The Week In Recommendations 9.18.24

Disturbing "Bachelorette" news, some new podcast recs, and the beginnings of fall fashion!

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 Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”! An episode about “Emily In Paris” S4 is coming soon! Rich Text is a completely reader-supported project — no ads or sponsors!

Claire has been reading… 📖

“Long Island Compromise,” the final act! Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a master of the denouement, and she loves to close by finally giving readers access to a long-withheld but crucial perspective. Long Island Compromise” has a similar climactic finish to her breakout debut “Fleishman Is in Trouble.” As this story about a family of polystyrene manufacturing heirs, psychically wounded by their father’s kidnapping for ransom over thirty years ago, comes to a close, we are finally offered answers to the central mysteries of the novel. There are more, and more satisfying, answers than many novelists would give. And not just in the whodunnit sense. Brodesser-Akner’s fascination with class and class anxiety comes through even more strongly in her latest; as in “Fleishman,” the characters of “Long Island Compromise” are prisoners of their own class backgrounds, which either imbue them with ambition or hobble them with indecision. The children of poverty become strivers, who raise children too indulged and adrift for their ambitious parents to understand them. But in “Compromise,” families alienated from each other by class are at least bound together, however painfully and mysteriously, by their shared and passed-down traumas. These basic theorems are laid out almost didactically at points, as if she’s writing a manifesto. Despite this, “Long Island Compromise” is a great read, with some weird closing flourishes that I particularly enjoyed.

Emma has been reading… 📖

Still working my way through Abby Jimenez’s “Just for the Summer,” which I shouted out last week!

Also, I’ve been reading all of the information I can about the new and disturbing information about “Bachelorette” winner Devin Strader. Reality Steve broke the story and EW published a full report about the restraining order filed against Devin by his ex-girlfriend in 2017 and the details are nauseating. (See Claire’s explanation below.)

Claire has been watching… 📺

Reality Steve’s YouTube report on court documents showing that Devin, the most recent Bachelorette winner and villain, repeatedly violated a restraining order held by his ex-girlfriend while he was in college in Louisiana. In one incident, it’s alleged that he burned documents that appeared to be the restraining order in front of her house. In another, he allegedly broke into her home and stole a necklace that he had given her during their relationship. While these events took place years ago, they are deeply disturbing. They violate the show’s eligibility requirements (contestants must never have had a restraining order against them), which means Devin likely failed to disclose this on his application, and it was somehow missed by the background checks, which the show had claimed it would beef up after a similar oversight with a contestant on Becca Kufrin’s season.

Emma has been watching… 📺

I’m finally binging the latest season of “Emily In Paris.” The show is still campy and the clothes are still insane in a fun way, but am I the only one that feels like this season is… kind of a bland drag? The biggest problem is that Emily and Gabriel’s will-they, won’t-they relationship still sits at the center of the plot. And these two… have anti-chemistry. I’ve never wanted a central couple to be together less. Also, what is going on with Gabriel’s hair this season? Why did they do that to him? (Claire: Can someone please tell Gabriel his hair looks sexy pushed back?) My main takeaways are that Brigitte Macron is chic and bébés are cute!

Photo Credit: Netflix / Stylecaster Instagram

Also, a non-TV watch: This IG video from Jewel, weighing in on Chappell Roan’s recent comments about “fan” culture and entitlement. Jewel is truly a treasure and her stories of being stalked over the years are harrowing! (Yes, it’s two weeks old, but it only showed up on my feed this week.)

Claire has been listening to… 🎧

Two new-to-me podcasts: the news and culture chat show “Vibe Check,” and the BBC’s “You’re Dead to Me,” a comedic history podcast. As a very hip and with-it young woman, I need to keep up with the news and culture of today, and Sam Sanders, Saeed Jones and Zach Stafford combine cogent insights with a relaxed, chatty vibe that keeps me engaged. As a mom, I need to get into history podcasts so that I can talk with middle-aged dads (my husband and his friends), but as I’m still under 40, I needed to find one that is also funny, to keep me engaged. “You’re Dead to Me” puts a historian and a comedian at the same table for a lesson on a historical topic like Leif Erikson or cave paintings, which has taught me that a historian can make jokes but comedians (like most of us) know nothing about Leif Erikson.

