The Audacious Roundup
For the week of March 9th
AUDACIOUS BOOKCLUB HAPPENINGS
Our March selection will be Tell Me How You Eat: Food, Power and the Will to Live by Amber Husain. We will be in conversation with Amber on March 21st, at 1 pm EST/10 am PST. Registration is open.
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
The war (of aggression, started by Trump without a plan) continues. Iranian cultural heritage sites are being damaged. Trump is basically begging American allies to help him but they’re not interested because war is bad and he treats them like shit and he keeps doing dumb things with tariffs. This is also called reaping what you sow. JD Vance, slug, is pretending to be the voice of reason so he might have a political future when all this blows up.
Even flight paths are being affected by global conflict.
They are using drone strikes to attack gang leaders in Port au Prince but, as is always the case, civilians are also being killed.
These interviews with DOGE staffers show that the absolute worst people, with absolutely no experience, made catastrophic decisions.
The government grift continues as Trump’s regime is going to receive $10 billion for the TikTok deal. This is some weird math. Also feels illegal.
Tyrants are so odd. Trump, apparently, loves Florsheims and “gifts” them to his minions, and they wear the shoes around him, whether they are the right size or not, because they are too scared not to. Like… OMG so embarrassing and hilarious.
Another marker in the annals of how billionaires just do whatever they want, without any care at all for the communities where they live
It should come as no surprise that the Tesla diner is, ultimately, a flop.
Does extreme wealth warp the human mind? Probably! It also affects spelling and grammar, apparently.
Some women who thought adjacency to power would protect them are learning that it won’t!
After Kansas revoked the driver’s licenses of trans people, some are leaving the state.
In Michigan, a man drove a truck full of fireworks into a synagogue and was killed by security guards. Reports indicate he had family that were killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon. How does that translate into attacking an American synagogue? Antisemitism.
Is the BART system in peril? Maybe… But I cannot imagine the Bay Area without the BART.
Some Georgia teenagers played a prank on a teacher and things went horribly wrong when one of them accidentally ran the teacher over and he died.
Jürgen Habermas died and I did not realize he was even still alive. I read his work in grad school.
The Alexander brothers will be spending a lot of time in prison for sex trafficking and other terrible crimes.
Over at LitHub, a wonderfully ambitious project of reviewing queer and trans books overlooked by the NYTBR under Pamela Paul’s tenure.
A profile of Lindy West who has a new memoir, Adult Braces, out now. Yes, I’ve read it. Yes, I am writing about it. A profile of Kylie Jenner. Ibram X. Kendi has a new book on the horizon. A profile of Michelle Pfeiffer, still gorgeous. A profile of Vanessa Hua.
Grammarly did a bad thing involving AI and pretending to be living authors and it’s a mess and there will be many lawsuits.
Who could have predicted that betting big on AI would bring about the end of Buzzfeed other than… everyone!
And imagine being laid off because of AI and then having to work to train AI to do the job you just lost. It’s all so dystopian.
Rene Redzepi has stepped down from Noma but his $1500 a person LA residency goes on. For once, actions meet consequences. Noma has also lost most of its sponsors.
A woman fired a gun, multiple times, at Rihanna’s home while she, her partner, their children and her mother were in residence. She is being charged with lots of crimes.
Gamblers tried to threaten a journalist into changing a news story so they could change the outcome of a Polymarket bet. I can’t begin to imagine how often this is happening and at some point, some journalist is going to give in, either out of fear or greed. These prediction markets are a terrible idea and bad things are going to happen until they are shut down.
Speaking of… an Atlantic writer spent a year gambling and, of course, it became a problem.
There are lessons to be learned from going to nightclubs.
Teenagers won’t go the fuck to sleep.
A new consideration of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Louis Theroux has made a documentary about the manosphere.
Publishing news: Tyrant Books is baaaaaaaaaack. And Sandra Cisneros is now a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Nina Artist Residencies are accepting applications until March 20th at 11:59 pm.
Page One Media is again offering a publicity campaign for an underrepresented writer who has a book coming out in 2027.
If you follow them on social media, you might note that EJ Johnson is kind of… messy and a bit mean. Anyway, in a recent interview they said they only date straight men which… ok!
Another reminder that basic income works!
Jack Harlow… oh just read it for yourself. It’s ridiculous and typical
The history of Koreatown through restaurant menus.
Some Pizza Hut nostalgia. To this day, I can remember the sensation of biting the plastic Pizza Hut cup full of ice and Pepsi. And it has probably been 40 years since I was last in a Pizaa Hut.
Parking lots are alive!
Has Banksy’s identity, at long last, been revealed?
A look inside author Rumaan Alam’s very colorful home.
Spend a day in NYC with John Slattery and see a fun little cameo of Sara Levine’s Hitch.
The Oscars happened. Some exciting wins for Sinners and KPop Demon Hunters. I continue to believe Sinners deserved Best Director and Best Picture and I really wanted Wunmi Mosaku to win for Best Supporting Actress but it was an interesting night, regardless.
THIS WEEK (AND LAST WEEK) ON THE RUMPUS
Essays:
Synanthropia by Isaac Engelberg
The Lesbian Erotic Poem: Eileen Myles and Gertrude Stein by Katy Funderburgh
Hunger by Bethany Kaylor
Fiction:
World in the Hole by Marguerite Alley
The Pastor’s Ex by Britt Tisdale
Poetry:
Rage Psalm by Hali Sofala-Jones
Two Poems by Ruth Williams
Three Poems by Emma Aylor
Three Poems by Carrie Conners
The Lovers by Aiman Tahir Khan
Three Poems by Courtney Duchene
Reviews:
The Strangest Sky Home Lost and Found in Leo Boix’s “Southernmost: Sonnets” by Andrea Villa Franco
Walking as a Pastime: Jason Allen-Paisant’s “Thinking with Trees” by Marie Burdett
The Inheritance of Grief and Work: Abbie Kiefer’s “Certain Shelter” by Meg Eden Kuyatt
Interviews:
An Interview with Patricia Henley by Christine Sneed
A Conversation with Martín Espada by Megan Pinto
The First Book: Mariah Rigg by Mariah Rigg
The First Book: Eliana Ramage by Eliana Ramage
A Conversation with Lana Linn by Liz Button
A Conversation with Namwali Serpellby Leslie-Ann Murray
Dang, both you and Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein are so cool and fascinating! I wish I could go to that talk.