Weekend Reads #179
Weekend Reads
I never thought about ending my pregnancy. Instead, at 19, I erased the future I had imagined for myself. (New York Times Magazine)
Virgil Abloh invited everyone in. (Elle)
Want to know the hot youngins right now so you can be a hip dudette at the dinner table? You won't be if you use this kind of lingo, but if you know the names of the folks in Forbes' 30 Under 30 at least you can keep up with the Gen Z/Millennials conversations. (Forbes)
Remember Simon Rex? (Vulture)
The remote work revolution hasn’t happened yet. (Vox)
These NYC kids have written the history of an overlooked Black female composer. (NPR)
Woman savoring last few hours before getting turned back into vessel. (Washington Post)
Why the best holiday deals this year are bad news. (Retail Dive)
I don't recall what I was searching for but I found this article about the history of the poster quite interesting. (V&A Museum)
Amy Coney Barrett’s adoption myths. (New York Magazine's Intelligencer)
Betsey Johnson has never felt better. (Glamour)
LEGO is everywhere! LEGO has a fantastic collaboration with Target, and now has a home collection! (House Beautiful)
A Texas school district banned my book. Then things got really ugly. (Texas Monthly)
Tessa Thompson in black and white. (Who What Wear)
The SATC conversation I'm already sick of. (Gloria)
Every man looks like a Nazi, and every Nazi just looks like every man. (Men Yell at Me)
Psychiatrists are uncovering connections between viruses and mental health. They’re surprising. (Vox)
A Roomba for desks… gotta say this is pretty genius!
The staggeringly high price of a prison phone call. (Washington Post)
A doctor held me hostage for thirty years (CW: Weight) (Julie's Pod)
Tips to cope with grief during the holidays. (Style at a Certain Age)
15 places to buy plus size aprons. (The Practical Kitchen)
Alexas are changing their names because of Amazon’s voice assistant. (Washington Post)
The escalating costs of being single in America. (Vox)
To every woman who spent her twenties apologizing. (Catapult)
How our system revenges rest. (Culture Study)
For those who are finding this season to be very alcohol-driven, a favorite read from a few years back for you. (Medium)
My semi-regular reminder that you can purchase Plan B pills on Amazon. You may not need them, but someone with a uterus in your life or community may.
And in case you missed it, Universal Standard jeans are on sale and retailers suck for blaming us for returns.
Hear/See/Read
We are back to watching Yellowstone. We were late to starting this series, but quickly became obsessed and caught up. And then we had to wait for another season, which started this fall. Like with peaky Blinders, my husband wasn't ready to start again. The last season ended with a lot of tragedy and violence and it felt like we needed to be in the right frame of mind to dig back in. But finally we did and dang it's good. It's ridiculous and dramatic and violent and painful but the characters are so good and the story is really riveting. Kelly Reilly, who plays Beth Dutton, is phenomenal. Heck, they're all phenomenal.
Yellowstone gets a lot of hate because it is favored by conservative America (Vanity Fair). I don't think it makes sense to cancel a show because of its audience. I have watched shows about pretty horrible people, and I wouldn't consider the Duttons of the Yellowstone ranch to be the worst of the bunch, In fact, this show gives me insight into a part of America very different from my own, showing how incredibly huge and varied this country is and why things that don't make sense to me in my Mid-Atlantic blue bubble do to so many other citizens.
When our family took a cross-country trip a few years ago, I found it to be a better education than anything I learned in college. Our country is so big, with different topography, climate, predators, natural resources, and with it, lifestyles and religions and priorities and languages.
America may feel united because we all have a Starbucks in the closest suburban metropolis, we all watch the same Netflix shows, we buy the same gadgets from Amazon and beauty products from Sephora. But we may as well be living in different countries with how different our worlds are.
Shows like Yellowstone show that the differences in our country aren't just based on the haves and have nots. And while I won't make me a card-carrying member of the NRA or understanding of any politician who supported what happened on January 6th or who will take away women's rights to their bodies, it does remind me that this country is incredibly large, incredibly complex, with an incredibly awful history that we are all living through in different ways.
For Your Entertainment
‘Tis the season for holiday-themed collaborations and 'tis the year of Elton John so it was fitting to share John's latest collab for the holidays with Ed Sheeran. This video is utterly ridiculous and quite the Sheeran fest but hey, it's the holiday season for campy ridiculousness…
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I had just read the “I never thought about ending my pregnancy” article. Efforts clicking over to Weekend Reads, and wow was that a marathon. So much emotion, experience, and pain. I wish our politicians understood no one makes these decisions lightly—and that they are our decisions to make. I can’t help but think of Elle Woods’ take on this whole thing:. Would they next legislate appropriate ejaculation?
The banned book article is heartbreaking yet u surprising. We are very very good at taking things out of context and only citing what we want to hear. Locally, some parents are objecting to “Stamped”. I am grateful our school board stood up for it.
