lets us hear it. Follow the link to the Sydney Morning Herald to learn more. And, Speaking of Leonardo, don’t forget that our own Minneapolis Institute of Arts has Bill Gates’s personal copy of the artist/inventor’s Codex Leicester on display through August. —Pamela Espeland, Artscape columnist
“The Myth of the Ethical Shopper,” Huffington Post
I tend to hope, at least some days, that it’s possible for consumers to push capitalism to treat people better; that I should buy things I need with that in mind. But at least with regard to sweatshops, the writer of this piece, Michael Hobbes, has convinced me that’s not the case. At least it didn’t end there; it just got more difficult. It ends by showing how better conditions can be made by taking away bad options rather than spending money on options we hope are good. — Jonathan Stegall, user experience engineer
“How Fair Housing Will Turn Liberal Cities Conservative,” Citylab
As I was working on the Fair Housing article that ran on MinnPost last Friday, I was reading all of the stuff produced nationally on the possible impact of the Supreme Court decision and new HUD rules. This one, from The Atlantic’s Citylab, explores the political reaction that might come — not from the suburbs but from the cities — if wealthy (and mostly white) neighborhoods are the locales for more affordable housing. — Peter Callaghan, local government reporter
“Is There a Viable Alternative to the Iran Deal?” the Atlantic
For a smart, calm overview of the key arguments for and against the Iran nuclear deal, I haven’t seen anything better than the three-way written debate convened by the Atlantic among journalists Peter Beinart (a strong proponent of the deal), David Frum (an firm opponent, but like other opponents, one who doesn’t offer an alternative) and Jeffrey Goldberg, who starts out saying that he agrees with the other two but who ends up nervously endorsing the deal because he doesn’t see the opponents putting forward a preferable alternative. —Eric Black, columnist
Iran plans large use of nuclear power
Right on, Eric. Iran has big plans for nuclear electric power, and wants to make the fuel.
As to inspections, they would like the same treatment as Israel gets.