Just Good Shit: 04.11.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

The trees in the park are blooming and spring is in the air! This week, I stress-shopped for summer clothes, watched RHONY Season 12 (absolute chaos!!!), and started The Nanny from the beginning (a joy). Here’s what else I had going on…

Writing

• ‘When Can I Ask the Person I'm Dating to Delete Tinder?’

Reading

“Everyone Just Knows He's an Absolute Monster”: Scott Rudin's Ex-Staffers Speak Out on Abusive Behavior, THR.

I Called Off My Wedding. The Internet Will Never Forget, Wired.

Politicians dread the sting of #KHive, the fervent online fans of Kamala Harris, LA Times.

New York’s vaccine problem is no longer supply. It’s even harder than that, Epicenter NYC.

‘We found a baby on the subway - now he's our son’, BBC.

I Work In A Ritzy Restaurant And I've Seen Some Unbelievable Behavior During COVID, HuffPost.

In Support of Shame, Slate.

Insider Really Isn’t Sending Its Best, Discourse Blog.

How Pies ‘n’ Thighs Survived and Thrived in the Pandemic, GQ.
I love Pies ‘n’ Thighs even though one of the founders once asked me and my girlfriend if we were twins!

Do You Have Nafas, the Elusive Gift That Makes Food Taste Better?, NYT.

I’m a Person of Color and Everyone Is Suddenly Interested in Me—Something Bad Must Have Happened, The New Yorker.

Have a good one! 🌧

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Just Good Shit: 04.04.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Happy Sunday! Here’s what I have been up to this week…

My shit, elsewhere

A new episode of the podcast is up! This week, we talked about birthdays.

Reading

Vaccine Cheat Days Are Adding Up, The Atlantic.

My staff is anxious about reopening, even though they're vaccinated, Ask a Manager.

HGTV Is Getting a Renovation, The New Yorker.

The Therapy-App Fantasy, The Cut.

The Untold Story of Queer Foster Families, The New Yorker.

When the Mob Comes, Men Yell At Me.

The Mysterious Case of the F*cking Good Pizza, VICE.

How Big Dogs' Big Progressive Rebrand Went Wrong, GQ.

Have a good evening! 🐰

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Just Good Shit: 03.28.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hello! Here’s what I had going on this week…

Writing

• 58 Things to Do With the Rest of Quarantine That Aren't ‘Get Hot’

• How to Make Small Talk After We've Been Through... a Pandemic

Also, Sally and I talked about the past year/living in a pandemic, and I discussed friendships (right now and post-pandemic) on the podcast Spawned.

Reading

How Billionaires See Themselves, Current Affairs.

What the ‘Invisible’ People Cleaning the Subway Want Riders to Know, NYT.

Dear Fuck-Up: How Do I Make My Husband Love My Fat Sister?, Jezebel.

Enjoy Breakfast by Candlelight, Eater.

“I have nightmares about hosting the Fancy Lady Craft Circle in my terrible apartment.”, Captain Awkward.

There Is Nothing We Can Say About Meghan McCain's Hypocrisy That Her Hair Isn't Already Saying for Us, The Root.

Have a good one! ✨

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Just Good Shit: 03.21.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hi, pals. I hope you’re doing OK, given what a dark week it was here in the U.S. Here’s what I was up to…

Reading

‘A specific kind of racism’: Atlanta shootings fuel fears over anti-sex-work ideology, The Guardian.

The Solution to Violence Against Women Will Never Be ‘More Police’, VICE.

SuChin Pak Reveals ‘Misogynistic, Violent, and Racist’ Incident at MTV, Vulture.

Behind the Scenes at a Five-Star Hotel, The New Yorker.

She Was Just Walking Home, NYT.

Here's why Substack's scam worked so well, The Hypothesis.

Don’t Sleep on Drag Race U.K.’s Bimini Bon-Boulash, Vulture.

Watching & listening to

We rented The Orange Years, a documentary about ‘90s Nickelodeon that I loved. I also listened to the “Is Some News Just Voyeurism?” episode of the new podcast The Big Question and really enjoyed it.

Have a good evening. 💛

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Just Good Shit: 03.14.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hello on this shorter-than-usual Sunday! I hope you’re having a nice weekend. Here’s what I was up to this week…

Reading

Abuse and Power, NY Mag.
Very good longread on the Cuomo administration.

Against Child Hostages, Model Citizen.

The Crisis Candidate, NY Mag.

