SOME GOOD WORDS: Adult Friendships, Trad Wives, Transitions, + More
This month's roundup of podcasts, articles, books, etc. to help you move forward fearlessly in your own life by being proactive, not reactive.
Happy weekend, WANT fam!
We’re back with SOME GOOD WORDS: our monthly column dedicated specifically to things I love and think you’ll love too.
There’s SO much noise out there when it comes to media to consume and things to invest time/money in — what do I watch? what do I read? what do I buy? — and I always find it so helpful when I’ve got a set of vetted recs to sift through from someone I trust.
The podcasts, articles, books, etc. I share here are all to help you stay grounded, informed, inspired, aware, and — most importantly — to help you move forward fearlessly in your life. Sometimes that means a deep intellectual read. Sometimes that means baby animal videos. Sometimes that just means a random thing I came across that’s really cool.
I’ve structured this kinda-sorta inspired by the the James Clear 3-2-1 rubric, but with my own spin on it: THREE things to read, TWO things to listen to, and ONE thing to watch.
I’ve also added an extra roundup of links that have stuck with me (plus one Random Rec That Has Nothing To Do With Anything Previously Mentioned Here), just for Paid subscribers. If you’re not in a position to upgrade, no worries! We’ll see each other back here next week :)
But if you’re able to either upgrade to a (or sustain your preexisting) Paid subscription, please know how deeply grateful I am. These subscriptions help pay for podcast hosting, editing tools (I love Descript, fwiw), stock photo service subscriptions and photographers (so that the imagery on WANT doesn’t suck), plus subscriptions to MANY of the outlets I mention in this exact column (so that I can actually read past that headline and first paragraph and responsibly share it with you here!)
SOME GOOD WORDS
To quote Taylor Swift — are you ready for it?
(I am!)
Here are some links to articles, books, podcasts, and more that have enriched my life lately — and that I think you’ll love, too.
3 THINGS TO READ:
1) Would You Be Mine, Could You Be Mine, Won’t You Be My Friend? via TWP (gift article) by
Friendship insecurity remains a final hurdle in how I interact in the world, but I’m realizing that if I want close, family-level friendships, I need to act as if I am already in them. Even if it brings me discomfort to text my friend an unprompted update about my life so they will feel more inclined to text me about one of theirs in the future. While most of my friends’ behaviors haven’t drastically changed overnight in response, I remain hopeful that I am slowly moving toward tighter bonds. And my growing friendship with my neighbor is shifting into the type of dynamic I’ve been so hungry for — much to my delight.
Not only was this an excellent read that resonated with so many of my own musings about adult/late-30s-and-beyond friendship, it also led me to Emotional Support Lady, the amazingly-titled Substack by this piece’s author,
. Double win!2) Are The Women Alright? by
Are women in America—afraid as we are to be honest, to tell it like it is—actually just craving the freedom that post-menopausal women have access to? Is this, perhaps, why American culture is also so good at erasing and devaluing the voices of our women elders?
I’d been saving this one for a time when I could really focus on it (I’ve admittedly been in a season of *rushing* lately and knew this one would be too good to skim over between subway transfers), so I took myself out to lunch in Soho this weekend and finally gave it the attention it deserved. I’m so glad I did. An extremely thoughtful piece (as all of Lily’s are) around femininity, sexuality, reality TV, and freedom.
3) Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives by Sami Sage and Emily Amick
At this fragile moment in history, Emily Amick, lawyer and former counsel to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, alongside New York Times bestselling author and Betches Media cofounder Sami Sage, want to reframe civic engagement as a form of self-care: an assertion of one’s values and self-respect. This book is not just about voting, but about claiming your singular place in your country and community.
Been recommending this book to anyone and everyone. It’s rare for me to find a book that makes something THIS complex feel so much simpler, WITHOUT dumbing it down or missing crucial nuances. This book does that!
Big fan of the entire Civic Personality section — if you were the kind of person who used to flip straight to the “What’s Your Back To School Style” quiz in your September issue of Seventeen or CosmoGirl!, this is going to be right up your alley. (I’m tied as a Creator and a Connector, btw)
Heads up: if you’re already deeply civically engaged, the takeaway from this book might not necessarily be a ton of new information, but a plethora of talking points to help you have effective conversations with people who AREN’T as familiar with the civics landscape as you are. Which, I’d argue, is a really important takeaway. (It’s really hard to convince people they should care about something if the explanation why feels way out of reach)
2 THINGS TO LISTEN TO:
1) A Former Trad Wife On What It Actually Takes To Leave (Culture Study Podcast)
If you’ve been subscribed for a while you know what a huge fangirl I am of
and . The podcast is one of a handful that’s on my current “must-listen” list, literally every single time a new episode drops. At this point I don’t even care if I think I’m interested in the episode’s subject matter or not, because I know that by the end of the episode I will be ALL IN.This episode is EXTREMELY important, fascinating, and timely. Put this one in your queue for this week.
2) In A Transitional Season? How To Set Future-You Up For Success (The WANTcast)
We’re back for SEASON TEN!!!!! For the inaugural episode of this milestone season, we're talking all about TRANSITIONS: how to view them, how to navigate through, and how to use this in-between time to your advantage.
P.S. if you love the WANTcast, could you do us a favor and do three things?
SUBSCRIBE on iTunes or Spotify
REVIEW it and leave 5 stars telling people why you love it! It can literally be a one-sentence-long review
SHARE an episode with a friend
This is something so small that makes such a HUGE difference in the WANTcast’s ability to reach more people. Thank you so much!
1 THING TO WATCH:
This clip from an interview with author and poet David Whyte.
If you’re a Paid subscriber, keep scrolling for more (and: THANK YOU!).
If you’re on a Free plan and aren’t in a position to upgrade currently — I’ll see you next week!
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