The Week In Recommendations 2.22.23
Emma's favorite knee boots, a juicy rom-com novel, and the Netflix show Claire finally got into!
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 most recent paid podcast is about “Your Place Or Mine,” the new Netflix rom-com starring Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher.) Rich Text is a reader-supported project — no ads or sponsors!
We’ve been reading…
This essay by Morgan Sullivan in The Cut about stalking your exes’ exes’ Instagram accounts. “I’ve found a delicious morsel from the gods above that belongs to me. Let me have it,” writes Sullivan. (I concur.) Also loved this piece by our bud Kelsey McKinney in Defector responding to the New York Times’ despicable anti-trans editorial coverage, specifically Pamela Paul’s terrible defense of J.K. Rowling. My personal favorite line?: “All this column can give you is a better understanding of what it must be like to be cornered at a party by Bill Maher.” Lol. -Emma
I’ve been sick as a dog this week — the kind of sick where even watching Netflix felt like too much exertion most of the time. (The cold viruses on these streets in 2023 are not to be trifled with.) So my reading was light: Falon Ballard’s wish-fulfillment-core romcom “Just My Type,” about an unlucky-in-love writer with an emotionally absent but ludicrously wealthy mother who has given her a beautiful house in a trendy part of L.A. She doesn’t have the ideal family life, and she can only find a steady job writing about relationships rather than pop culture and fandom, but otherwise she has an enviable setup: long auburn hair, a tight band of besties, a decade-long job in digital media, an unimaginable slice of prime real estate, and a superhot, brilliant ex-boyfriend who broke her heart years ago and has now sauntered back into her life as a workplace rival. It’s a second-chance romance, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and utterly aspirational lifestyle porn. -Claire
We’ve been listening to…
“Stolen Hearts,” a love-gone-wrong / true crime podcast which follows the story of small-town, Welsh cop Jill Evans, and her boyfriend Dean — who turns out to be a literal bank robber, and ultimately costs Jill her career. It’s a pretty wild story, and because so much time has passed (this all took place in the early ‘00s), they were able to get basically all of the major players to talk. Worth a listen. -Emma
We’ve been watching…
I started the new season of “Vanderpump Rules,” one of the few Bravo shows that I have maintained a continuous allegiance to over the years. (Sometimes after a few seasons, the Bravo drama just starts to bum me out… but VPR? It’s reality TV high art.) My friend Miriam worked on this season, and a bunch of the main cast went through breakups — which, sadly for them but happily for us, makes for a captivating reset. -Emma
Greg and I, at a loss for new shows to watch, decided to try “Sex Education,” the British Netflix comedy about the teenage son of a sex therapist, Otis, who decides to make some money — and gain some social status — by offering sex therapy to his classmates. I had heard rave reviews when it premiered in 2019, but somehow I never watched so much as a trailer. And, shock of shocks, it is really good?? The coverage I saw at the time tended to focus on the value of intimacy coordinators in filming all those depictions of teen sex, and while that is extremely important and admirable, I somehow never came away with a sense of how funny it is — and it is exceptionally funny. Gillian Anderson is a hoot as Otis’s boundary-free mother, and its portrayal of high school social cliques and status signals is sharp and witty. -Claire
We’ve been buying…
I bought my absolute favorite Vince Camuto knee-high boots in a second color because they went on sale. I wore them during our taping with Zach The Snack for Love To See It and got so many compliments on them that it really affirmed my decision. Also, after seeing this adorable Madewell Piazza Mini Crossbody Bag on a bunch of lists, I went into the store on Monday and was impressed at the quality. I ended up getting it in the springy green Seedling color. -Emma
Okay, I’m finally ready to weigh in on my Hill House purchases! I ended up keeping the new Matilda in black crepe — which has a square neck, puffed sleeves, and very much gives LBD by way of Jane Austen — and the Ellie in green vine stripe. Their white prints tend to be sheer, but this one is fairly opaque — nude underwear is totally sufficient — and the green pattern is spring in a fabric. And now I am dying for it to be summer dress weather again immediately. -Claire
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