AUDACIOUS BOOKCLUB HAPPENINGS
Our February book club selection is Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. We will be in conversation with Kaveh on February 27th at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST. Registration is now open. I hope you can join us!
The March selection is Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange.
THE NEWSLETTER WEEK IN REVIEW
PERSONAL PROFESSIONAL NEWS
I’m looking for interesting questions for my Work Friend column. If you have a burning professional query, please do reach out to workfriend@nytimes.com.
My essay series, Roxane Gay Presents, with Everand has launched. First up: Julia Turshen with Built For This: The Quiet Strength of Powerlifting.
READING MATERIAL
More people have had their student loan debt forgiven.
Tom Sandoval—a villain’s story.
Yulia Navalnaya is going to take on her husband Alexei’s work.
W. Mor on J. Lo.
Momagers, “child influencers,” and disgusting pervs. What an unholy combination. These poor children.
Lisa Mecham on divorce, and creating the family that was best for her, her children, and her ex-husband.
On Palestinian culinary traditions being honored in… Arkansas.
A really in-depth profile of Al Sharpton. A conversation with the brilliant Kelly Link. And Kelly Link has some book recommendations. And Leslie Jamison has some book recommendations.
Remember the edgelord institution of lower education, the University of Austin?
Nazis are strolling around CPAC, palling around with Republicans including Trump, nothing to see here, everything to see here. Actual Nazis, to be clear.
Extreme Republicans are going to continue stripping away abortion rights and it will not stop there.
And in Alabama, a warning about what’s coming next as they attack IVF.
This is what happened to a woman in the year after she was denied an abortion.
Arizona, which continues to degrade higher education, is considering allowing students to protest grades for political reasons. The ways this will be abused are… many. We are in the stupidest timeline. Truly, just the stupidest.
Yes, the True Detective finale was amazing. And Issá Lopez is on board for the next season. Dreams do come true. For GQ, she answers some of our burning questions.
An interesting piece on the politics of reform. Practice vs theory. It’s complicated. And it’s difficult. And still, reform is necessary.
Bluesky is great for what it doesn’t do.
In rather sad news, Wendy Williams has frontotemporal dementia and aphasia, the same condition Bruce Willis has.
Rebecca Solnit examines what has happened to San Francisco. Turns out, tech doesn’t make everything better.
And then the CDC was like, let’s not have people isolate for even five days when they have COVID. Let’s just let it ride. But here’s how to get free Paxlovid.
The cybertruck is a literal rust bucket.
There is a significant rise in car crashes throughout Africa, and it is having devastating consequences.
RIP to the guy who invented PopTarts. RIP Flaco, the Owl.
I absolutely love public diaries where people talk about how they spend their money. This guy has a $3500 weekly food budget. And he’s like a symphony conductor!
Taylor Lorenz interviewed Chaya Raichik and the latter is dumber than a box of rocks.
Details matter.
Matt Salesses explores the possibilities of climate fiction.
A visiting professorship at Howard in investigative or data journalism.
This chef lost her mind when a customer had an emergency and needed to cancel a reservation and used travel insurance to get his reservation cancellation fee back. Wild times.
In Athens, GA, a UGA student, Laken Riley, was murdered. Senseless and heartbreaking.
An oral history of Schindler’s List.
Adam Dalva on the challenges of film adaptation.
Hateful, miserable internet people drove that sweet, goofy librarian Mychal to resign from the library. I just don’t understand why a certain group of people took issue with someone who seems just lovely and is so passionate about books and reading and helping kids.
The TN governor has signed a bill allowing state officials to decline to perform same-sex marriages. Everything is going so horribly.
What it takes to be a dog running the Iditarod.
Victor I. Cazares is refusing to take their HIV medication until the New York Theater Workshop calls for a ceasefire.
Every time you think we’ve found the pinnacle of mansplaining, there is a man who finds a way to climb even higher.
Vice managers are shuttering the site and laying off most of the staff. They’ve managed to pay themselves, though, because of course.
Young queer folk are mourning Nex Benedict, who should be alive.
What happened to Michiko Kakatuni?
R.O. Kwon hopes her parents won’t read her new novel, Exhibit.
A short story from Sofia Samatar to carry you into the new week.
The Kakutani book review is delicious,