The Week In Recommendations 4.9.25

"Hip, horny Hallmark," tariff purchases, and that "White Lotus" finale!

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 subscriber podcast was about the fallout on Bravo from Craig Conover and Paige DeSorbo’s breakup. An episode about “White Lotus” S3 is coming soon! Rich Text is a reader-supported project.

Civic challenge of the week:

• Make more calls to your House reps to tell them to oppose the SAVE Act! This legislation, if passed, could prevent millions of Americans from voting.

Claire has been reading…

“Set Piece” by Lana Schwartz, an upcoming romance novel about a set designer and single mom who, while working on a film adaptation of “The Great Gatsby,” reconnects with an old fling: a hot British actor on the verge of leveling up to bankable star. It’s published by the immersive, branding-forward company 831 Stories, which has an intriguing concept. The brainchild of Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo, who previously founded indie fashion retailer and community Of a Kind, 831 Stories aims to create a home for romantic cinematic universes. Each novel comes with merch (items that appear in the book, like a meaningful necklace or T-shirt), a digital epilogue, an audiobook, playlists, and more. There’s a Discord for further discussion, an AO3 link, and an official fanfiction page on the site. Mazur told Glamour, “We want to be hip, horny Hallmark.” That’s certainly speaking my language.

But I’m not sure yet if I’m completely sold. I half-joked to Greg that the company’s vintage-inspired, simple covers – not even a line drawing of a flirting couple – must represent the newest effort to make romance novels look higher status. (Personally, I miss the clinches!) The story inside was fun, charming, and quick reading, but felt a bit spare. 831 apparently has specific criteria for their books: no dragons, no stories where the heroine’s happiness or career are threatened by the end of the relationship, etc. So far, it all feels a bit too controlled and sterile to inspire a passionate fan response like Mazur and Cerulo are banking on. Then again, so does Hallmark! So I’m definitely curious to see how this romance novel universe takes shape as they publish more.

Emma has been reading… 📖

The most haunting, beautiful, evocative essay I’ve read in years. Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s “This Is the Holocaust Story I Said I Wouldn’t Write,” for New York Times Magazine truly took my breath away and made me feel like she was in my brain. She grapples with Jewish generational trauma, Holocaust education in the wake of the survivor generation dying out, and the lessons of “Never Again” in such an absolutely beautiful, honest and gutting way, all set against the backdrop of telling the story of her close childhood friend’s father, Jehuda Lindenblatt, who survived the Holocaust as a child in Hungary.

Lindenblatt’s story is gutting, as all stories from all survivors of unthinkable genocides are gutting. And also, as Brodesser-Akner points out, even the rawest retelling of such traumas fails to adequately capture them. When all we are left with is the stories, how should we use them? How should future generations respond to such traumas? Are we doomed to repeat these tragedies in new forms every generation or two? How do any of us forge ahead understanding that? It’s these questions and more that Brodesser-Akner poses, and it’s this section that read like a more eloquent version of my own muddled inner monologue:

“And what is it about me that needs to ameliorate or mitigate the sharp, upward, not-gray spike in antisemitism, to think of it as something paranoid people make too big of a deal out of, as if to defend ourselves is embarrassing and tacky? What is it in me that needs me to diminish what is in front of me? Is never again really now? Is it now? Is now when I’m supposed to leave? But OK, if yes, OK but where to?

And though I do want antisemitism to be punished and banished, how am I supposed to feel comforted by an administration that seems to be invoking it to fight a culture war that has nothing to do with Jews, while at the same time warmly embracing not one but two guys who recently did the ol’ “Sieg heil" in front of large crowds? Is the actual longest Jewish tradition that we get scapegoated even by the people who are pretending to save us? …

And what do you think it means that last night I dreamed I was at Auschwitz, bodies piling up all around me, and I was doing a radio show, but I wasn’t sure if I was doing it to entertain the inmates or to work for the Nazis? Was it even being broadcast to the world? How have I fallen into this trap again, a trap I knew well to avoid and have been successfully doing so for decades?

And: Does a life have to be meaningful? Can’t it just be a life?”

