Reading List: This Newsletter Is Now Solely A Kathryn Grody / Mandy Patinkin Stan ‘Zine.
18 days until the election. What are YOU doing to help Biden and Harris win? Join us for virtual phone banks every day until the election. Don’t want to phone bank? You can also text bank! Let’s do this!
My darlings! It’s been a week of working 12 hours a day on my computer, barely getting 4,000 steps, and genuinely wondering if my body will every remember what yoga is. But we’re here together, it’s Friday and I remembered to steep the cold brew before I went to bed - SO LET’S DO THIS, MISSIVE FAM [Editor’s note: No, that is not a thing.]
George Packer, Republicans Are Suddenly Afraid of Democracy (The Atlantic) - If you’ve been following the disturbingly anti-democracy tweets of certain GOP senators… thiiiiiiiiissssssssss….
Olivia Nuzzi, Mamma Mia! Rudy Giuliani Threw a Potential Superspreader Event for Trump on Columbus Day (New York Magazine Intelligencer) - One of my highlights of being a 2016 DNC hobo was meeting Olivia Nuzzi at a party, checking all coolness and detachment at the door, and getting into the weeds on an awesome piece she’d written the day before. I LOVE how she writes, and this piece is a great exemplar of her style.
Dan Brooks, How President Trump Ruined Political Comedy (The New York Times) - I haven’t read this one yet, but considering that back in the day I used to watch The Daily Show and Colbert Report every day and binge-consumed all of the original episodes of Full Frontal with Sam Bee, and now I barely watch clips of any political comedy because my brain is broken from 3.5 years of madness, I imagine I will agree with the premise of this piece.
Emily Kager, Going Viral as a Woman in Tech - Kager is an android engineer at Mozilla who posted a video on Tik Tok and Twitter observing how ridiculous it is that engineers are supposed to code at work, then looked down on if they don’t have a side hustle or pro bono software project that they do in their spare time (the video is funny, go watch it) and it went viral. Then, after the video was posted on Reddit, the BS started. Kager’s review of all the ways being a woman on the internet seemingly opens up creators to horrible misogynist abuse on their person is a must-read. And I love her kicker: “Maybe one day a woman will be able to post a silly video on the internet without fear.” ONE DAY, indeed.
Rob Barry, Joel Eastwood and Paul Overberg, Coronavirus Hit the U.S. Long Before We Knew (The Wall Street Journal) - This is a beautifully designed multi-media look at just how royally screwed us Americans are. Sigh.
Kathryn Grody and Mandy Patinkin, How to Phone Bank (YouTube) - I’m sure you’re sick of me asking you to join our phone banks (I’m hosting Friday, Saturday, Sunday this week!) but what if you had Kathryn and Mandy tell you how to do it? Because they are SPOT ON and have great advice. Thank you Friend of the Missive Lolita for sharing this absolutely perfect video. And btw, if anyone knows a younger version of Mandy Patinkin looking for a partner, let him know I’m also Jewish and political and I make a mean matzah ball soup.
You’re lovely, be kind to yourself: don’t forget to vote, join a Biden/Harris phone bank, drink some water and get some sleep.
We’ll get through this, together.
xoxo Amy