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Take Your Time With: Bad Writing About Africa, and Brazil’s (Literally) Killer TV

My weekly recs for things to do beyond the news cycle…

Read: How to Write about Africa, a satirical masterpiece by the pathbreaking Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina who died last week at age 48. "An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress."


Watch: Killer Ratings, about the Brazilian TV personality and politician Wallace Souza, who gained huge popular support with a show about fighting crimes. The only problem: He was behind those crimes. At a time when reality TV and politics are already melding to terrifying effect, you need to see this.

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​Explosions in Iran and gas prices increasing.

Explosions in Iran and gas prices increasing.

Natalie Johnson
Nearly a month ago, the US and Israel started a war with Iran. Over 2,000 miles away, one continent that wants little to do with the war is nevertheless uniquely impacted: Europe.European Union leaders met in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss skyrocketing energy prices resulting from the conflict. It comes after US President Donald Trump issued a [...]
March 13, 2026, Tehran, Iran: ALI LARIJANI (C), Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, participates in the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally, a commemoration in support of the Palestinian people on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in Tehran.

March 13, 2026, Tehran, Iran: ALI LARIJANI (C), Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, participates in the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally, a commemoration in support of the Palestinian people on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in Tehran.

Supreme National Security Counci via ZUMA Press Wire
Israel says it has killed Iran’s security chief, as war drags onAli Larijani, who was head of the Islamic Republic’s influential security council and had effectively run the country since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death, was killed in a strike overnight, Israel has said. Tehran has not confirmed his death. If it is true, Larijani would be the [...]
The site of a destroyed drug rehabilitation hospital following a Pakistani air strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 17, 2026.

Afghan men stand at the site of a destroyed drug rehabilitation hospital following a Pakistani air strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 17, 2026.

REUTERS/Sayed Hassib
408: The number of people killed in the Afghan capital of Kabul, after a Pakistani strike hit a drug rehabilitation center there, according to Taliban officials. Another 250 were reported injured. Islamabad claimed the facility was being used as an ammunition depot, as the conflict between the two neighbors, which started as border clashes last [...]
​U.S. President Donald Trump walks as he arrives back at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 15, 2026.

U.S. President Donald Trump walks as he arrives back at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 15, 2026.

REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz
Trump demands global help to reopen the Strait of HormuzTwo weeks into his war against Iran, the US president is now calling on other countries to send forces to help secure the Strait of Hormuz. At the moment, Iran is allowing only a handful of (mostly China-bound) tankers to pass through without threat of mines, drones, or missile attacks. [...]