The Reading List: September 13, 2019

Moira

From about 1-4 AM last night I had a fit of insomnia, and used it to read a bunch of longform articles.  None of them were happy and they didn’t help me fall asleep, but I do think you should check them out.  

If you followed last year’s Caroline Calloway instagram influencer debacle (holding an aborted tour at which she charged you $160 to listen to her blather for a few hours, among other drama), you need to read this article from her ghostwriter/former best friend.  My takeaway?  They’re both unstable opportunists who need a lot of therapy and some time away from the limelight.

If you want to go REALLY far down the depressive rabbithole, there’s this article about an abused boy living in extreme poverty with the grandparents who took him in after his mother’s boyfriend nearly beat him to death.  It’s a rough read, but won a Pulitzer. If you follow up on his story, there are some potentially positive developments, as well as lessons to be learned about the resilience of children.

On a COMPLETELY different note, and I’m so sorry for this abrupt change in tone, Trader Joe’s has started to release their fall specialty items.  I’m still looking for the pumpkin onslaught to fully hit, but I bought a $5 Honeycrisp Apple Mini Scented Diffuser that is now sitting at my desk and smells amazing.  I also, with some trepidation, as I have been burned by Trader Joe’s prepared food in the past, tried the Riced Cauliflower Bowl for dinner at my desk before a work event yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was--and vegan!

Elizabeth

As I approach my mid-30s, I am constantly astounded by the “cool” things the youths around me are doing Now I realize (thanks McSweeney’s!) that I am “hurt myself putting my pants on” years old, so such bewilderment should be expected.

I am a huge fan of Schitt’s Creek — Moira Rose is a TREASURE — and one of my favorite things are the throwaway lines from Alexis that detail her very…colorful…past. This article, mapping her bizarre dating history, is a treat.

I know you all were worried about how my summer of the #amazonnightgown was going to continue (lol, it’s still 90 degrees in DC), but I believe that I have found my fall version. It’s a little more muted, it has buttons all the way down the front (making it a dressier version? idk, don’t ruin my dreams), and it still the lightweight fabric I love. I already own it in blue, but I’m thinking about the other colors so I can have a well-rounded #caftanfall.

This definitely feels incongruous, posting it immediately after a link to some Amazon fast fashion, but this piece about the never-ending, very confusing battle for Etsy’s soul was fascinating. I have some very conflicted thoughts about other retailers being forced to emulate Amazon in order to remain profitable, and I hate to see Etsy go down that path. While I do admittedly love the convenience of the online retailers, I’ve been attempting to shop smaller where I can (mostly on books), and I hope to see Etsy stay what it is.

You Can Buy Glossier Dog Toys Now and I Am Not Okay —> I just need someone to tell me that Taffy deserves this. Right?

Shannon

As a preview to his new book, “The Only Plane in the Sky” (read Elizabeth’s review here), Garrett M. Graff published a piece in The Atlantic highlighting just how random many of the events were on September 11, 2001. My favorite comedian, Jen Kirkman, also brought this up in this week’s episode of her podcast, Having Funlessness. For example, were there any bagel deliverymen in the Twin Towers that morning who otherwise wouldn’t have been? So many seemingly trivial decisions that day saved people’s lives—or ensured they met a premature fate.

If you’re tired of hearing about how women politicians “just aren’t likeable,” read this NYT piece about the history of the concept. It didn’t even originally apply to politics; advertising execs invented this meaningless construct (shocking) when they started using celebrities as spokespeople. Prepare to feel frustrated.

Hi, I’m Shannon and I’m obsessed with “Succession.” This week, I’m sharing a New Yorker piece about the clothes on the HBO show. If you haven’t seen the show, do you need an HBO Go password? If you have seen the show, you know the clothes tend toward logo-less neutrals, but there’s definitely more than initially meets the eye.

On a lighter note, this Atlantic piece about the return of the scrunchie is worth a read. (Who else remembers Carrie Bradshaw’s edict that the scrunchie was a fatal faux pas?) I work in hair and, while I haven’t worn a scrunchie since I was about 7 years old, I can confirm that they are definitely back.