What We’re Reading: One million members and counting
Hi everyone,
We’re celebrating something really special at Medium this week: Passing one million members! As our CEO Tony Stubblebine writes on our blog, it feels great knowing that the words, analysis, and opinions posted by writers and editors here are so valued by our community of readers. “And to every Medium member,” he writes, “Thank you for being a part of this community. We’re so glad you’re here.”
Take a bow. You deserve it.
Medium isn’t the only entity breaking records this week. Congratulations are in order for NCAA basketball in the United States, which for the first time ever held a college women’s championship whose television viewership numbers eclipsed ratings for the college men’s basketball tourney. Some 18.9 million people tuned in, per Nielsen. It’s a big deal for women in sports worldwide, and a number of you wrote pieces about the games.
“Women’s teams have better flow offensively, more selfless play, more players taking a charge, stronger team defense, and more dynamic coaches,” writes Steven Uppendahl in sports publication Beyond the Scoreboard.
Steven’s NCAA story is one of many that focus on women’s sports. (If you want to find more, search the topic page.) Also, if you take a look at the stories we recommend for this weekend, you’ll find some that speak to the U.S.’s April celebration of Arab American heritage.
The sheer variety and quality of stories you’ll find here are signatures of the Medium community. Thanks for spending — and sharing — your history and your moments with us.
– Adrienne Gibbs, Director of Content at Medium
P.S. Do you have an unfinished draft sitting in your queue? Why not dust it off and publish it for (Finish Your) Draft Day on April 25. More details here.
What We’re Reading
The Complexity of Choice: Abortion, Motherhood, and the Adoption Conversation
Published by former Al Jazeera anchor RICHELLE CAREY
The adoption conversation is not a consolation prize or a political bargaining chip. It’s a choice that exists on its own complex, emotional plane. It’s a decision as intimate and personal as the decision to become a mother — by birth, by adoption, or not at all.
I Asked Generative AI Music Platform Suno to Write a Podcast Theme…Things Got Weird
Published by Jeffrey Anthony
I even thought, maybe, just maybe you can argue this song falls into the style of dance known as hardstyle. The problems with associating this song with hardstyle stem from the fact that hardstyle starts at 150 bpm and above, and the actual timbres of the synths used are not the ones you hear in a dance-pop song like this.
So, overall, a very weird tempo choice. It is not something a human would typically do when composing in this style!
An American Eid
Published by Elishah Virani in Thought Thinkers
The Eid mela or festival is an annual holiday tradition in Karachi and most Muslim cities. After thirty long days of fasting during the month of Ramadan, Eid marks the joyful end of a spiritual journey. Rows of streets are blocked off to traffic and are adorned with string lights and massive tents. People of all ages gather to indulge in food, music, and dance — all things that they’d abstained from for days beforehand.
How to Work Remotely and Not Feel Isolated
Published by Radmila M. in Towards Data Science
Communication is a key skill for any data-related (and not only) team, but it becomes a must for remote collective. Make a habit to regularly communicate with your colleagues via work chats or using video calls. This can help you feel connected to your team and reduce feelings of isolation.
- One of the grandfathers of punk rock was Lebanese and you probably know the music if you ever watched the film Pulp Fiction. Randy Smith shares this amazing slice of American music history.
- Dig into the Medium archives a bit and read this cool story about the astronauts who flew the Apollo 15 to the moon. The interview is with astronaut Al Worden, who is white, talking fondly about Dr. Farouk El-Baz, the Arab American scientist who named the spaceship and was the lunar geology instructor for all of the Apollo missions.
Today’s Final Word goes to KiKi Walter, who shares a childhood tale of bullies, bravery, and resilience.
“For the rest of fifth grade, Christina, true to her word, was my bodyguard. And I was her friend. And I would go to her house — despite Rose constantly badgering me about whether I had ‘my periot’ or not — and we would make prank calls and do homework together.
By the next year, I found my footing again.
It was my second year back in my old school. I had grown my hair out, discovered the joys of my mother’s makeup, and decided it would be better to be blind like Velma from Scooby Doo than the loser I had been during my previous two years of elementary school. So I ditched my glasses in the bottom of my bookbag and learned to look cute while squinting.”
Read the rest of the story here.
Share your favorite reads in the responses! We’d love to check them out.
