Recently, both Batgirl and the Norse god Thor (as conceived by Marvel) have been updated to suit the times. While DC Comics simply gave Batgirl sensible, combat-appropriate clothing, inspiring happy fan art; “female Thor” has met a mix of excitement and bewilderment. Fittingly, a new piece out at Aeon explores our conflicted desire to see male protagonists in fiction — the Harry Potters and Bilbo Baggins’ of the world — reimagined as women. (Also, because no roundup of imaginary characters is complete without fake social media updates, here’s Thor lamenting the loss of his hammer on Facebook.)
Our new fictional feminist superheroes
Even longer reads
Smithsonian takes a look at Byliner and The Atavist and what the success and innovation of these two companies can tell us about the hopeful state of longform narrative journalism. Fast Company's Co.Design ran an image heavy interview with The Atavist's developer, Jefferson Rabb. I'd add Long Reads to the list too.
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Great Expectations
John Keene, Ken Chen, and seven other writers share their most anticipated books coming out this spring. Also check out The Millions great book preview.
Pimpin’ with Remnick
Correction of the day, courtesy of The New York Times: "He did not say that it would not be a 'pimped out' version of the article."
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She was the shadow of the waxwork lain
A waxwork being billed as “the most accurate likeness of author Jane Austen” ever created has been unveiled at her museum in Bath, England.
England’s Green and Pleasant Land
William Blake may have described its "green and pleasant land" but this week England had traded green for white, as you can see in this NASA photograph (c/o Gizmodo).
Dear Sandy, Hello
A look at Ted Berrigan's letters to his institutionalized wife, collected in Dear Sandy, Hello, at The Poetry Foundation.
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