Inspired
by Alex
Brown’s monthly reading roundups, here are some of the things I
enjoyed this month!
Articles
The Lily’s Celeste Ng called Amy Tan. We listened in.
“You cannot succumb to the pressure of how somebody will misunderstand what you have to say.”
My feels!
Sonia Bokhari’s I’m 14, and I quit social media after discovering what was posted about me
“I had just turned 13, and I thought I was just beginning my public online life, when in fact there were hundreds of pictures and stories of me that, would live on the internet forever, whether I wanted it to be or not, and I didn’t have control over it.”
Never thought about this.
Books
Kiese Laymon’s Heavy
I aspire to this level of honesty and compassion. Echoing Roxane Gay, wow, just wow.
Nalini Singh’s Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity #3)
Singh’s Psy-Changeling series is one I return to and reread whenever I’m feeling down. So, a new release from her is always a joy. I binged this in one go as always. A reminder that touch can be plentiful, easily given, and that women will always triumph over the violence that would grind them down.
Short
Stories
Nibedita Sen’s “Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island.”
Sen describes it as “an MLA bibliography and it’s about colonialism in academia, monstrous appetites, and oh yes, lesbian cannibals.” Folks who’re familiar with Ethnic/Third World Studies will be especially thrilled.
Zoë Medeiros’ “My Sister is a House.”
Exactly as the title says. I would love to read more in this universe.
Music
Ruby Ibarra & the Balikbayans’ Someday
ajslkdfjl;as I am loving all the tracks Ibarra’s doing with the Balikbayans.
Ari Lennox’s 40 Shades of Choke
As I lay here in singledom, I console myself with tracks like this.
Ari Lennox’s Up Late music video
The visuals are literally the stuff of my dreams
Emeli Sandé’s Extraordinary Being
I just really dig this disco beat and Sandé’s understated vocals here. Also had a rad meditation moment while listening to this.
Silk Road Ensemble’s Atashgah
Talk about an audio poem!
Podcasts
Clit Talk, ep 32 & 41 with Nina Hartley
I recently subscribed to this podcast. Women shooting the breeze and interviewing folks about sexual health. It does skew towards being cis-centric. Hartley’s episodes cracked me up.
Duolingo, ep 29 The Wine Master / El Maestro del vino. (Spanish transcript included)
How Héctor Vergara became the 1st Latin American Master Sommelier. Having worked in the wine industry, I was not expecting this to touch on the overthrow of the Chilean government.
Cameron Glover’s Sex Ed in Color
Sexual ed podcasts are some of the very first podcasts I started listening, but it’s taken me this long to realize I’ve been listening to a lot of white folks. So, discovering Glover’s podcast has been a joy. Also, it has the best opening/closing music. I actually listen to it all the way through. (And I should ask for the artist, so I can buy the track!)
Tonya Mosley/KQED’s Truth Be Told.
A brand new podcast centering on POC. The official blurb says it’s an advice show, which is a bit of a misnomer. The questions are used as a jumping off point for larger discussions. So far they’ve interviewed Locatora Radio (Mala Munoz & Diosa Femme) and adrienne maree brown, and I am so here for this. (I only wish they’d lean more into the tarot cards they talk about in the show notes!)
Tina Horn’s Why are People Into That?! Femme Daddies with Ashley Paige.
Roxane Gay & Tressie McMillan Cottom’s Hear to Slay, ep 3 The Hustle with Gabrielle Union.
This one is unfortunately behind a paywall on Luminary, but the official website says transcripts are forthcoming. Union discusses what hustling as a black woman in Hollywood entails, and the compromises and boundaries we set to navigate work BS.
