Links I Love

Every now and then I find something in the huge world of the Internet which leaves a deep impression on me and which I feel has the power to change something in some way. Here are 10 links of articles and videos which I recently discovered and absolutely love. Enjoy!

1. Witness - Circus of My Sun

This is a documentary about a circus in Morocca which employs kids from the poorest slums of the country. They have no chance of a future in their slums and are condemned to live a miserable life like their family and friends before them. But the Circus of My Sun offers them a chance to travel and earn money and express themselves. With the circus they suddenly realize that there is more to life. On most locations where they travel to and perform, people don't even know what a circus is, but when they see what these kid acrobats are capable of they are mind-blown. It's a wonderful, beautiful true story which gives you hope that the world might not be that ugly after all.

2. Daniel Radcliffe NME Interview

In this perfectly documented interview with Daniel Radcliffe, I had the feeling of really getting to know the actor. He is, in fact, very different from your typical Hollywood man, even "bizarre" as the article calls it. I am a huge fan of Daniel Radcliffe's post-Potter work and I found him abolutely outstanding and adorable in this interview.

3. David Kushner: Zola tells all: The real story behind the greatest stripper saga ever tweeted

I admire straight-foward story-telling with simple words which let the story speak for itself. The Rolling Stone is a magazine with many authors who are masters in this art. This article is a perfect exemple. It's the story of a stripper who gets involved with a girl who prostitutes herself. The article includes the accounts of the several participants of a roadtrip to prostitution without favouring one side over the other. Simply a great read!

4. Justin Bieber - Love Yourself

I have never gotten the music of Justin Bieber and I always felt like it's too eletronical for me and somehow too weak. But when I first heard his song "Love Yourself" I instantly fell in love with it. It is so soft and somehow festive, like it might be a Christmas song. And at the same time it's just an incredibly nice way to say "Fuck yourself". I listen to it on repeat for an entire evening every other week. Also the dancing in the music video is fantastic.

5. Kesha - Dirty Love

Apparently Kesha once had a plan to create a new music genre which was supposed to be a mixture of Girlie-Rock and Pop. But of course her record label was against the plan and rather wanted her to continue to produce Electro Pop hits which all sound the same. The only song which came out of Kesha's new genre idea was "Dirty Love" and it really shows a different side of her. I wish she went down further that road.

6. Emily Witt: Diary

This is a fantastic portait of the Burning Man festival which captures the essence of this event wonderfully. Emily Witt describes her time at the Burning Man, inculding political discussions, orgies and more. It's very real and honest and it makes you want to be there and never, ever have to go there at the same time. Great writing!

7. Michelle Goldberg: I was a proud non-breeder. Then I changed my mind.

One of life's biggest questions is weather to have children or not. Michelle Goldberg describes how she was always convinced that the family life is not for her, regardless of the fact that she's happily married. I can identify with her a lot, as I too, don't think I'll ever want to have kids. Children ruin your life, that was her attitude. But then she changed her mind and she had a son and it was the best decision she ever made. It's a beautiful real-life story.

8. Kristen Lamb: Being GOD 101 -  The Basics of World Building

One of my biggest dreams is to one day write a fantasy novel. But besides the fact that I still wait for a genius idea, I also find world-building to be the hardest thing a writer can do. It's simply overwhelming. Nevertheless, here Kristen Lamb breaks it down to the basics and she explains it in a way I can understand. The point which impressed me most was her argument that you have to create an unsual world in order for it to be fantasy or science fiction but still make the world feel strangely familiar to the reader so that he can find himself in it.

9. Stephen Rodrick: Inside Leonardo DiCaprio's crusade to save the world

I admire Leonardo DiCaprio's movies and I think that he's an incredible actor. But though I was always impressed by his ecological campaigns, I never really got what he is trying to do with them. This Rolling Stone article follows DiCaprio to a shooting of a new documentary and really gets to the bottom of his fight for our world. The article portraits DiCaprio as someone who is disillusened and frustrated by Earth's probable future but at the same time keeps fighting for it nevertheless. He truly believes in the cause, so much that it eats him up.

10. Saturday Night Life: The day Beyoncé turned black

I love SNL sketches and this one is definitely the most brilliant. It's hilarious as always but at the same time it's also brutally true. White people, even myself, never really perceived Beyoncé as a black person which of course she is. With "Formation" she finally celebrates her black culture. Watch the sketch, have a good laugh and then think about it.