The Audacious Roundup
For the week of May 25th
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. If you missed our conversation with Adriana Ramirez, you can watch it on YouTube.
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
For my Australian readers, I will be back in Sydney on June 12th, in conversation with Narelda Jacobs! Tickets here!
On June 18th, I am joining Hope for Haiti in a fundraiser for their capital campaign to build a new medical campus in Haiti. They are a wonderful organization and my dad is on their board and I am so impressed with the work they do AND that all of their clinics and operations in Haiti are run by Haitians. If you want to support this campaign, please consider a ticket or table (if you have the scratch), and enjoy an evening of conversation, Haitian food, and music!
On June 20th, The Rumpus is hosting a convening for Black writers at Rutgers University. Tickets are available but going fast.
On June 22nd, I will be in conversation with Emma Copley Eisenberg in Frenchtown, NJ!. Tickets and more info here.
And then, 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.
Why yes, June is kind of unpleasantly busy!
Book and project links: Books I’ve Written, RGB Imprint Titles, Rebind: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton; The Forgotten Occupation.
READING MATERIAL
A thoughtful essay on Palestine, witness, guns, how we should treat our enemies and much more.
The economy is doing poorly which means, in turn, that a lot more Americans are going hungry.
Blah blah blah Spencer Pratt. whenever his name comes up I hear the Peanuts adults wah wah wah talk.
The Trump regime, in their quest to be as odious as possible, is continuing to target E. Jean Carroll, this time via the Justice Department.
The survivalists are fighting again, LOL!
Did you know that a UFC cage is being built on the White House lawn. Like, for realsies? But some UFC players are not at all interested in the grotesque spectacle.
Also, most of the musicians pulled out of Trump’s weird birthday party so now he’s going to… headline his own party? Loser shit. When Milli Vanilli says NOPE, it’s probably time for some introspection but first you would have to be capable of introspection. Alas.
In other loser news, it looks like Trump won’t be able to use his illegal slush fund to pay off crony criminals. And in even more loser news, Trump has to take his name off the Kennedy Centre.
The media has discovered the connection between gender-based violence and extremism even though feminists have been discussing this for decades.
Long time congressman Al Green has lost his seat to a fellow Democrat. This is FINE! Term limits should exist.
Pope Leo made offered a papal apology for the Holy See’s role in legitimizing slavery.
A drag queen and a multibillion dollar corporation walk into a courtroom…
Some day men will learn to just shut up but today is not that day. Also, why are they so emotional?
See also: THIS.
Also, men are playing with their penises again and trying to make them bigger which… like, sure but you also have to know how to use it for that extra size to matter.
That scammy guru got a $100 million podcast deal.
Summer House reunion? GRIPPING television.
Guys… speaking of Summer House, I’m on Bitch Sesh this week with my favorite podcast hosts other than my wife.
Another perspective on Belle Burden and Strangers.
The World Cup is bringing Haitians together because it’s awesome that the national team is playing!
Matthew Perry’s assistant will do prison time for administering Ketamine to his boss (RIP). This feels…tricky. He should have not done that but it’s an impossible position for an employee to be in and that should have been taken into consideration.
Is there such a thing as good vegan cheese?
Is feminist art having another moment?
Writers who use AI are so… embarrassing.
Taylour Paige shares how to spend a great Sunday in Los Angeles.
RIP Sonny Rollins.
The GOAT is making a comeback? Also, Naomi Osaka’s court entrance outfits are so lovely and interesting. And Naomi Osaka and Taylor Townsend through one (1) dinner party for Black tennis players at the French Open, so of course people were running their mouths.
When Djokovic was stunned in an upset cuz he LOST, the French Open definitely got more interesting.
Euphoria has come to an end and I think I’m going to write about the final season which was… very bad. As in quality. But the actors did the best they could with shoddy material. Here is an interview with Sam Levinson, who hates women if his shows are any indication.
Once, there was a dream that was Esperanto.
If you want to be a showrunner, UCLA Extension is offering a free class.
Might I interest you in a Bubble House? I’d spend a few hours in there.
An opera sort of based on Set It Off, you say? Say less. I’m sat.
THE RUMPUS WEEK IN REVIEW
Essays:
Someone to Swim With by Anne Marina Pelliccioto
Comics:
The Nine Lives of Amanda Ewell by Caite McNeil
Fiction:
Ancestral Milk by Paige Kaptuch
Bad Artist by Francesca Carra
Poetry:
Three Poems by Francis Dylan Waguespack
Two Poems by Teresa K. Miller
Eight Poems by T. De Los Reyes
Criticism:
“Famesick”: On the Frackable Self by Yvonne Conza
Interviews:
A Conversation with Jimin Han by Anne Gimm
A Conversation with Erin L. McCoy by Stephanie Feldman
A Conversation with M Lin by Cherry Lou Sy
The ostomy community is very disappointed in its portrayal on Euphoria.
Any members of Slate Plus want to dish the low down on the other perspective on Belle Burden's _Strangers_? Thanks!