Month: May 2019

‘Serial Killers Are a Uniquely American Phenomenon’

In 1979, the American discourse on serial killers was irrevocably changed. Ted Bundy’s serial-murder-and-rape trial, which was nationally televised, ushered in a new era of live entertainment. Fifteen years later, O. J. Simpson’s trial became the next national obsession. Today, the true-crime genre reached new heights with the podcast Serial. The proliferation of successful murder-centric content that followed is indicative of a public obsession.

Why do serial killers inspire such fervent intrigue among Americans? A new video from The Atlantic investigates.

LINK: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/589468/serial-killers/

Suspected serial killer charged in 2nd Stanford cold case homicide from the ’70s

ohn Arthur Getreu of Hayward, Calif., was arrested Nov. 20, 2018, in connection with the 1973 murder of Leslie Marie Perlov. On Thursday, he was also charged in the the 1974 killing of Janet Ann Taylor. (Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office)

 

A former Stanford University worker was charged Thursday in the decades-old slaying of the daughter of the school’s former athletic director, marking the third time the man has been linked to a death as cold case investigators continue to search for more victims.

LINK: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-serial-killer-john-getreu-arrest-second-murder-20190516-story.html

Anarcho-Surrealism in Chicago (2019)

via Ill-Will Editions

This zine explores anarcho-surrealist imagination in midcentury and current-day USA, with particular emphasis on the Chicagoland scene. If folks are nearby Chicago, there will be a reading group on this text on May 21 (details here).

Dreams of Arson & the Arson of Dreams: Surrealism in ‘68  (Don LaCoss)

The Psychopathology of Work (Penelope Rosemont)

Disobedience: The Antidote for Miserablism (Penelope Rosemont)

Mutual Acquiescence or Mutual Aid? (Ron Sakolsky)

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Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an ‘Unprecedented’ Pace

Fishing nets and ropes are a frequent hazard for olive ridley sea turtles, seen on a beach in India’s Kerala state in January. A new 1,500-page report by the United Nations is the most exhaustive look yet at the decline in biodiversity across the globe.

WASHINGTON — Humans are transforming Earth’s natural landscapes so dramatically that as many as one million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, posing a dire threat to ecosystems that people all over the world depend on for their survival, a sweeping new United Nations assessment has concluded.

LINK: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/climate/biodiversity-extinction-united-nations.html

Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island

In 2001, a smugglers’ yacht washed up in the Azores and disgorged its contents. The island of São Miguel was quickly flooded with high-grade cocaine – and nearly 20 years on, it is still feeling the effects.

LINK: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/10/blow-up-how-half-a-tonne-of-cocaine-transformed-the-life-of-an-island

Mom allegedly shot dead by 9-year-old son feared she was ‘raising the next serial killer’

A Michigan mom allegedly shot dead by her 9-year-old adopted son feared she was raising “the next serial killer,” her family said.

LINK: https://nypost.com/2019/05/09/mom-allegedly-shot-dead-by-9-year-old-son-feared-she-was-raising-the-next-serial-killer/?utm_source=reddit.com