MalonE-Mail: Fall Blowout!
Hello, sweet, sweet subscribers. It's been a while. What can I say, except "The world has literally become a white supremacist-riddled hellscape barreling toward nuclear apocalypse and then some other stuff happened and then Taylor Swift came back so I'm doing my best"? This edition of MalonE-Mail will be a bit of a roundup, so let's get into it. (What else would you like to see in your MalonE-Mail? Hit that reply button and let me know! Be nice, though — I'm fragile.)
What I wrote:
Behold, the last seven months: I interviewed the showrunners of The Americans for VICE about how they operate. The 20th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer rolled around back in March (!), so I wrote about my binge-watching/live-tweeting experience and the paradox of the show's first season for Vanity Fair. I profiled Michaela Coel, the creator and star of Chewing Gum, for Complex. I trashed American Gods the book and hoped the TV show would be better (spoiler alert: totally was). For Pitchfork, I interviewed Haim about their newest record and reviewed Frank Ocean's first stateside show in years. For California Sunday (the July-August issue) I profiled the band Grizzly Bear on their fifth-album return from a long hiatus. And for Vulture, I recapped the final season (sob) of Orphan Black, then interviewed its two showrunners and its science consultant about the show—which IMO is the only show that has ever been emotionally and scientifically brilliant simultaneously—as a whole. I also profiled Bill Skarsgård for the September issue of OUT Magazine and (with the help of the fabulous Pam Capalad of Brunch and Budget) designed a financial fitness plan for the October issue of Cosmo, so get out your '90s cosplay and go buy a print copy.
What I read:
Since we last spoke? A bit! Just yesterday, Zac Cheney Rice on the erasure of white supremacy and Mike Hanlon's humanity from the new It adaptation. This breathtaking GQ profile on the making of Dylann Roof, by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah. (Be sure to listen to her Longform interview afterward.) James Vlahos on preserving his dying father as an A.I. Lili Loofbourow on how Game of Thrones became a bad show. (Hint: Game of Thrones always existed to hurt you.) Kyle Buchanan's profile of Dylan O'Brien, back from the brink. April Wolfe on rape-scene choreography in movies and La La Land as a propaganda film. Angelica Bastién explores why dystopian authors and filmmakers fail to tackle race wrong and why the term "camp" is applied to so many female projects. (Angelica also wrote a really lovely essay about Orphan Black that linked to one of my interviews! Thanks Angelica!)
Lindy West's relatively new New York Times column is, predictably, a delight. Ta-Nehisi Coates' latest is, predictably, essential. Jia Tolentino on Beauty and the Beast's weird beastiality and the toxicity of the gig economy. Jon Mooallem's heartstopping NYT Magazine piece about the Sequoias and Minda Honey's fantastic essay about visiting national parks as a woman of color. Ira Madison on Get Out and the black body. Maria Sherman on Justin Bieber's politicization of "Despacito." Anne Helen Petersen's profile from last year on the survivalist mom movement, and Porochista Khakpour's must-read 2011 essay for Guernica, "Camel Ride, Los Angeles, 1986." Helen Rosner on why Donald Trump's steak habits matter. And I bookmarked this guide, also from Eater, to Tokyo food for when I finally get the guts (and the cash) to stop waiting for a travel buddy and book a solo flight to Japan.
I Recommend:
So, it's fall now. (Allegedly.) I don't know about you, but this summer totally kicked my ass, and let's just say I'm trying to manage my existential expectations for the foreseeable future (as should we all). In light of this, I want to recommend (to myself as well as to you; don't want you thinking I wouldn't practice what I preach!) that you relive a beloved TV show from your past — from start to finish. That you read more books, but only ones that you really want to read, no matter how silly or weird, because it'll make you feel good, not because you'll feel accomplished or like you're maintaining your score on some imaginary Cosmopolitan Cool Meter. Forget institutional validation (especially if you're a Capricorn like me and LIVE FOR INSTITUTIONAL VALIDATION) and find it for your damn self, because whatever Online Conversation or metrics you're trying to keep up with, the high you're getting from that might never be enough to sustain you through whatever the hell kind of nightmare era (nightmera?) this is bound to be. I know this isn't the most original advice, but it's the best advice I got right now, right next to "please eat lots of cheese, but also please keep eating vegetables or your body will be sorry." Namaste.
P.S. (Parting Shot):
Here is Oscar eating his favorite food. The specific rabbity way he chomps carrots brings me joy; may it be a light for you in dark places, too.