The Audacious Roundup
For the weeks of July 13th and July 20th
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.
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
I had the pleasure of joining Monica Lewinsky in conversation on her Reclaiming podcast.
Debbie Millman wrote about famous women aging publicly on their own terms for TIME.
The Rumpus Book Club will be in conversation with Tracy Lynne Oliver about her debut novel Magician on July 28th at 7 pm EST/4 pm PST. Registration is open.
Book and project links: Books I’ve Written, RGB Imprint Titles, Rebind: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton; The Forgotten Occupation.
READING MATERIAL
ICE continues to kill people, indiscriminately including a tourist who was here legally.
The results of Nolan Wells’s independent autopsy are inconclusive which is to say that no one knows (yet) what happened to that young man.
Pete Hegseth is ordering testosterone testing for all the members of the military. Looks like he is into gender-affirming care, after all.
The president wants to paint a building that should not be painted. He also imposed more illegal tariffs.
There is some deadly shit-inducing lettuce out there. Stay safe!
In Nicaragua, the president has decided he doesn’t want any more elections interfering with his dictatorship.
At long last, E. Jean Carroll was paid $5.6 million of what Trump owes her.
The final months of Virginia Giuffre’s life were… grim. I hope she is resting in peace and power.
The Tate brothers have been arrested again and Andrew Tate was wearing a…unique outfit.
Another day, another Democrats in disarray story.
In Berlin, a man drove a car into a Pride event, killing one person and injuring 29 others.
The Louvre has re-opened the gallery where that jewelry heist took place.
Tenisha Delilah Warner is suing her husband’s estate because he never updated certain things to ensure that she and their daughter would receive what they should. Make sure your wills are updated!
Gen Z women are having to like take care of their boyfriends emotionally and financially and honestly ladies, you don’t have to! Leave them! This is ridiculous. MEN!
Speaking of… men have found a new way to be creepy predators.
And look… if being a “surrendered wife” is what allows your marriage to thrive, that’s your business but it’s really wild that what it takes to make men act decently in marriage is wifely submission. If a woman having opinions and expectations makes a man feel emasculated that seems like a man problem but what do I know? I’m married to a woman (and it’s awesome; highly recommend).
A woman leaves the US to get away from its social ills but finds that Berlin is not a paradise.
Two young women who were imprisoned in Uganda for kissing in public have been released but the anti-LGBTQ laws there remain rigid and inhumane.
Five hundred students at Howard University were unenrolled for late tuition payments but many of them were merely waiting for financial aid to come in. It’s a mess though universities routinely do this. Not sure why this particular story is making the news in such a manner.
Spain won the World Cup and Argentina was pretty shitty afterwards. Bad sportsmanship! Now, the World Cup is over until 2030.
Watching the World Cup from Gaza.
People are taking surveillance selfies? Okie dokie!
NYC kids want more allowance. OKIE DOKIE!
The Odyssey did just fine at the box office. There was no boycott at all, just a figment of too online men’s imaginations. The movie was good! Christopher Nolan knows how to make a good movie.
Turns out, moving in with your in-laws post-partum can be challenging.
A small town in Utah is something of a tourist destination thanks to the popularity of tradwife Ballerina Farms. But maybe they aren’t thrilled?
There’s a fancy gun range in Los Angeles.
You’ve heard a version of this story before, but a man takes his girlfriend hiking and… trouble (for her) ensues.
I loved this essay from Hua Hsu about the once promise of Highway 85, SiliconValley, and how the understanding of home evolves.
A conversation with visual artist Derrick Adams.
Men want to wear tight suits to show off their wares.
What is behind our nostalgia for artisans and skill?
Speaking of nostalgia, the mermaids of Weeki Wachi Springs.
If you want to know if a dog dies in a movie, there’s a website for that. Very handy.
Cats: The Jellicle Ball is closing early despite its critical acclaim. What is going on on Broadway?
Due to cremation’s popularity, morticians are becoming a rarer breed.
Holy drones???
Meta is trying to close the Pandora’s Box of their smart glasses but they had to know what (some) men would use these glasses for…
Josh Kerr broke the world record for running the mile.
Runners are a… unique breed. There is going to be a marathon, in an IKEA!
Also: smoking is back? Dreadful habit. (I MISS IT!)
Fawn Weaver has been fired from Uncle Nearest.
People in the UK can now play Power Ball. More gambling. Sure that’s going to end well.
If you haven’t seen Ride or Die yet on Amazon Prime, run don’t walk. It is a delightful show.
Black Panther III will be out in December 2028 and a new T’Challa (son) has been cast.
The berry mafia is afoot.
Mayor Mamdani is doing some really interesting things in NYC.
Cinerama Dome is coming back, baby!
Mt. Holyoke is hiring a creative writer!
An excerpt from Min Jin Lee’s forthcoming novel American Hagwon. And a profile of the author.
THE RUMPUS WEEK IN REVIEW
Essays:
Patching Up The Past by Marc Levy
Pomegranate Season in the Underworld by Shogofa Alizada
The Godbrother by Miriam Kuznets
Self. Pleasure. by Shavahn Dorris-Jefferson
Like White Ghosts Swimming by Michele Christle
Aesthetic Nostalgia by Ani Kayode
Love’s Language by Iana Seerung
Fiction:
Tenancy by Emre Alex Aslan
Logan Takes a Lit Test by Beatriz Seelaender
The Biggest Ikea in America by Kira Homsher
Waiting for Alice by Alex Erdekian
I’ll Just Be Here Leaving by Aimee Herman
Poetry:
Dibé be’ iiná Remembering Sequence by Kinsala Drake
Precisely Flesh by Gemma Cooper-Novack
To Dig a Home by Mallory Asis
Maracas by Chloe Cook
Four Poems by Miguel Barretto García
After February 25, 1971 by Shawn R. Jones
A Poem With Cops In It by Laura Tanenbaum
Three Poems by Sean Glatch
Interviews:
Temporary Utopias: Resisting Machine Mind and Cognitive Surrender with Eleni Sikelianos by Randle Browning
A Conversation with Emily Rapp Black by Kelly Thompson
A Conversation with Cinelle Barnes by M.D. McIntyre
A Conversation with Tracy Lynne Oliver by Liz Button
An Interview with Kathleen Rooney by Christine Sneed
Criticism:
Form as Historical Memory: On D. M. Aderibigbe’s “82nd Division” by Ancci
Normalcy? In This Economy? by Jendi Reiter
Culture:
Girl on Girl (Week One): On Seeing Each Other by Rebecca Woolf and Monica Danielle
What is Freedom: Seth Godin by Seth Godin
What is Freedom: Cey Adams by Cey Adams
What is Freedom: Eileen Myles by Eileen Myles
What is Freedom: Roz Chast by Roz Chast
What is Freedom: Alexander Chee by Alexander Chee
What is Freedom: Tochi Reagon by Tochi Reagon
What is Freedom: Elissa Altman by Elissa Altman
What is Freedom: Karla Murthy by Karla Murthy
What is Freedom: Stefan Sagmeister by Stefan Sagmeister
What is Freedom: Christina Sharpe by Christina Sharpe
The July Rumpus Book Club Selection: Magician by Tracy Lynne Oliver by Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman
Comics:
Swim by Jonah Piersanti