Reading List: Yesterday, I Described What A ‘Wife Guy’ Was On A Work Call, So This Week Is Officially Over, Right?
Happiest of Fridays, lovely humans. It’s the last day of September, and I continue to marvel at the breathless coverage of Taylor Swift’s Tik Tok reveals of the track list from her upcoming album, and how media is breathlessly covering each title as it hits, all whilst personally counting down the minutes to her album release later this month. And BTW, did you know that the set Ryan Reynolds filmed the new Deadpool announcement on is the same as the TSwift “All Too Well” video? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go figure out which piece of historical knowledge the information above pushed out of my brain over the past 24 hours.
Unrelated: please sink your teeth into this absurdist moment in a recent Late Show where in one of Stephen Colbert’s writers dives headfirst into his old English lit notebooks. I cannot believe this was on a major network, and I so appreciate that.
TO THE LONGREADS
Tim Miller, Kevin McCarthy: The Gimp Who Thinks He’s a Master (The Bulwark) - How DARE Miller craft such a lol-inducing headline that I nearly spat coffee on my monitor when I read it, followed by a thorough dismantling of the tough guy fallacy the wannabe Leader of the House wants all of us to ascribe to. And per usual, I am so very jealous of how deliciously he converts unbridled rage into shivving prose - the AUDACITY to craft such an enjoyable piece to read.
Rex Huppke, Lizzo plays James Madison's crystal flute while racists play dog whistles (USA Today) - If you haven’t followed the Library of Congress tweets in which they share Liz’s trip to the archives to play the instrument AND visit the LoC’s flute vault (omg they have a flute vault!) you must check it out, it is damned delightful and makes me so excited for all those fans who might take a chance to learn more about libraries and archives and all the things that I nerd out over whenever I have a trip to Washington. And as Huppke more elegantly shares in his op-ed, anyone who claims it’s a denigration of history, instead of the pure joy celebration that is so apparent, obviously has other biases at play.
Clémence Michallon, The Try Guys drama and what happens when a wife guy’s brand backfires (The Independent) - As someone who was a social media manager in the ascendancy of BuzzFeed-like content creation, I know more about the Try Guys and other former BF video series than I probably should (see note above about actual learning being pushed out of my head). But even if you don’t know anything about this ultra-online drama, I think the subhead of this piece sums up the larger social discomfort around watching a performative husband revealed as philanderer quite well: “Why did the idea of a man loving and supporting his wife ever seem like a concept unique enough for monetization?” And for more on “Wife Guys”, I recommend you read this.
Rachel Feintzeig, Gray Hair Is a New Power Move for Women at Work (WSJ) - I fought (and destroyed via box dye) my bleached hair at the top of the pandemic and have decided I shan’t be coloring my hair for the time being, so I am a fan of this au naturel movement, for sure.
Alison Green, The Incentives to Get Workers Back to the Office Aren’t Working. Here’s What Would. (Slate) - Just gonna leave this here for all of the managers who read the Missive and who might need to navigate mandates at some point.
That’s it, that’s all. You’re swell! Drink some water, get outside for a wee bit, and be kind to yourself, won’t you?
xoxo Amy