The Audacious Round Up
For the Week of July 11th
Keep up with the Joel Gay Creative Fellows, Jet Toomer, Jesus Rodriguez, and Elspeth Michaels.
The July selection for The Audacious Book Club is Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine. Our conversation with Kali is on July 26th and you can register now.
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I am reading 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.
Don’t Forget: Why Design Matters by Debbie Millman.
If you’re looking for a nice notebook, check out my new Draft Writing Journal from Baron Fig. It’s pretty swank if I do say so myself. (The first printing is sold out but more are on the way.)
For new literary magazine The Continental, I wrote about the power of no and boundaries.
I wrote about Brittney Griner, and how we should do all we can (which may not be much in the grand scheme of things) to agitate for her release from Russia. We are BG!
A profile of Jason Reynolds, a true ambassador for young people and one hell of a writer.
People picked up pickleball during the pandemic. Until I read this article, I had no idea what it was. Debbie and I started playing driveway badminton during the lockdown. It is a very complicated game of never letting the shuttlecock hit the driveway. We are excellent players.
Mass shooting in Indiana where you no longer need a license to conceal carry.
There were plenty of signs that there was something amiss with the Uvalde mass shooter. In even more infuriating news, there were nearly 400 law enforcement personnel on site as the Uvalde massacre unfolded. A small army. And they did nothing for more than an hour.
What if trigger warnings don’t work? ( I don’t think they do. See: Bad Feminist)
This story is… destined to be a Lifetime movie.
Isaac Fitzgerald’s Dirtbag, Massachusetts, is reviewed in the New York Times. It is out Tuesday. You can also check out his Grub Street diet. Isaac also took a walk with Carolyn Kellogg.
Don’t do it, Emmanuel! Do not!
Deshaun Watson is a serial sexual predator and the NFL is pretty okay with it because he can throw a ball.
Google tried to address caste bias and it… did not go well.
Broadway drama! I like Beanie Feldstein and hope amazing projects await her when she leaves Funny Girl.
Sadly, Paradise Square is closing and the cast has dealt with a real lousy producer.
The average rent in NYC is $5,000. WHEW!
A guide to local elections where abortion is on the line (Like, everywhere???)
Sophia Bush (one of my favorite actors) got married! So did JLo and Ben Affleck.
A ten-year-old girl was sexually assaulted, got pregnant, and needed an abortion. She lives in Ohio. She had to go to Indiana for medical care. People started doubting this story was real BUT. IT. IS. Anyway, the doctor who performed the procedure was accused of not reporting the case but she did. It’s a small consolation but the man who committed this crime has been arrested.
John Turturro writes about his grandmother’s death from a botched, illegal abortion affected generations of his family.
Is our right to travel across state lines in danger?
Ivana Trump died.
A $500 billion future city in the Arabian desert? Okay!
A profile of Latoya Watkins.
The more I learn about the history of enslavement, the angrier I get.
Not sure what’s going on with Ricky Martin but it isn’t good.
Elon Musk’s dad…. also terrible.
A timeline of the allegations against James Franco.
Five queer writers contributing to the canon from unexpected places.
Columbia is hiring a nonfiction writing professor. The New York Times has an editing residency.
Janeane Garofalo, still amazing.
Is abortion sacred?
Brands getting horny?
Is journalism up to the task of reporting the many terrible abortion access stories we know are coming (and are already here)?
Albuquerque Police killed a young man when they went into the wrong house.
The universe can still awe us.
The Bear has been renewed. Huzzah! And someone who has worked in a Michelin-starred kitchen says its depiction of trauma is accurate. A profile of star Jeremy Allen White. And Alicia Kennedy shares her thoughts on the show.
Ada Limón is our next poet laureate.
A review of Queer as Folk.
The 2022 Emmy nominations.
Bookstores are doing great!
A reality show for writers? I’ve tried pitching a show like this to no avail. I will be curious to see if this one actually gets made. But the prize money of $2,500? Yikes.

This round up took me on a JOURNEY. I have so many tabs open I don't even know where to start. Thank you for your continued curation of stuff I need to know more about.
Is there an August selection for the Audacious Book Club?