The Audacious Roundup

For the week of June 1st

Jun 08, 2026

AUDACIOUS BOOKCLUB HAPPENINGS

Our June bookclub selection is John of John by Douglas Stuart. We will be in conversation with Douglas on June 24th at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST. Registration is open.

For newcomers, there is a bookclub FAQ if you have questions about how it all works. And this is what we will be reading for the rest of the year. 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

Introducing John of John

Roxane Gay

Jun 3

Read full story

PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL NEWS

For my Australian readers, I will be back in Sydney on June 12th, in conversation with Narelda Jacobs! Tickets here!

On June 18th, I am joining Hope for Haiti in a fundraiser for their capital campaign to build a new medical campus in Haiti. They are a wonderful organization and my dad is on their board and I am so impressed with the work they do AND that all of their clinics and operations in Haiti are run by Haitians. If you want to support this campaign, please consider a ticket or table (if you have the scratch), and enjoy an evening of conversation, Haitian food, and music!

On June 20th, The Rumpus is hosting a convening for Black writers at Rutgers University. Tickets are available but going fast.

On June 22nd, I will be in conversation with Emma Copley Eisenberg in Frenchtown, NJ!. Tickets and more info here.

And then, on June 25th, I will be at the Center For Fiction in BK, speaking with Nicole Dennis-Benn and Xochitl Gonzalez about what makes a book a classic.

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 president had a temper tantrum during a Meet the Press interview. And nobody interesting wants to go to his birthday party cage fight.

The National Guard presence in D.C. is not reducing crime, which is entirely predictable.

In Newark, the New Jersey governor sent in state police to quell a protest at an ICE facility which… what? The whole thing is a clusterfuck.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Black man who was convicted by a mostly white jury. Broken clocks and all that.

Primaries happened in Los Angeles. Votes are still being counted which, of course, has conspiracy theorists frothing. Karen Bass will definitely be in the run off and maybe Nithya Raman? Xavier Becerra will probably face Steve Hilton for governor in November. Yes, it’s frustrating that it takes this long for votes to be counted but California is a huge state. Anyway, I voted for Bass and Becerra.

In New Mexico, Deb Haaland won the Democratic primary for governor.

Has there ever been a politician who people are willing to give a pass to more than Graham Platner?

In Portugal, there was a remigration summit and yes, this is exactly as racist and xenophobic as you think it is.

A church where sexual abuse is generational. Oh, the sentences that the tragedies of this world force us to write.

The architecture of the Obama presidential museum is a megalith. A curious choice.

Caitlin Clark is not covering herself in glory in the WNBA.

The Tonys happened and it was a pretty good show though it was frustrating that a lot of the great awards happened in a pre-broadcast broadcast on some rando streaming network. During that portion of the festivities, Qween Jean won for best costumes for Cats: The Jellicle Ball. Qween is Haitian and really lovely and the first openly trans person to win a Tony!

Is Broadway playing it too safe?

College is getting more and more expensive and some schools now cost more than $100,000. Per year.

There are people living underground maybe in NYC.

The Knicks are up 2-0 in the NBA Finals. Elmo pissed some Knicks fans off. Spike Lee is very excited. Two fans ran onto the court for selfies and now are banned for life.

A conversation with Scott Palley after he was ousted from 60 Minutes. (Bari Weiss stands by her decision, smh.) A conversation with Regina Hall.

I appreciated this nuanced essay by Marisa Kabas on Weiss, Palley, independent media, and the way forward.

The age old practice of trying to control the weather.

There are loneliness influencers?

Conservatives are mad (?!) that Alex Cooper is pregnant? They really cannot mind their own business!

Karamo Brown is talking about his experience on Queer Eye. Messy, messy, messy.

RIP Peabo Bryson. RIP Marjane Satrapi. RIP Limmie Pulliam.

A missing sherpa was rescued after six days!

Here’s a long story about a hot air balloon family.

Belgium is dealing with a lot of potatoes.

The Literary Arts Fund has distributed its first grants!

The Cocaine Smuggler’s Daughter.