The Audacious Roundup
For the week of March 16th
AUDACIOUS BOOKCLUB HAPPENINGS
Our April selection will be Black. Single. Mother. by Jamilah Lemieux. We will be in conversation with Jamilah on April 29th, at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST. Registration is open. If you missed our conversation with Amber Husain, it’s now online.
For newcomers, there is a bookclub FAQ if you have questions about how it all works. We’re partnering with the lovely people at Allstora for the Audacious Book Club. Now, you can sign up to have the monthly selections delivered to your doorstep each month! Otherwise, I’ve put together an Audacious Book Club storefront if you want to buy current or forthcoming book club titles.
THE NEWSLETTER WEEK IN REVIEW
PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL NEWS
On April 9th, I will be in conversation with Chanda Prescod-Weinstein at Rutgers! Details and registration here. The event is free and open to the public.
For my Australian readers, I will be back in Sydney on June 12th, in conversation with Narelda Jacobs! Tickets here!
Sometimes, really unexpected but delightful things happen to a writer. Bad Feminist is the March pick for Dua Lipa’s book club. I made a playlist for readers. I also offer some feminist reading recommendations. And then, Ashley Ford writes some very kind things about our mentor relationship that has blossomed into a wonderful friendship.
Book and project links: Books I’ve Written, RGB Imprint Titles, Rebind: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton; The Forgotten Occupation.
READING MATERIAL
Trump’s war of aggression continues. It is an absolute debacle. Is it time for a second passport? Probably!
For many of us, it has come as a great shock and disappointment to learn that César Chavez was a sexual predator. Two of his victims have come forward—Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas. And to compound matters, he assaulted Dolores Huerta, she had two children by him, and at nearly 96 years old confirmed that he had done these things and that she kept his secret for the sake of the farmworkers movement. Misogyny and violence do not have political boundaries. Now, cities, towns, organizations, and even schools are trying to figure out what to do about renaming places that honored Chavez. You really cannot be a fan of any man, just in case.
It should come as no surprise that Trump’s smarmy little friends use their adjacency to his power to their own ends.
Some student loans will now be managed by the Treasury. Sure that’s going to go well.
Afroman won his lawsuit. Yay freedom of speech.
CBS Radio is being shuttered as more staff cuts take place.
At LGA, an Air Canada regional jet collided with a fire truck. The two pilots died and several people were injured. This is what happens when you gut federal agencies. It’s so senseless.
Some deep reporting on the disruptions in the LA mayoral race.
Noma is trying to salvage their LA pop up. I don’t think it’s working.
Another day, another Duggar arrested for child molestation.
A young man on Spring Break in Spain accidentally drowned. Friends stick together! Don’t leave your friends alone when you’re partying!
The aftermath of the Camp Mystic flooding continues. And now, the camp is, surprisingly, going to welcome a new cohort of girls this year.
The women of the WNBA have come to a tentative agreement with the league.
The Bachelor/ette empire is in crisis. A 2023 video of Taylor Frankie Paul abusing her on/off again ex Dakota came out days before the new season The Bachelorette was to premiere. Now, her season has been cancelled. (Or has it?) What she did is terrible. All violence is bad. But ABC knew about all of this and proceeded anyway. That speaks volumes.
Amanda Peet writes about navigating a cancer diagnosis while both of her parents are in hospice.
Florida woman refuses to leave her hospital room. That’s home now, I guess.
More on “Alpine Divorces.” Couldn’t be me. And speaking of… a very caucasian accessory.
A Fresh Air interview with next months’s book club author, Jamilah Lemieux. An interview with The Hitch author Sara Levine. An interview with Andy Weir. A profile of crypto true believers. A conversation with Anne Lamott and her current husband. A conversation with Tom Junod.
The challenges authors are facing in today’s consolidated publishing landscape. Meanwhile, four million books were published in 2025. About 650,000 were traditionally published. Yeesh!
Live theater in L.A. is struggling which is a shame. There is some really great stuff happening on the West (Best) Coast!
The internet did a mitzvah for an elderly couple who were door dashing when they should be chilling and enjoying themselves.
Apparently the UMass Amherst dining hall is the hottest place to dine. Mmmm…. okay!
Here’s some new short fiction from Brandon Taylor.
Lindy West’s new memoir Adult Braces is certainly inviting… conversation.
An author’s book deal was canceled because she is suspected of using AI… So much for due process, I guess? That said, using AI is absolutely incompatible with the craft of writing.
Wired’s new editor is fine with making the tech bros mad. LOL. Yassss.
Netflix’s Virgin River is somehow a hit. People keep watching it. I guess I will have to check it out.
RIP Len Deighton. RIP Robert Mueller. Also, Nicholas Brendon died. Alas. Chuck Norris died, too.
The Metaverse is shutting down. LOL. Of course it is. Wait! No it isn’t?
There has to be a better way to get an adrenaline rush than becoming a cocaine kingpin.
This was an… odd mea culpa of sorts from Jay Manuel.
The Storyboard Residency is accepting applications until April 1. And a call for submissions about modern womanhood. The Atlantic is hiring an editor for its Books section.
People are building little DIY cabins out in the woods.
Ham El-Waylly’s Grub Street diet. Also, his cookbook Hello, Home Cooking is out this week. I have a copy and I am excited to dive in.
Alicia Kennedy reviews a food truck and a fine dining restaurant in San Juan, PR, and reflects on what they tell us about Puerto Rican culinary culture and more.
Have you considered baking in Antarctica? Also, Maggie Shipstead writes about fulfilling one of her mother’s last wishes on the White Continent.
THE RUMPUS WEEK IN REVIEW
Comics:
Imposter by Teresa Wong
Fiction:
Saibin (The Visitation of Our Lady) by Roseanne G. Pereira
Poetry:
Two Poems by Jonathan Wong-Hayden
Reviews:
With Both Anxiety & Self-Importance: The Lasting Resonance of “One, None, and a Hundred Grand” by Ruby Rosenthal
A Cacophony of Crowns: “cells, fully differentiated” by Kinsey Cantrell by Avery Castillo
Listening to Ghosts, Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and the Ethics of Remembering by Shalissin
Queer Joy, Intimacy, and Living in a Disabled Body: Rob Macaisa Colgate’s “Hardly Creatures” by Shlagha Bora
A Consideration of Vanya by Niuniu Zhao
Interviews:
The First Book: Carrie R. Moore by Carrie R. Moore
The First Book: Sam Sussman by Sam Sussman
A Conversation with Jordy Rosenberg by Carter Sickels
A Conversation with Mickie Kennedy by Aishvarya Arora
A Conversation with T Kira Māhealani Maddenby Tiffany Yo
I love Teresa Wong's comics. They're just so good.
I think AI checkers are struggling to keep up with AI, and they flag "good" writing as AI. I have two kids in high school. One is extremely anti-AI and a good writer. Her AP English teacher used an AI checker and it was flagged as 91% AI. I don't believe she used AI at all. My other kid is not a great writer and processes orally. As encouraged by past teachers, I was typing as he dictated the conclusion of an essay. Of course, I am not a stenographer and helped the sentences make sense as I typed them. He ran it through an AI checker and the only sentences flagged for AI were the sentences I typed. How do we get out of this mess?