Our weekly recap highlighting the best feature stories from around the internet.
Justin Bieber performing at the 2015 American Music Awards. Photo: AFP
Justin Bieber Would Like to Reintroduce Himself – by Caity Weaver, GQ
“He is slight, with rashes of tattoos spreading down both arms. His hair, cropped close on the sides but long enough on top to be tied in a short bleached ponytail, is tucked under a gray Supreme beanie. His feet are snuggled into a pair of café au lait Yeezy Boosts. He is wearing what could be anywhere from two to 41 black sweatshirts of various lengths, layered, and distressed leather pants that retail for $2,590. Everyone else by the pool is wearing clothes; he is wearing fashion. When he arrived just a few minutes ago, he was escorted by a Def Jam executive for the five-second walk from the elevator to this cabana. “Are you Justin?” I asked. “I must be,” he replied.”
Sexist and silly: TVNZ's new channel Duke takes us right back to the 1950s – by Aimie Cronin, Stuff
“Why not create a new channel with new shows and an inclusive title and message so that men and women can decide if they want to watch it without women feeling like they've walked into the changing rooms at a rugby game? Does TVNZ think men are so stupid they need to be lobbed on the side of the head with the most dramatic and stereotypical advertising and only then they will realize a TV channel has something they want to watch on it?”
Head over Hills: The Undying Love Story of Heidi and Spencer Pratt – by Mitchell Sunderland, Broadly
"We were fame whores, getting literally a million plus a year in photos and being hated for it," Spencer says. "It's frustrating for me that people don't recognize that this was genius. This was innovating!"
An interview with Mana Magazine’s Leonie Hayden – by Duncan Greive, The Spinoff
“I have this utmost distaste for the Māori with the job story, i.e, you should do a story on my friend, he’s a lawyer, and that’s the pitch. It’s like, you wouldn’t pitch that to Metro, just, “I’ve got a friend who’s made a lot of money.” That’s not a story. But somehow, from an outsider’s perspective, like every single successful Māori is somehow an interesting story for other Māori.”
A God Dream – by Hua Hsu, The New Yorker
“One of the reasons Kanye West inspires such a devoted following is that, despite all of the changes in his life and in his music, we can still recognize him as the same character he was when his story began. He is his own muse.”
What Should We Say About David Bowie and Lori Maddox? – by Jia Tolentino, Jezebel
“Word choice is hard here. Should we say “raped” automatically if a grown man has sex with a teenager? Does it matter at all if the 15-year-old, now much older, describes their encounter as one of the best nights of her life? What is our word for a “yes” given on a plane that’s almost vertically unequal? Does contemporary morality dictate that we trust a young woman when she says she consented freely, or believe that she couldn’t have, no matter what she says?”