Hello friends,
It’s the week of Sarah Everard’s trial and the desperately unpleasant events that led to her murder, and it’s been a difficult one to digest and process. A tidal wave of emotions and human reactions on social media have felt at times like a bombardment, the immediacy of new information emerging, historic information about the police and conduct, information about misogamy, the danger that men pose to women, all women; it can feel like being sucked into a swell.
It’s tiring, upsetting, infuriating, triggering… it’s all of the emotions when we read these things about violence against women. When I get cross, I read about it. I read Why Men Hate Women by Laura Bates, I read The End of Policing by Alex Vitale, I read The Power by Naomi Alderman.
So for October I will reading words, I will be sharing them with those close by and importantly, I’ll be working out how to put these into action, how to contribute to action and how to aid in the nudging towards change.
Happy October wonderful ones,
Em x
✨Book of the month✨
Misfits - Michaela Coel
We all know Michaela Coel after last year’s I May Destroy You and the ripple it sent through the TV world and the impact it had on people who watched it. Her prose appears effortless, yet lands with such force, such power; you are often left in your tracks wondering what on earth is going on. This is no different with her manifesto, Misfits, a call to action for the industry, to all industries, to really harness talent and the voices of those on the fringe. She shares her own stories, her own experiences, openly, honestly, often brutally, to reinforce this message home. I listened to Michaela speak this manifesto out loud and I felt something shift within me ~ it’s impossible to not feel moved to action, moved to say something, moved to simply behave differently after listening to what Michaela has to say.
I don’t want to spoil anything as I want you to open it, dive in and experience it for what it is. But I do want you to read it, so want to give one of you the chance for having a freebie.
🚨All you need to do is comment🚨
Other cracking reads…
Magpie - Elizabeth Day
We all know ED from How to Fail… but have you read much of her fiction? This book has a midway twist that definitely caught me out and was worth Saturday afternoon gobble (I didn’t stop reading until it was read). It’s the story of a couple who welcome a lodger into their lives, and how everything unravels as a result. It’s a thriller that grips you throughout; exploring fertility, motherhood, possession, mental health and relationships. It feels deeply personal ~ connected to IVF and the difficulties it brings, how it feels as the woman experiencing this and how the desire for a baby can bleed into every thought, every decision, every interaction for the person desiring it.
Watch/listen to Elizabeth Day and Mo Gawdat talk here about her writing process and Magpie itself.
Cultish - Amanda Montell
Anyone who reads the Weekend Supplement will know that I adore the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, and after eating every episode whole, I moved on the book, Cultish. I didn’t realise I was so curious about cults, or communities that speak to cult-like behaviours but I really, really am. Whether it’s the known cults that Netflix no doubt have created documentaries about, or communities that behave in ways that speak to cults - Stans, marathoners, peloton-ers - this book explores it all and I couldn’t stop listening to it.
Listen to Sounds Like a Cult here to get a flavour for this fantastic deeper dive.
✨What’s coming up?✨
I Wish I Knew This Earlier - Toni Tone
I discovered Toni on Twitter where she shared snippets of her upcoming book and I stopped in my tracks. The page on self-betrayal read so close to home, in such a relatable way. It is out on 14th October and you can pre-order here.
Where to go?
I have been scrolling, reading, scrolling, and here are the month’s highlights:
Simone Biles talks to The Cut about her mental health and why she should have left competitive sports before the Olympics. Read more here.
Maeve Binchy, author extraordinaire, has her top ten words of wisdom reprinted in the Irish Times. They are excellent. Read more here.
On the internet, everyone can be famous. But what at what cost? The New Yorker examines this phenomenon. Read more here.
Cush Jumbo, actor and writer, speaks to the FT about her new role in Hamlet and how she didn’t back down when it came to her appearance and her time with her baby. Read more here.
Who lost the sex wars? The New York examines the relationship between feminists and trans people and it’s brilliant. Read more here.
A thoughtful piece from Harper’s on TikTok and the anxiety that comes with being an influencer. Read more here.
The great sperm heist longread from The Guardian is *brain leaves top of head*. Read more here.
Becca Caddy, author of Screen Time: How to Make peace with Your Devices and Find Your Techquilibrium, speaks to Me & Orla about our love/hate relationship with social media and how to get a handle on it and create balance. Listen here.
Urgh, how did I not find this earlier? Upskirt Chronicles is a masterpiece of a newsletter. Read more below.
Somewhere good to go…
1 in 10 women give birth inside their cell or on the way to hospital, and in the last two years, two babies born inside prison have died. Even if the worst doesn't happen, prison causes toxic stress and trauma to both mother and child. Short sentences can have a long-lasting, lifelong negative impact.
Sign this petition to stop sending pregnant women to prison.
Read Vicky Spratt talks more about this for Refinery29 here.
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