I’d like to share one of my most reliable routines. Almost every day, I learn of a piece of content I’d like to read, watch, or listen to. I add it to a bookmarks folder or my notes app or my Letterboxd watchlist, smiling, thinking of how lovely it will be to fully dive in when I’ve got more time to really engage with it. And then, without fail, I never think of that piece of content ever again!
I hope to break that habit, and so I’m trying out a weekly post, The Thursday Digest, where I’ll share some things that have interested me over the past seven days and that I think might interest you too. I mostly hope this exercise incentivizes me to be a bit more intentional about consistently engaging with my interests, but it would also be a fun side effect if anyone at all found a valuable rec or two! In the spirit of the name of the newsletter, I hope you peruse these over a peaceful Saturday morning coffee or during any other time you find yourself enjoying some weekend energy.
Reading: Like a Mother
A friend sent me this truly beautiful post from Haley Nahman’s
newsletter, and I was in awe. As someone who is currently childless but thinks a lot about what pregnancy and motherhood could eventually look like for me, I so deeply appreciate candid accounts like this of the less-talked about moments.Reading: Traitors is the Best Show on Television
I’ve been obsessed with the American version of Traitors and this Defector article by Kelsey McKinney has officially convinced me to watch all the international versions as well. Please talk to me about this show!!!
Listening: The Writer’s Routine Podcast
I’d like to write more for myself, even if it’s in the form of projects no one ever sees. Things like the Writer’s Routine podcast are helping to gently nudge me closer to that goal. The host interviews an author about where they write, when they write, what their writing space looks like, and how they handle the writing process in general. It’s that simple, and it’s so good.
I started with an episode featuring a writer and book that I’ve already read — Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka, which I highly recommend — but I’ve found that the episodes are great even if you’re not familiar with the person being interviewed.
Watching: American Fiction
This was the last Best Picture nom I had to see this year and I really enjoyed it. If you somehow haven’t heard, American Fiction follows a black novelist who is frustrated by the publishing industry’s tendency to platform what he considers to be a stereotypical, flattened view of black life. To spite those responsible, he writes a purposefully cliched story under a pseudonym and sends it to publishers as a joke only for it to become a smash hit. So well-acted and so so funny.
Watching: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
I had three glasses of rosé while watching this and absolutely cried my eyes out, and I think that’s the viewing experience everyone should strive for! Based on the Judy Blume novel of the same name, the movie follows 11-year-old Margaret and her friends as they yearn for bigger (or any) boobs, wait impatiently for their periods to come, navigate the horrifying social dynamics of middle school, and in Margaret’s specific case, wade through the murky waters of religion and family expectation for the first time. It’s so so sweet without being cloying, and I would watch it again in a heartbeat.
Another digest next week? If this isn’t obnoxious? Or maybe even if it is? Thanks for reading!
I am currently reading this on Saturday with coffee so mission accomplished! 🫶🏻 Still on S1
of Traitors but getting sucked in, and love Writer’s Routine sm. So cozy. Need to listen to that ep. And I’m still emotionally preparing myself to watch AYTGIMM…