I’ve been under a cloud of very ordinary types of chaos: school starting, not enough childcare, losing a very large project, shifting back into extremely full-time consulting, etc. So, bringing my whirlwind recs to your inbox, and back with longer missives … sometime. Consider this a fall transition.

Before I dive into recs:

I am looking to talk to tweens/parents of tweens: I’m working on some gift guides for the holidays (not for this newsletter, for a pub) and looking to talk to get some input from tweens on what they like / covet, etc. This can be books, fashion, decor, electronics, games, experiences. Email me at youngna (at) gmail (dot) com if you have a tween interested in offering opinions.

On to the recs:

• To donate: A list of ways to support and donate to the Western North Carolina region that was battered by Helene from Blue Ridge Public Radio.

• To watch: Joyland, an incredible movie filmed and set in Lahore, about a son in a traditional Pakistani family who takes a job as a backup dancer in a Bollywood style performance, a role and new relationship which upends the dynamic of his marriage and family. Incredible story and cinematography. (on Amazon Prime)

• To watch: Patrice: The Movie, a documentary about a couple who wants to get married but in the process risk losing their disability benefits (the system is effed!) by Ted Passon + Emily Spivack, in my book club. Premieres on Hulu today!

• To watch: Ok, so we finally started Industry and where on the internet does everyone talk about this show? (We are only on Season 1, don’t ruin this for me!)

• To watch: Our friend Luis’ gorgeous film, Cajita, about a man who ships himself by crate from Cuba to Miami (and survives), and navigates the class hierarchies of Little Havana. On the festival circuit now, but if you happen to be in Miami, it’s playing at the Perez Art Museum October 10th.

• To read: Racing through the new Sally Rooney, Intermezzo. Also, just discovered At the Clinic, a short story written about Mariane and Connell (from Normal People) after graduation that was pub’d originally in 2016 and then again in May 2020 and I somehow missed. I also love her not talked about enough novella, Mr. Salary.

• To read: This gem of a newsletter from Evil Witches on teachers who are also parents and navigating both roles.

• To listen: The Miranda July x Esther Perel conversation on Where Should We Begin? about All Fours and an exploration of desire. It’s kinda like a recorded session of Miranda July in therapy? I thoroughly enjoyed how audibly her mind was being blown open.

• To listen: Yowei Shaw’s new podcast, Proxy, started after she was laid off from NPR, about talking to people navigating similar complex and emotional experiences (like getting fired). Shaw was formerly a host of the great pod, Invisibilia.

• To eat: This Yaza Labneh with zaatar and olive oil. Got it at whole foods and I put it in / on everything — sandwiches, on rice/sauteed kale, eggs, etc + hot sauce. A+.

• To do / eat: Visit the local farmers’ market and taste all the apple samples. Ada and I went to the Grand Army Farmers’ market on Sunday and tried so many varieties until she was more or less asked to calm down her intake. Ada fell in love with Macoun. We both discovered Ludacrisp. (yep). We got like 5 different varieties and nothing brings me more joy than my kid asking for an apple by varietal-specific name b/c if I’m a nerd about anything in life, it is apples. For a really specific and enjoyable rabbit hole, go to applerankings.com, possibly the greatest website on the internet in 2024.

• To eat: My other food obsession is radicchio and so the radicchio Castelfranco salad at Via Carota is a true dream. My first time there. 10/10 if you’re into beautiful, bitter lettuces and negronis.

• To listen: The playlists from Slow Roads, b/c great stuff for every mood.

For the kids:

• This 32 oz water Owala bottle is like the Stanley Cup of the Brooklyn set (I guess???) or so Ada tells me. Metal. Locks. Colors. Extremely large. The weight when filled is absurd, but Gen Alpha are hydration natives.

• My kids convinced me to put the Snoopy watch face on my Apple Watch, and it’s cute and genuinely low-key thrilling when you see a new animation, which is like…every other second.

• We’ve been hitting a lot of 80s classics with the kids: Adventures in Babysitting (1987 original) and Back to the Future

• We’re still deep in The Wild Robot (on book 2, The Wild Robot Escapes) and Peter Brown just announced a forthcoming fourth book to the series, The Wild Robot on The Island

• The fam is thoroughly obsessed with Bog Myrtle, the new picture book/graphic novel from Sid Sharp, which combines opposites-for-sisters, a forest adventure, a giant spider, capitalist exploitation, worker rebellion, and lots of humor in a gorgeously illustrated 130-some pages. Highly recommend.

Recs, please: fave soups to make? I’m stuck in a leek / mushroom / farro soup thing, but want to expand my soup repertoire. Nothing too labor intensive.

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