My latest Work Friend column is up, with advice on mentoring interns, dealing with a parrot of a coworker, and a bitter rival.
Our next book club selection is Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz. Our live discussion with Dantiel will take place on April 28th at 8pm EST/ 5 pm PST. You can register here but this event is only open to paid subscribers.
We had a wonderful conversation with Brandon Hobson this week, and yes, we recorded it. I had to re-upload our conversation with Torrey Peters so this is the new link.
Are you an arts writer? If so the Andy Warhol Foundation has a grant and applications open soon.
For the past year, an encampment of unhoused people has become a vibrant, self-sustaining community. This week, the city of Los Angeles decided to force everyone out of their homes and erect a fence around the lake for “renovations.” It is a travesty. If you want to do something to let the city know this is unacceptable, terrible, utterly craven and cruel, there is a toolkit. There is a severe housing crisis here, but other cities are dealing with this as well. I would never suggest there are easy answers to addressing all the circumstances that leave people without a place to live. I do know, however, that there are far better solutions than craven political maneuvering and callous indifference to anyone who does not own property. So many of the existing solutions are violent. They are thinly veiled attempts to imprison and punish people for poverty (think: strict curfews, no ability to leave a room, no keys, the inability to bring your belongings to shelter, and on and on it goes). Mayor Eric Garcetti is useless. The city council is useless. Mutual aid groups have done so much great work to help our neighbors and so if you can, find a great mutual aid group in your community and either volunteer and/or make a financial contribution to their efforts.
This bullshit right here? (Yes, I am writing about it.) GO GET YOUR KRISPY KREME.
Black nerds rise again!!!
Ly Tran writes about what a bad day is for them, while grappling with the mass shooting in Atlanta.
Brandon Taylor is as fine a critic as he is a writer and he offers an elegant engagement with two recent “Internet novels.”
On the legacy of Act Up’s needle exchange.
Tony Hsieh (the man who created Zappos), was surrounded by people who enabled his downfall. It’s quite sad.
This is a chilling investigative report into the gangs populating the LAPD and Sheriff’s Department.
Kelis is farming and vibing with nature and making beautiful food and it’s all so very appealing. Her milkshake brings all the boys to the farm. (I had to. I did.)
A treatise on Black Pussy. I’m gonna sit with this one a while.
Yahdon Israel is now a senior editor at Simon & Schuster! Congratulations to him! And here, he shares what he is looking for as an editor. It is a must-watch for anyone who wants to publish a book.
A fine profile of Kaitlyn Greenridge, whose novel, Libertie, we will be reading very soon!
Racism is everywhere, and it is even embedded in the value of your home.
Rest in power, Nawal El Sadaawi.
TWEETS:
(Darth is back on Twitter! He made this picture of my puppy who is, yes, the cutest lil Beanie Baby!)
I love this newsletter so much and it has led me to many great reads of all kinds.
I loved the Torrey Peters discussion and am looking forward to watching the Brandon Hobson one as well.
I live in Italy, so I can’t join during the live time. Will the next recording be available to paid subscribers?
Dr. Gay, I am so grateful for this newsletter every week. You are saving the world, one subscriber at a time. Thank you thank you.