Secret Snowflake

and don't u dare think of getting someone a scented candle

View this email in your browser Dear newsletter readers, both naughty and nice: Around our headquarters, the sky's full of ice; Some rules have been set and we've all rolled some dice; We've each made our lists — checking once, twice, and thrice. The gift-giving game that we're all glad to play Has us thinking of options, and checking eBay, And glancing at colleagues, just hoping they'll say, "Gee, I'd love that new memoir by Chef Bobby Flay!" We shan't use this email to share what we want... So maybe let's all just share what we want... not. Micah: "I don't want the Hipster Nativity Set." Alana: "I don't want Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution by Tucker Carlson." Jon: "I really don't want a sous vide. Come on." Samantha: "Believe it or not, I don't want Michelle Obama's new book, Becoming." Kat: "I don't want a subscription to the Goop newsletter." Leah: "I do not want a gift card to the local — and unloved — lunchatorium, Essen. Now, readers, I am not telling you this because one of my colleagues gifted me such a gift card last year — no, no, I'm just saying, simply for the sake of saying it, that I do not want, and never have wanted, an Essen gift card." Bob: "I don't need (another) Back Street Boys lunch box." Asthaa: [Editor's note: In keeping with Asthaa's earnest nature, there is not one gift her colleagues could give her that wouldn't fill her heart with joy. From this exercise Asthaa respectfully abstains.] Brooke: [Editor's note: Brooke is open to any gift, too — though for her own reasons. She is, as she put it, "an aching vortex of need."] Onwards. Listen To The Latest Show: Laugh Until You Cry [ In Case You Missed It ] On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Joke On both sides of the US-Mexico border, the "caravan" of Central Americans walking through Mexico has served as a catalyst for concern about migration — concern borne of empathy, but also of hatred and fear. Last year, a group of artists and activists produced a humorous project meant to shine a spotlight on discrimination and bigotry in Mexico: "Somos el Muro," or "We Are the Wall." It didn't make much of a splash — that is, until Honduran news networks took the satirical video as reality. OTM producer Alana Casanova-Burgess has the story. [ Listen To This ] 10 Things That Scare Me Deep within WNYC's Innovation Kitchen™, back behind the messy cutting boards and the discarded sauce pans and the garde manger station, there has been brewing a special, secret project. It's alive now, and it's a treasure: 10 Things That Scare Me, a simple, short-form podcast about the things that give us the every-day willies and the late-night dreadies. There's an episode on Brooke's greatest fears due to drop any day now — it'll be worth the wait, promise — but in the meantime, maybe start with author Ottessa Moshfegh's entry.  [ Listen To This, Too ] Image credit: Diego Huacuja / Radio Ambulante Temporary Permanence The Central American migrant crisis is not the only one in our hemisphere. The United Nation estimates that around 3 million Venezuelans have fled the country, and this week the UN included the exodus in their annual appeal for global humanitarian aid. Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador in particular are struggling to cope with the influx. Our friends at the Spanish-language podcast Radio Ambulante have an episode about what the migration looks like in Peru, and how one Venezuelan woman noticed a big shift in attitudes there. You can listen to the episode here, or read an English translation of the script here. AND, you should tune in to our show this week for a conversation between Bob and the journalist Diego Salazar about the episode and the media's treatment of Venezuelans around Latin America. Don't miss it. No te lo pierdas.  [ Check This Out ] How to Tell the Stories of Immigration Boy, did this piece hit home. The Atlantic published Masha Gessen's remarks from a December 3rd ceremony for the Hitchens Prize in New York. She reminds us that displacement is not just about detention centers and cruelty. It's a political predicament and seemingly endless game of waiting. She presents us with the radical idea to give priority in media coverage for those waiting for a home. Read it. [ Podcast Extra ] The Centuries-Old Radical Practice of "Slaying Lewks" How to prove that newly elected democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a phony? Why, her clothes, of course. It's an absurd attempt at gotcha, but not an uncommon one. For this week's pod, Bob spoke with Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, historian at Case Western Reserve University, about the long history of media obsession with the clothing of outspoken women — in particular, the thousands of garment workers who went on strike in 1909. Give it a listen. [ From the Archives ] George H.W. Bush's Drug Scare As the press attempt to make sense of President George H.W. Bush's legacy this week, we were reminded of his rule in America's War on Drugs. In 1989, Bush stoked fears surrounding illicit drugs when, on prime time TV, he held up a bag of crack seized by the DEA "in a park just across the street from the White House." Last year, Brooke spoke with Dr. Craig Reinarman about Bush's fabricated stunt, and other examples of presidential fear-mongering that helped inspire America's draconian drug laws. Listen up! [ Coming Up... ] Hanukkah. Chanukah. Hanukah. Hannuka. Or civil war? Thanks for listening, and for reading. We love feedback, so please contact us with any questions or comments. We're busy, but we read them all, promise.  DONATE TO OTM

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