Keep up with the Joel Gay Creative Fellows, Jet Toomer, Jesus Rodriguez, and Elspeth Michaels.
The September selection for the Audacious Book Club is How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo. Our conversation with Elaine takes place on September 29th at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST. Register now! If you missed our conversation with Kirstin Chen, author of Counterfeit, you can tune in to the recording.
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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.
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. (The first printing is sold out but more are on the way.)
Dancers at L.A.’s Star Garden are unionizing!
And speaking of unions, workers at Chateau Marmont have joined Unite Here Local 11. The boycott worked and has now ended.
I hope you all had a lovely Labor Day weekend!
In These Times is hiring a new executive editor.
Children are being kidnapped, often with their parents’ consent and it’s criminal in every sense.
I recently finished Jonathan Escoffery’s I Will Survive You, which I HIGHLY recommend and he is profiled in The New York Times.
Outdoor dining in NYC is coming to an end (ish).
Serena Williams played what is likely her last tennis tournament. She was glorious. She wore diamonds in her hair. She is the GOAT.
Infamous looters were looted right back.
May I never, ever be woken up like this.
RIP Barbara Ehrenreich.
Jackson, MS is without potable water after decades of systemic racism and neglect.
A town in New Jersey cut down all the trees so homeless people can’t enjoy the shade and now, no one else can either. In Nebraska, a school shut down the paper when students dared to publish a couple columns about LGBTQ issues.
Chris Rock says he turned down an offer to host next year’s Oscars and then made a dated, tasteless joke as is his right. I said what I said, after last year’s Oscars and I stand by it.
The Cut is featuring incredible profiles of Megan THEE Stallion and Meghan Markle THEE Queen of our hearts.
Lea Michele, the new funny girl, has a lot on her shoulders. And she is plagued by rumors and accusations of illiteracy, racism, and more.
FKA Twigs on her abusive relationship with Shia Leboeuf.
Leonardo DiCaprio broke up with his girlfriend just after she turned 25. Heh. Again!
A morning with Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) and her dog.
Police in Columbus, OH shot and killed an unarmed Black man. He was 20 years old.
Finishing Michael K. Williams’s story, may his memory be a blessing.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is on Broadway!
Brittany Luse goes deep on passing narratives.
The gossip around the new movie Don’t Worry Darling is quite sublime. It’s nice to have some low-stakes celebrity nonsense to discuss. Did Harry spit on Chris Pine? How are we feeling about Pine’s outfit? Harry’s collar? Florence Pugh’s strut in that outfit? SUBLIME, I SAY!
Reading this on a full airplane and did a full GASP about cutting trees down to deter unhoused people and then busted out laughing at the DiCaprio tweet. Audacious as usual!
The Tweet palate cleanser at the end is, as ever, perfectly balanced.