The Audacious Roundup

For the week of December 19th and December 26th

Jan 2

It’s the holidays and Masterclass is offering a two-for-one deal. If you’re interested in taking my masterclass on writing for social change, now might be a good time to sign up for Masterclass AND gift a membership.

Keep up with the Joel Gay Creative Fellows, Jet Toomer, Jesus Rodriguez, and Elspeth Michaels.

The January selection for the Audacious Book Club is Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor. We will be in conversation with Deepti on January 25th at 5 pm EST/2pm PST. Registration is now open! If you missed our conversation with Ava Homa, you can watch it now.

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. Debbie also created The Remarkable Life Deck, if you want to think through what the next decade of your life could look like. The cards are really beautiful and this is such a valuable exercise for looking ahead and taking stock of where you are. I don’t say that lightly. Normally, this isn’t my kind of thing but The Remarkable Life Deck is excellent.

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 AND back in stock.

Happy, happy new year, friends! I hope that 2023 is treating you well in its early throes. Manifest the life you want. It seems to be working for people!

I wrote about when Harry met Meghan and their Netflix documentary, for the New York Times.

New York magazine gets into the nepo baby phenomenon which, to be clear, is nothing new. As many others have said, I would love to see a look at the nepo babies in journalism. You’d be surprised (or not), as to who is a nepo baby. But really, I don’t care about nepo babies. I just do not. It’s fine if you care!

The White House just this year got its first permanent menorah. That seems… impossible that it took this long but alas.

It’s funny how cyclical life is. Every few years, there is a trend piece about how young people are eschewing technology. Luddite teens are baaaaaack! And I guess they don’t know we’re talking about them on the Internet. LOL.

Is the art world entering an anti-woke backlash phase? I hate when articles ask this question. Like, only if we allow it! So don’t!

Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton singing their heads off.

A profile of Arielle Angel, editor of Jewish Currents.

A review of The Survivalists, our February book club selection.

RIP to Barbara Walters, a real legend. She paved the way for so many women in broadcast journalism! This past week, we also lost football great Pelé and designer Vivienne Westwood.

Those GMA 3 hosts are still doing their thing.

Metrocards (soon to be RIP) were little canvasses that opened up so many possibilities.

Misogynist (among other terrible things) Andrew Tate and his brother were arrested in Romania, after Tate had his ass handed to him by Greta Thunberg.

A man has been arrested in the murder of four college students in Moscow, ID.

Looking at Trump’s tax returns, well. many of us are paying way more in taxes than he is and that is absolutely criminal. Like him!

Tory Lanez was convicted of shooting Megan Thee Stallion and it’s a damn shame that a guilty verdict was ever in doubt. Journalist Meghann Cuniff offered incredible reportage of the trial and recounts, for BET, that experience.

Cameras struggle with dark skin, because racism. Here’s a look at which cameras are the least bad.

Freshman (maybe) congressman George Santos (if that’s his name) is a liar, liar, pants on fucking fire. His campaign finances are being investigated and I’m sure that’s just the beginning.

A guy made his Manhattan apartment look like his Minnesota childhood home. We had a couch like that growing up. I wouldn’t want it back but at the time it was nice.

Somehow, Netanyahu is PM of Israel again and leading an extreme far-right government.

The way we “fight” “obesity” has racist roots. Of course it does!

An Indiana woman was denied a protective order and then the man she was trying to protect herself from killed her and then himself.

Dating seems so grim.

When I tell you Southwest shit the bed over the holidays, I mean they shit the bed and then every other room in the house.

Speaking of shitting the bed, Bill Cosby is going on tour again.

Bearded Penn Badgley is… intriguing.

I don’t care if babies fly in first class and neither should you. Grow up and get some headphones.

There are very good people among us.

Republican Jesus.

Speaking of, the republicans are busing migrants again. It’s just so fucking asinine and callous.

Kehide Wiley is building something grand.

Advice for people considering building an EV charging station.

Amy Grant is hosting her niece’s homo wedding on her property and I guess that’s news because homophobes are in their feelings about it.

A priest in the Bronx had a son and then….

A profile of the wondrous Emma Thompson.

Two Indianapolis women helped find a missing child.

DC fans are going through it.

Robin Miles, an incredible audiobook narrator (she read An Untamed State), on how she uses her voice to bring stories to life (and how).

Kendrick Lamar is writing a new chapter.

Six food writers share valuable lessons they’ve learned around the dinner table.

American Greetings is looking for freelance card writers.

Did someone buy a whole ass newspaper and disappear it from the Internet?

President Obama shared his favorite books of 2022.

A short story from Brandon Taylor.

Coming up with movie titles is done so that was a good run.

Why was Salt Bae on the pitch after the world cup final??? No. Seriously. Why? Anyway, Argentina won.

Neighbors, SMH.

This woman writes Christmas songs for a living which is kind of incredible.

Tik Tok, bestseller machine.

2022 was a rough year for literary magazines, though. RIP Bookforum.

Jamilah Lemieux on how racial loyalty only seems to extend to Black men.

Ummmmmmmm. A profile of Bari Weiss.

All things considered, 2022 was a decent year for labor.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited the U.S. and spoke before Congress.

In late December 2022, AirBnB banned slave cabins as rental units. I had to read this article THREE times to make sure I understood this nonsense. Like. What? And WHEN?

A profile of some white guy. I share this because it is fascinating how these young white men are slobbered over by the media as if they are the next big thing but rarely is there much there, there.

Ten hours in Bergdorf Goodman.

Gabrielle Bellot on the fear of touch.

There is so much entitlement in thinking you can run up on someone, ask them personal questions for your own personal enrichment, and then get mad when they don’t want to play your stupid game.

As an aside, they have made a sequel to the movie Book Club. It blew my mind too when I found out. Some of that cast is also in a movie called 80 For Brady about some 80-year-old women who go to the superbowl and I guess, love Tom Brady? My point here is that whatever your dream is, go for it. Truly. Anything is possible.