Emma has been listening to… 🎧

“Forgive Me For I Have Followed,” a new iHeart podcast about Robert Shinn, 7M and the Shekinah Church. If you were gripped like I was by the “Dancing for the Devil” Netflix doc, I recommend this pod. There’s only one episode out, but it’s already heartbreaking.

Claire has been buying… 🛍️

New fall Hill House in my new favorite fabric – shadow stripe. As Emma mentioned last week, the brand sent us a couple of items to try now that they’re advertising on LTSI, and I tried the green sha

dow stripe. It’s 100% cotton, exceptionally soft, light as air, and drapes beautifully; because it’s quite sheer, it’s also fully lined, which gives the skirt a fuller silhouette. The new fuschia charm is the same fabric, and it’s a gorgeous print for fall. I also tried the Ophelia for the first time in years, wondering if my sleeve size tolerance had gone up. And it has… to a point. I’m still slightly spooked by the volume of the puffs, but I feel up for the challenge. I wore it to a friend’s birthday dinner and felt great in it with sandals and my hair down, but I’m also looking forward to balancing the voluminous ruffly sleeves with a sleek hairstyle and chunky shoes. [Emma: OOOOOOHHHHH CUTIE!!!!]

I also bought a particularly chic new accessory: white cotton gloves to protect my eczema-riddled hand. Apparently my family has some sort of genetic predisposition to eczema on the right hand (I’m not the only one who has it exclusively in that location), but the last few months of frequent mineral sunscreen application, constant hand- and dish-washing, and nightly child-bathing triggered a bad outbreak. My hand has been cracked, peeling, and even bleeding, despite diligent use of eczema cream. After some online research, I decided to wear one of these gloves after slathering on my creams every night before bed and as much as possible during the day. I also put on a vinyl glove for bath time last night, and have been much more conscientious about using protective gloves while washing dishes. And it’s all paying off! The only downside is that I look as though I’m in a handbell choir half the time, which is a price I’m willing to pay for a healthy hand.

Emma has been buying… 🛍️

My wedding dress! Eek! (Claire: AHHHHHH!!!!) Placed the order over the weekend and of course I am both excited and absolutely panicked that I chose wrong. (What if my tastes change? What if my body changes? What if I find the perfect dress that I didn’t know existed and I can’t buy it?) I’m aware that choices have to be made and that none of these fears are super rational, but it does feel odd to make such a giant purchase so far in advance. Please tell me other people understand my anxiety lol.

Also, the Hill House corset top I talked about ordering in last week’s newsletter finally arrived. I can’t decide if I’m going to keep or return it. I think the key may just be that I need one size up so it cuts into me a little lower. A definite keep, however, are HHH’s Lafayette Sandals. I cannot wait to wear them with jeans and chunky sweaters through the fall. (And they’re on sale!)

Claire has been making… 🧶

Nothing exciting this week, just routine favorites (the sausage and spinach pasta, the oatmeal and banana bars with strawberries instead of chocolate chips). After an intense summer, and the baby’s first birthday, I’ve been trying to reset a little bit and make space for more personal time. The baby has moved into his big brother’s room to sleep, and he is nursing less and able to be a bit more independent of me. Since his birth, after bedtime became (mostly through necessity) a daily continuation of the workday. Then, as I began to think of the evening as part of the workday, the work expanded to fill that space. I found that I was working most evenings, or at least the ones I didn’t spend entirely on handling tricky bedtimes and sinks full of dishes. This tends to crowd out the sort of cultural pursuits that fill this newsletter – reading new books and magazine articles, listening to new podcasts and music, watching new movies and TV shows that aren’t explicitly for work – and has left me creatively and mentally burned out. So I’ve been trying to be a bit more disciplined during the day so I take most nights off. I’ve been easing into it by not overtaxing myself with thrilling new recipes (which often take longer than I expect). But with a bit of crispness in the air, I’m starting to get excited for hearty fall cooking. Any recommendations??

Emma has been making… 🧶

This delicious crispy rice salmon salad from kalejunkie on Instagram! This recipe came up on my for you page, and though I resent Instagram for constantly putting things in my feed that I didn’t ask for, this one was a win. I made the salad for dinner and it was surprisingly hearty! Plus, Adam and I both cleared our plates, which is a pretty good indicator that I should add this to my rotation.

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