Nobody Wants This Breakdown of Reality [#147]

Really struggling with how bad things are getting, misinformation-wise.

Hello hello hello,

Just to put things in perspective…

Here we are in anxious October, with a presidential race “tighter than a too-tight swimsuit on a too-long drive home from the lake,” to borrow something fellow Texan Dan Rather said a long time ago. And it’s astounding that hurricane relief workers can’t get to places that need help because they’re blocked by homegrown militias who are high on conspiracy theories?!

Reading

The Atlantic's Charlie Warzel is out with a must-read how what we’re experiencing is "darker than a misinformation crisis." The headline: "I'm Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is,” gets at this central point: "Americans are divided not just by political beliefs but by whether they believe in a shared reality — or desire one at all."

Misinformation watcher Renee DiResta, writing separately for The Atlantic, says that "in the modern right-wing propaganda landscape, where facts are recast as subjective and any authority outside MAGA is deemed illegitimate, eroding trust in institutions is not an unfortunate side effect—it is the goal."

Also: If you’ve noticed Google searching is much less useful (and has become enshittified), here are some alternative searching options. Trump’s Mormon outreach includes beer koozies. Elon Musk was giving tens of millions to GOP causes far earlier than previously known. I am pretty sure I have this dead butt syndrome.

On my nightstand: Directional Living, by Megan Hellerer, who is AOC’s former executive coach. This got sent to me as a potential Forever35 guest and while we haven’t had her on yet, I am enjoying the takeaways. Pair that with

Tracy Clark-Flory

on how it’s not just divorce memoirs and divorce that’s in the air this year — women are questioning the very structure of their lives.

Werk Werk Werk

An interview about nurturing the most important relationship of all — the one with yourself— with the insightful Meghan Keane, who is out with an excellent new book on being single called Party of One.

Forever 35 just unveiled our rebrand now that I’m co-hosting with Doree, and I love it! Big thanks to Friend Tim for designing a new logo within like, 12 minutes, and Phoenix-based designer Audria Newbold for giving us a website glow-up. We also talked about the gender gaps in medical research that undermine women, with urologist/sexual health advocate Dr. Maria Uloko. For Patreon subscribers, we do an extra Friday episode called “Casual Chat” which is just a casual chat. Last week I poked fun at Rob’s unusual approach to haunted houses.

I turned in my screenplay outline! Whew. There are still a bunch of index cards and painters tape on the wall in my bedroom because who knows how many revisions are ahead. But I’ve never written screenplays before and having these two steps (the treatment and the outline) complete was cause for celebration. Thanks to

Chris Duffy

for the KBBQ the day after I pressed send. (Incidentally he also whipped out his Korean at this lunch, which the ajumma was not fazed by, not one bit.)

Watch and/or Listen

Pachinko Season 2. If you haven’t gotten caught up yet, this is a sweeping, multi-generational saga adapted from Min Jin Lee’s book that is so well told across three countries and many decades. But I’m in it because the chemistry between the two leads is fire.

Almost Famous. I watched it on a plane and, ladies and gents and the good people of Topeka, this film holds up.

And yes I binged the hot rabbi show and it’s the kind of programming you can watch while doing a bunch of other things at once, so if you’re looking for that, Nobody Wants This is a fine choice.

IRL

• Atlanta, GA, Oct 21-25: TEDNext, where I’ll be speaking on the technological gaze, my bete noire.

• Dallas, TX, Oct 26-27: Mayborn Non-Fiction Literary Festival

Upcoming events, and video (when available) of past events are updated on my website.

Crazy that we’re in Q4 already. I have SO MANY BOOKS on my TBR list but would love to know what your must-reads are for this calendar year. Drop me a note in the comments or send an email!

I am wishing you calm during this anxious stretch before the US election.

And please, please remember to vote early if you can, remind your non news junkies to go vote or take action, and help flip swing states with donations if you can spare it. What a time to be alive.

Until next time,

E