The Audacious Roundup
For the Weeks of June 22nd and June 29th
AUDACIOUS BOOKCLUB HAPPENINGS
Our July bookclub selection is Pool House by Mary H.K. Choi. We will be in conversation with Mary on July 30th at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST. Registration is open. If you missed our conversation with Douglas Stuart, it is up now.
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
PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL NEWS
Here’s a brief interview about our efforts at The Rumpus on Bookstr.
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 White House has long targeted the Smithsonian and now they have conjured up a stupid, afactual report full of nonsense.
Trump is also flying around now in his new plane gifted by Qatar. Nothing to see here.
In better news, his great American state fair was a total bust. Embarrassing.
It should be of no surprise that the food safety net in this country, one that has long been frayed, is threadbare under the Trump administration.
The Supreme Court is allowing Trump to end TPS protection for Haiti and several other countries. They also ruled that asylum seekers can be turned away at the border. They are, however, saying Trump cannot end birthright citizenship.
Graham Platner has now been accused of sexual assault.
America is 250. Here’s how some cowards chose to spend their time, looking like Temu Klansmen. Related: Megyn Kelly’s mask is fully off. (Was it over on?)
Pete Buttigieg was swatted. Our political system seems irreparably broken.
In NYC, Mamdani’s chosen candidates did well for themselves.
There has been another ransom note for Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother, but this one says that Nancy Guthrie has died.
Europe is dealing with terrible heat waves. A warming planet is impossible to escape.
Men always want to be colonizing something, even if it is impossible and means certain death.
There are so many different ways that people cope with grief and one such way is writing letters to those who have passed away.
This in-depth article explores the question of who we should hold responsible when teenagers make grave, life-altering mistakes.
The 99 Ranch grocery stores are being sued for discrimination.
An author re-reads Mark Twain against the realities of the current sociopolitical moment.
An overzealous Knicks fan stole a trash can and lost her job.
A profile of Paul Williams, a Black architect who had a major impact on the architecture of Los Angeles. A conversation with Robby Hoffman.
RIP Clive Davis.
White people get up to such interesting activities. A woman rowed a little boat, alone, from California to Hawaii.
Dua Lipa is opening a library of banned books in Portugal! That such a thing is needed, alas…
For some reason, Kylie Jenner has gotten into business with Meta Glasses. Her Meta frames are not attractive to me.
An author is seemingly unhappy with the film adaptation of her novel.
Prince Harry’s family is so raggedy. They just stay raggedy, raggedy, raggedy.
Never forget that Andrew Tate is repulsive in every possible way.
Apparently, ranch dressing is very popular with World Cup attendees from other countries. I hate ranch which is a little funny because I’ve never actually had ranch. But it just looks gross and smells gross and that’s all the information I need.
As the tournament continues, there have been upsets. Neymar is done playing for Brazil. Norway is doing pretty well and everyone is obsessed with a Viking-esque player. Trump, who ruins everything, intervened over a red card an American player received. FIFA acquiesced. Everyone is mad. Haiti is out of the world cup but they warmly embraced at home. Messi loves kicking balls.
In tennis news, Naomi Osaka beat Sabalenka. This is very pleasing to me.
When runners can no longer run, they grieve. Can’t relate.
An interesting piece of criticism about the new LACMA Geffen galleries.
The woman whose dog was killed by LAPD is suing the city. AS she should.
I have been doing crossword puzzles for about forty years now and they are popular again! Yay! It is good to be a cruciverbalist.
Taylor Swift got married. At Madison Square Garden LOL! We happened to be in the city at the time. It was FINE. Nothing was disrupted. We were not invited which makes sense as we don’t know her. Can you believe the Times covered this extensively?
In queerer relationship news, Karamo and Jussie are dating??? That’s going to be messy. I like it.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is bringing Warriors to Broadway next season.
All those protein people are creating a cottage cheese shortage. What?
Olivia Rodrigo created a new lady music festival!
THE RUMPUS WEEK IN REVIEW
Culture:
What is Freedom: Nell Irvin Painter by Nell Irvin Painter
What is Freedom: Lydia Davis by Lydia Davis
What is Freedom: Vincent Valdez by Vincent Valdez
What is Freedom? by Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman
News:
The Rumpus Initiatives Cycle 1 Winners by Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman
Essays:
Shorty by Hadas Weiss
He Could Be Like Cronus by Karo Ska
Wake of Weight by Alicia Steigerwald
Big Beautiful Home by Vonetta Young
Testimony by Susan Nguyen
American Brasswood (Tilia Americana) by Blue Đào Nguyễn
Fiction:
Among the Believers by Raja’a Khalid
Sunday Scaries: The Body Monstrous by Jennifer Hudak
F-Stop by Yvonna Conza
Cariñito by Katey Linskey
Sunday Scaries: Lu’s Laundry and Other Services by Wen Wen Yang
Poetry:
Two Poems by Maja Lukic
Three Poems by Lauren Kalstad
Three Poems by Emily Hockaday
Three Poems by Genevieve Hudson
Leaving Paradise by Lena Moses-Schmitt
Three Poems by Genevieve Hartman
Reviews:
Kafka in Kashmir: Zahid Rafiq’s “The World With Its Mouth Open” by Mishma Nixon
Consider the Rooster by Natalie Coe
Under Surveillance: Benjamin H. Snyder’s Spy Plane by Jack Lewis
Interviews:
A Conversation with Maya Jewell Zeller by Gabriela Denise Frank
A Conversation with Toni Ann Johnson by Leslie A. Lindsay
A Conversation with Richie Hofman by Armen Davoudian
A Conversation with Davin Malsarn by Geoff Graser
A Conversation with Mario Elías by Edgar Gomez
A Conversation with Glenn Dixon by Allison Wyss
Comics:
Am I Asian American? by Nidhi Chanani