And the Julie’s Pod article: I am so weary of doctors holding people hostage against outdated knowledge and outright bias.
Thank you as always Ali, for broadening my scope.
I agree with MW’s comment that you are like a media concierge, finding all of these interesting tidbits. Thanks for the work.
I read the article about the 19 year old who chose not to have an abortion. I found myself so frustrated reading it. The fact that her religion led her to try to deny her sexuality. The fact that it led to an unintended pregnancy, an unhappy marriage, and lost opportunities.
But, honestly, the most frustrating part of it was that not once did she acknowledge that she had a choice–a choice that was a long hard fight for many women to gain. Something that many young 19 years olds may well lose due to religions like hers.
I appreciate your subtle messaging saying “people with uteruses” instead of “women.” You always aim to be inclusive and welcoming to the trans* community, and it’s really refreshing.
I have to say I cried when I read “A Texas School District Banned My Book. Then Things Got Really Ugly.” I’m a retired teacher librarian, and although I had a few parents question some books in my library, the climate has changed drastically in the past few years. We need more parents — and other community members — standing up for school libraries and librarians, as well as authors such as Ashley Hope Pérez who are writing for their communities. Thank you so much for sharing this article, Ally.
Such a bummer that you can’t read the articles from N Y Times or Washington Post posted here unless you are a subscriber to those papers. If I were a subscriber, I wouldn’t be looking to read articles from those publications here, would I? I don’t get it.
Considering Alison lists the sources of the stories she’s sharing, you can know to avoid WaPo or NYT stories if you’ve already hit your free cap on those sites or if you don’t want to support paid media.
I’m a subscriber to both of those publications, and I love that Alison posts links here. There’s a lot of content on those news websites, I’m a busy person, and I don’t always catch everything that’s of interest.
Weekend Reads is like a media concierge service. Alison sharing things that made her think, or that she thinks her readers would appreciate, is great.
MW, all you say is true. I am just saying that I wish I could read those articles. Allison, I so appreciate that you take the time to put these lists together. I have found tons of interesting articles I never would have read otherwise.
For anyone stymied by the paywall, it might be worth seeing if your local library offers a digital subscription to these periodicals! On my library’s website, for example, cardholders can download codes redeemable for 72 hours’ access on any device anywhere, and there is no limit on how many codes one may use.
Not all libraries do this, of course, but it can’t hurt to check!
If you are quick on the draw, you can hit the x on an article before the pop up that blocks you comes up. If you miss it, reload until it works. At least for now!
FYI – to get around any paywall – add this before the link you’re trying to access (copy the link instead of ) – https://12ft.io/
FFS, my comment got cut off. If you’re trying to access a link and hit a paywall, go into the address bar and type https://12ft.io/ THEN the link. So for example, you’re trying to access this NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/t-magazine/humble-foods-poverty.html – add “12ft.io/“ right before www – so https://12ft.io/www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/t-magazine/humble-foods-poverty.html
Those big media sites offer everyone a few articles per month, so they aren’t impossible to read if you haven’t already used your free articles. If you’ve already used your free articles and want to read more maybe a subscription should be on your Santa list.
I prefer my news in “print” which these days means online, so I subscribe to the sites, and I apprecite the links b/c I don’t always get around to reading every single article and a recommendation from Alison catches my interest.
I am a subscriber to both NYT and WaPo, and Alison consistently links to things from those very sites that are relevant to my interests AND that I happened to miss while browsing on my own. Plus, there are frequently articles that I initially skip– the headline doesn’t capture me? I’m in a rush? it doesn’t seem that interesting?– that I then see recommended by various other sources I read. So I then go back and give it a second look.
And, Alison: you are very, very good with your recommendations! I hope to keep seeing your links to all the usual, and less usual, suspects. Thank you!
I think your comments about Yellowstone and our national diversity are spot on. In fact, our 50 states often function as 50 small nations — witness the differences between states that were made blatantly clear by COVID. It’s hard to see how the 50 come together in any meaningful way, other than sometimes rallying for natural disasters.
Yellowstone is filmed near where I live and I just want to say, it’s probably as representative of what life is like here as “Dallas” was of Dallas.
Montana has historically been politically quite purple, only very recently seeing extremists move here in great numbers. (There has always been a fringe white supremacist/survivalist element but that’s not unique to this area.)
Maybe your next road trip will bring you through Montana! 🙂
Dallas was the show I thought of when I first watched Yellowstone.
Personally, for the scenery I prefer the older “Longmire.” Shows about Ranchers who have private militias don’t really do that much for me.
We were introduced to Yellowstone by one of my DH’s friends, and I resisted watching it for a while. Once I saw the first season, I had to watch more. It’s pretty addictive. We’re now watching Season 3 and I’m sure we’ll see S4 in due time. It’s not my life experience either, but damn, it’s interesting. Great characters and the scenery is soooo beautiful. (I do admit to looking away at a fair amount of the violence.)