The Audacious Round Up

For the week of February 21st

Feb 27

Why Design Matters by Debbie Millman is finally out in the world! Here are some pieces in Fast Company, The Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, and W Magazine. Debbie was also in conversation with Brene Brown.

The March selection for The Audacious Book Club is How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu. We will be in conversation with Sequoia on March 28th at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST. Registration is now open.

I had a conversation with the fine folks at Apple Podcasts about The Roxane Gay Agenda, the work of podcasting, and more.

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 The Roxane Gay Agenda, I talk about staying true to your creativity even when haters get under your skin with the one and only Randa Jarrar.

A little video I made for the BBC recently dropped.

A new Work Friend has dropped with questions about the pronunciation and importance of names, what to disclose about your work history when looking for a new job, and e-mail etiquette.

In the Emerging Writer Series, an essay from Bernadette Roca, “The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling.”

At the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, I am in conversation with philosopher Kate Manne.

On the Zora Neale Hurston we don’t talk about.

Biden has nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. She will make a formidable justice.

RIP, Paul Farmer. He did a lot of good in the world.

An appreciation of André Leon Talley.

Sigh. Looks like RAINN has some major internal issues. Always disappointing when organizations that do necessary work are a disaster internally.

Patti LaBelle, tiny desk concert. Enough said.

Tiny island.

An excerpt of Sarah Weinman’s new book, Scoundrel.

A profile of Yulia Navalnaya.

Sumo wrestling in Texas.

Ebony used to have a test kitchen!

I really, really love maraschino cherries, so I enjoyed this odd story of a maraschino cherry factory in BK.

SO you think you can curl?

Abbott Elementary gets better and better. Variety talks to Janelle James, who plays the principal brilliantly.

When Black excellence is not enough.

Odetta, profiled.

Plus ça change….

Rethinking Lionel Richie.

This story takes quite a… turn.

A conversation with Fefe Dobson.

Handball enthusiasts are trying to keep the dream alive.

On preserving the stories of our elders.

On a far more serious note, there is a war happening as Russia tries to invade Ukraine. If he succeeds it will not end there. It’s heartbreaking and infuriating. This is not my area of expertise but I’ve been following Terrell J. Starr on Twitter. He lives in Kyiv. I’ve been reading as much as I can to be reasonably informed and get a clear sense of what I can do to help in some very small way. It is surreal, what modernity offers. There’s a war happening. People are in danger. And I am well aware that the people of Yemen have been dealing with similar encroachments for years. There is Palestine and the impossible conditions Palestinians are living with. There are brutal conflicts taking place all around the world. We learn about them and care about them to one degree or another, while going about our lives, largely unaffected. It’s a bit surreal.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has impressed me. He has real “ride or die” energy for his country. This speech he made to the Russian people was one hell of a speech. On the whole, the Ukrainian people are absolutely keeping it 100.