The Audacious Round Up
For the week of May 23rd
Keep up with the Joel Gay Creative Fellows, Jet Toomer, Jesus Rodriguez, and Elspeth Michaels.
The June selection for The Audacious Book Club is Trust by Hernan Diaz. We will be in conversation with Hernan on June 23rd. Register now! We are trying to find a date to reschedule our conversation with Tara Stringfellow, author of Memphis, our May selection.
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.
On The Roxane Gay Agenda this week, I am in conversation with actor, writer, comedian, podcaster and so much more, June Diane Raphael, a fav!
Aubrey Hirsch has a new graphic essay about student debt cancellation.
There has been another horrific mass shooting and I wrote about the profoundly uncivil times we are living in amidst politicians calling for “civility.” Fuck civility.
In Uvalde, TX, at least nineteen children and two teachers are dead. It is devastating. An entire community is in mourning. The gunman was in the school for an hour which defies comprehension. How does that happen when he encountered police on the way in??? The husband of one of the two teachers who were murdered died after visiting the memorial for his wife. He died of a broken heart which honestly breaks my heart. We have seen the usual responses and some new, absurd ones like people asking Quinta Brunson to write a school shooting episode on her comedy set at a black inner city school. The day after the shooting, Beto O’Rourke went to a press conference and confronted Greg Abbott about his indifference and inaction and honestly, this is how we need to treat all Republicans. We have to keep our foot on their necks. They may do nothing but they don’t get to be comfortable. They don’t get to enjoy public life and eat nice steak dinners at their favorite restaurants. Basketball coach Steve Kerr was, rightly, furious about the shootings. For communities that have previously survived mass shootings, this latest tragedy is a painful reminder of what they have endured. Senator Chris Murphy asks his colleagues what the hell they are doing but, I mean, the answer to that is obvious. They are doing nothing. French newspaper Le Monde has a scathing editorial. The world truly is bewildered by the way Americans allow this kind of slaughter year after year after year. As they should be as it is bewildering and disgraceful. The New York Times has put together the timeline of the 78 minutes it took for police to finally do something about the shooter. Seventy-eight minutes is interminable. As always, there were warning signs. The journalists for the local paper in Uvalde had quite a task in trying to cover the worst day of their lives. And now we have to figure out how to move forward.
What the racist murderer in Buffalo took from one Black family.
At least 42 billionaires are contributing to Ron DeSantis’s re-election campaign which seems like… a lot. Like, 42 too many.
We shouldn’t have to think about such things, but we do. There is an online course on stopping bleeding in trauma wounds, useful knowledge for all of us.
A community ignored a woman’s warnings about how a silo would disrupt black history.
There is a COVID outbreak in North Korea.
RIP Ray Liotta, one of my favorite actors.
John Mulaney did a comedy show in Ohio and invited Dave Chappelle on stage where Chappelle engaged in his favorite pastime, making transphobic jokes.
The Southern Baptist Church tried to keep sexual abuse in their churches a secret. Of course they did. How very Christian.
The New York Times does a deep dive into why Haiti has struggled for so long—having to pay the French billions of dollars for our freedom. I knew about this, as most Haitians do, but this piece does a good job of really explaining the travesty. In the wake of the piece being released, several historians and Haitian scholars have come forward saying they were interviewed for the piece or shared resources etc but were not cited. It was an avoidable brouhaha. Alas.
Take a tour of the Houseplant House! It’s pretty neat.
Good news: a sharkcano (not a movie).
Boris Johnson is exactly who you think he is.
A look at AOC’s fiancé. Verdict: refreshingly normal.
The sad young literary man as middle-aged father.
A giant sinkhole with an ancient forest in it was discovered in China. Anyway, I’ve seen that movie. It doesn’t end well.
Turns out the South Dakota Symphony is doing some really exciting things.
A profile of rug purveyor Mikael Kennedy.
A school district in Florida told its graduation speaker he couldn’t say the word “gay.” He brilliantly rose to the occasion. This is, sort of, a lovely story but it’s also ridiculous. It’s horrifying, really.
The free solo guy is a dad.
A review of Eleven Madison’s take home food box that only provides one day of vegan food for $300.
Maris Kreizman on the legacy of Gone Girl.
A new poem from Camonghne Felix.
A conversation with Melanie Lynskey.
Here are the 100 most influential people of the year.
Old Navy tried inclusive sizing but they have run into problems. I’ve actually bought some of their stuff in “extended” sizes. It was great to be able to. I hope retailers figure this shit out because fat people are beyond ready to buy your shitty clothes.
The Dorothy Publishing project is doing well!
How Ellen lost a generation of fans.
The Cut has created an extensive abortion access map.
Guy Fieri is finally earning the respect of his peers who clearly haven’t been watching Triple D and Triple G, which is their loss.
A profile of Maya Cade who created a black film archive.
Soraya Nadia Macdonald reviews Paradise Square and it’s such an excellent consideration of the show.
Hello. The link to register for the June 23rd book club says it is expired.
Oh yay I’m glad to see other folks think GuyFieri’s shows are really enjoyable. I have not once felt upset or uncomfortable watching them, which is honestly pretty rare with media