Our February book club selection is Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. Stay tuned for details about our conversation with Kaveh in February. If you missed our conversation with Solah, you can watch it, now.
In Palestine, more than 25,000 people have now been killed. The war goes on an d on and on.
A profile of supermodel and businesswoman and cook? Gisele Bündchen who has a new cookbook out. She cooks? Okay! And a profile of playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. A profile of filmmaker Sofia Coppola. A profile of journalist and anchor Kaitlan Collins. A profile of writer Venita Blackburn.
Sometimes, my faith in humanity is hanging from a very delicate string that’s about to break. Why are people like this? Who would find a woman hanging on for dear life funny?
Pitchfork is now moving under GQ which makes very little sense. But more importantly, there will now be a huge void in the world of music criticism. Also, when Anna Wintour was laying off the staff of Pitchfork, she kept her sunglasses on, a weird but relevant detail. I really love this review of Justin Timberlake’s album Man of the Woods. And this was a great piece on the challenges mothers face in the music industry.
A Texas school superintendent basically said that to be American is to conform as he tripled down on policing a Black girl’s hairstyle choice. Clearly, educators do not need to be educated and that seems like… a problem.
Common, who has a fascinating romantic history of dating the baddest bitches around, is dating J Hud! I hope they’re happy.
Rihanna giving Natalie Portman compliments.
An absolute SHAM. Be fucking for real, Tim.
Stanley Cups are popular. Why? Trends? Okay!
Some crime fiction to look forward to in 2024.
A great essay from Joel Anderson on the elusiveness of home buying in expensive cities. I honestly never thought I would be able to buy a house when I moved to Los Angeles. House prices there are extraordinary and the idea that I could scrounge up 20% of a down payment was kind of ludicrous. I always wondered how people do it and then I learned that the answer is, often, that they have a trust fund or other familial support. I don’t judge that, at all! I just wish more people were open about how they manage major financial investments. Anyway, I ended up putting 11% down, and I did it without any help and the day after I closed escrow the plumbing in the house exploded. Shit coming up out of the toilets, the WRONG WAY. And I was dealing with a fresh break up BUT I had also just met the woman who would become my wife. A LOT was going on. The moral of the story is never buy a house.
Years and years after the show debuted, Southern Charm finally has a Black cast member!
Shaving is an ongoing project.
In California, the COVID isolation period is now one day according to health officials. Guys… let’s bring back shame. Truly. Because shame should encourage people to really think before suggesting that an isolation of one period would be sufficient for a virus that pretty much brought the world to its knees and still has its foot on our necks.
An Oregon teenager saved a baby!
A New York midwife gave kids homeopathic pellets (????) instead of actual vaccines. A lot of times…. (See: bringing back shame)
Usher, the Superbowl performer this year.
That woman who went viral for claiming a man hit her in the face with a brick was probably lying? The story is just sad, all around.
On the challenges Black women in academia face.
I try to stay organized and see a lot of little videos on TikTok of women taking things out of plastic packaging and move them to plastic mostly or sometimes glass bins and canisters so their refrigerators, pantries, and closets can look neat and organized. Why is this a thing? I watched a woman pour juice into a glass, apply a sticker and through the packaging away. It was WILD. I’d watch that again tho. I cannot lie.
Tina Fey as Lorne Michaels’s successor? Succession! But make it late night.
New novel coming from Taffy Brodesser-Akner. I cannot wait. I really enjoyed Fleischman is in Trouble. Pre-order!
Niecy Nash had a great Emmy’s speech when she won.
New York magazine went deep on polyamory. Few subjects interest me less and yet!
An excerpt from Leslie Jamison’s new memoir, Splinters.
A big YES to bringing back shame.
Re: the polyamory article. "unethically non-monogamous" is just... magnificent.