Troping and Coping [#158]
Listicles to help stay sane, and live events that gave me a little pep in my step.
Hello from the desert!
I rushed out here to Indian Wells to catch a day of excellent tennis — six match points en route to a stunning upset of the #1 seed, Alexander Zverev, the tournament return of my man Matteo Berrettini (he took off his shirt twice and the crowd went crazy because we recognize hotness), and Iga Swiatek’s quick defeat of her Round 2 opponent. That capped a memorable week of live events for me — went to the Oscars for the first time on Sunday, then traveled to Dallas for a speaking event and got to see college basketball (SMU v Syracuse), and by Friday, all these fantastic tennis matches. If we’re going to get hit by an asteroid soon (and frankly I’m praying we do), you can’t say I didn’t live fully.
Reading
21 ways to stay sane. Kindness leads to measurable changes in your brain health. Practical ways to fight Trump. Wild profile of the guy who started SCOTUS blog.
on how not to react to news of your friends getting divorced. Hostile government takeover is now a top Billboard charting bop. The tropes that show up in every White Lotus. The puppy who swallowed 24 socks and lived for his story to be told. Apparently yes, you can read braille with your clitoris.Werk Werk Werk
I am doing filmmaking things, a trajectory I wouldn’t be on had it not been for writing a book. For example, I recently turned in my screenplay adaptation of said book. And in the unscripted space, we have been out pitching our LA fire documentary to network executives, a new experience for me, and I’m temped to just start reciting the S1 finale of Mad Men every once in awhile and just end with, “It’s not a carousel, it’s a TIME MACHINE.” iykyk.
We hosted friendship month at Forever 35. We’ve explored the power of platonic friendships that have no romantic or familial basis. How our friendships change and the modern pressures on them. How to maintain our friendships and how vital connection is, in the face of the horrors of the world. Listen to the whole series, of course, but the standout for me was guest Marisa Franco’s tidbit about the Liking Gap:
“When strangers interact and report how much they like each other, they underestimate how liked they are. It’s called the liking gap…Because our brains are glitchy in terms of valuing safety over connection when the two are pitted against each other, instead of thinking ‘how will that friend see it if I reach out to them?’, ask yourself, ‘how would I see it if they reached out to me?’”
In Flawless news, what a privilege to continue talking about how to challenge unrealistic ideals. Thank you to SMU in Dallas for inviting me to give a keynote lecture earlier this week, and to the student journalists who covered it!
And we launched another new podcast cooked up by my production company, The Bentsen Blueprint, a public service podcast that looks back on the life and legacy of former US Sen Lloyd Bentsen. Almost everything we shared in the six episode podcast (releasing once weekly on Wednesdays) was new to me, despite being a Texas political junkie for as long as I was. Did you know Bentsen’s responsible for the 401K and IRA? And that he was a WWII bomber pilot who destroyed Hitler’s supply chains? No? Well, I ALSO DID NOT KNOW THIS.
Watch and/or Listen
Embedded: Alternate Realities — This is one of the top podcasts in America right now for good reason. It couldn’t be more relevant. It’s from my friend Zach Mack, who explores and documents losing your loved ones to conspiracy theories.
Instruments of a Beating Heart, an Oscar nominated documentary short. If you need a pick-me-up, this made my heart swell. Take the 23 minutes to enjoy it.
Keep sending me any great memes or “trends” as the kids call them, and/or reads to make sense of *waves hand* everything.
Hugs,
Elise