Welcome to Recommendation Roundup! As I scoot around the internet, I keep a running list of podcasts, tv shows and articles that I like, and think you might like, too. Then I share them here.
It’s finally fall, which is my time to thrive. My friend Michaela reminded me recently that summer depression is real (it’s probably not) and that I suffer all summer and come to life in the fall.
Maybe it’s because I’m a Taurus who craves comfort, or maybe it’s because I’m in perimenopause and suffering at the cruelty of biology’s design — a design that already keeps me hot 90 percent of the time.
If you asked my therapist, she’d probably say it’s because I wasn’t taught how to nurture and in the fall I’ll inadvertently nurture myself by wearing soft clothes and soft socks; wrapping myself in soft, cozy blankets; lighting a candle; making soup; watching my favorite comfort movies. Unfortunately yes, I do have to be tricked into self-care.
So, cheers to fall. Cheers to the $20 heated throw I saw at Costco yesterday and didn’t buy but maybe should have. Cheers to all the cheap soft socks on end caps at Target and TJ Maxx. Cheers to how happy my cats get when they get to sit on top of me with a blanket on my lap. CHEERS TO CHILI. And cheers to the nonstop Meg Ryan and Stephen King movies I will watch over the next couple of months.
Before I release you to the links, here’s one that I wrote. Every year the Nashville Scene publishes a Fall Guide with stuff to do all over town. I always write the books section and this year we changed it up and included my interview with Joanna Brichetto, the author of This Is How a Robin Drinks.
For Vogue, Emma Specter wrote about Sally Rooney’s latest novel, Intermezzo, and why all the characters in Rooney’s novels are so thin.
See also: Emma Copley Eisenberg on All Fours.
I’m a longtime listener to Lovett or Leave It. Sue me, it’s funny. Back in the spring, Jon Lovett was out for a month and later revealed that he had been out because he was cast as a contestant on Survivor 47. I immediately knew I was about to become a Survivor head. I spent all summer watching old seasons and finding out that I’m surrounded by people who have not only seen all 46 seasons, but have been watching it since the beginning.
Season 47, the season with Jon Lovett, aired its first episode last week and, spoiler alert, Lovett was the first contestant voted off. Last week on his pod, he talked about filming, getting voted out and his time in the ponderosa.
A few weeks ago, an email landed in my inbox from “Destiny O. Birdsong from The Audacity.” I screamed. Destiny is a friend, a poet and a helluva writer. TL;DR: a publication accepted and PUBLISHED a short story by Destiny, then pulled it from their website unless she made certain changes. Destiny pulled the short story and Roxane Gay published it, along with an intro from Destiny on what happened with that first publisher.
Related: I interviewed Destiny on my podcast back in 2021. It’s one of my favorite interviews because every time Destiny gets excited, you can hear her bracelets jingling.
Roxane Gay for The New Yorker on Haitian immigration, growing up with Haitian parents and the memification of Trump’s recent comments about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio.
Another one bites the dust. Corinne Fay writes about Madewell pulling their plus sizes. Target, Old Navy, Madewell. I love not being able to buy clothes. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life naked.
See also: what happens when all the stores in your town pull their plus sizes.
I loved this conversation between Sam Irby and Kiese Laymon and Deesha Philyaw. Sam is so candid in this convo and you can tell all three of them were having a good time. Such a great episode to wrap up the first season of this podcast.
Love, love, love this profile on Jordon Sondler on Cup of Jo. Jordon is one of my favorite follows on IG and I really enjoyed seeing a fashiony profile on her.
IYKYK. And if you don’t know, I highly recommend this episode of Sixteenth Minute about the infamous ‘I love my curvy wife’ guy. Listen to it in the woods because you will scream.
Speaking of screaming in the woods, this satirical piece in McSweeney’s about health portals had me ready to light my insurance card on fire.
Lastly, my cats when I finally pull out the cozy blankets.
Related reading: I read and wrote about Jo Brichetto’s book This is How a Robin Drinks in my August Reading Roundup. If you’re local, there are signed copies at Parnassus and The Bookshop.