Why Design Matters by Debbie Millman is available for pre-order. Yes, this link will be available in this newsletter until it goes on sale on on 2/22/22, four months after its original publishing date (damn supply chain).
The January selection for The Audacious Book Club is Noor by Nnedi Okorafor. We will be in conversation with Nnedi on January 25th at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST. Register, now, for that conversation.
Tressie, Debbie Millman and I are hosting a writing workshop retreat in July 2022. You can also register for this if you want to spend a weekend with us. We hope to see you there! It will be fun and more.
Roxane Gay Books is closed to unagented submissions until 6/15/2022. I’ve found, I think, my first few books! I am open to agented submissions so please send me great books! I am also open, again, for submissions to The Audacity’s Emerging Writer Series. Read the guidelines and submit your best writing. Submissions will be open until I have 24 essays.
On a housekeeping note—if you are a Ride or Die subscriber, you will get signed copies of new books… when they are published. Fingers crossed, I will have a book or two out in 2022. I HOPE. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL. If you like what you read here, please consider subscribing. It allows me to support the Emerging Writer Series and the lovely editors who help me with this newsletter.
As your work friend, I discourage 8 a.m. meetings and since this was published, I have received dozens of angry missives explaining everything I already know. Just another week in professional advising. And in this week’s column, I write about dogs in the office, retaliation for sickness, unwanted appearance commentary on Zoom, and a perilous drive with a colleague.
Clarie Gor writes about how silence begets more silence when it comes to sexual violence.
Tressie McMillan Cottom wrote a beautiful, deeply researched essay about black women in country music, the origins of the genre, and much more.
I’ve been thinking a lot about home renovation shows. A chapter in a forthcoming book of mine is dedicated to HGTV. I always wonder what really goes on behind the scenes. As you might expect, it’s often a total shitshow.
Speaking of… DIY is now Magnolia Network. It’s really fascinating to consider the trajectory of Joanna and Chip Gaines. They had a show on HGTV that was so popular they were able to parlay it into a branded network featuring not only their shows, but their products, etc. Fascinating.
There is an interesting profile of Representative Jamie Raskin in The New Republic.
And speaking of representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene has been permanently banned from Twitter. No link. Just the long-awaited good news. Even beyond her toxicity, her stupidity is also unworthy of airtime.
Elizabeth Holmes has been found guilty of four of the many counts with which she was charged.
Katha Politt reviews Amia Srinivasan’s new collection The Right to Sex: Feminism in the 21st Century.
Movie stars dancing to, “I’m So Excited.”
Ben Smith is leaving The New York Times after a bit more than a year to start a new publication for college educated English speakers around the world. Finally, someone is going to speak to such an underserved population.
The New York Review of Books is looking for a managing editor.
The New York Times has discovered that there is sushi in Los Angeles.
Kaitlyn Greenidge writes about independence, divorce, and how being alone is not always lonely.
Are you playing Wordle? I am loving it, and the romantic story behind it.
Here are some fancy hotels opening this year if you need some fantasy fodder.
Sidney Poitier has died. Betty White has died. Bob Saget has died.
Elizabeth Spiers writes an excellent defense of strivers with no chill. It is in part a defense of Jeremy Strong but also, an argument for why some of us work so hard, without apology, and dare to take ourselves seriously.
Omicron is wreaking havoc on Broadway. Producers have suggested a 50% pay cut but the unions are not having it.
Oberlin is hiring a visiting professor (fiction).
Ben Affleck and his back tattoo don’t care what you think about him.
R.O. Kwon has compiled a list of books by women of color being released in 2022.
Ummm… Ye went on a date with a woman named Julia and she was interviewed about it in… Interview, a few days following. I don’t know guys. I just do not.
Kate Harding wonders if folks have forgotten how to read critically. It’s a good question!
Best Denzel imitation ever?
New (old) Toni Morrison coming!
Remembering Odetta Holmes, who should have never been forgotten.
A firsthand account of how Hong Kong is keeping COVID away.
There was this weird mystery going on in the book world that is so random and inconsequential I can’t even explain it but anyway, that mystery has probably been solved.
Also, in the news of the irrelevant.
January 5th was the anniversary of the destruction of Rosewood, FL, by angry white people. Check out the movie, which is pretty harrowing.
Jami Attenberg on rejection.
Philosopher Kate Manne, an intriguing thinker, writes about the immorality of diet culture.
Audie Cornish (one of my favorite interviewers of all time) is leaving NPR. I gasped when I read the news but hope she is going on to the job or other means of spending her time of her dreams.
HEH.
How Jessica Simpson regained control of her business and her name.
A review of The Lost Daughter. It had its moments and I totally understand what the film was going for but mostly it was an unpleasant viewing experience and I was glad when it ended.
Sweet Valley High is coming back to TV and I am… pretty devastated that they haven’t called me yet.
WTF is Tristan Thompson’s problem? And Khloe, girl! GIRL! Let that man go.
Some drivers were stranded on an interstate for an unholy amount of time.
Maris Kreizman and Josh Gondelman share their favorite neighborhood haunts.
Bye bye Blackberry.
Ashli Babbitt is no martyr.
The staff of Politics & Prose has unionized. Huzzah!
Where there is smoke billowing around a man, there is often a burning hot fire.
A great world building writing exercise from Matt Bell.
Screenwriter Colby Day chronicles a year in the life.
The first all black team of climbers is going to tackle Mt. Everest. Congrats and all but… also, WHY?
New hustle: buying abandoned shipping containers.
Fancy Harlem Townhouse.
Dr. Oz is running for office. SMH.
Dwayne Johnson SAID WHAT HE SAID.
Isabel Oakeshott @IsabelOakeshott
This, in a Regent St fitness store, is what obesity looks like. Flabby curves highlighted in hideous lime green velour. The so-called “body positivity” movement is not “inclusive”, it’s dangerous. https://t.co/OjWcGaYtNS
Burning of Rosewood Florida, We cannot let that anger eat at us for too long despite the depth of the pain. A timely article from Kate Manne about endless diet noise as it's January, and we all have resolutions we have every intention of keeping until we don't or just can't. I'm totally enjoying NOOR! Great selection, Roxane!
Once again, all I need to know rests here. The Denzel impression is amazing. And the Kate Manne article is so necessary as we enter the season of ENDLESS diet noise. I've subscribed to Matt Bell's exercises and I am CERTAIN that you will get that call for Sweet Valley High. If not, I will help you produce the Girls of Canby Hall as a television series.