The Audacious Roundup

For the week of June 15th

Jun 23, 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

John of John: Patriarchal Matters

Roxane Gay

4:15 PM

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John of John: Tradecraft + Tradition

Roxane Gay

Jun 18

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PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL NEWS

Some Rumpus coverage in Publisher’s Weekly.

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

Lydia Mathis, author of the forthcoming Desperate Bodies (from my imprint), is one of the Cultured Magazine’s 2026 Young Writers List. Here’s a conversation with her!

LAPD killed a dog, a doodle wearing a Knicks shirt, during a noise complaint. No crime was being committed. A woman was loudly, joyfully celebrating the Knicks winning the NBA finals and a neighbor called it in maybe assuming something was wrong and the cops killed the dog. It’s terrible. I hope she is doing okay.

The regime’s new student loan policies imperil graduate education in the arts (and most education for people who come from modest backgrounds). They literally ruin everything.

Also, they are such banal ass haters.

Speaking of ruin, the reflecting pool in D.C. is muddled with algae. Talk about needing to drain the swamp. I am calling this scandal ALGIFA. LOL.

While at the G-7 meeting, Trump lied about the Italian prime minister and she is none too pleased.

The vice-president wrote a book and it is bad, which is to say it is a reflection of him.

Kash Patel has himself a lil slush fund.

In NYC, Mamdani is flexing his political power. And in L.A., a toxic warehouse fire is harming the air quality among other things.

Another day, another weird tech ghoul secret society.

Another day, another fast fashion company, Edikted. I know this brand because my nieces love it.

The UK plans on banning kids under the age of 16 from social media. I am curious how that actually works in practice.

Sam Bankman-Friend wants to get out of prison very badly.

If you need a consumerism rush, you can fake shop. Oh boy.

The personal information we volunteer to the cloud makes us incredibly vulnerable.

Ann Patchett’s new novel Whistler will be the first book we’re reading with the relaunch of The Rumpus Book Club. Debbie Millman will be running the book club and she will be in conversation with Ann Patchett on June 30th. Register if you would like to attend.

THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!!! New Kiese Laymon coming in April of next year.

Here’s an essay from the collection Lucky Creatures by Joseph Trinidad. A profile of Mariska Hargitay in her Broadway debut. We saw Every Brilliant Thing with her in it and loved it. A profile of Colson Whitehead.

This was a misguided, strange essay about how wah wah, where are all the straight women because feminism makes people think everyone’s a lesbian or something but hey hey some women still like the D. Like, ladies, we know. Congratulations. That buffet of smegma is all yours. No one cares. This feels like the author working through something personal (which is fine). But straight women who actually like men are abundant, talk about their desires openly, and are not an endangered class.

Check out some garage sales with Caity Weaver.

Norway is traveling with their own food because they don’t trust American food. Fair. Meanwhile, the influx of tourists that was anticipated isn’t really showing itself. The games have been quite good but the hydration breaks are… ridiculous. And, of course, the U.S. authorities are making life miserable for teams from specific countries (populated by people of color), and especially Iran.

A writer tries to make sense of a young woman’s disappearance.

I love Caesar salad. I will never tire of this perfect food.

Blah blah blabbity blah, America is 250 years old which, quiet as its kept amidst all the rhetoric, is very young.

Remember rap rapist (rappist?) Mystikal? He has been sentenced to prison for twenty years for another rape. Bruh.

The Ballerina Farms lady says she is exactly where she wants to be and I believe that. I do. Though, if it needs to be said…

Power to the People, a new documentary, shares the history of the Black Panther Party in North Carolina.

JCO, who has me blocked on social media lol, is still writing and shitposting.

Young people go missing for all kinds of reasons and this is one such story.

Amy Griffin is countersuing the classmate who is suing her. Okay.

A more mature chicken nuggie, perhaps?

The GOAT is headed to Wimbledon.

NYC is getting a new area code. FOUR SIX FIVE!

Behind the scenes of an iconic movie scene.

Aliens are among us. It’s kind of ridiculous how the government is trying to sell us on the existence of aliens to avoid releasing the rest of the Epstein files. Stop trying to make “fetch” happen!

The Knicks parade was quite the celebration.

Some marriage advice from Samantha Irby. Hilarious but also wise.

This is just great storytelling (marketing):