Our weekly recap highlighting the best feature stories from around the internet.
Rapper Lil Yachty talked to the Fader's Rembert Browne this week. Photo: AFP
Eternal Sunshine, by Rembert Browne, The Fader
“Talking about the cuteness of little Lil Yachty was a far cry from how we began. I’d met him for the first time a week earlier, on a Tuesday morning at Los Angeles’s Power 106 radio station, before he was slated to be a guest on The Cruz Show. Within seconds, I was already confused. I extended my hand for a shake and Yachty, his assistant, Nick, and his security, Twan, all opted for the pound. As I followed them into the green room, the three passed around hand sanitizer. None of them had even looked me in the eyes. The first thing I wrote down: “brats.”’
Will I Get a Ticket? A Conversation About Life After Vogue With Lucinda Chambers, by Anja Aronowsky Cronberg, Vestoj
“There are very few fashion magazines that make you feel empowered. Most leave you totally anxiety-ridden, for not having the right kind of dinner party, setting the table in the right kind of way or meeting the right kind of people. Truth be told, I haven’t read Vogue in years. Maybe I was too close to it after working there for so long, but I never felt I led a Vogue-y kind of life. The clothes are just irrelevant for most people – so ridiculously expensive.”
How the Death of a Muslim Recruit Revealed a Culture of Brutality in the Marines, by Janet Reitman, The New York Times Magazine
“The next night, it happened again. Felix told Bourmeche to hand him his martial-arts belt. He tied Bourmeche’s shoelaces together, then took the belt, wrapped it around Bourmeche’s neck, strung it under his laces and tightened it so Bourmeche bent at the waist. ‘‘Are you a terrorist?’’ Felix held the end of the belt like a leash. He began to walk him like a dog. ‘‘Are you a spy?’’’
Generation Shaq: Catching up with the kids named after a larger-than-life NBA superstar, by Alex Prewitt, Sports Illustrated
“In 1992, the year the Magic drafted O’Neal first overall, his first name ranked No. 426 among nationwide male births, according to the Social Security Administration. In 1993, the year O’Neal was Rookie of the Year, 1,784 boys were named Shaquille, for an average of five newborn Shaqs each day, and the name vaulted to No. 181. Over time O’Neal would learn about families just like the Longs. Parents shared their stories at the grocery store. Google Alerts for other Shaquilles pinged into his phone. A second generation formed.”
The Oral History of Lilith Fair, As Told By the Women Who Lived It, by Melissa Maerz, Glamour
“I shouldn’t have someone roll their eyes at me because I asked where the plug is on a stage I’ve never been on. It sucks to feel like a monitor guy is giving you attitude because he thinks you’re just some dumb girl that doesn’t know what she’s doing, and then you see your [male] bandmate ask the same question and he gives him a straightforward answer.”
What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted, by Olivia Carville, New Zealand Herald
“When Dunn made it into the intensive care unit after Mia’s suicide attempt on June 12, she was pinned to the bed beneath a tangle of tubes. “I just said ‘Oh Mia, girl, what are you doing? What have you done!’ Then I just broke down, yea I broke down,” he said. “Why? Was it me? Was it her? Was it them? It leaves a mystery behind that you can end up dwelling on and beating yourself up on for the rest of your life.”’
