Recommendation Roundup
A list of recommendations on everything from going to the fair to taking down Dave Ramsey
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.
Recommendation: go to the fair! I went to the Tennessee State Fair for the first time in a long time. Pals, I had the time of my life. There’s a birthing barn! I ate a corndog, saw goats, took a video of six-hour old piglets and saw blue ribbon art made by school children that was regrettably not for sale.
On Friday, Sept. 6, I’m speaking on a panel for Craft Content Nashville’s fall series. It’s a discussion about the changing digital landscape, fragmented audiences, AI and more. If you’d like to go, use code SeeMeCEN24 at checkout to get early bird prices ($50 for the full three-event series). More info and registration here.
One of the perks of my job is getting to publish people’s personal essays. Coffee Crawl is the second essay I’ve published from R.J. Witherow. It’s about Pride coffee crawls, being from a small town and finding community.
A question I like to ponder is do I really like fall or do I just hate summer? Probably a both/and situation, I fear. One thing I do know: I love fall clothes. On Big Undies Corinne wrote about fall fashion must-haves.
No, I still haven’t read All Fours. Yes, I am still swimming in the discourse. I enjoyed this episode of Commotion on All Fours and Miranda July.
Speaking of books, a good TikTok follow is MJ Franklin. He’s an editor at The New York Times Book Review and he posted a video about how fall is the time to cozy up with a long book. He gives four long book recommendations. I rarely read long books and now I feel like I’m missing out on an essential part of fall. Do you read a good long book in the fall?
If you don’t already, please read Lyz Lynz. Every Friday she writes about a dingus of the week and recently the dingus was Dave Ramsey. Those of us in Middle Tennessee have a special hate in our heart for Dave Ramsey and it was great reading Lyz eviscerate him.
What a thrill to hear Roxane Gay on Lovett or Leave It. She was on to talk about her new essay, Stand Your Ground, about gun ownership as a Black feminist, as a woman with a family and as a person in a community. On the pod, she and Jon talk about the essay, gun ownership, America’s gun culture and more. It’s an engrossing conversation and I’m grateful to her for having it.
I’m a big fan of Priya Krishna’s. Her first restaurant review as the interim NYT restaurant critic is out and it’s great. She writes about Bungalow, a popular Indian restaurant in the East Village.
I went Olympics crazy and got so sad when it was over. But then this jewel from Unstacked hit my inbox. Traci gives book recs based on which Olympic events you like. Not for nothing, but Traci’s Substack is one of the best ones out there, not just for the content, but for the variety of content and the style and formatting. If you’re teaching newsletters, teach Traci’s.
Julia Turshen resurrected her podcast and she’s interviewing people from the power lifting world. This episode with Laura Khoudari is so great, especially if you’re someone like Julia (like me) who is reengaging with movement after recovering from disordered eating and exercise.
The Porch released their fall schedule and two of my friends are teaching classes:
Ciona Rouse is teaching Six Ways of Looking at a Poem. It’s a three week class starting on Nov. 7. The class will explore elements of poetry and the art of close reading by looking at one poem in six different ways.
Amy Estes is teaching Queering The Essay, a four week class starting on Nov. 12. The class will explore queer essays as a genre, reading essays by Carmen Maria Machado, Melissa Faliveno, Saeed Jones, Melissa Febos, Samantha Irby, Alexander Chee, and others.
ICYMI: I launched a new interview series called Get to Know. In the first installment I’m talking with indie author Avalon Griffin about romance, the challenges of getting her book into bookstores and ways to support indie authors.
Ooh, maybe we should coordinate our fall long book reading!
Very here for these podcast recs.