Posting from my phone today, and unable to do the usual check for typos and broken links. If something doesn't work, ping me at @phantomslist on Twitter and I'll do what I can to fix it.
Via @jillheather, a powerful post about a young, conservative mother's journey through the Canadian health care system. At RH Reality Check from Melissa, who blogs at Permission to Live: "How I Lost My Fear of Universal Health Care."
But tell that to the Republican Party. From Irin Carmon at Salon, "GOP v. Planned Parenthood, round 2."
From Melissa Petro at The Rumpus, a personal essay on poverty, sex work, and regretting a visit to NYU's dental clinic to check out what might be a cavity. "Poor people do not have ninety dollars for preventative care."
News you can use from The Awl! Lindsay Robertson with "How Not To Die of Rabies! A Chat With Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy."
An incredible, excruciating question-and-answer session between The New Yorker's Amy Davidson and Jose Rodriguez, former director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center: "'I Really Resent You Using the Word "Torture"'."
A brief look at Rwanda on its 50th anniversary of independence, by poli sci prof Laura Seay for Al Jazeera English.
Madiha Tahir at The New Inquiry on the victims of American drone bombings. "The lawyer for some of these survivors and families of victims has offered interviews, and yet each time, the mainstream press refuses."
From Julianne Hing and designer Hatty Lee at Colorlines, a graphical look at how students of color are sorted into higher education in a time of disinvestment in public education.
You'll be glad to hear the answer to Maia Szalavitz's question at Time this week: "Does the Internet Really Make Everyone Crazy?" (Spoiler: no.)
Laurie Garrett is not pulling any punches about recent Taliban attacks against vaccination teams in Pakistan. "Thank you CIA."
Helen Epstein at The New York Review of Books on AIDS in South Africa, where solutions are still crippled by stigma and silence.
Two from Maggie Koerth-Baker at BoingBoing: "The wonder of small things" exhorts us to pay attention to creatures smaller than a breadbox. Then, a review of Kristen Iverson's memoir of growing up in the community around Colorado's Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant, Full Body Burden.
From Michelle Nijhuis at The Last Word on Nothing, a hopeful essay about Colorado River water and the possibility that resource scarcity can lead to cooperation rather than conflict: "Learning from the Tubeworm".
Interesting piece from Liz Gannes at AllThingsD about the coming end of online lurking. I suspect that's a change that will eventually backfire (much like the apps that automatically reported everything you read to your FB feed). Via @uncommon.
From Emily Badger at The Atlantic, a look at the 60-year reign — and steep decline — of the indoor shopping mall.
So much sheer awesomeness here. From recently unemployed ladyjourno extraordinaire Ann Friedman, "Checking in With the Patriarchy." At The Awl.
From Sheila Squillante at The Rumpus, a quietly devastating portrait of a neighborhood Fourth of July celebration in College Park, PA, in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal.
Another Fourth of July celebration, at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. "Aliens in the Land of Egypt," by Annalise Koltun at The Morning News.
Nicola Twilley at edible geography answers the question we've all been asking: "What do you get if you cross Alan Turing with the London Olympics?" Answer: The Universal Tea Machine.
From Mukti Jain Campion at the BBC, an article that accompanied a programme on the same topic: "Hobson-Jobson: The words English owes to India."
From Australian writer Penni Russon, a lovely piece about raising a boy and reading his favorite book over and over: "I realise that Avery is subject in the way that the girls are never really subject in so many of our favourite books and movies and TV shows."
By Sharon Begley at the Wall Street Journal, a tale of a neurobiologist who transitioned from female to male offers a unique perspective on the obstacles facing women in science. "'Ben Barres's work is much better than his sister's.'"
Maria Bustillos is in The New Yorker this week! "What George Orwell, Henry Miller, and John Waters Taught Me About What to Read Next."
You will need tissues. From Katherine Goldstein at Slate, the story of the first gay wedding performed on a military base.