I’ve also been reading Lana Schwartz’s “Set Piece”! (See Claire’s review above.)

Claire has been watching… 📺

Obviously, I watched “White Lotus” finale, which was the length of my ideal movie but dedicated much more runtime to people not drinking piña coladas than my ideal movie. More on this episode, and the season, in our upcoming pod!

I also started watching “The Studio” (see Emma’s recommendation last week). Episode two, “The Oner,” almost did me in – the secondhand stress of watching Seth Rogan’s gormless studio head ruin a precisely calibrated shoot was almost unendurable – but we soldier on! There’s something about the frantic social comedy and the over-the-top Old Hollywood-inspired aesthetic that give me “Hail Caesar” meets “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” How can I say no to that?

Emma has been watching… 📺

Also the “White Lotus” finale, because obviously. I have so many mixed feelings about this season, and I am so excited to dig into it all properly with Claire. I was particularly captivated by The Ladies (Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie, played by Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb, and Carrie Coon), and the polar opposite ways that people have interpreted their relationship and particularly Laurie’s final monologue. (I personally was super moved by it, and saw kernels of great truth about what it looks like to justify one’s own life choices as a woman who is aging and facing down a future that isn’t just full of limitless possibilities!)

Also, I’ve gotten really into Hallmark Mysteries series. Am I proud of this? Absolutely not. Do I recognize this smooth brain streaming behavior from Trump 1.0? Absolutely yes. There’s something about the utter predictability of these series with a tiny side of intrigue that feels like the television equivalent of comfort food to me when I’m constantly on the verge of a lil menty b.

Claire has been listening to… 🎧

A helpful podcast episode from Search Engine! Amid the uncertainty of the post-tariff economy, it feels as though investors, business owners, and consumers alike are scrambling to figure out what products won’t be affected by the tariffs. The answer, unfortunately, is practically none. Some conservatives’ optimism has beggared belief (a favorite example, to me, is this big-brain genius revealing that he doesn’t realize vanilla is in everything).

Amid all this, I’ve been thinking a lot about a recent, prescient episode of Search Engine, “The Puzzle of the All-American BBQ Scrubber.” In it, PJ Vogt takes us inside one engineering YouTuber’s quest to produce a better grill scrubber in the U.S. In the process, he reveals that while it may be relatively easy to find a product that says “made in the USA” on the tag, it’s much harder to actually take a product from concept to stores without relying on any foreign-made parts or molds.

For mental relief, I’ve been trying to discover new music again. One of my favorite bands, back in my concert-going glory days (e.g. college) was the less-than-prolific indie pop group Voxtrot, and I was delighted this week to realize they had put out a new EP last year. “Esprit de Cœur” contains just the titular track and three others, and they’re very Voxtrot: melodic and jangly, with a warm, analog sound and frontman Ramesh Srivastava’s clever but earnest lyrics. It feels like being back in my dorm room, like the last 15 years didn’t happen.

Emma has been listening to… 🎧

Another fabulous episode of “If Books Could Kill,” this time their latest bonus for Patreon supporters on Sen. Josh Hawley’s he-man-woman-haters book, “Manhood.” They do a great job of tracking Hawley’s evolution into Mr. Masculinity, as well as the way that the MAGA movement has positioned Trump as the President for Men and the Republican Party as the political party of men. Gross and depressing and also darkly comic stuff! This all felt especially relevant to me when I happened upon this Jesse Watters segment making the case that tariffs will make you more manly, and thought… “How the fuck isn’t this SNL?”

Claire has been buying… 🛍️

Electronics, in preparation for the tariffs. Greg just started a new job and needs his own laptop for the first time in years. Our phones are also getting elderly, so we traded them in for new ones. Oh, and we’re trying to buy a car! It feels odd, five years after stockpiling toilet paper and dried beans amid rumblings about a possible coronavirus pandemic, to be stockpiling… very expensive goods. But this does not feel like the time to be leasing a car or getting another six months out of a creaky computer, if we can get ahead of the downstream effects of the tariffs.

