Funk Under Threat | Rowers Strip for Their Rights | Very Long Subject Lines

Democratic candidates think they’re gaming Google. But is it just getting on people's nerves?

Have you noticed your inbox getting not just more cluttered but also more verbose? It’s intentional. An appeal from Bernie Sanders to contribute to his self-imposed donation deadline is 46 words long. Yes, 46 — the same number of words you’ve read in this story so far.

A similar donor call from Cory Booker is 30. The missive railing against “fancy private fundraisers” from Elizabeth Warren? A relief, at a mere 21 words.

The one-word campaign email subject line (like Barack Obama’s famous “Hey”) is a relic, replaced by paragraph-long screeds or fundraising pleas — with the goal of getting past Google’s filters, even if it means pissing off potential supporters along the way.

Dayton, Ohio, has long been ground zero in the world of funk. Now, with venues shutting down, it’s battling to keep that reputation alive.

When Dayton’s Funk Music Hall of Fame & Exhibition Center — aka the Funk Center — opened in December 2017, locals delighted in it marrying a proud musical tradition with hope for the revival of a city long down on its luck. Built to celebrate the Ohio city’s reputation as ground zero of the funk world, the center drew volunteers and experts from the Netherlands, Japan and the U.K. and superstar names from Dayton’s 1970s and ’80s funk scene, who pieced together the decades-old instruments, records and memorabilia on display. Tickets to the opening ceremony sold out in days.

But 18 months later, the Funk Center finds itself without a home. The building that housed it is under renovation and its owner, who originally offered the space for free, is now asking for rent the museum can’t afford. “I was surprised and shocked,” says David R. Webb, Funk Center president and CEO. And the Funk Center isn’t the only monument to Dayton’s place in funk history to shutter recently.

When Yale would not listen to their pleas for equal treatment, the college’s 1976 women’s crew team took the matter, and history, into their own hands.

It’s hard to imagine today when Ivy League schools are not exactly known for their prowess on the football field, but for decades Yale University was a powerhouse on the gridiron. And the school’s sports success didn’t stop at football: Yale’s crew team represented the U.S. at the Olympics in Australia in 1956 and won gold.

But its success did stop … at men. Because Yale only had men. The school did not go co-ed until 1968, and the first wave of female athletes to pass through Yale’s doors not only had to compete with their opposing teams but also with the college’s men’s teams for attention, support and resources.