-What is Drake doing?

This week Drake, I mean, champagne papi reposted someone else’s content without giving them credit. Stars, they’re just like us! Am I going in hard on Drake? Yes. But is it keeping me from making a bunch of womblands jokes? Also yes. Hi, friends! Welcome back to me, Kim, Joy’s stupidest friend. This week I’m sharing lots of Light Links™? because life feels heavy right now and I want to give you a little brightness. See you in the comments!

•  Okay, let’s get to this Drake business. I love funny women and this Vogue piece from Emma Specter on Drake’s reading list is a must read. Apparently Drake posted an IG story of his TBR stack – with a shoe on top? A day after this story was published it came out that Drake reposted (aka stole) this pic from a bookstagrammer named Hardback Hypebeast. Drake! L-O-L. Straight to jail. (Vogue, Instagram)

•  I think one of the reasons I love pop culture is because the Venn diagram of folks who write about pop culture and who have a good sense of humor is a circle. One of the best in the game is R. Eric Thomas. In his newsletter Previously On…, he wrote a love letter to THE Sheryl Lee Ralph from my new favorite tv show, Abbott Elementary. Read it and literally weep (from laughing). (Twitter, Previously On) 

•  Listen, not to brag, but my friend got to interview Dolly Parton. Okay, I’m bragging a little. Friend of the pod, Mary Laura Philpott spoke to Parton and James Patterson about their new book, Run, Rose, Run. Wondering how these two came to write a book together? Well, do I have the exclusive interview for you? (Parnassus Books, Parade)

•  Lydia Okello is one of my favorite follows on Instagram and they just wrote a piece for Vogue!! Okello is a fat nonbinary fashion person and in this piece, they write about growing up hating their body, and how after a pic of themself in a bikini went viral, they felt liberated after a lifetime of hiding. (Instagram, Vogue)

•  This is a few weeks old, but I can’t stop thinking about it. For Culture Study, Anne Helen Petersen wrote about what keeps people on Facebook. As someone who does social media professionally, I think about this ALL THE TIME. (Substack) 

•  Like so many of us, Megan Seling felt helpless watching the news coming out of Ukraine. But being a person who’s made eating snacks her job, she found a Ukrainian-owned market and (her words) “bought a shitload of candy.” Read about Johnny Krockers, Mont Blancs, and something called Minky Binky, and while you’re there, smash that subscribe button. (Snack and Destroy)

•  I recently reread this piece from Melissa Febos from 2017 on boundaries, email response time, and generally saying “no” more. A little sad that this advice from 2017 is still so needed in 2022. (Catapult)

•  Are we….still watching Law & Order? While we collectively decide, this NYT piece on the 60-year career of Sam Waterson is well worth your time. He’s 81! I had no idea. (The New York Times)

•  Speaking of Law & Order, this TikTok about Jerry Orbach in Dirty Dancing made my week. Of the 22.4K views, easily half of them are mine. Enjoy! (TikTok)

•  Nichole Perkins wrote one of my favorite memoirs, Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be. I’m going to be in conversation with Nichole on Zoom on March 22 for The Porch’s Birthing the Book series. Registration is free, so please use your dollars to buy Nichole’s book from your favorite independent bookstore. (The Porch, Bookshop.org)

See you next month!

Kim