Show & Tell: Kamala SZN
Unstacked Digest for the week of July 15-21
Welcome to another edition of Show & Tell where I tell you some things I loved from the pas week and the one thing I hated, plus round up everything else going on around these parts. The first half of Show & Tell is free to all. The adoration and hateration are for paid subscribers only.
Let me just be real real with you all, I was not going to do this installment today because it is my birthday tomorrow (well today as you read this) and I thought, fuck it I want a little break. But then Joe dropped out. Kamala is looking like the nominee. I am hyped. This won’t be a long one, it’ll be dedicated to Kamala exclusively, but I did want to get at least some thoughts down as we enter this new chapter in the election and hopefully American history. So, let’s fucking go.
This Week on Unstacked
I talked a lot about the list.
Then I did an entire bonus episode on the list. One part was with Gilbert Cruz the editor of the NYT Book Review. The other part was a round table with the book homies,
and . It is 90 minutes on the list and it is a dream. talked with me about writing satire in her latest book, the novel Tehrangeles.
Books I Read This Week
This Great Hemisphere by Mateo Askaripour
A speculative fiction novel about a future version of North American 500 years in the future where some people are born invisible and are relegated to second class citizenship. The book revolves around solving a political murder (the main suspect is an invisible, duh) and the people trying to ascend to power. It is fun book, a bit too long, with lots of twists and turns. The biggest twist I figured out very early, but still loved seeing how Askaripour put it all together. There are parts of This Great Hemisphere that really work, it is engaging and propulsive, while other parts feel overly preachy and under developed. My biggest takeaway is that Askaripour is ambitious as a writer and took a big swing here. It mostly pays off and gives the reader something worth thinking about.
Fave of the week!
Housekeeping
I spoke with the author of one of my favorite books so far this year, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, Adam Higginbotham.
If you’re looking for books to better understand “political violence” in the wake of the shooting at the Trump rally. I wrote a list for my shereads.com column.
I don’t just love books, I also love cults, and I got to go on the Black People Love Paramore podcast and talk all about cults and cult-y things. A real joy.
Things I Love…
Book Things
Octavia Butler chose to start her novel, and this month’s book club pick, Parable of the Sower on July 20, 2024.
On July 21, 2024 all hell breaks loose. She knew. Batten down the hatches.
Politics
I love that Joe Biden stepped down. Feels pretty obvious, but it is certainly what I loved most this week. I think it took him too long, but whatever, he did it. We can move forward.
What I am most loving about Biden getting out of this race is that people seem genuinely excited about the election. Granted, it has only been about 8 hours, but let’s be real, I don’t think anyone has been excited for even 8 cumulative hours up to this point about Biden vs. Trump. This feels major.
I am not a super hopeful person, but in this moment I do feel hope. I think Harris has what it takes to do the job, both of beating Trump and of being a damn fine president. I know people are scared that America isn’t “ready” for a Black and Asian woman to be president. I get it, this country is racist AF and hates women, so it’s a twofer. But, I also feel like this country wasn’t ready to elect Obama and then we did, so what does this country really even know? I will just say, as of this writing she has raised over $40 million in six hours (or something crazy like that), so maybe more of us are ready than the pundits (and at home pundits) think.
Also, when has anyone ever really been ready for a huge change? A new thing? Well, maybe you have, but usually I have to be pushed head first into the deep end and hope like hell that I float, or don’t drown, or whatever. That’s America right now. We’re on the edge of the pool. I’ll stop the metaphor here because it is no good, but you get the point.
Look, I am not naive here. I know things will get ugly. Beyond ugly. I dread that people will speak disparagingly of Kamala Harris and use the cover of concern and electability to do so. People who should be allies will be celebrated for keeping it real while they undermine a woman who is fully qualified. They will launch careers and followings off doubting this Black woman. I dread all of that for her. I also dread it for the rest of the Black women who will see it, hear it, and feel it. I dread it for us because there is not a single Black woman who has not known it. I am just trying to hold on to the fact that all of that actually says nothing about Kamala Harris, her qualifications or abilities. It says everything about the doubter and their inability to come out from under their own misogynoir.
So yeah, I love that Joe stepped aside. I am excited about the next chapter of the 2024 election.