Scam

About eight years ago, Ricki Lake and her producing partner Abby Epstein resolved to turn a critical eye on hormonal birth control. Their previous documentary , 2008’s The Business of Being Born , emphasized the risks and expense of giving birth in a hospital. This new project would apply that same medical skepticism to ongoing conversations around hormonal contraceptives. “In 1960 the birth control pill was all about progress, but does it still fit with our values today?” Lake and Epstein wondered in the project’s Kickstarter campaign . “Do we look to the tech sector to take on the challenge of providing women with alternatives to the pill?” Like so much content that’s “just asking questions,” The Business of Birth Control seems to have a barely concealed agenda: to steer viewers away from hormonal contraception, and towards the tech-assisted “natural” methods the film ultimately endorses. The documentary — which was released last month along with a $147 “Body Literacy … [Read more...] about The Problem With Ricki Lake’s ‘The Business of Birth Control’

A review of this week’s Better Call Saul , “Axe and Grind,” just as soon as we sidebar in the law library… “Relax. You got away with it.” —Kim’s mom What happens to Kim? This is a question I asked regarding the last Saul episode to feature young Kim (still played by Katie Beth Hall, with her hair pulled partially back, but not yet in the full power- ponytail of adult Kim) and Kim’s mom (Beth Hoyt, who still looks and sounds uncannily like Rhea Seehorn). That episode, “Wexler V. Goodman,” opened with young Kim walking away from her drunken mother rather than getting into a car with her. It closed with Kim explaining in great detail why she had every good reason to break up with Jimmy, only for her to declare at the last moment that perhaps they should get married instead. It was Kim’s weakness for hustlers and damaged people winning out over her understanding of what is good, both for her and the world at large. “Axe and Grind” begins a bit differently, though it … [Read more...] about ‘Better Call Saul’ Recap: Kim Reverts to a Life of Crime