Before I even realized the tariffs were happening, I made a more frivolous and happy purchase: a new spring gingham dress from Tradlands. The company just made a concerted effort to lower their prices, so the Nico balloon sleeve dress was less expensive than the last time I had considered it – plus, I’ve begun weaning the baby so I don’t need to be in nursing-friendly clothes 24/7. The cotton-linen blend has the perfect weight and drape, and I love the subtle rust and pale blue gingham. It’s billowy enough that I needed to size down one for a less overwhelming silhouette.

If you’re looking for a sleeker spring dress, I was also thrilled to see that Everlane brought back one of my staple dresses from last year, a simple square-neck smocked dress, in a handful of colors, including a vibrant blue and a chocolate stripe.

Emma has been buying… 🛍️

A new laptop due to these hellish tariffs. I’d been putting off this purchase for awhile because it’s not a fun way to spend a bunch of money! But it is an essential part of my livelihood, so in anticipation of electronics prices skyrocketing, I bit the bullet and ordered a new MacBook Pro.

Also, some items to try on from Zac Posen’s new, slightly elevated GapStudio collection. I placed a semi-giant order because I wasn’t sure what sizes I needed, or what pieces would be most flattering. However, I have the highest hopes for this Poplin Cropped Shirt, the made-famous-by-Anne-Hathaway shirt dress, and the Twill Sailor Skort. I’m contemplating going back for this simple ribbed tank and this white knit corset-style tank.

And here are my picks for the Sephora Sale which is currently ongoing until April 14th. This list includes the items that I’m personally trying or restocking, as well as ones that don’t need to be re-purchased or that I don’t currently need to refill.

Claire has been making… 🧶

An appearance at the Jersey City rally on April 5 – the preschooler’s first protest since he was seven months old, and the baby’s first. It was smaller than the big Manhattan rally; many of the protesters we spent the morning with ended up taking the PATH into the city to join forces, but we had to get one kid to dance class and the other down for a nap, so we played it safe. But it was a really heartening experience. Our oldest was a bit shy initially, but he had endless questions about the signs and chants (including “Why isn’t the president here?” and “Is this an election?”) and ended up committing many of the slogans to memory. The baby toddled around pointing at dogs and saying “doggy,” which is the level of political engagement we expect from him.

The sense of camaraderie in the crowd, the smiles and waves everyone directed at the boys even when they were being a nuisance, and the shared feeling of purpose were all just what we needed. This Mother Jones piece summed it up well. We’re ready for the next one!

Our faceless child, with a sign borrowed from our very funny neighbor.

And, for dinner, teriyaki-marinated tofu tossed with cornstarch and crisped in the oven for rice bowls. The idea was to keep it simple – some roasted broccoli seasoned with soy sauce, some quick pickled carrot and cucumber, some sliced avocado. I also simmered some of the store-bought teriyaki marinade (no shame!) while whisking in cornstarch and water to make a quick glaze. Was this good? I think so! Dinner was chaotic; Greg had a work call in the middle of it, the baby was fretful and clingy after doing extended hours at daycare for the first time and insisted on eating his rice while sitting on my lap and occasionally sobbing. (An out-of-state friend came over for dinner last-minute after finding herself in town for work, and she got an extremely unfiltered look at just how sideways our mealtimes can go. It was not very “With Love, Meghan” of me!) Having gotten a few bites of dinner in, however, I think the avocado, glazed tofu, and rice made for a great mouthful.

Emma has been making… 🧶

On the dinner front, nothing of note. More rice bowls and bean dishes and a lot of ordering pickup. To be honest, the lack of sunshine this past week, coupled with, well… everything, has put me into a bit of a depressive slump. My motivation has not been super high to cook, and then I feel guilt about not cooking etc. etc.

One thing I have been making, however, is plans to escape New York for a few days at the end of the month. One of my best friends moved to London a couple months ago (amazing for her, sad for me), so three of us are planning to meet in London for some much-needed catching up, eating, sightseeing and tea. Also, a different mutual friend has a play opening on the West End, so the timing is perfect.

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