Vox Sentences: What will the archaeologists think of our annual Apple Festivals?

Another Apple launch event; the GOP wants to make the Iran deal into the next Benghazi; and a pseudonym controversy in poetry.

Vox Sentences is written by Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind.

TOP NEWS

Apple introduces new device that forces women to smile

(Stephen Lam/Getty)

• Apple had its annual product launch event today. Unlike in past years, there wasn't a single product that dominated the event (along the lines of the iPhone 6 Plus or the iPad).

  [The Verge / Adi Robertson, Lizzie Plaugic, and Ariha Setalvad ]

• But the rollout did include some substantial improvements to Apple TV, which at least one journalist is very excited about...

  [NeimanLab / Josh Benton]

• ...a stylus called Apple Pencil (which Steve Jobs absolutely would have hated)...

  [Vox / Matt Yglesias]

• ...the iPad Pro, which Apple chose to demo by engaging in the Photoshop equivalent of street harassment...

  [Vox / Margarita Noriega]

• ...and the iPhones 6S and 6S Plus, which can be "leased" on a monthly installment plan that conveniently allows you to immediately upgrade to the newest iPhone once that's available.

  [Re/code / Ina Fried]

• (This is a reminder that all of your new iPhones are adding to the depth of a toxic lake in Inner Mongolia.)

  [BBC / Tim Maughan]

• The event wasn't huge news, but it didn't need to be. Apple is responsible for 92 percent of all profits in the smartphone market. Samsung gets 15 percent. Literally everyone else is losing money on smartphones.

  [New York Times / Farhad Manjoo]

• The biggest stumble might have been closing the event with a performance from the band OneRepublic, who are apparently Tim Cook's favorite band but are also somewhere between "past their prime" and "third-tier dad rock."

  [Fusion / Kelsey McKinney]

The GOP closes its eyes and tries to make the Iran deal disappear

• This afternoon, the House was on the verge of debating formal disapproval of President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. Then, everything changed.

  [Vox / Max Fisher]

• House Republicans' new strategy: Instead of voting on a resolution disapproving of the Iran deal — a resolution the president would simply veto — they will now put forth a resolution saying the deal isn't legitimate to begin with.

  [Roll Call / Matt Fuller]

• Their reasoning: There was a "secret side deal" that the president never presented to Congress. (Here is why that is wrong.)

  [The Hill / Mark Hibbs and Thomas Shea]

• Ironically, House Republicans had fought this spring to get the president to agree to let Congress disapprove of the Iran deal — the strategy they just pivoted away from.

  [Bloomberg / Billy House and Jim Rowley]

• And the new resolution won't be able to stop the deal from going into effect — under the terms of the bill from this spring, if Congress hasn't disapproved of the deal by mid-September, the deal goes into effect.

• But for House Republicans, that's basically what they want: to use the Iran deal as a new Benghazi, something they can keep arguing for months (or years) was the subject of a cover-up.

  [Vox / Max Fisher]

• After all, Iran mistreats puppies, and therefore the US should not have trusted it to begin with. (No, really, that is the thesis of this article.)

  [The Federalist / Stella Morabito]

The Yi-Fen Chou affair

(AFP/Philippe Lopez)

• On Monday, the annual Best of American Poetry compilation came out — but none of the poems have received as much attention as one of the author's notes (pictured here, with some moderately funny Post-it illustrations).

  [Best American Poetry 2015 via Best American Poetry Tumblr]

• Here's what happened: White poet Michael Derrick Hudson, having failed to get a poem published under his own name, submitted it under the pseudo-Chinese pseudonym Yi-Fen Chou. It got published, and included in the anthology, under the pseudonym.

  [Slate / Katy Waldman]

• Poet Sherman Alexie, who guest-edited this year's edition of the anthology, wrote a very honest blog post admitting that he had looked more favorably on the poem because of the author's (presumed) ethnicity, and explaining why he kept the poem in even after he found out about the ruse.

  [The Best American Poetry blog / Sherman Alexie]

• Jia Tolentino does a close reading of the actual poem, which is as good a way as any to show why this sort of pseudonymity is problematic.

  [Jezebel / Jia Tolentino]

• University of Wisconsin English professor Timothy Wu, on the other hand, decided to up the chaos factor by "unveiling" himself as the man behind the "pseudonym" Michael Derrick Hudson.

  [Timothy Yu via Facebook]

• Personally, I (Dara) am most annoyed by Hudson's methodological sloppiness. This experiment from a novelist showed the powers of stereotyping much more scientifically.

  [Jezebel / Catherine Nichols]

MISCELLANEOUS

A long-running feud between Thomas Jefferson and a French count, about mastodons. [Atlas Obscura / Cara Giaimo]

• Burning Man 2015 is over. But some of the event's organizers are scouting a new location, with an eye to creating a community that lasts year-round.

  [NY Mag / Nellie Boies]

• This is definitely the wackiest Nietzsche-inspired rant by a craft brewery owner I've ever read.

  [Slate / Jordan Weissmann]

• McDonald's is switching to 100 percent cage free eggs. That's not enough, but it's big progress.

  [NYT / Stephanie Strom]

• In 2011, the Weeknd was a near-anonymous underground R&B producer. In 2015, he had a No. 1 album and single. Here's how he transitioned.

  [Vulture / Lauretta Charlton]

VERBATIM

It was just like any other New York City bar, but all the women were transgender. It looked like paradise. [Vice / Diana Tourjee]

• "Homeopathy conference ends in chaos after delegates take hallucinogenic drug"

  [Independent / Lizzie Dearden]

• "Gilmore did not open a headquarters until a month into his campaign. He didn’t hire any staffers in South Carolina — a state key to his hopes — until last week. He has not bought any television ads. He would not say when he plans to buy TV ads."

  [Washington Post / David Fahrenthold]

• "We think it may be the case that animal rights activists should support the killing of predatory animals like Cecil [the Lion]."

  [Quartz / Amanda MacAskill and William MacAskill]

• "The lion's share of the studio work is handled by unknowns Just Blaze and Kanye West, both of whom seek to paint a nostalgic soundscape reminiscent not only of hiphop's glory days but also of black music before 'soul' became a marketing tag for any old cotton-candy crooner."

  [Ta-Nehisi Coates reviewing Jay-Z's The Blueprint in 2001, Washington City Paper]

WATCH THIS

Explanatory journalism is a public good

At Vox, we believe that everyone deserves access to information that helps them understand and shape the world they live in. That's why we keep our work free. Support our mission and help keep Vox free for all by making a financial contribution to Vox today.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$95/year

$120/year

$250/year

$350/year

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $120/year

Yes, I'll give $120/year

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via