Hello, hello!
If you read Burnt Toast, then you’ve likely heard Virginia reference Anna Maltby and her anti-diet newsletter How To Move. Virginia and I are both fans of Anna’s workouts. Anna wanted an index of all her workouts, so she hired me to create it. After a lot of hard work, it’s live! Here is the index and a post about how to use it.
Deb Benfield has a book coming out Dec. 16 called Unapologetic Aging. I’m actually reading an ARC now and you’re going to want to buy this book. In her companion newsletter, she wrote about how midlife can make us more vulnerable to eating disorders.
Savala Nolan talks about how for a lot us, it’s not overeating that we have to abstain from, it’s restriction and control. For me, this means limiting my exposure to people pursuing intentional weight loss. She explains it so well in this reel. Related, pre-order Savala’s next book, Good Woman, (out in March) here.
J Wortham’s musings on how to be a good neighbor is a must read. They tease out all the big and small ways you can practice what they call “good neighboring.” They also talk about how the idea that the cost of community is inconvenience rubs them the wrong way.
Ann Friedman wrote about the newsletter economy and how to price yourself in a way that supports the greater ecosystem. One of my many complaints about Substack is that they set the pricing. You can’t charge less than $5/mo, and good luck finding anyone popular who still charges that little. It’s why a lot of writers, myself included, link up with Buy Me A Coffee because it gives us a way to let people either pay us once or pay us a lower monthly amount.
Emma Copley Eisenberg published her 2025 Cultural Superlatives. This is such a great list. I appreciate her thoughtful take on saying something is the “best.”
Oy, Wicked discourse. Chrissy King wrote this banger on interrogating the normalization of thinness while NOT commenting on people’s bodies.
Ragen Chastain with questions about the claimed benefits of weight loss:
“Each person who celebrates their (likely temporary) reduction in experiencing weight stigma reinforces the idea that a world that accommodates you is something that only people of a certain size deserve, rather than something that everyone should have. (For the record, as I’ve often said I believe that people have bodily autonomy, including if they want to lose weight for whatever their reasons or beliefs. That said, decisions don’t happen in a vacuum. Those who do (at least temporarily) lose weight have the option of speaking out about how wrong it is that they have more access to things and receive better treatment than they did in a larger body, rather than celebrating not being oppressed as other people still are.)”
Sarah Sherman in The New Yorker, NYT (gift link) and Nashville Scene (via me in 2024). I can’t wait to watch her new comedy special on HBO. If you ever get the chance to see her live, do it.
On Text Me Back pod, Lindy and Meagan record their annual cozy episode. Please listen and then go look at the photos of Lindy’s majestic living room. I laughed so hard.
Vulture put out a guide to holiday movies streaming this month. So far, I’ve watched the Tyler Perry movie Finding Joy and the Prime doc The Merchants of Joy. I recommend both!
There are two really great dramas streaming right now: All Her Fault on Peacock and The Beast In Me on Netflix. I binged All Her Fault last week and The Beast In Me this week. I am blown away by both of these shows. If you have high anxiety and like to watch tense dramas just to feel alive, these are your shows.
I’m currently accepting clients who need help with their newsletter and/or social media. For the last 2.5 years, I worked as the digital editor for the Nashville Scene. Prior to that I worked as a freelance digital strategist for eight years. Think of me as your part-time managing/digital editor. I can help with copywriting, editing, podcasting, audio transcription, social media and more. Interested? Let’s chat! Email me here.
No spoilers, but if you’ve watched All Her Fault and/or The Beast In Me, please talk to me in the comments. I’m obsessed with both of these shows. Related, what is your high-anxiety comfort watch?
If you like a curated list of links so that you don’t have to read everything on the internet yourself, consider chipping in a few bucks. If you have either $5/mo or $50/year, consider subscribing to the paid Substack plan. You can also “buy me a coffee” or subscribe for $2/mo here. A heart or comment goes a long way, too.
Note: All of the books I reference can be found in my bookshop.org storefront. Many of my posts contain affiliate links to Bookshop.org and Libro.fm. If you make a purchase through these links, I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
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