The Audacious Roundup
For the week of March 3rd
AUDACIOUS BOOKCLUB HAPPENINGS
Our March selection is Back After This by Linda Holmes. We will have a live book club discussion with the author on March 26th at 8pm EST/5 am PST. Registration is open! I hope to see many of you there. You can see Karissa Chen, author of Homeseeking, in conversation with Meg Pillow, here.
THE NEWSLETTER WEEK IN REVIEW
PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL NEWS
On September 9th, Saeed Jones and Maggie Smith will release The People’s Project. The book will include work from Alexander Chee, Chase Strangio, Tiana Clark, Hala Alyan, Aubrey Hirsch, Imani Perry, Alice Wong, Mira Jacob, Ashley C. Ford, Marlon James, Eula Biss, Danez Smith, Ada Limon, Kiese Laymon, Patricia Smith and others. Truly, a murder’s row of brilliant writers. Pre-order NOW!
Speaking of books, Kate Manne’s Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia, is now out in paperback and is an excellent and necessary read.
The Portable Feminist Reader is out on March 25th, 2025. Pre-orders are now open and it is always a huge help when you pre-order. Stay tuned for tour dates in Boston (3/25), Chicago (3/26) and New York (4/4). Here’s a review!
The Answer Is in the Wound by Kelly Sundberg is available for pre-order. So is Ravishing by Eshani Surya. (Both are forthcoming Roxane Gay Book titles.) This week we revealed Ravishing’s cover. Isn’t she gorgeous?
Debbie and I gave some dating and relationship advice for Hinge.
Debbie Millman has a new book, Love Letter to a Garden, out on April 15th. Also included in the book are 10 recipes by me—a mini cookbook if you will.
Book and project buying links: The Portable Feminist Reader, Opinions, Do the Work, Stand Your Ground, Bad Feminist: Tenth Anniversary Edition, Hunger, Difficult Women, An Untamed State, Not That Bad, Rebind: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.
Are you wondering how you can start organizing and agitating for change? Here is a great resource.
It’s women’s history month and there’s a backlash to women’s rights, not only in the U.S. but around the world. People in power really cannot tolerate the mere idea of equity and we’re seeing so much evidence of that right now.
The “president” gave a long-winded, fatuous speech to a joint session of “congress.” It was full of racism, mendacity, and other assorted nonsense. Congressman Al Green protested and was removed from the chamber. The rest of his colleagues should have walked out with him but they didn’t. They just wore outfits and held up signs and looked disgruntled and then much later, walked out when it no longer mattered. After the speech, Mike Johnson’s chief of staff was arrested for a DUI. Then the House decided to censure him and TEN DEMOCRATS voted to censure. The Democrats cannot unite about anything, even the easiest things but in the Senate, they did something vaguely positive. Meanwhile, Democratic consultants are very bad at their job.
Tesla owners are in their feelings about being associated with a Nazi. People are bombing Tesla charging stations and vandalizing Teslas and it’s just so lovely to see.
The French are calling it like it is with regard to the state of the U.S.
Trump also is considering ??? deporting 240,000 Ukrainians who are in the country legally, much like the Haitians here legally and on and on.
Did somebody misplace a blimp?
The former head of Social Security said bad times are ahead, better start saving which…. okay.
Trump voters are continuing to learn that he doesn’t care about them either! And they will lose their jobs despite their vote. And then there are the people losing their jobs whose misfortune is being celebrated by relatives. Great people.
Trump is also planning on cutting 80,000 jobs from the VA.
Columbia, which doesn’t seem to be able to make a good decision, is being blackmailed, essentially, by Trump with the threat of cancelling $400 million in federal grants.
Things are tense in Trumpland as cabinet officials struggle with Musk’s chaos.
Homeland Security is trying to dismantle the TSA union.
Basically, all the laws are being broken.
The USAID cuts are going to be globally catastrophic. And the government is trying to sell off all its buildings.
