I’ve not read the regional online magazine The Bitter Southerner before, which makes sense considering I’m Californian. But one thing Californians and Southerners have in common is a deep, abiding love of dogs, so of course I clicked through when someone linked to a story about Carolina dogs in the magazine. The long essay by Southern sportswriter Cy Brown describes the author’s discovery that his dog, Penny, is a “Carolina Dog,” a type of primitive breed and the only dog native to North America. If you’re a dog lover, a history aficionado, or a Southerner, you need to read “A Carolina Dog.”
Fearlessly tackling a…sore subject, Rick Paulas from Vice interviewed anthropologist Frances Larson on her new book, Severed, about the history of…decapitated heads. Larson talks with Paulas about head transplants, the shifting public perception of decapitated heads, and the ethics of the guillotine.
At Refinery29, Maggie Serota examines the commonness of whitewashing in Hollywood, most recently and obviously seen in Rooney Mara’s role as the Native American character Tiger Lily and in the almost entirely white cast in Ridley Scott’s Exodus. Serota writes:
It’s especially puzzling that a white actress was called on to play a Native American character in a film where director Joe Wright set out to create a world that is “very international and multi-racial, effectively challenging audiences’ preconceived notions of Neverland and reimagining the environment.”
You’d think we’d have further than casting white actors to play Native American or Middle Eastern characters, but it appears, unfortunately, that we haven’t.
And because sometimes we all need a mood-lifter on a rainy day, and because sometimes it’s good to bring these things full-circle (well, almost), here’s a video of a pug thoroughly enjoying a bath.