For Your (Weekend) Consideration

I'm New England-bound this evening and cannot wait to celebrate the season with my family.  It's been a weird few weeks and I just need that downtime, that familiarity, that warmth that I can't get anywhere else.

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I read too much Grantland this week.  But when they have stuff like the Definitive Boy Band Matrix, how can I not?

Also, do you know how many movies are part of franchises, prequels, sequels, remakes, etc?  It's gross.  I like The Avengers as much as the next guy, but we should be encouraging original storytelling.

It's also time for all the "Best of the Year" lists.  Let's start with movies and tv shows.

Long read of the week: The New Yorker's profile on Samantha Power, the youngest American Ambassador to the U.N.

Why is being a working mother so difficult?  Who do our company and governmental policies discourage it?

Heroin has become a huge problem in many areas, including my hometown.  

Sony has cancelled the release of The Interview.  George Clooney has some thoughts.

I found this article both problematic and thought-provoking.  

John Legend is amazing.

The most depressing thing ever.  

Finally, if you do anything this weekend, listen to Black Messiah.