Hi friends,
It seems that Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, is going to become our Attorney General. (Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are the only Republican noes - there needs to be three + McConnell’s absensce.) Blanche sucks and is an anti-choice footsoldier. This week he told thousands of faith leaders that “we will have victory [on abortion]… and it will be permanent,” and that DOJ is working “hand in hand” with HHS, the FDA and the White House to stop abortion pills from being mailed into states with bans. There’s been a lot of coverage that he is proposing a national abortion ban when, in effect, he’s arguing for the ‘backdoor ban’ we’ve been discussing for years - making abortion medication via mail inaccessible in red states via the Comstock Act.
This same administration just canceled 53 of 67 teen pregnancy prevention grants and rewrote the program’s rules with a curriculum that teaches teenagers fertility tracking and “reproductive goals” instead of … contraception. The RFK Jr. FDA is “reviewing” mifepristone while that litigation was sent back to the lower courts, and more.
There’s a lot more happening behind the scenes in anti-abortion litigation; I’ve been doing interviews and research all summer (it’s taking me a bit longer than I’d like), but I hope I’ll be able to add many new insights and ideas to the conversation this fall.
A lot of you sent me questions about if you should panic over this … what I think you should do is plan. You should understand that the right spent 50 years working to overturn Roe, and it certainly wasn’t going to stop at Dobbs. The most important thing to do to push back is to win a Dem majority in Congress, to stop Trump from apppointing anyone else to the Supreme Court and prevent any laws banning abortion from being passed. But I also think as a community we need to start having more conversations about what is actually happening; I’m hoping I can be a part of that. (If my audience wants it! My paying subscribers are my bosses!)
THAT BEING SAID - IT’S AUGUST. My blue and I are going to Maine soon, and if Kate Duffy replies to my f*cking text messages, (!!) we will be doing a girls trip to Door County.
I hope you all are getting sunlight and water and warm toes and loving of yourself or others.
love you!!!
Missouri Voters Killed the Plan to Kill Ballot Initiatives — by 80 Points. (Bolts) Amendment 4 would have required citizen initiatives to win a majority in every congressional district, not just statewide, and it was defeated by a wide margin. Direct democracy is how this state has won Medicaid expansion, increased access to marijuana, a higher minimum wage and abortion rights.
DHS Wants Protesters’ Signal Group Chats. (WIRED) The government demands encrypted Signal community chats that neighbors used to alert each other about immigration raids.
The Administration Moved to Gut the Rules That Make Head Start Work. (Stateline) HHS proposed a rule on Thursday to “significantly reduce” the standards that define Head Start: teacher qualifications, class sizes, the services the poorest kids actually get.
FCC Commissioners Took Luxury Gifts From Paramount While Weighing Its Merger. (ProPublica) Ethics complaints have been filed against FCC commissioners, including Chairman Brendan Carr, for accepting luxury perks from Paramount while the agency weighs the Paramount–Warner Bros. merger.
When the Government Outsources Safety, Families Pick Up the Slack. (TIME) Wharton economist (and friend of mine) Corrine Low Femonomics on what the safety rollbacks actually mean for parents. How it’s our job to pick up the slack when the FDA fires people and stops tracking pathogens.
A “mental load” coach is helping men do their fair share. (The New York Times) Zach Watson, a self-described “recovering man-child” turned Fair Play coach walks men through the invisible work running their homes. His top suggestions are to take full ownership of a task, hold a weekly logistics meeting, to stop saying you’re “helping,” and stop asking questions that you could answer yourself.
Limerence: why your brain won’t shut up about them — and how social media feeds it. (The Washington Post) Searches for “limerence” are up 500 percent in five years, and the piece explains why the apps make obsession worse. Obsession runs on information, so starve it: mute, unfollow, stop feeding the loop.
How to befriend your neighborhood crow. (The Washington Post) Caitlin Gibson’s account of Cormac, the fish crow who ripped up her medical bill and became her friend.
The breezy linen button down I wear 3-5 days a week. Polished enough for a call, forgiving enough for a heat wave. (QUINCE)
A pleated-hem crepe midi dress that I’m buying, perfect for my riviera themed life. (Quince)
Stripes! Stretchy wide-leg jeans with actual pockets. I love these in cords and the new print is so cuteeeeee.(QUINCE)
Ultra-soft bike shorts for the deeply unglamorous errands era of August. These are VERY COMFORTABLE and do not sag.
MY FAVORITE BRA. The sheer bralette that feels like nothing and holds like something. (EBY)
Lingerie for people who don’t like lace. Its meshyyy sister, because one good bralette begets another. (EBY)
I wish I could show you the texts I received from my lover about my perimenopausal favorite PJs. Alas, people I work with read this Substack. The whipped boxer — my favorite PJs when you get the sweats. Also this comes in undies which are not my personal favorite but I have gifted them to some people who are OBSESSED. Whipped-soft boy shorts (Negative)
THE GIRLIES ARE WEARING BANDANAS.
ALERT ALERT fellow millenials. We are tying them around our waists!
A triangle bandana that feels very french. (TOAST)
I want this very badly. A western rag scarf for pretending fall is close. (Guest in Residence)
The facial sculpting gadget my bathroom counter has fully adopted. (Shark Depuffi)
The expandable carry-on that survived my whole travel summer. (Antler)
The Crocs sandal that somehow looks cute. Hundreds of you have already clicked; the people are right. (DSW)
The square-neck bralette that works under everything. (Harper Wilde)
The grippy circles three dozen of you have already ordered. The people know. (CAKES Body)
Every NYC bus now has designated stroller space. (THE CITY)
The restaurant owner who became his neighborhood’s mutual-aid hub. (Block Club Chicago)
The Transplant Games are about more than medals. (Reasons to be Cheerful)
NYC broke ground on 50,000 affordable homes — with a public tracker so you can watch. (Good Good Good)
She’s 28. He’s 71. They’re roommates — and close friends. (The Washington Post)
The book gods are giving to us and with that we have Take What You Can — Naima Coster’s new novel, out Tuesday and already GMA’s Book Club pick for August. It’s about Val and Milly, two motherless best friends who reunite in their thirties to raise their daughters together, drifting between Brooklyn brownstones and the beaches of southern France. A novel about building your village when nobody handed you one, and what happens when the person who knew you first is also the one who can hurt you most.
Catherine Newman blurbed it “so brilliantly, unbelievably good I have a burning in my heart from gulping it down too fast.”
→ COMMENT ‘VILLAGE’ down below for a chance to win.
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