Alex

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they/he, il. Wikipedian and book reader, mostly. Localization and sociology enthusiast.

Waly Dia : rire pour dénoncer, sur Légitimes

Listened Waly Dia : rire pour dénoncer from podcastaddict.com

L’humour est-il une manière de bousculer l’ordre social établi ? Dans ce troisième épisode, Waly Dia retrace son parcours, de ses débuts en tant que stand-upper dans les bars de Nantes à tête d’affiche des salles de spectacle les plus prisées de France. Il revient aussi sur le rôle important qu’a joué le Jamel Comedy Club dans sa carrière et plus largement sur l’ouverture de la scène humoristique française aux jeunes talents venus d’horizons divers.

Aujourd’hui chroniqueur dans l’émission de Charline Vanhoenacker Le Grand Dimanche Soir sur France Inter, le punchliner continue de creuser son sillon et d’imposer sa plume aiguisée en s’attaquant sans tabou, à tous les sujets brûlants. Un exercice périlleux qui fait de lui, un des humoristes les plus vifs et intéressants de sa génération.

J’adore Waly Dia, et ouvrir ce nouveau podcast (dont j’avais pour l’instant seulement écouté le premier épisode, mais bon, y’en a 3 en comptant celui-ci) m’a donné envie de l’aimer encore plus. Humour de droite (avec un point transidentité) Unexpected mention de la transidentité avec en gros « c’est un truc nouveau, on y connaît…

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

Read Nevada by Imogen Binnie ( )

Maria Griffiths is almost thirty and works at a used bookstore in New York City while trying to stay true to her punk values. She’s in love with her bike but not with her girlfriend, Steph. She takes random pills and drinks more than is good for her, but doesn’t inject anything except, when she remembers, estrogen, because she’s trans. Everything is mostly fine until Maria and Steph break up, sending Maria into a tailspin, and then onto a cross-country trek in the car she steals from Steph. She ends up in the backwater town of Star City, Nevada, where she meets James, who is probably but not certainly trans, and who reminds Maria of her younger self. As Maria finds herself in the awkward position of trans role model, she realizes that she could become James’s savior–or his downfall.

I understand why Nevada is a classic, alright? I really do. It’s messy and unapologetic and the story is good and it explains things without feeling like a lecture and yes, it captures lots of trans experiences. Or, well, transfeminine experiences? I felt like many pieces of the description could apply to me, but Imogen…

Age of the City

Read Age of the City: Why Our Future Will be Won Or Lost Together ( )

In this book, Professor Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin show why making our societies fairer, more cohesive and sustainable must start with our cities. Globalization and technological change have concentrated wealth into a small number of booming metropolises, leaving many smaller cities and towns behind and feeding populist resentment. Yet even within seemingly thriving cities like London or San Francisco, the gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen and our retreat into online worlds tears away at our social fabric. Meanwhile, pandemics and climate change pose existential threats to our increasingly urban world.

Felt rushed and superficial in some parts, some others were better. A frustrating read because many very interesting things are said but stay on the superficial level; a good read nonetheless, not too US-centric. Mes notes de lecture en français sont ici.