"First Word" #3
Internet frenzy, "finals week," and some quality first sentences.
On Monday, 26-year-old Daniel Penny was acquitted after killing Jordan Neely, a desperate Black homeless man on the subway, on the grounds that he was trying to protect others. On the same day, police detained 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, who is suspected of killing the CEO of a company that has denied thousands of life-saving healthcare claims.
Penny walks free after killing a man victim to the system. What will be the verdict for Mangione, who is suspected of killing a man symbolic of it?
Two 26-Year-Olds: One Killed a Homeless Man, Another is Suspected of Killing a Healthcare CEO // Prem Thakker // Zeteo
The men’s bathroom on the thirteenth floor of the state courthouse at 100 Centre Street, in Manhattan, has doorknobs that are engraved “CITY OF NEW YORK,” and pink soap in dispensers that are manufactured upstate, by incarcerated men, many of whom have been found guilty in the courtroom down the hall.
How Daniel Penny Was Found Not Guilty In a Subway Shooting That Divided New York // Adam Iscoe // The New Yorker
This spring, I applied to compete on a British TV show.
The Biggest Opportunity of My Life // August Lamm // Cluny Journal
Ok I’ll admit this lede is not my favorite but I encourage you to read this piece it is SO good. It’s about grief and self perception and legitimately moved me. I’m curious what you guys would have liked to see the first sentence be if not this simple introduction.
Lila was created from the limited options available: female, blue hair, face “number two.” She was there on the next screen, pastel and polygonal.
The Confusing Reality of AI Friends // Josh Dzieza // The Verge
Submission by Rohan.
Did I want a selfie? Javier Milei, the President of Argentina, was offering. So many of his supporters wanted them; the Internet is full of pictures of him with ecstatic fans, regional leaders, and such international fellow-travellers as Elon Musk. In his office, he adopted his customary pose, his face angled toward the good light, his lips pursed, two jaunty thumbs up. The stance seemed naggingly familiar, and then I realized that it recalled the psychotic character Alex from Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange.” “Naranja Mecánica?” I asked. Milei’s eyes sparkled, and he nodded, cackling, then obligingly resumed the pose.
Javier Milei Wages War on Argentina’s Government // Jon Lee Anderson // The New Yorker
In the months before Patrick Brown was born in November 1982, his father, Arthur, lay down on a road near the family’s farm to prevent a caravan of yellow dump trucks from depositing toxic soil in his community.
Black Earth // Christina Cooke // Bitter Southerner
“The protest also shaped the legacy inherited by the child born a few months later. ‘That’s how I got my name, PCB — Patrick Chandler Brown,’ Patrick says. ‘I was named after what happened.’”
In the evening of May 17, under a billowing white tent overlooking the sunset on Sarasota Bay, a titan of business, a self-made man, stood before a sea of ungrateful punks, trying to impart some wisdom.
The New College Gambit // Kathryn Joyce // In These Times
“First Word” is a newsletter where I share a few ledes that I enjoyed throughout the week, inspired by Ingrid Burrington’s “Perfect Sentences” newsletter. Studies show that we only read the first 20 or so words of a web page — rather than feel defeated about that let’s make the most out of the hook.
Thanks for reading “First Word.” It’s that pre-holidays manic season. It’s one of those weeks were so much news happens and I became aware of the information overload that is ~being online. I’m successfully avoiding completing my final essays for my semester and mapping out my Christmas parties, coffee catch-ups, and final engagements before taking my first trip to North Carolina in 10 days. Does life ever stop feeling like semesters? Here’s some random news and thoughts for the week.
I finally watched “Love Lies Bleeding” and I really would love to read something about sound design and body horror in 2024 movies re: “The Substance” as well. Did any other recent movies turn up the squelching?
As we stare down the new year and people discourse about gift guides and best of lists, I enjoyed Eliza McLamb’s thoughts on being spoon-fed the correct take more broadly.
“How was Tao Lin not on Mangione's goodreads” is a correct take. Anyone who thinks his politics are strange doesn’t talk to enough guys at parties. I like Max Read’s breakdown on this type of guy.
Both Katy Perry and Mangione call for you to re-watch “Idiocracy.” I watched it for the first time last month with The Baffler and had a lot of fun.
For my final project for my data analysis class I’m writing about cybertrucks in NYC and kind of annoyed Curbed beat me to it. Who should I interview to discuss the exponentially growing number of them in the 5 boroughs?
Speaking of data visualization, I liked this Guardian piece about tech influence. Tbh Dustin Moskovitz I was not familiar with your game…
Congrats to the workers at The Strand for securing a tentative labor agreement after going on strike this week.
As always send me submissions of first sentences you enjoyed!
-Pg