Weekend Reads #241
This was an intense week in the news. If you have been shying from the news finding it overwhelming or polarizing, I highly recommend you get back into one cause that means something to you, do your homework, and call your representatives. This is not a time to sit back and hope, or figure if it's not in your backyard you don't have to worry.
For the first time in history, a U.S. president has been charged with a felony. There is corruption in the Supreme Court, a disregard for democracy in Tennessee (though there's some hope), attacks on trans athletes, attacks on drag, attacks on education, attacks on books, attacks on abortion and those who help those who have one, while granting more freedoms to own and carry guns.
Your voice matters. Your email, your phone call, your vote, your body… they all make a difference. And the more of us who use our voice and physically stand up to fight for democracy, justice, and human rights, the more power we hold.
Weekend Reads #241
Janet Protasiewicz wins Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, ending 15 years of conservative majority. (Wisconsin Watch)
The cost of wellness: How collagen Is driving Amazon deforestation. (Atmos)
It’s more than just a dress. (Authentically Emmie)
How GPS weakens memory—and what we can do about it. (Scientific American)
Why do we forget after catastrophic events? (Your Local Epidemiologist)
A surprising (and growing) gender gap in the most dangerous jobs. (Washington Post – gift article)
Old Navy’s response to slumping sales: More pockets. (CNN)
Some of the very groups that pushed for abortion bans are now coming for trans health care. (Intelligencer)
Is therapy-speak making us selfish? (Bustle)
My ugly bathroom. (The Paris Review)
The Cure's Robert Smith steps up crusade on secondary ticket sales. (Louder)
The fight to make reproductive rights the centerpiece of the Democratic Party’s 2024 agenda. (The Cut)
What if the space that had once kept me safe was now a place that kept love away? (Oldster)
How a hand gesture dominated an NCAA title game and revealed a double standard. (NPR)
Heather McDonald’s on-stage collapse became anti-vaccine fodder, but she’s alive and joking. (NBC News)
The real-life families that could have inspired Succession. (Town & Country)
The agony of putting your life on hold to care for your parents. (New York Times – gift article)
The unexpected grief of a hysterectomy. (The New Yorker)
And for my local yokels: A Maryland school gets new panther mascots, courtesy of a graduate. (Washington Post – gift article)
See/Hear/Read
Yellowjackets is back for Season 2 on Showtime, and this show intrigues me so much I pay for Showtime just to see it. So many layers, so many questions, so many amazing actresses, so many times I think I have a grip on what's happening and then I realize I had it all wrong.
For those unfamiliar, Yellowjackets is about a 1996 high school girls' soccer team whose plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness. The show flips between the past and present, how what happened in the wilderness is still affecting the survivors today. With a star-studded cast that includes Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis, and Melanie Lynskey, and a soundtrack that is utter perfection, it's an intense show that will have you thinking and questioning all week until the next episode.
For Your Entertainment
Caroline Polachek was originally known for her band, Chairlift. But after disbanding in 2017, the American singer-songwriter-producer has been been a solo creator, and released her second album earlier this year. Her latest video for her single “Smoke” isn't my jam (I love super creative movie-like videos) but I can't get the song out of my head.
Last week's Weekend Reads
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Liked the Cut article. I am so, so tired of old white men telling me that having autonomy over my own uterus is a fringe issue. So, so tired that it’s always women (especially or overlapping with being poor or BIPOC) who are the ones who have to “compromise.” Mystified as to why Democrats preemptively surrender the field. And glad to hear that Biden was actually nominating judges.
Thx for speaking out, We all need to speak out…..loudly and clearly.
Thank you for how you began this post: your call to action for all of us in the face of such overwhelming, chronic bad news. It’s easy to get paralyzed by it. Your own conviction, and your encouragement to each of us to keep marching forward, to do something we can, is deeply appreciated. (And thanks for your thoughts on Yellowjackets! I tried it when it first came out and didn’t love it, but may have given up too early. The cast, as you said, is phenomenal. You’ve encouraged me to give it another try.) Hope your weekend is a pleasure.
Thanks so much for linking my post! ❤️
I love how you juxtaposed the serious with the lighthearted in this week’s Saturday post. I feel great despair over the future of our democracy, particularly after the events in Tennessee this week. I cannot wrap my brain around the mentality that actually initiates and ultimately carries out such utterly heinous acts. Thank you for having the courage to speak out about the news (the REAL news) in your blog.
It’s despicable that the law is so little help sometimes to victims of domestic unrest & spousal abuse, as in Lesley Hu’s story. The world is better off without her husband, but Ms. Hu’s loss of Pierce is heartbreaking.
The ugly bathroom essay. SHEER GENIUS. I mean, I love Weekend Reads every week, but this one made me laugh out loud, but think long thoughts at the same time. Thank you!
This is a great article and while I have read or heard about most of these issues I missed some of them. But I will get caught up today. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Have a wonderful weekend!
Great collection of links this week.
If I am going someplace that I expect to go multiples time I will use my phone once or twice to get there and after that brave it by sight. If you always use the GPS you’ll never remember how to get there without it.
I can’t say that I’ve ever considered sound as a beacon, probably because I”m usually in my car. That’s an interesting wrinkle.