The Reading List for June 2, 2014

— After coming out in Fader magazine, Sam Smith is back in the news once again. First, there is the fact that his debut album, In the Lonely Hour, is the fastest-selling debut album of the year and has displaced Coldplay from the top spot. If that wasn’t exciting enough, Smith recently collaborated with Mary J Blige on Good Morning America in a performance of his single “Stay with Me.”

— CBC reports that a recent survey about sex work shows some interesting results vis à vis what should and shouldn’t be criminalized.

Looks like Time isn’t the only major news magazine doing major stories about trans lives. Maclean’s magazine recently put out an interesting piece examining the current zeitgeist of how trans lives and popular culture are starting to intersect.

— Speaking of trans lives, a new webseries called Brothers is aiming to tell the stories of four trans men — Jack, Davyn, Aiden and Max — and the various pitfalls they encounter as they navigate their lives. The first episode is already up online, but its creators are looking to help crowd-source the funds for the remainder of the series. “Making trans stories more visible is a huge stepping stone in moving transgender equality forward,” they say on their Indiegogo page. “By telling personal and compelling stories, we hope to share the similarities of trans individuals with the world.

Check out the debut episode, below.

Journalist, writer, blogger, producer.

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