This week has been… well, the word I started to write was “difficult,” but “difficult” is for sure not strong enough a descriptor. TOTALLY AWFUL feels more accurate. Heather covered this more articulately than I will earlier today, but mostly I hope you are doing okay. I wish Fug Nation was connected by a series of pneumatic tubes through which I could distribute alcohol and cheese and cake. Please take care of yourselves.

– Roxane Gay wrote an important and moving piece for the New York Times about Alton Sterling that is well worth your time.

– Also utterly heartbreaking — truly, something beyond heartbreaking — is Doreen St Felix on the murder of Philando Castile, at MTV.

– Ashley Weatherford also wrote a thoughtful and moving piece about the events of the last three days for The Cut. I am sure there has been a lot of other good writing to have come out this week, that I have missed, especially today. Please, as always, feel free to share them in the comments.

– Over at Pajiba, Sulu is going to be openly gay in the new Star Trek movie.

– That said, George Takai isn’t thrilled with this development. (THR)

– I loved everything about this story at Elle: What’s Zendaya Got to Do With Celine Dion’s Sudden Style Transformation? As I said on Twitter, Zendaya and Celine joining forces could be a powerful source for goodness.

– The Wine Show — in which Matthews Rhys and Goode tootle around Italy and drink wine and act charming — is coming to Hulu, which is great news. (Vulture)

– This appealed to me as a lover of beauty products and as a hoarder, at Racked: The Smithsonian Is Archiving All Our Beauty Concerns

– Speaking of hoarding, this was a really really good piece at the New York Times about Marie Kondo. (Personally, I’m not KonMari’ing ANYTHING. The world is a dumpster fire, let me keep my freaking collection of royal wedding magazines.)

– The A/V Club had a fascinating interview with Terry Dresbach, Outlander’s costume designer.

– At Lainey, hot hot Idris Elba.

Variety explains Why Plunging Into ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ on Netflix Makes Sense. (I agree. It is both wonderful and smart, and I think it might bring you happiness.)

This is a diverting look at retro cigarette lighters, which I always want to buy even though I do not smoke. (Hyperallergic)

– Thank you to Vulture for including The Royal We on their list of 20 books to bring to the beach this summer!

– I love these fashion illustrations of Fire Island, from The Daily.

– Via Celebitchy, ALLEGEDLY Tim Hiddleston is already tired of all the photo ops with TayTay, which I don’t believe at all. He knew the drill going into this. Can they please run away and get married? We need diverting gossip!

– At Atlas Obscura: The ‘Brownstone Detective’ Who Digs Up Dirt on New York Homes (specifically MURDER DIRT.)

And, in case you missed it here this week, some highlights:

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