The Week In Recommendations 5.29.24

True crime podcasts, "Dinosaur," the new Emma Rosenblum, and a perfect summer lounge set.

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 podcasts were about “Bridgerton” S3 and “Anyone But You.” Rich Text is a completely reader-supported project — no ads or sponsors!

Claire has been reading… 📖

Jenny Kleeman’s profile of the pronatalist poster children Malcolm and Simone Collins, the Elon Musk-aligned effective altruists who have made it their mission to promote a sort of atheist Quiverfull movement. Though they’re in their late 30s and have just had their fourth child — all via IVF and C-section — they plan to have at least seven in total. (Having more than three C-sections is highly discouraged, as it carries significant risk of complications like uterine rupture).

It’s not the first major article on the couple, but the details in Kleeman’s piece have made it memorable. The couple doesn’t heat their home in the winter because it’s a “pointless indulgence” (they live in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, a place best known for being so miserable in the winter that it nearly defeated George Washington’s Continental Army), but their toddlers are constantly accompanied by iPads. They claim to have given their two daughters gender-neutral names to improve their lifetime earnings expectations, but “Titan Invictus” and “Industry Americus” might be weird enough to undermine any advantage in hiring gained by not having a feminine name. Oh, and of course, Kleeman witnessed Malcolm hitting his two-year-old son in the face after the toddler kicked their restaurant table. She notes, “Malcolm tells me that he and Simone have developed a parenting style based on something she observed when she saw tigers in the wild… ‘I was just giving you the context so you don’t think I’m abusive or something,” he says.’”

Then there’s the unsettling overlap with white supremacist pronatalist movements, which often go hand in hand with suppressing women’s rights and forcing birth. The Collinses strenuously deny that they share any of these goals or beliefs, or that Simone’s corset and voluminous skirts mean that she’s “trad.” But given that their self-described role in the movement is to “be a shield for other people” who don’t want public blowback, it’s clear how motivated they are to present the most palatable possible image of their project.

Emma has been reading… 📖

Emma Rosenblum’s “Very Bad Company.” I’ve said this before, but my very favorite sub-genre of summer literature is Rich People Behaving Badly and that is exactly Rosenblum’s niche. I thoroughly enjoyed last year’s “Bad Summer People,” so I was eager to dig into her latest novel, which is set during a lavish executive retreat in Miami, skewers the tech industry, and comes with a side of murder. I haven’t finished it yet, so I can’t offer a complete review, but I’m definitely having a lot of fun.

Speaking of bad summer people, I also read Jessica Roy’s NYT profile of “Summer House” breakout star West Wilson. Truly a laid off media worker who made the pivot of a lifetime.

Claire has been watching… 📺

“Dinosaur” on Hulu, a Scottish comedy about a Glaswegian paleontologist, Nina, whose sister and best friend suddenly announces that she’s engaged, throwing their comfortable routines into disarray. Nina is particularly attached to her routines, as she is autistic, and the show depicts how she navigates balancing what others expect and desire of her with her own sense of self and her boundaries. Her sister, for example, wants her to take on the role of maid of honor, and to welcome the new fiancé into their shared sisterly routines; Nina would rather die, but she loves her sister enough to find a way. Nina and her friends and family are rarely entirely on the same page — they all have their own quirks and peccadillos — but there’s an underlying warmth and unquestioning acceptance that balances the sometimes prickly humor. It’s a short show, just six episodes in total, but each of the handful of episodes I’ve watched has been funny and heartfelt.

Emma has been watching… 📺

The other night we were scrolling through MAX’s offerings in bed and Adam suggested that we watch the pilot episode of “The Sopranos,” which, it turned out, I had somehow never seen… ever???? (I blame the fact that I am a total scaredy cat when it comes to TV and movies, and was even more of one in middle school when “The Sopranos” premiere first aired.) Hot take: It’s fabulous! (Lol.) Guess there’s a reason that it is an absolutely beloved series that people can’t stop raving about 20+ years after it premiered? Who could’ve thunk.

I’ve also been catching up on my Bravo rotation: “Summer House,” “VPR” and “The Valley,” and woo boy there’s a lot to unpack. These shows are like a parade of failed/failing/potentially about to fail relationships. On the bright side, West and Jesse on “Summer House” continue to give me cautious optimism about men on reality television.

