Life Is Pandemonium: Ain't No Song Called Fuck The Fire Department
What a couple of weeks it’s been! I have found myself encouraged, frustrated, devastated, hopeful, angry, mournful, depressed, and any combination of these for the last six weeks or so. I have done a lot of reading and learning as well as crying while rollerblading and listening to the Come From Away cast album, so needless to say I’ve had a full plate.
I have also entered the CONTENT phase of my quarantine, which has included 6 books, 8 seasons of television, at least 10 movies, and upwards of 20 hours of podcasts all in the last month. I’ve only noted my favorites below, but there is still a lot because, as a reminder, I have impeccable taste, recent downloading-and-subsequent-deleting of TikTok not withstanding.
Given all this, this newsletter is mostly about content. More to come on other things (recipes, depression, thoughts about legacy and intergenerational trauma, music) later! But for now, let’s jump right in. Right-ho:
Books I’ve Been Reading (she’s a reader again, folks! thanks to her friendly neighborhood kindle)
The New Jim Crow is outstanding. I thought I knew! I thought I understood how bad mass incarceration was. And I was not *naive*. But god, having it all in one place and in the context of our current moment in history — I cannot recommend it highly enough. It has further convinced me that mass incarceration is the necessary civil rights movement of our time.
If you don’t have time to read a book, first of all you do, just listen to an audiobook (free and online from your local library!) as you cook or something, that’s what I did, but at the very least look up civil asset forfeiture and if that’s not enough to make you want to burn down a police station, I don’t know what is.
As an unofficial sequel to The New Jim Crow I would recommend The End Of Policing by Alex Vitale. Recommended to me by the resplendent Daphne Blakey, resident expert in my life of sociology, economics, math, demography, policing, etc. A polymathic legend! Anyway, Vitale goes through and examines what tangible solutions might be offered when we defund police, specifically relating to drugs, sex work, and attitudes around policing in general. As an IR nerd, I appreciate him linking it in with international law every once in a while as well!!
I recently read So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo. It covers the basics very well! I would highly recommend it to anyone — even if you’re familiar with conversations about race, it's a quick read that provides an excellent survey understanding.
I also recently finished The Charioteer by Mary Renault. Extremely here for gay WW2 soldiers in a love triangle. It's very easy to read this as post-canon fanfic for Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, which is how I would recommend consuming it. Catch me in 2020 getting very into Mary Renault's gay oeuvre from the 1950s.
This, but gay romance. Come on!!!
Movies/Television
When They See Us, Netflix. My god. Watch it when you have time to decompress a bit after, if you are someone like me and need that time. It’s extraordinarily well done. It's only 4 episodes! You can do it!
Little Fires Everywhere, Hulu. I put this off for too long! Reese and Kerry are perfect, both playing the parts they play best. (Where is that article on Reese taking parts that study and expose white feminism recently? She's great.)
Now that I’ve finished Avatar The Last Airbender I took the debasing step of messaging my parents for their CBS ALL ACCESS PASSWORD to watch The Legend Of Korra. The only thing more demeaning than watching The Legend Of Korra as a 26-year-old catamite in order to write slash fics is using CBS All Access to do it. Kill me. Anyway the show’s very fun.
Whew. This is not easy for me to admit, but I watched all of Love, Victor. HUMILIATING. For context, I hated Love, Simon more than I thought possible to hate a movie. Heterosexual NONSENSE. Nick Robinson should be banned from any country where gay marriage is legal. And yet my dear sweet friend Parker Matthew told me I had to watch the sequel television series, and I listened to him — a privilege I generally afford to NO ONE — and absolutely mortifyingly, I loved it. IT’S SO GODDAMN CUTE. Such sweeties!!! Go watch it RIGHT now, it’s on Hulu, it’s the most fun you’ll have all quarantine.
Hamilton, on Disney+, obviously. If you haven’t watched at this point there is absolutely nothing I can tell you that will make you now, so this isn't really a recommendation as much as it is a plea that if anyone knows Anthony Ramos, please DM me his phone number, thank you.
