As summer heats up, 国产吃瓜黑料听editors have been听spending their听days diving into escapist novels, absorbing nonfiction,听and听moving听historical films that inspire us to fight injustice today. These are our favorites from June.
What We Read
On several occasions, Andrew Sean Greer鈥檚 Pulitzer Prize鈥搘inning听book made me laugh so loudly that I had to read the culpable passage to my roommate to prove I was not descending into hysteria. The novel鈥檚 central character, Arthur Less, is a gay, middle-aged,听mediocre author who departs on an around-the-world journey to avoid attending the wedding听of his old flame. He鈥檚 so endearing and pitiful that I found myself falling in love with him even as he made me physically cringe. Less is filled with stuff I miss from pre-pandemic life, like air travel and serendipitous encounters with strangers. It鈥檚 the cleverest and tenderest beach read I鈥檝e come across in a long time. 鈥擟laire Hyman, editorial assistant
One of the 鈥渋t鈥澨齜ooks of the summer, , by Brit Bennett, absolutely lived up to the hype. The novel revolves around identical twin sisters, Desiree and Stella Vignes, who grow up in the fictional town of Mallard, Louisiana, a small Black community where residents are obsessed with the concept of skin lightness. They eventually part ways after Stella decides to pass as a white woman and live in a white society, a choice that her family will grapple with for multiple generations. Bennett鈥檚 character building and writing are so skilled, my only critique of the book is I wish it was听longer鈥擨 could have easily spent hundreds of more pages in the different lives she creates. 鈥擪elsey Lindsey, associate editor听
After a few months of doing little reading, I received Lori Gottlieb鈥檚 book听听for my birthday (don鈥檛 worry, I asked for it!) and have been tearing through it. Gottlieb writes , and I encountered her work for the first time last month while taking the digital version of Yale鈥檚 popular happiness course, 鈥淭he Science of Well-Being.鈥澨(The class is and more than worth the small time investment.)听In her听book, Gottlieb recounts the midlife crisis she faced when her fianc茅 unexpectedly dumped her. A therapist herself, she has to come to terms with the idea of sitting in the other chair, and along the way she shares hilarious, depressing, and relatable stories from her own life and the lives of her clients (whose identities are obscured). During a prolonged period of uncertainty and heaviness, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone offers both a welcome respite and a poignant reminder to focus on the present rather than fixating on the future.听鈥擩enny Earnest, audience development director
During a recent two-week span, I existed in a media universe operated solely by Patrick Radden Keefe. I started in late May with the bestseller听, Keefe鈥檚 investigation into the disappearance of Jean McConville, a widowed mother of ten, from her Belfast apartment听in 1972. Figuring out what happened to McConville offers a gripping narrative through line, but just as fascinating听is Keefe鈥檚 thorough chronicling of 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles听and the听evolution of IRA leader turned politician听Gerry Adams. After completing the book鈥檚 epilogue, I immediately went to Spotify and started a three-day binge of ,听Keefe鈥檚 eight-part听audio series that attempts听to confirm a tantalizing rumor: that the CIA wrote the Scorpions鈥 hair-metal power ballad about Soviet glasnost, 鈥淲ind of Change,鈥 as part of a covert influence campaign. Did it really happen? Doesn鈥檛 matter, as every trail Keefe follows in pursuit of the truth is ridiculously entertaining.听鈥擟hris Keyes, editor听
What We Listened To
The new Phoebe Bridgers album,听, has been the soundtrack of听the past couple of weeks in my house. Bridgers emerged as one of the most exciting singer-songwriters with her first album,听, and her collaboration with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, two other 眉ber-talented young solo artists, called . Punisher features Bridgers鈥檚 signature hauntingly personal lyrics, set against an apocalyptic backdrop that seems very fitting for this moment.听鈥擫uke Whelan, senior research editor听
I鈥檝e been listening to , The Atlantic鈥檚 masterful podcast about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Host Vann R. Newkirk II tells the tale of Katrina through the eyes of New Orleans residents, focusing on a woman named Le-Ann Williams, who鈥檚 14 when she sees her life upended by the storm. In addition to these personal stories, Newkirk zooms out to examine the federal government鈥檚 negligent response to the disaster听and the misleading media narratives that spread myths about looting and chaos after the hurricane. The show鈥檚 final episode, which features excerpts of Newkirk鈥檚 six-hour interview with former FEMA chief Michael Brown, is a master class in accountability journalism. It鈥檚 been 15 years since Katrina, but as Newkirk reminds listeners, 鈥渢he past will always find its way back to us,鈥 and the parallels to today鈥檚 pandemic and protests against police brutality are plentiful. Once again听the federal government is fumbling its听response to a catastrophe that disproportionately affects Black people, and once again听officials are using stories about looting to place the blame on Black victims of police violence.听鈥擲ophie Murguia, assistant editor听
What We Watched
On the recommendation of photographer and听cyclist Christopher Stricklen ( on Instagram), my partner and I recently watched , the documentary about the 1992 L.A. riots that followed the acquittal of the four police officers who brutally beat Rodney King. We followed that up with Spike Lee鈥檚听. Stricklen said the combination of the two films would be 鈥渁 powerful cocktail of understanding鈥澨齛bout the history of the Black fight for civil rights, and he was right. LA 92 was a sobering reminder of how, nearly 30 years later, the Black community is still fighting police brutality and the systems that fail to hold police accountable for their violence. Malcolm X, in addition to illuminating how the legendary civil rights leader is widely misunderstood by the white American public, is an empowering look at what Black pride, solidarity, and organization achieved during that era. Prior to watching these two films, we also watched , the true story of Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer who has worked tirelessly since the 1980s to overturn wrongful convictions on death row (Michael B. Jordan stars). I鈥檇 highly recommend this trilogy in听that听order: Just Mercy will open your eyes to the workings of systemic racism. LA 92 will show you how history repeats itself. And Malcolm X will make you want to get off the couch and do something about it all. 鈥擥loria Liu, features editor