Claire has been listening to… 🎧

“Beyond All Repair,” my first true crime podcast in a hot minute, which re-investigates the conviction of Sophia Johnson for the violent murder of her mother-in-law, Marlyne Johnson. Sophia was 23 years old and six months pregnant when she and her husband found his mother beaten to death in her home. After her own brother, Sean, came forward and testified that he had witnessed Sophia committing the murder, detectives zeroed in on her. She was initially convicted despite a lack of physical evidence connecting her to the crime (though later acquitted at retrial and deported to Guyana). Reporter Amory Sivertson, with the help of Sophia’s other brother, Shane, digs back into the evidence, interviewing Sophia extensively and taking a hard look at Sean’s own past, which was already checkered with domestic violence allegations that did not come up at trial. I’m only a few episodes in, and I’m sure there’s so much to come as the season unfolds, but the way the show examines both the troubled family dynamic Sophia and her siblings came from and the flawed legal process that led to her conviction has been compelling.

Emma has been listening to… 🎧

The new season of “The Girlfriends” podcast. I recommended this podcast during season 1, which dove into the 1985 murder of Gail Katz at the hands of her doctor husband, Bob Bierenbaum. Season 2 is still hosted by Carole Fisher, who dated Bob in the years after Gail’s death, but this season the series is investigating the identity of a torso that washed up in Staten Island in 1989 and was, for years, thought to be Gail’s. Returning characters include Dr. Mindy (another woman who briefly dated Bob), Producer Anna, and Alayne Katz (Gail’s sister).

Claire has been buying… 🛍️

My new favorite summer night-to-day outfit! (Yes, this means staying in my pjs all day — what of it?) I’ve been seeing Noble’s signature utility dresses and jumpsuits on my particular micro-niche of influencers (vaguely arty new-ish moms who wear nursing-friendly sustainable fashion, natch) for years, but I’ve never gone for them because don’t like how I look in a traditional shirt collar. But then I saw they’ve come out with a line of waffle tanks and high-waisted shorts that look perfect for warm-weather lounging, park hanging, and sleeping. The shorts are extremely stretchy (they might even be pregnancy-friendly) and the waffle feels thick and high quality. I chose the chocolate brown, but a more confident woman, or one with fewer small messy-handed children, might go with the equally cute oat milk set.

Emma has been buying… 🛍️

When I went to return one of my mini Hill House summer dresses, I got seduced by styles I hadn’t ordered the first time around! (HHH simply makes the best, easiest, breeziest, elegant summer dresses and you will never convince me otherwise.) I ended up taking home the Sutton in Sand Basketweave Vine and the Margot in Pink Basketweave Vine. (I also love both styles in the white broderie anglaise.) I didn’t initially gravitate towards these dresses, but in person they are just so elegant!!! The Sutton is a wonderful throw-it-on-and-go daytime summer dress that can easily transition to night, and the Margot can either be worn with flat sandals during the day OR dressed up for a less formal wedding. Absolutely obsessed.

Claire has been making… 🧶

Smitten Kitchen’s Ultimate Banana Bread, zhuzhed up a little for a holiday weekend barbecue dessert! We spent Saturday on Long Island visiting my in-laws, so on Sunday morning I awoke to a midday baking deadline and a fruit bowl filled with nothing but rapidly aging bananas. Also, I am not so selfless as to bring a dessert that I can’t eat, so I had to make something dairy-free. In this case, I subbed in butter-flavored Crisco; I also mixed my last half cup of dairy-free chocolate chips. In order to make it look more like a dessert, I poured it into a square cake pan instead of a loaf pan and cut the baking time to 45 minutes. And it was absolutely delicious! Next time I think I’ll skip the chocolate chips so I can pretend it’s not an utterly decadent treat, but the richness and the crackling sugar topping might give it away. I also think I’ll continue making banana bread in a cake pan, as it bakes much faster and creates more real estate for that crunchy sugar crust.

Emma has been making… 🧶

Honestly, this has not been a cooking-heavy week for me. I have been leaning on quick and easy lunch food, which includes Whole Foods’ pre-prepared Cranberry Apple Tuna Salad on a thick piece of toasted bread, preferably cut right from a fresh loaf bought from my local Polish bakery.

---

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Substack!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription