I feel too far removed to claim to "suis Ahmed", but it's still important

I've seen many people comment about trying to find the balance between condemning the Charlie Hebdo murders and lionizing the magazine's "satire". h/t to Sami Rigel for pointing me to this. If we need a symbol or a rallying cry, from what I've read this is one I could get behind. It's also a reminder of the double-threat threat extremists pose to non-extremists in their own groups: they'll kill you just as readily as the others, while at the same time inviting the others to lump you in with them. If we "others" fall to that trap, where do they have left to go?

http://mic.com/articles/107988/the-hero-of-the-charlie-hebdo-shooting-we-re-overlooking

Huge congrats to Rachel+Miles, Dan Carlin for making EW's podcast list!

Entertainment Weekly just released a list of "the 20 podcasts you need to listen to in 2015". There are some on there that I don't know about and am looking forward to hearing, and some I've recommended before (Serial and Startup are both great), but there were two entries on the list that I was pleasantly surprised to find. Favorites of mine that I thought would be too indie or niche to show up on a list like this, so here's a much deserved congrats/signal boost/shoutout in particular to...

- Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men: it doesn't matter if you like X-Men or comics, this real-life superfan couple is just gobs of fun to listen to. Seriously, give them a try. They have an infectious enthusiasm, without losing a critical eye toward what they love, and just seem like really fun people.

- Hardcore History: I have listened to Dan Carlin talk for 8+ hours about the Mongols, and 10+ hours about Rome, and still find myself wanting more. I get so many more chores done around the house when there's a new Hardcore History because I find myself making excuses to keep listening.