Trumplessness, 9.11.25
Screaming at the top of our lungs.
Here’s everything I read this week that’s not about *checks very distressing notes* an assassination, the “birthday book” of a sexual predator, and the apparently extrajudicial murders of suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean.
Shout: I know we’re deliberately eschewing many of the horrors here, but sometimes I read the news and wonder why we’re not all running from our houses, shrieking at the top of our lungs, banging pans, maybe breaking a few windows. It’s like when a child cries on an airplane: You know what, kid? You’re right! This is nuts! We should be freaking out! Some of us got the memo: Enough young girls are screaming that it merited a trend writeup in the NYT.
It’s not child’s play: Alexandra Petri at her very best in The Atlantic, calling Florida’s decision to end vaccine mandates “a courageous first step toward decluttering itself of any excess kids.”
Nine to five: If you happened to find yourself here after a dead-eyed scroll through LinkedIn, don’t miss Anne Helen Petersen on “the futile search for the bullshit-less job.”
Written in the stars: Listen, I absolutely refuse to inject more uncertainty into my life right now. I’m a Pisces and my child is a Pisces. So is my sister and my best friend. The New York Times decided now was a good time to let me know I might actually be an Aquarius!? Because of the “wobble” of the Earth?! I reject this analysis.
Face value: I don’t think I’d ever get a face lift or Botox because it’s very important — to me, personally; ymmv — to be able to convey that I’m pleased or frustrated or enraged simply by slightly widening or narrowing my eyes. Also, you guys, it’s so expensive. It’s worth clicking on The Cut’s exploration of the “deep plane” face lift for the art alone; it’s stellar.
Of course they were men in their 20s: Friend of the newsletter Derek shared this glorious little bit of general assignment reporting about four hikers who took a “debilitating” dose of psychedelic mushrooms and headed into the Catskill Mountains. The quotes from the forest ranger are all 🤌. Just perfection.
PSA: It is peak tomato season. Make this for dinner tonight. Now is the time! Don’t let those perfect summer tomatoes pass you by.
Offline reading: After knocking out a second Emily Henry romance novel, I planned to start I Who Have Never Known Men. But as I scanned the headlines this week, I thought, you know what? Screw it. I pulled Beach Read off my shelf. Only Emily Henry until morale improves.