I rewatched Brokeback Mountain this week with my dear friend Max (virtually, ofc, he lives in New York). I had forgotten how beautifully paced and balanced it is. In Max’s words: “There is a balance [in it] between violence and gentleness.” If nothing else, it's a great way to remind yourself to move to Montana because it's just so unbelievably gorgeous. If you haven’t seen it, it isn’t too late! It’s always the right time to get angry about Crash winning Best Picture instead of Brokeback.
To watch, you can start and immediately cancel a Starz free trial on Hulu, or truly just pirate it, who cares.
Tell me you don't want to live here!! Absolutely unbelievable.
Podcasts!!
It’s taken me some time but I am now, finally, a podcast girl.
You’re Wrong About. Listen to their Stonewall episode, now that pride month is over it’s Wrath Month! And like, who knew that Tupac’s Mom was at Stonewall?? Or that they did literal Rockettes-style kicklines in the street to break police scrimmage lines?? The only thing better than the mythology of Stonewall is the reality of Stonewall.
Another podcast fave is the hilarious pop culture podcast Las Culturistas featuring beloved self-described himbo Matt Rogers and SNL sweetheart Bowen Yang. Listen to their recent 3-parter on the top 200 moments of Pop Culture! Tell me your favorite moments! As a side note, if you can't find Anthony Ramos's number I will also gladly accept Matt's. Yes I know they are both dating people! Shut up!
The Whorld Whide Wheb
Gay twitter sweetie/potential cryptid JP Brammer just recreated the Left Behind books from memory, for those of us who missed that cultural moment in the never-ending nightmare that is American Evangelicalism. I never read the Left Behind books and I’m certainly glad I didn’t, but this makes me wish I had just a little bit.
I've just discovered this conspiracy theory that Rihanna and Leonardo DiCaprio have been on-again/off-again for years. (Written by recent Las Culturistas guest Hunter Harris!) It is my favorite fan fiction, other than the many Zokka fics I’ve recently read (I refuse to be embarrassed!)
The instagram account @diet_prada exposing racism in fashion recently has been inspiring me so much!! There is *always* a way to help dismantle white supremacy in your specific field. Activism is important; incorporating activist practices into your everyday is one of the ways we make a moment into a sustainable movement.
This article is entitled “One Of My Fondest Childhood Memories Is My Grandfather And I Cornering A Naked Mr. Rogers To Ask Him For An Autograph” and I will leave it at that. Thank you to my dear friend Emily for recommending!
As referenced above, I am getting into fanfiction, which I both refuse to be embarrassed about and, of course, am utterly humiliated by. This article explains how we come to coin ship names (no, not a sailing ship, be more online grandpa), and I think about it all the time.
This article on what the sexist animators of How To Train Your Dragon 2 could stand to learn from zoologists! We love polymathy!
This entire twitter thread (linked via fb, I am Basic, I am Sorry) about the necessity of violence in the struggle for civil rights. Just a reminder that nonviolence is just one of many strategies that must be employed in the fight for justice.
Early in her career, Ella Fitzgerald was often refused a gig because she was Black. Marilyn Monroe would intervene and use her privilege to get Ella the gig. That's part of what got Ella the career she had. We love Norma Jeane. Be like her.
Shout out to the photobomber dead center
Closing Thoughts
I miss and love you all terribly1 — we will be together soon.
Support each other as you can and allow yourself to be supported as needed. We will make it through this and it’s going to be okay.
I keep thinking about Broadway being closed and it doesn’t even really impact me but I just get so sad.
Yes, I know it’s not the biggest of our problems.
As an aside, Nintendo and the Ottoman Empire existed at the same time, it’s true, look it up.
This week's title came from this tweet.
The world has been really, really rough recently. Be kind and be generous with each other as you're able.
If anyone has any extra bucatini please let me know. I keep looking for it and it’s out of stock everywhere. My half birthday is in less than a month, please mail me some.
Hang in there, everyone.
- Jonathan
1My generous and grammatical sister Jenna proofread this for me, as she does all my newsletters, and noted that perhaps I should say "love & miss" but I like that this means I love you terribly, too. Go forth, terrorized (in a good way) by love.