Lit Hub Daily: January 22, 2020

• “Fire chiefs are having to take time out from fires to dismiss rumors about arson being spread the conservative press.” Jennifer Mills on battling the false narratives around Australians devastating bushfires. | Lit Hub Climate Change
• Lydia Denworth on the science of social groups and the desire for friendship that runs deep in all primates. | Lit Hub Science
• In search of Los Angeles magic: Cynthia Drake retraces Weetzie Bat’s steps with Francesca Lia Block. | Lit Hub
• “It was clear that a man who had broken no laws and had only spoken his mind was being actively destroyed by the public.” Howard Bryant on Colin Kaepernick and the moral bankruptcy of the NFL. | Lit Hub Politics
• “The liberated word is a marvelous thing.” Meghan Cox Gurdon on the history—and importance—of oral storytelling. | Lit Hub
• Isaac Bashevis Singer on the particular wonders of writing in Yiddish. | Lit Hub
• How a book cover gets made: creative director Nicole Caputo on episode two of Belletrist’s Studio Sessions. | Lit Hub
• Joe from You isn’t a serial killer. He’s a batterer. Torrey Crim explores how Joe’s reform is just part of the cycle of abuse. | CrimeReads
• Alice in Wonderland, Waiting for the Barbarians, Things Fall Apart, and more rapid-fire book recs from Isabella Hammad. | Book Marks
• Overwhelmed by social media? You may want to look to Jane Austen for help. | JSTOR
• “Is it the case that to write a major best seller in today’s frenetic marketplace, one first has to attain true sociopathy?” An exciting journey through the publishing industry, circa the 2010s. | N+1
• One brave Twitter monster asks: Should you cut books in half to make them easier to carry? | Mashable
• In a profile of N.K. Jemisin, the author discusses growing up between the North and South, ambitious worldbuilding, black speculative fiction writers, and more. | The New Yorker
• Can reading literature from other countries make us better travelers? | Words Without Borders
• “I almost always find my own errors productive.” Namwali Serpell on her process of “unselfconscious creation.” | Guernica
• Read more literary magazines. Start with these 10 indie gems. | Electric Literature

Also on Lit Hub: “Hearts Amiss”: A poem by Gerald Stern from the collection Blessed As We Are • Striving for a life of normality on the occupied West Bank • Read an excerpt from Luke Geddes’ debut novel Heart of Junk.