Recommendation Roundup

Philly Justice, Roxane Gay's syllabus and Korean work lunches

If I send you this, I’m about to copy your newsletter format.

I’ve been toying with the idea of reformatting these recommendation posts to make them more visually interesting and easier to sort through. There are so many folks who are pros at this: Leave it to Leonor, Lyz Lenz, J. Wortham, Landline and Julia Turshen, just to name a few. So bear with me as I play around with my format.

READING

Books:

I typically read three books at a time: a novel for nighttime, nonfiction for morning coffee and an audiobook for driving. Here’s what I’m reading this week:

• Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen

• The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman by Niko Stratis

• Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline

Articles and Newsletters:

Roxane Gay (generously!) shared an annotated look at her fall 2024 syllabus and it has rocked my world, in the best way. I know how to write a personal essay, but I’ve had zero formal training on writing opinion pieces and/or criticism. BRB, gonna teach myself how to write good.

On a whim, I read an essay by Tyler Foggatt on Tom Cruise in The New Yorker and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s a quirky (complimentary) essay that delves into Cruise’s long movie career, with a focus on his stunt work for the Mission: Impossible series. I love essays like this that are part personal essay, part fan letter and part cultural criticism.

Back when we still had functioning social media, I followed a bunch of standup comedians on Twitter. One of my faves was Alison Leiby, so I was thrilled to come across her newsletter. I love this one on karaoke and the importance of having a go-to song.

This is the Rhythm of the Night

WATCHING

Big Screen (my TV):

I get real rascally on weekend mornings. I’m too up-at-em to sit still and read, but it’s too early to run errands. I have temporarily solved this non-problem by declaring that weekend mornings are for rewatching (or watching for the first time) movies from the nineties and early Aughts. I recommend it! So far, I’ve watched:

• Sister Act

• Notting Hill

• Wayne’s World (technically I watched this at the Belcourt)

Small Screen (my phone):

There are two TikTok accounts that are soothing me right now. One is a woman in Kentucky named Emma Pridham who decided to spend this year watching one movie a week from The Criterion Collection, starting with 1975 and ending at 2025. Every Friday night she makes herself a cocktail, nice meal and watches her movie of the week. I just think this is such a cool idea.

• TikTok: espridham92

• Insta: espridham

• Letterboxd: espridham

The other account is a Korean office worker who rarely shows their face, but does show what they eat for lunch every day at their workplace provided cafeteria. I love Korean food and miss living next door to a Korean restaurant, so maybe that’s it, but I can’t get enough of these videos. The way they arrange the food on the cafeteria tray. The way you think they’re done, but then they go fix a big bowl of ramen. I love it.

• TikTok: localkitchenloki

LISTENING

In her newsletter, Sam Irby mentioned she was on the Sleeping with Celebrities podcast talking for 30 minutes about what she buys at Walgreens. I have never clicked “download” so fast.

I fear too many of you are sleeping on Text Me Back, the podcast of longtime besties Lindy West and Meagan Hatcher-Mays. It is truly a podcast of bits, which is my jam. One of them will mention something off the cuff and then it will become a recurring bit, often times with theme music. See: crazy lady livin’ in a bag.

Two words: Philly Justice. Two more words: Amy Poehler. IYKYK. And if you don’t know: Good Hang, May 20 episode.

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ICYMI: Here’s what I recommended last month:

Recommendation Roundup

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Thanks for being here!

Kim