It's my party and I'll make it political if I want to (Issue #16)
This week’s theme is parties - social, political, and celebratory!
Hi friends!
In college, I joined an organization called Students Today, Leaders Forever (STLF for short). STLF was an entirely student-led program, which traveled across the country via coach bus every spring. We’d typically stop in five different U.S. cities, sleeping in churches or schools, dancing on the bus, and participating in a variety of amazing volunteer projects. I saw so many cool places, and met tons of incredible people – it truly is a highlight of my time in college.
During the 2015-2016 school year, I served on the leadership team for the org, and in my role, I’d often find guests to speak at group meetings. One such week, I reached out to a local leader who I thought would make a great guest. She was a new candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives, was running in a district that covered most of the University of Minnesota campus, and she’d generated a good amount of buzz among students looking to support an up-and-coming progressive candidate. That candidate was Ilhan Omar.
I reached out to her and she gladly accepted the opportunity to come speak at one of our meetings. While our group was small (student group attendance could be tricky without the lure of free pizza), Representative Omar put so much care and effort into talking with us, pitching what she was hoping to accomplish as a representative and how she would represent the interests of students in particular. A few months later, I was in a class in which I was tasked to write an essay about a great leader in my community, and Rep. Omar immediately came to mind. I reached out to her campaign email, fully expecting an aide to respond, but still early in her political career I received a direct response from Omar herself! She met with me at the now-closed Purple Onion Cafe (R.I.P. to the best coffee shop on campus), and we chatted about her life, her background, issues she cared about, and why she wanted to run for the Minnesota State Legislature.
When preparing for this issue, I wanted to include the essay I wrote from our conversation, but a thorough search of my laptop revealed it might be lost somewhere between the digital world and my memories of 2016. Either way, it’s so cool to have those memories and experiences now that Ilhan Omar’s life and career have propelled her into the national spotlight.
Today’s newsletter theme is party, which I thought would be a good way to 1. participate in moderately clever wordplay and 2. counterbalance bleak political news with something slightly more upbeat. After all, political change is impossible without community, so grab a friend and settle into today’s recommendations!
A round-up of things to watch, read, and listen to as you head into the weekend.
Cup of Jo: 13 Things To Do With Friends (That Aren’t Dinner) by Emily Kling
I love my friends, and I’m always looking for ways to add variety to our hangs outside of the go-to “dinner and drinks” fallback. This list has a number of really unique ideas, and even includes a couple of themed party ideas that I’d love to try sometime!
The Daily Podcast: How Clarence Thomas Came to Reject Affirmative Action
I loved this episode, as it shed light on how Clarence Thomas shifted from a more progressive and even radical political ideology to the conservative framework that now informs his decisions on the Supreme Court. In particular, the episode really lays out Thomas’ personal journey and how events in his life lead to his strong feelings about affirmative action. I learned a lot of surprising things about this controversial justice, and highly recommend you check it out!
The Atlantic: What Reagan Did for Hollywood by Wayne Federman
With TV + movie actors and writers both on strike, this article from 2011 is well worth revisiting. Conceptualizing Reagan as a progressive union leader may seem like a stretch, but before he was president, Reagan played a key role in helping actors win rights to residuals for movies and television. A fascinating read.
Slate: Hollywood Is Going on a Dual Strike for the First Time Since 1960. You Won’t Believe Who Led the Last One. by Nadira Goffe
Now that you’re down the strike rabbit hole, might as well dive deeper! This article is an interview with the author of the above recommendation. Published more recently, the conversation is an interesting retrospective of Reagan, paired with key insight about how past strikes link to the one Hollywood is currently experiencing.
Vice: Why Do People Believe Everything They Watch on TikTok? by Chris Stokel-Walker
If I were to ask you to picture the type of person susceptible to misinformation on social media, you might think of your Baby Boomer aunt who loves ranting on their Facebook page. And yet, TikTok has cultivated a base of earnest Gen-Z and millennial users who tend to believe whatever is told to them by strangers on their FYP. This article is a good deep-dive, and a needed analysis as misinformation on the internet continues to rise.
Playlists to add to your music library.
I got married last June, and a few weeks before my wedding, Andrew and I had a combined bachelor(ette) party. To ensure we had quality music throughout the weekend, my maid of honor created a collaborative Spotify playlist for the wedding party. Everyone was encouraged to add songs, with the warning that bad songs were welcome as long as you were willing to be clowned for it 🤷🏾♀️. The full playlist is 16 hours long, but I thought I’d give you a small sampling of the Bachelor(ette) Bops that kept us hyped all weekend!!
Things to try + share in the group chat.
Note: Links preceded by an asterisk (*) are affiliate links that allow me to collect a small commission when you purchase something I’ve recommended. That said, I can promise that I’ll only ever share items I truly love. Buying through these links is one way to support me and my small biz. ❤️
As a huge fan of movies and television and as a supporter of worker’s rights, I fully support the current strikes of the Screen Actor’s Guild and the Writer’s Guild of America. That said, I wanted to do a little research on how to support these unemployed writers and actors all the way from my home in Minnesota! This article from Huffington Post has some great ideas, including donating to the Entertainment Community Fund, which has relief funds both for Film and Television Workers, as well as Hollywood Support Staff who are also out of work as the strikes continue.
As someone with very particular taste, I’ve developed a simple + practical gift wishlist process. A few years ago I discovered the app Elfster, which I have installed as a browser extension on my phone and desktop. The way it works is every time I have the urge to buy something, I add it to my Elfster wishlist. It’s the perfect way to honor my wants, without actually pulling the trigger on something I may not care about in a few weeks. And it means when the holidays roll around, I have an easy pre-made list I can pare down before sending to Andrew or my parents. I also can create wishlists for other people, so I have a running list of ideas for birthdays, holidays, and things that just remind me of the important people in my life! I’ve always admired great gift givers, and as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that great gifting is something that takes a lot of planning and intention. This process has really helped refine my gifting skills and I hope it might help you too!
Excerpt about how to host a Pantry Party from *The Little Book on Hygge by Meik Wiking. I mentioned this party a long time ago in one of my quarterly newsletters, but lately I’ve been revisiting plans to host a pantry party! It’s a concept I learned from the incredible book pictured above: *The Little Book on Hygge by Meik Wiking. The end result is a variety of jams, sauces, baking mixes and more that you can split up and share with party guests. Here is a great list of pantry staples you can make at home to get you started.
And that’s a wrap on this party! I hope you have a fabulous weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday for an extra special P.S. with an announcement that these newsletters will now be written by a robot (jkjk…or am I?) Talk soon!!
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