Show & Tell: Nerds, Bad Bunny, and Michelle Obama for the Win.
Unstacked Digest for the week of January 13 - 19
This is Show & Tell where I tell you some things I loved from the 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.
I mean, this day sucks. I can’t believe we’re actually here. I am avoiding the inauguration with all my might, and thought you might want to do the same, so
and I recorded a free to all bonus episode of The Stacks where we talk about Toni Morrison’s lecture on goodness. It is a small offering from us to you. I hope it helps.In times like these I always turn to the writers. The below from
about MLK Day and Trump’s inauguration and the call to inspiration and not merely imitation struck a cord within me. I wanted to share it with you in the hopes that ignites something in you, too.I’m also still here in LA and there is still so much work that needs to be done in fire relief. That will be the case for a long long time to come. I posted about that in last week’s Show & Tell. My plan is to offer one or two more organizations to support each week1. Please continue to give in whatever ways you can.
This week I want to quickly highlight Letters from Altadena. They are an org that gives money directly to families who live in poverty. It does take some technological access and savvy to run a successful Gofundme. You also have to have a network with money to reach out to. For some folks that is not possible. Letters from Altadena is bridging that gap and supplying your donations directly to the people who need it most. If you’re able to support it would be incredibly meaningful. Shout out to my friend and friend of the podcast, Chelsea Devantez, for putting this organization on my radar2.
This Week on Unstacked
I shared ways you can support fire relief efforts.
We dropped our annual book preview bonus episode with
and . A time was had.Books I Read This Week
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
A collection of essays that examine the power and hypocrisy of Empire anchored in the atrocities in Gaza and expanded beyond. I loved this book3. These essays are morally clear and artistically compelling. El Akkad takes pains to make his arguments in prose that indict the reader without fully alienating us. A literary calling in of sorts. He helps us see things more clearly. It is a fine line he balances and does so with such confidence as to wow at every turn.
Fave of the week!
Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates
A fictionalization4 of the infamous car accident with Ted Kennedy that caused the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick. This novella is chilling. Oates does a fantastic job of getting into the head of Kelly Kelleher, an idealistic 26 year old, who meets the Senator and becomes entangled in his charm. The book moves between time and place in a dream like state, while Kelly fights for her life as the black water rises. At first I wasn’t sure what I thought about the book, it is highly stylized writing, but by the time I got to the last 50 pages, I was hooked and horrified. When I finished, I sat in silence to let sink in what Oates had accomplished with this moody and haunting story.
Housekeeping
Kaliane Bradley, author of this month’s book club pick, The Ministry of Time, came on The Stacks in a totally spoiler free discussion of her process and inspiration.
I had the best time talking about books with
on 10 Things to Tell You and the books we’re most excited about for 2025.I was a guest on Fake the Nation talking about the LA Fires, the incoming Trump administration, and Mark Zuckerberg being a loser.
Things I Love…
Book News
Publisher’s Weekly shared the bestselling books of 2024, and Lit Hub compiled the list into bestsellers overall and bestsllers published in 2024. The lists are fascinating. I have to admit I have read exactly one of these books, It Ends with Us5, and I have DNF’d two, Atomic Habits and The Anxious Generation. I am not sure if I am proud of this information or feel like a big book phony. Could be both.
Politics
I obviously love that Michelle Obama said, “I’m not gonna be here”, to Trump’s little inauguration. When they go low, we don’t show.