The Week In Recommendations 4.26.23

A podcast about a fortune-telling family, a throwback movie, floaty dresses, and classic bag at a tempting discount.

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 the disastrous reunion of “Love Is Blind” season 4. Rich Text is a reader-supported project — no ads or sponsors!

We’ve been reading…

I am still reading Jessica Knoll’s “Bright Young Women,” which I wrote about in last week’s newsletter. But despite the fact that I only seem to be able to read quickly when I’m on vacation, I got really ambitious and excited and purchased Rebecca Makkai’s “I Have Some Questions For You” and Curtis Sittenfeld’s “Romantic Comedy.” Trying to manifest more time for reading good novels. -Emma

I finished Rebecca Makkai’s “I Have Some Questions For You,” and found it fairly satisfying — there’s a solid twist before the book wraps up, though the momentum does slump toward the end. It’s always a risk to writing such a ripped-from-the-headlines novel, as the turnaround time is a lot faster on news cycles than it is on literary fiction. Many of the conundrums presented to Makkai’s protagonist, Bodie, seem stale and well-trodden by 2023; as I wrote last week, it can be hard to distinguish her musings on the ethics of true crime media and the importance of believing women (while still excusing her own estranged husband for his sins) from a litany of five-year-old essays. I did appreciate that Makkai allows Bodie to be subject to the same human biases we all are — she’s no infallible crusader — and that she embraces untidy conclusions.

Also, this Lauren Oyler opus on the Goop cruise (and her throuple situation) is … well, just read it. -Claire

We’ve been watching…

The new season of HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere” started, and it’s the rare quiet, 30-minute comedy that my boyfriend and I both genuinely enjoy. Very little happens in this Bridget Everett-led show about a woman who moves back to her childhood town in Kansas, but the cast is absolutely fantastic — especially Everett as Sam, and Jeff Hiller as her best friend Joel. -Emma

Have you ever seen “The Lizzie McGuire Movie”? Until this week, I had not. The Hilary Duff vehicle came out twenty entire years ago, and when it did, I think I already felt too old to go see a movie about a middle-schooler. So. Yeah, that makes me feel like time is slipping through my fingers like sand through an hourglass. Whether it’s an old favorite or one you missed, this is the time to fire up Disney Plus and check out the Roman hijinks of Lizzie, Gordo, and some Italian teen pop stars played by North American actors with subpar accent skills… because we will be discussing it next week on Rich Text, along with a special guest. And I. Have. THOUGHTS. -Claire

We’ve been listening to…

A new podcast from the L.A. Times, “Foretold,” which explores the history and culture of the American Romani community, through the lens of the story of Paulina Stevens. Stevens grew up understanding that she would never go to high school, would marry young, and would join the family business of fortunetelling. That is, until she left the community. This podcast is a really well-reported dive into a community that has faced discrimination and has retreated into relative isolation as a result. -Emma

I haven’t started any new podcasts lately, so please allow me to indulge in some Parenting Sounds content for a second. Like apparently every toddler, my son is into Spiderman now. (This seems to happen with even minuscule exposure, like seeing another child in a Spiderman costume once. That’s how infectious his appeal is.) We’ve been letting him watch the Disney cartoon series “Spidey and His Amazing Friends,” and as an episode cued up the other day, I joked that I couldn’t believe Fall Out Boy did the theme song. Then I thought, “huh, that really sounds like Fall Out Boy.” Folks, Patrick Stump did the theme song for this children’s cartoon. Max is completely obsessed, and loves to run back and forth through our apartment at top speed, singing the song and pretending to shoot webs at us; meanwhile, I’m still stuck on the “edgy” popular music of my teenage years (pop punk) becoming one of the dominant genres represented in theme music for toddler TV shows. A little something for the parents! -Claire

We’ve been buying…

I have been eyeing Maje’s classic M bags for awhile now. They are beautiful, functional and come in multiple sizes and a whole array of colors / varying embellishments. However, they are a little bit pricey. This week I finally bit the bullet when I realized that the Maje Spring Event meant that a bunch of these gorgeous bags were 30% off! I got this black suede medium M bag with embroidery and mixed metal embellishments. It comes with a crossbody strap and can be pretty easily dressed up or down which is always a quality I look for in a bag. If you want something slightly smaller and less of a splurge, I’m also obsessed with this mini croc-effect M bag in Rosewood. (It’s on sale PLUS an extra 30 off!) Do… I need a second one? -Emma

We all know by now about my weakness for floaty dresses — and given that I have the kind of very visible pregnancies that leads well-meaning strangers to say things like “you must be due any day!” when I’m in fact still in my second trimester, I’m specifically in the market for tent-like ones lately. Nursing-friendly (low and stretchy or buttoned bodices) are a plus. So I splurged on this new Dôen Saison dress, which has everything I love in one frock: a flattering square neckline, a cinchable but voluminous silhouette, and lots of buttons. Bonus: it’s navy, and therefore not easy to ruin with a tiny handful of mashed avocado flung directly at me. 

Also, I keep optimistically thinking that warm weather is here to stay, so I ordered some maternity bike shorts to replace leggings in my rotation. These Hatch ones are thick, soft, and super comfy. -Claire

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