Recommendation Roundup
A list of recommendations on everything from grief to calling out fatphobia in books
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.
Happy hell month! Remember, you’re allowed to stay fat, in fact, I encourage it. You’re allowed to never step foot in a gym. You’re allowed to eat foods that bring you pleasure and a sense of emotional safety. You’re allowed to unfollow anyone, even that straight-sized author you really like, if they start posting about taking GLP-1’s. This is a treacherous month for a lot of us. I see you. I am you.
News You Can Use:
The Porch is hosting me for their Office Hours series. I’m basically going to camp out for an hour and answer all of your burning questions about social media, newsletters and why everyone is so mean in comment sections. It’s on Jan. 25 and you can register here for $15.
Now, on to the recs!
I love reading everyone’s year-end book lists: best books, favorite books, finished books, etc. I especially love it when the person making the list is doing it through a fat positive lens. Emma Copley Eisenberg’s “Superlatives” is just that.
I’m a longtime Jessica Williams fan. I loved her on The Daily Show, I was a ride or die for Two Dope Queens and I love her on Shrinking. Years ago her fiancé died and she was open about her grief in a way that most public figures weren’t yet. In this interview with Sam Sanders she talks about therapy and how important it is for her closest friends to also be in therapy so they’re not all trying to fix each other.
I loved hearing Lindy West on the Weight For It pod. It’s funny, by the end of the interview, she’s begging people to let her talk about her other interests, that she has a literal body of work on fatphobia. Now she wants to talk about dragons, castles and video games lol. But early in the interview she says something so striking in its simplicity - that pursuing intentional weight loss reinforces a body hierarchy. It’s a touchy subject, for sure, and I’m grateful to have her voice out there pushing back.
Few things about being online have hit home as hard as this line from AHP’s Culture Study on posting less: “I used to love posting. I’d think of tweets on walks, then chide myself for thinking of tweets on walks, then tweet them anyway.” Like most people, I left Twitter so now I’m hyper aware of little people are posting on IG, which is a huge part of what AHP’s piece is about. This gave me so much to think about.
This chat between Rachel Bloom and Sam Sanders is so great and so real. Rachel talks about grief, how horribly we handle it in our country and how obvious it is to her that most people haven’t processed the grief of the pandemic (yes!). She also talks about how she feels like the pandemic and social media sped up both time and culture. It’s a fascinating interview.
I haven’t checked, but allegedly Wicked is available to stream at home now. I saw the movie in the theater and loved it. There was a lot of disgusting discourse during the press tour about the bodies of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. Grateful as always to Virginia Sole-Smith for talking about the conversation we should be having instead.
I really liked this new show on Peacock called Laid. It stars Stephanie Hsu and Zosia Mamet, who are two best friends trying to solve the mystery of why everyone Hsu’s character has had sex with is dying. It’s obviously dark comedy, but it’s smart and funny and has a lot of great cameos in it.
Last, but not least. If you’re single and not ready to mingle, this is a great chat about choosing to be single. Author Meghan Keane talks about how there's not enough representation in Disney movies or romcoms about people who choose themselves. Keane wrote a book called Party of One: Be Your Own Best Life Partner about the importance of platonic relationships and friendships.
I looooooove Jessica Williams! And it appears I need to add Sam Sanders to my podcast list!