Midlife, Math, and Messiness [#150]
A must-follow chef, a game for when the world feels messy, and the loveys that were loved too much.
We need to wake up to the reality that we live in a tech bro kleptocracy. My Texas readers will appreciate this deep dive on HEB and why it is awesome. Drama within the menopause expert community. The loveys that kids love too much. Look again at who cared for you in childhood. These high school girls found new proofs for the Pythagorean Theorem and aren’t even going to major in math. A wild IVF mixup story. And apparently casual sex has lost its cool. A powerwash simulator for when the world feels messy.
And you can skip this next excerpt if you’re tapped out on what happened with the electorate in America. But David Roth writes with such clarity about Donald J Trump that I wanted to include this reflection in The Defector:
A healthy culture could not have produced a Trump, let alone elevated him in the way that ours has. He has been a gaudy and tumid metonym for masterful and unaccountable wealth in the broader culture for decades now and managed to maintain that status in defiance of, among many other things, more or less every single thing he says and does. What he represents is powerful enough—to be rich, for one thing, is to be safe in a way that no one else ever really is—to outweigh how flailing and oafish and stupid he is in representing it. If anything, it proves the point; when you're a star, they really do let you do it. The social sicknesses at work here are old enough and powerful enough to have shaped Trump himself into the pitiless and pitiable thing that he is, and then to have made him inevitable, and now finally to have delivered something like the impunity that he has always claimed as his by right. Look this reality in the face and there is just no getting around how shameful it all is.
Werk Werk Werk
The always online
and I went on KCRW’s The Sam Sanders Show after the election to reflect on this year in tech, since so much of what’s happening in the world is a function of what’s happening in technology.On Forever35, we just put out our annual gift guide! Check out my recommendations there, and if that’s not enough we have a super-sized gift guide for Patreon members, with categories like “fantasy bags” and “cheapest stuff from bougie brands.”
November has also been “Midlife and Menopause Month” on Forever35 — our first series of guests all dedicated to a certain theme. And the interviews have been so life-affirming. Caroline Paul explained why we see so many male surfers and skiiers and such in their 60s, and challenges women to be adventuring way past menopause. Lyn Slater, the accidental fashion icon in her 70s, was full of wisdom on aging, and the sex researcher Emily Nagoski really brought it when it comes to what’s happening to our bodies when they hit perimenopause.
NPR’s Book Concierge is out with its annual list of the best books of 2024, and I wrote up
’s Die Hot With A Vengeance, as well as Rupi Thorpe’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles, which I love love loved. The whole list is worth exploring.And I chatted about K-beauty with
, tried a self-exploration exercise called Five Word Life Story for a podcast which was fascinating,Watch
Social Studies on Hulu. If you don’t have time for the full docuseries, just episode one. Super relevant to the conversations we’ve been having about the altered realities we live in now, and how teens are coming of age these days.
This wild TED Talk from Snow Raven is something you have to see, just trust me.
The 4pm Club. It’s my eldest spawn Eva’s show on Brat TV. Already five episodes of the six episode season have aired. And while we’re all proud of her and would watch her show no matter what, this show actually has the added benefit of jokes that are funny for adults. Jack, the writer/director, puts words into Eva’s mouth about energy deregulation and shrinking government oversight, and it cracks me up because we know these kids have no idea what they’re even saying.
Recommendations
Why wasn’t I already following the kid who makes delicious Japanese food in his rice cooker? Easy Peasy Jordan is my personality now.
Speaking of social, it’s sort of amazing I can even put together a newsletter anymore given how little I spend on social platforms compared to say, ten years ago when I basically lived on Twitter. I’m on Blue Sky now, but not really using it? I was trying Threads for awhile but mostly getting posts from three days ago, which actually just made things very sad (especially around the election when we already knew what happened).
We are so fortunate with our given families and chosen families here in LA that I am sending this off between two Thanksgiving meals. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of late capitalism’s mandate to compete and work and optimize and all that noise. I’m grateful for this annual moment of pause, to say thank you to one another and to reflect on all our health and wealth. I’m grateful for your correspondence for all these years, as well. Wishing you connection and ease this holiday season.
With gratitude,
E
Every word apart from "the" in your newsletter is so excellent, salud to a 2024 well lived.