The Art World Has Bigger Enemies Than Forgers, Defector.

Can Small-Scale Subscriptions Change Food Media for the Better?, VICE.

Thoughts on rejection from a hiring manager in a competitive field, Ask a Manager.
I also loved this comment.

#1318: “Pissed off during the post-pandemic party because nobody kept in touch.”, Captain Awkward.

Watching

I feel like I’ve been watching a lot of stuff lately, and it ranges in quality! The good: Allen v. Farrow, The Golden Girls. The pretty dece: Made You Look. The pandemic-good-enough: I Care a Lot, Murder Among the Mormons.

Have a good one! ⏰

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Just Good Shit: 03.07.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Heyoh! Here’s what I was up to this week…

My shit

Sally and I talked about cleaning and organizing on the podcast, and I had a lovely chat with the Meetup CEO about showing up for your community.

Reading

Blame the anniversary effect, My Sweet Dumb Brain.

There Is No Vaccine for Grief, NYT.

The Demise and Potential Revival of the American Chestnut, Sierra.

Bing Bang Bong: On the Unbridled Thrills of Drag Race UK, Vogue.

The World to Come and the New Wave of Queer Period Pieces, Town and Country.

Drag Kings Are Ready to Rule, NYT.

Jenna Lyons on Coming Out (and Being Outed) After 40, The Cut.

How to Deal with Crushing Vaccine FOMO, VICE.

I Forgot How to Hang Out, The Cut.

Go Ahead, Throw the Social Grenade, Gen.

Have a good one! 🧽

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Just Good Shit: 02.28.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hi! I’m back! Here’s what I’ve had going on since my last one of these…

My shit

• Testing positive for COVID-19

• All the things I found helpful when dealing with my mild COVID case

• We dropped a couple of new podcast eps: Best Celeb Sightings, Favorite Advice, and Other Burning Questions and *Cough Cough* Coping with a Mild Case of COVID

• I guest-hosted another episode of NPR’s LifeKit: What Makes A Good Partner — And How To Cultivate Connection

Reading

Tipping Is a Legacy of Slavery, NYT.

COVID Doesn’t Discriminate. But People Do., Eater.

How the Police Bank Millions Through Their Union Contracts, ProPublica.

It’s Always The Same Lie, Defector.
“Anyone who has lived in Texas for any period of time and experienced any kind of dire need knows that the government is not going to help you.”

Going Hungry in the Most Magical Place on Earth, In These Times.

Britney Spears Was Never in Control, The Cut.

Coming of Age in Rush Limbaugh's America, The White Pages.

Why Opening Restaurants Is Exactly What the Coronavirus Wants Us to Do, ProPublica.

Inside a Nursing Home After the Vaccine: Joy, Relief and Game Night, NYT.

Snowed under in a state of emergency., Reading My Tea Leaves.

Millions of Americans Qualify for the COVID-19 Vaccine Based on BMI. Why Should We Apologize for It?, Vogue.

The Shocking Meltdown of Ample Hills, Marker.

Figure skating is on thin ice. Here’s how to fix it., Vox.

Steve Way on the Maddening Injustices of Dating While Disabled, GQ.

A World Without Pain, The New Yorker.

The Vintage Furniture Sellers of Instagram Are Burned Out, Curbed.

How the New York Times Crossword Became Too Big to Fail, Study Hall.

How Philadelphia Cream Cheese Took Over the World, Bon Appétit.

Six Months of Soft Food Set Me Free, Eater.

The Secret, Essential Geography of the Office, Wired.

17 Cooking Tips Our Food Staff Swears By, NYT.

Do This If You Lose Your Child in Public, Lifehacker.

A drunken cowboy, gingerbread house chaos, and other office contests that went badly, Ask a Manager.

Have a good one! ☁️

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Just Good Shit: 01.24.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hi! Here’s what I was up to this week…

On the blog

• A small nice new year thing: a house journal

Reading

An Incompetent Authoritarian Is Still a Catastrophe, The Atlantic.

Let's Not Become a Bunch of Panicky Reactionaries, In These Times.

Cori Bush: Can She Bring the Movement for Black Lives to Congress?, Teen Vogue.

My Life Sewing T-Shirts for 26 Cents an Hour, The New Republic.

My ‘Long Covid’ Nightmare: Still Sick After 6 Months, NYT Magazine.

Mary Retta on the B.S. that is celebrating Black people in law enforcement in order to convince us that police reform is possible.

