-Did someone say cat on a motorcycle?

Greetings fellow weary friends. Are you tired? I’m tired. This current news cycle is… a lot. Plus, it has already hit 90º in Nashville and can I just say, no, thank you. My cat is out of sorts, there are two armadillos in my backyard (true story), and the community cat, aka Porch Cat, that I take care of has been hiding all week. Things are rough all over, you know? But here is what I have for us. I have a link to TikTok’s hottest fashion accessory for summer (yes I did just write that sentence), I have exciting new cookbook news, and I have a cat on a motorcycle. Let’s take care of ourselves. We’re all we have.

•  I always feel bad for how little I talk about food in these posts, but you all, lean in, I don’t know how to cook. I know! Trust me, I’ve tried. Ask Joy. The hilarity of this is how many cookbooks I buy and read cover to cover. Deb Perelman, aka Smitten Kitchen, writes some of my favorite cookbooks and she has a new one out later this year! Details here. 

•  As someone who’s anxiety manifests as over-functioning, I’m always looking for other women who talk about burnout. In this interview for Fast Company, Ashley C. Ford talks to Alicia Keys about work/life balance, exhaustion, depression, and burnout. Read it here.

•  This may be a little too niche, but too bad, I’m the boss of this post, lolz. My absolute favorite standup comic is Cameron Esposito. This interview with Cameron for The Roxane Gay Agenda podcast is so great! They talk about the difference between being funny and being mean, having to learn tenderness later in life, and queer representation in television. Listen here. (Luminary Podcasts)

•  Riding on the heels of Mother’s Day, this New Yorker piece by Jia Tolentino hit the internet HARD. It’s a review of Angela Garbes’ new book, Essential Labor. It’s also a pretty searing look at how we treat mothers and caregivers. Read Jia’s review here. (Bookshop.org) 

•  This is a great write-up on Cree Myles, who curates the Instagram account allwaysblack for Penguin Random House. Something I enjoy about Cree’s account, as well as a lot of other bookstagram accounts I follow, is the focus not just on the writers, but on the readers. Cree is so good at this. Read more here. (NPR)

•  I may be a part of Gen X, but I’ll tell you what, I AM going to buy what the Zoomers in Brooklyn are wearing for summer. That’s right, I bought a fashion fannypack. And you can, too! Via BABOON TO THE MOON.

•  I’m not proud of this, but I’ve been on Twitter since 2009. I used to work in politics. It was basically mandatory. When big cultural things happen, I eagerly await my favorite thinkers to weigh in. This is a great NYT piece by Tressie McMillan Cottom on how yes, a billionaire can buy Twitter, but what he cannot buy is the conversations that make it.

•  If there’s one thing I’m going to do, it’s shout-out a Nashville author. Marissa Moss wrote a powerhouse of a book about the erasure of women in country music. I was lucky enough to read an ARC and let me tell you, you will want to read this book. Here is an interview Marissa did with The 19th, and here is the link to buy her book. (Bookshop.org)

•  In light of Joy’s newfound motorcycle driving license (is that what it’s called? TBD), I pass along to you one of my favorite TikTok accounts: a cat who rides a motorcycle. He even has a little cat helmet!

•  Last, but never least, me! Joy mentioned in her last Sunday post that my podcast Ladyland made a short video series, starting off with author Mary Laura Philpott. This week the Nashville Scene gave us a very nice writeup. Read it here. (Joy the Baker)

See you in the comments! 

Kim