The Crockpot: A Weekly Link-Digest from Utne

• Would you like to take a ride on the euthanasia coaster?
• Slavoj Žižek, “philosophy’s answer to Bob Dylan,” chats with the Guardian about WikiLeaks, Lady Gaga, and a new communist society.
• Obvious news, finally quantified: Two sociologists have analyzed 42 years of Rolling Stone covers and determined that women are increasingly presented as sex objects.
• In the modern homestead, the woman’s role is a lot like her role in yesteryear’s homestead.
• Would a medium-sized bargain be better politically for Obama than the grand bargain he was hoping for?
• Even if you think your child has the next Great American Novel in them, they may need a few pointers to actually become a writer.
• Gay rights improved by French fries. RIP, Wallace McCain (d. May 13, 2011).
• Fun mashup: Sesame Street rock the Sure Shot.
• At Denmark’s Roskilde festival, design firm UiWE tested a chic, communal urinal for women.
• Star anise, sun-dried tomatoes, and cake sprinkles. Check out these amazing hyper-close-ups of common foods.
• A recent Wall Street Journal editorial said that WikiLeaks and News Of The World hacking are “largely the same story.” You can’t make it up.
• Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. are getting lambasted for the phone-hacking scandal. Call it eye-for-an-eye, but the hacker collective called LulzSec now has The Sun and News of the World in their crosshairs. As LulzSec’s twitter account says, “expect the lulz to flow in coming days.”
• And the most misleading headline of the week award goes to…“Michele Bachmann’s Migraines: Joan Didion Weighs In”.
• Paul Ford, writing for New York, mourns the end of endings brought about by social media.
• A sad tale about the state of things at Ireland’s National Library.
• Christopher Walken reads The Three Little Pigs. (Just for fun.)
• Have changed attitudes toward getting hammered left us with a bland literary landscape?
• Renegade artists take over bus shelter ads in Madrid. Long live civil disobedience!
• Downsized drama is over. The Germ Project brings back big, complex, messy theater.
• This college lecture has been brought to you by the Koch brothers.
• If you missed the recent episode of Frontline about the Kill/Capture campaign in Afghanistan, watch it now.
• In defense of treating books badly.