Trump has paused military aid to Ukraine and also intelligence sharing. He wants Putin so badly. Awkward.
As the Pentagon tries to purge itself of anything decent, they have flagged an image of the Enola Gay. Yes…. that Enola Gay. This doesn’t bode well for me and the government.
The Texas measles outbreak continues apace and RFK isn’t up to the task of responding. And Cheryl Hines doesn’t trust RFK to be alone in DC with his lust demons. I think that is absolutely ridiculous. If you cannot trust your spouse to be apart from you, they are not your spouse, they are your adult baby. Anyway, RFK promised transparency but he was lying.
Because diseases love to travel, there are two cases of measles in New York.
If you want to talk about actual government waste, the CDC is going to do a large study on autism and vaccines.
In slightly good news, Tesla is tanking.
The justice department is investigating the price of eggs. Good luck to them. Eggs are expensive AF right now.
Speaking of injustice, South Carolina brought back the firing squad.
Gavin Newsom, who like many politicians, doesn’t really stand for anything, made a bizarre statement about trans athletes that is antithetical to progressive politics and then LOL had CHARLIE KIRK of all people on his new podcast. This is one of the many reasons why men should not have podcasts.
While we’re in the dumpster fire, Andrew Cuomo is running for mayor, which we already knew.
Techdirt is a democracy blog now because, well, look around~
I rarely say this but… this next piece of news is horrifying and if you’re in a bad place, don’t click to read these articles. In upstate New York, a trans man, Sam Nordquist, was tortured in unspeakable ways for a month and murdered by seven people. I don’t understand how something like this happens, over such a long period of time, and no one says anything? No one tries to save this man? The cruelty and depravity are absolutely crushing. I hope Sam is in a better place. I hope he is at peace. I hope he feels whole after being so cruelly broken. I hope he knows he will be remembered and his murderers will be brought to justice. This story has absolutely unraveled me. The world is cruel, but sometimes, it feels absolutely impossible to keep your soul intact.
Mickey Harmon and Jordan Celotto, activists and partners, were murdered in Buffalo.
How a teenager was radicalized online to commit murder. This happens with such alarming frequency.
A company in China is trying to force its employees to get married and have babies.
Bees are dying in Texas and it’s not good.
In Arizona, a glimmer of good news. A judge permanently blocked a 15-week abortion ban.
Swearing is good for you. I fucking swear it is.
There’s another thing killing Black women! Synthetic hair!
In California, corrections officers have been charged with creating gladiator-like fights between youth offenders in their care.
The Oscars happened. Adrien Brody gave the longest speech in Oscar history and is exactly the same as the last time he won an Oscar. Demi Moore was robbed though I loved Anora.
On the enshittificatioin of eshakti, RIP.
RIP to Carl Dean, husband of Dolly Parton, minder of his own business, for decades on end. RIP to Carl Ayers. RIP James Harrison, who saved millions of babies with his blood. RIP David Johansen.
More information on how Gene Hackman and Betty Arakawa died has been released. So tragic and inexplicable. Where are their families???
An appreciation for washing dishes. What’s not to like if you are able to do the dishes willingly? Warm water, a meditative task, a sense of accomplishment, yes, yes.
A feminist who designed the modern kitchen!
The character Nessa Rose, from Wicked, is for the first time being played by a disabled actor.
Short fiction from Elijah Bailey, winner of this year’s Plimpton prize from The Paris Review.
Are there too many commas in contemporary writing? I, don’t really, know, what, I think, about, that.
Woolly mice, anyone? This movie never, ever ends well.
Against AI in creative work.
On divesting from algorithm-based social media.
MUSTAAAAARD!!!!!!!
How are you keeping your souls intact with everything going on?
I love your roundups. Thank you.
Thank you Roxanne. What a hard week of news. I’m wrestling with how to not feel completely unmoored when the world is in such chaos.