September Smorgasboard
A round up of things to read, watch, listen to etc
I haven’t shared a link round up since early July so this will be a long one!
THINGS TO READ
We should all be more afraid of driving.
I immediately signed up to read more of Gabriel Mac’s amazing writing.
Angela Garbes has a newsletter!
“A debut literary project is an expression of a specific kind of self that will no longer exist after the debut comes out.” As someone working on a book, this piece from Carmen Maria Machado gave me a lot to think about.
Elif Batuman on the role of the novel.
Triangular love. (& a related podcast)
My queer family vs the Supreme Court.
“There’s the special case of heterosexual or bisexual women, who are pretty much the only oppressed people who deeply want to love and fuck and build lives with their oppressors.” This book intrigues me.
And related, queering sex ed.
“The longest-term relationship I’ve had from Tinder is with Tinder itself” Oof, life on the apps is not easy!
Most trans narratives focus on younger people, but what about the challenges and rewards of transitioning later in life?
And related, on Mumsnet and the road to TERFdom.
Cameron Esposito on her divorce (& related: leave before there’s nothing left to leave)
Mira Jacob on turning 40.
Why more women should consider HRT.
Melissa Febos on female masturbation.
The long game of boundaries.
How to support friends with children (& how people with children can support childless people).
Always reading about climate change. Most recently, how “the Countdown To Doom framing is wrong.” And how “it’s a delusion to think that we can harm the whole planet without suffering too much ourselves.” And how the Dutch the city of Haarlem is banning advertisements for meat while in Kilkenny the sod is turned on a €140 million cheese plant.”
Been thinking about the pessimism of the intellect and the optimism of the will.
I worked on the campaign to legalise abortion in Ireland and still learned a lot from this piece. This podcast episode was also great.
“The idea of representative democracy comes to feel like a farce” On yet another shooting in the US.
'Shallow Hal' and the Never-Ending Fat Joke. Crazy to think that when the film came out, the New York freakin Times said the film's directors had “cunningly transform a series of fat jokes … into a tender fable and a winning love story.” (An aside: I wrote a column about the fallacy of wanting to be thin earlier this year.)
“She has taken a hardship and turned it into content.” Interesting read on Meghan Markle which came out just before the Queen died and the media circus kicked into gear again.
Amy Schumer’s Mom Com (I didn’t love her new show but this is a great profile.)
Wesley Morris on the power of a good cry: “I almost typed “being reduced to tears,” except where is the reduction? Crying for art is an honor, an exaltation, a salute. It’s applause with mucus and salt.”
THINGS TO WATCH + LISTEN TO
A conversation with Ada Limón on “the mercurial changeability of our souls”
Enjoyed this conversation with Jia Tolentino.
A fascinating conversation about the sensory worlds of animals.
A wide-ranging chat about gender and queerness with Cameron Esposito.
Kara Swisher meets Monica Lewinsky
Some of the best films of the year so far and I’m excited to see this movie.
I watch a lot of interior design shows and in the end, they’re often quite samey. This is very different.
A smart take on immigration.
Amazing to think that Longform has been interviewing writers for a decade now! I’ve listened to these interviews from all over the world and still return to several of them. If you're interested in writing and storytelling, check them out! Episode 500 was also great.
Laughed my way through this netflix show.
I’ve been enjoying this new podcast.
Samin Nosrat’s kitchen.
MISC
Saw (& loved) this play.
This sheet-pan Bibimbap was delicious.
Funny birds.
“What did the fish say when he swam into a wall? ‘Dam(n).’” + 30 other joke-jokes.
