Over in the Guardian, Anna Spargo-Ryan writes evocatively about winter in Melbourne and how it’s designed to be shared, spent huddled over a bowl of pho in Springvale, not spent in isolation (“The novelty of home-schooling has long worn off. We don’t want to go to a Netflix party. We don’t want to follow along while a celebrity bakes scones. I dreamed I went to a supermarket and no one was wearing a mask and I had to make more from copies of the Herald Sun before anyone breathed on me.”)
Oh, this is SUCH a genius idea
In Afghanistan, a group of women have started a campaign called ‘Where Is My Name?’ to be able to freely use their names in public ("Women are generally only referred to as the mother, daughter or sister of the eldest male in their family. The problem starts early, when a girl is born. It takes a long time for her to be given a name. Then when a woman is married her name does not appear on her wedding invitations. When she is ill her name does not appear on her prescription, and when she dies her name does not appear on her death certificate or even her headstone.”)
“Life improves when I let go of ideas of what I want it to be”
Some utterly brilliant person on the internet has set Trump’s idiotic brag about how well he did on a cognitive test (“Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.”) to Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. You seriously have to watch this
Michelle Obama has launched a podcast and her first guest is Barack, whose dulcet tones and talent for storytelling makes this the perfect podcast for bedtime listening (what??)
This house is 1970s perfection
In what has to be one of the best Twitter threads this year, the journalist Ana Samways asked, ‘What’s considered trashy if you're poor, but classy if you're rich?’ and the responses are anthropologically fascinating (THESE!! Having an uncommon name or unusual version of a common name. Being bilingual and/or mixed ethnicity. Wearing sportswear in public. Drinking alcohol regularly (i.e beer every day is apparently bogan, but if you're rich & drink expensive wine every day, nobody cares)
The story behind every song on Taylor Swift’s album Folklore
When it comes to food, this is why names matter (yes, we’re talking about you and your “stew”, Alison Roman)
Why aren’t fat people allowed to be trendy? (“Thin women in tight clothes are empowered for reclaiming their sexuality; fat women in tight clothing are criticised for being overly sexual. Thin women in baggy athleisure wear are celebrated for embracing the low key; fat women in baggy athleisure wear are chided for being sloppy and frumpy.”)
If you love quizzes and you love Saturdays, you’re gonna love The Saturday Quiz, a weekly 25 question quiz delivered to you via SMS every Saturday morning to enjoy over breakfast and distract you from the world. Register with your mobile number here to receive the quiz tomorrow morning. We’re excited!
Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino is making his TV debut with a new HBO show called We Are Who We Are and its positively oozing with adolescent angst. The show starts Sep 17 but you can watch the trailer here (no peaches to be seen)
Flexible working was meant to solve all our problems – so why hasn’t our working lives become easier or better? This brilliant article in Aeon delves into the myth of work-life balance, and explores how flexible work (the utopia!!) has turned from a feminist ideal to a trap
