The Week In Recommendations 11.29.23
Two books to add to your reading list, winter dressing, and the exquisite discomfort of "The Curse."
This is the free edition of Rich Text, a newsletter about cultural obsessions from your Internet BFFs Emma and Claire. If you like what you see and hear, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Our latest podcast was about season 7 of “Selling Sunset,” and on Monday we’ll be publishing a catching up with Claire episode! Rich Text is a completely reader-supported project — no ads or sponsors!
Claire has been reading… 📖
“I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness” by Claire Vaye Watkins: The reading, watching, and listening sections of this newsletter have become my space for life updates, since most of my life events involve the loss of all my free reading, watching, and listening time for at least a few days. Greg is just emerging from his 10-day Covid quarantine, during which I was mostly solo parenting both kids. A small baby and a toddler will, it turns out, occupy every single moment of your day and many moments of your night! I didn’t get much reading done this week, but I think the book I’m reading would understand; it opens with the narrator, a new mom reeling amid her newly remade life, filling out a screening questionnaire for postpartum depression that I have become very familiar with in the last few years. I look forward to reporting back once I’ve read a bit further!
Emma has been reading… 📖
I got an an early copy of friend of the newsletter/pod
’s forthcoming book, “The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality,” and I can confidently say that if you loved her last book, “Cultish” as much as I did, you need to preorder this one. I love Amanda’s writing style — it’s engaging and sharp and deeply relatable. She has a way of making you deeply consider your own cognitive biases and coping mechanisms — and you get to read about subjects like Taylor Swift and IKEA hacks in the process.Claire has been watching… 📺
See above (no time)! Sometimes I get in a little quick hit of “Real Housewives of New York,” which I have been slowly working through. One of this season’s cast, Brynn Whitfield, went to my high school — in fact, she was in the year above me, and we did Mock Trial together (there’s a yearbook photo spread somewhere that proves this, I swear) — so I obviously couldn’t miss this season. I came for Brynn, whose performance as a sort of studied bimbo is indeed one of my favorite parts of the season, and now I’m also getting sucked into the Sai-Erin-Jessel beef. It’s kind of jaw-dropping to watch two women harass and mock another woman for not having sex with her husband enough, but without such antisocial behaviors, there would be no Real Housewives franchise. Anyway, no spoilers please. I hope to get to the reunion by Christmas.
Emma has been watching… 📺
I started “The Curse,” a show about a husband-wife duo (played by Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone) who are making an eco-friendly home renovation show — a.k.a. trying to rapidly gentrify a depressed town in New Mexico. It is a deeply uncomfortable satirical takedown of self-styled white saviors behaving badly for personal gain. The show is extremely well-crafted and well-acted and well-written — and it’s also a complete anxious misery to watch. I agree with The Guardian’s assessment that “The Curse” is “horrible and excruciating” but also “inventive, provocative, oddly mesmerizing and quite unlike anything else you will see on television this year.” I am torn between wanting to appreciate every moment of the season and also wanting to crawl out of my skin and escape the experience of watching “The Curse.”
Claire has been listening to… 🎧
“My Tiny Twilight,” Dawn Landes: I’m not sure how I stumbled across this pint-sized children’s album – I imagine at some point, a song from it was pushed at me by the Spotify algorithm. Singer-songwriter Landes was inspired to write it by her infant daughter, and the dreamy sound of her softly strummed guitar and her breathy vocals brings the ideal blend of adult sophistication and baby-friendly gentleness for a tired new parent passing the hours with newborn. I’m particularly partial to “Hello,” a sweetly mellow paean to her daughter, and the perky “Everybody Dream.”
Know Your Enemy episode on Gary Wills’ “The Kennedy Imprisonment”: Every few months, my listening recommendation is just a single new episode of the leftists-on-conservatives pod “Know Your Enemy.” The recent episode on Garry Wills’ consideration of the Kennedy family’s mystique and misdeeds, “The Kennedy Imprisonment,” features writer Jeet Heer in conversation with cohosts Matt Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell, and it’s truly delightful and absorbing. And relevant, as the parallels they draw between Will’s psychological portrait of JFK and Donald Trump are uncomfortable but striking.
Emma has been listening to… 🎧
Ezra Klein’s podcast episodes about Israel-Palestine. Klein has managed to be a reasonable, calm, measured voice about the current war and the horrors it has wrought. Last week he released an episode that offers a great primer on the history of Israeli-Palestinian peace processes — both the successes and deep failures. This feels important as we look ahead to what could be an opportunity for a newly-invigorated peace movement to demand real, political solutions to this seemingly interminable conflict.
Also, really loved the latest If Books Could Kill subscriber episode about pundits Kathleen Parker and Chris Cillizza. Michael and Peter continue to have such wonderful, hilarious chemistry as podcast hosts, and I truly don’t miss a single episode they put out!
Claire has been buying… 🛍️
This Hair Finishing Stick I found on Google after a particularly frustrating attempt to wrangle my flyaway fringe bits into a ponytail. I vaguely knew that all the gorgeous clean-girl-aesthetic ladies out there were using product to achieve their smoothed-back buns and ponies, but for months I continued to try to make it work with my natural hair oils (which are abundant, since I wash my hair twice a week max). This product is very cheap, comes in a two-pack, and works pretty well. Good enough for me! My two go-to styles for greasy bang days – a smooth low bun and two little pigtails holding back my bangs – both look far more finished with a swipe of this stuff, which is basically clear hair mascara. It is a little crunchy when dry, but it’s actually not that bad, and I can usually brush it out without issue if I need to.
Madewell’s Brightside Finerib Turtleneck, which I just bought in several colors. I originally bought one to layer under sweaters for frigid playground hangs this winter, which they are perfect for, but the darker colors, at least, are also great worn alone. The ribbed fabric is soft and slightly smoothing, and the hem is cropped enough that I don’t have to tuck it in to look neat. It does run tight – I went up one size and it’s still close-fitting without being uncomfortably clingy.
Emma has been buying… 🛍️
This gorgeous Simon Miller button-up, which I think will be a perfect dress-up or dress-down top throughout the winter season. I struggle with looking put together and staying warm, and I’m excited to style this shirt in a variety of ways. It’s currently sold out in black, but still in stock in white!
Some SKIMS for daily wear. I snagged the T-Shirt Demi Bra and the Mid-Waist Brief during the last hours of their Black Friday sale. I’m constantly searching for comfy bras that don’t show up under a t-shirt, and that don’t have wire, and this one fits the bill. Plus, it’s still on major sale and in stock in 4 colors!
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