The Reading List for June 2, 2014

— After coming out in Fader magazine, Sam Smith is back in the news once again. First, there is the fact that his debut album, In the Lonely Hour, is the fastest-selling debut album of the year and has displaced Coldplay from the top spot. If that wasn’t exciting enough, Smith recently collaborated with Mary J Blige on Good Morning America in a performance of his single “Stay with Me.”

— CBC reports that a recent survey about sex work shows some interesting results vis à vis what should and shouldn’t be criminalized.

Looks like Time isn’t the only major news magazine doing major stories about trans lives. Maclean’s magazine recently put out an interesting piece examining the current zeitgeist of how trans lives and popular culture are starting to intersect.

— Speaking of trans lives, a new webseries called Brothers is aiming to tell the stories of four trans men — Jack, Davyn, Aiden and Max — and the various pitfalls they encounter as they navigate their lives. The first episode is already up online, but its creators are looking to help crowd-source the funds for the remainder of the series. “Making trans stories more visible is a huge stepping stone in moving transgender equality forward,” they say on their Indiegogo page. “By telling personal and compelling stories, we hope to share the similarities of trans individuals with the world.

Check out the debut episode, below.

Journalist, writer, blogger, producer.

Keep Reading

Sun

Rosalía’s ‘Lux’ tour taught me things I didn’t even know I could know

After years of pining, I finally went to the Catalan superstar’s concert. I wasn’t ready for what it did to me
The protagonists of Blood Lines embracing

The big twist in ‘Blood Lines’ is more than shocking

Gail Maurice’s queer Métis romance takes a massive risk—letting it dig deep into the pain and loss perpetuated by colonial structures
A still from Girls Like Girls

‘Girls Like Girls’ once meant everything to me. I’ve outgrown it

Hayley Kiyoko’s new movie tries to recapture the magic of the mid-2010s music video it’s based on. But time has dulled its revolutionary edge
John Early in Maddie's Secret holding two jars above an open box

‘Maddie’s Secret’ is the movie about eating disorders we need

John Early’s pastiche of after-school specials mixes belly laughs with gut punches. It’s a rare masterwork
Advertisement