Gay Stories for Straight Allies, Utopian Drivel.

Improve Your Life With These Tiny Chores, NYT.

The Corny Comforts of the Biden Inauguration, GQ.

PSA: Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ Is About Jews Having Sex, Hey Alma.

“I Think My Gmail Has Crashed”: The Teacher Who Made Bernie Sanders’ Mittens on Watching Them Go Viral, Slate.
This is so charming.

Did everyone spontaneously applaud Amanda Palmer in a Havelock North cafe? A Spinoff investigation, The Spinoff.

Watching & listening to

My girlfriend and I listened to Serial Season 3 and immediately followed it with Nice White Parents, both of which are really, really good. We’ve also been enjoying the current season of The Challenge.

Have a good one! ☀️

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Just Good Shit: 01.17.21

Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit

Hello, friends! Here’s what I’ve got for you this week.

My shit, elsewhere

Sally and I dropped a new episode of Oh, I Like That: “And Now for Something Light and Fun: Home Safety Tips.”

I also keep forgetting to link to a couple other recentish podcast appearances: I talked planners and journaling on Best Laid Plans, and shared my best tips for logging off with Carolyn Kylstra on Checking In.

Also, it seems like a good time to re-up this post from last January: Reading list: Race, white supremacy, and anti-Black racism in America.

Reading

The Capitol Rioters Weren’t ‘Low Class’, The Atlantic.

Only Democracy Reform Can Stop Trumpism, Crooked Media.

Nebraska meatpackers breathe for hours through blood-soaked masks. This can’t keep happening., Washington Post.

Why Aren’t We Wearing Better Masks?, The Atlantic.

How MAGA Extremism Ends, The Atlantic.

“All Bets Are Off the Next Few Weeks”, Slate.

The Dream Job That Wasn’t, The New Republic.

Sea Shanty TikTok Is on Fire, Slate.

“The Sopranos” for Women Is Just … “The Sopranos”, Inside Hook.

'Why Do I Spend Weeks Avoiding Tasks That Will Take Me 10 Minutes to Do?', VICE.
I have been thinking about this article…pretty much every single day.

Life shit

Utilizing the wisdom from this Swole Woman column, I’ve been getting back to working out regularly! I’m doing a Nerdfitness kettlebell workout twice a week (which is, for me, a less overwhelming/more attainable goal for the first month or so) and the foldable exercise bike we ordered arrived this weekend! I had my own spin bike at home for years and loved it, and I’m really looking forward to using this one. Between the workouts and my nascent knitting habit and the fact that my family members are getting vaccinated (!!!), I’m feeling pretty OK overall at the moment, despite *gestures around tiredly* everything.

Have a good night and a safe week! 🥽

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Just Good Shit: 01.10.21

via @ReverendWarnock on Twitter

Hi, pals. Here’s what I’ve got for you this week…

Reading

The Only Strategy Left for Democrats, The Cut.
“Govern like you won, winners.”

The Man Who Saw Yesterday’s Coup Attempt Coming Is Only Surprised It Wasn’t Much Worse, GQ.

The American Abyss, NYT.

They Were Out for Blood, Slate.

‘Senate Being Locked Down’: Inside a Harrowing Day at the Capitol, NYT.

Nazis Stormed The Capitol. Why Are People Afraid To Call Them That?, Refinery29.

I Don’t Know What The Answer Is, But It’s Definitely Not More Cops, Defector.

A Domestic Terrorism Law Can’t Solve Right-Wing Violence, NY Mag.

How SoulCycle lost its soul, The Goods / Vox.

On the internet, anything can be a lesbian, Xtra.

The Man Who Turned Credit-Card Points Into an Empire, NYT Magazine.

Is ‘The Bachelor’ Just a Christian Dating Show Now?, Alma.

Rookie’s Popular ‘Life Skills’ Column Is Back, The Cut.

The Best Two-Player Board Games, According to Experts, The Strategist.

Why Is it So Hard to Design a Good Can Opener?, Curbed.

For An Easier Parchment Experience, Do the Crumple, Epicurious.
Genius.

Watching

None of the footage I saw from the Capitol on Wednesday captured the terror quite like this Chris Hayes segment — I think, in part, because of the incredibly chilling audio that is present throughout it.

Meanwhile, if you want something cathartic, definitely watch Joe Scarborough’s rant, along with this video.

Be safe and well this week. ✨

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