The Mailbag!
What is my go-to easy cake? Who am I rooting for in the World Cup? Where to start with Shakespeare? And so much more in our first ever mailbag!
I have always loved creators who do mailbags where their audience asks questions and they answer. I love how it gets them out of of their normal niche and opens the door for more diverse conversations on other parts of their lives. I figured I could try adding something like that into the mix here at Unstacked. I hope this will be the first of many mailbags in our future, so when you get to the end of this thing, please tell me in the comments if we should keep it up.
Who are we rooting for in the last 16 8 of the World Cup?1
The honest answer is sorta no one. I am, have been, and will continue to root actively against Argentina. I like England because I know a lot of their players from my years watching the Premier League, but they left my boys Phil Foden and Cole Palmer off their roster, so that hurts. But also, and this can’t be overstated, they have Jude Bellingham2. Sheesh. I like Norway because, as a Man City fan, I have been watching and loving the Norse God, Erling Haaland3, for a few years now, and his joy brings me joy. I like Morocco because they are our only shot at having an African team win this.
Now, France looks like the clear winner as far as quality of play and consistency. I like this team a lot on paper, they have players I love, they have a very beautiful style of play, they’re Black as hell. My only thing against them is that they’re just not nearly chesty/crazy/loose cannon-y enough for me. They’re almost too good and too clean. If they win, I’m happy but I am not actively invested in them.
Any recs for beginner-friendly cakes for a cake party that don’t require a stand mixer?
Yes. There are so many good cake recipes. If you’re not familiar with Yossy Arefi, you should be. She has a cookbook called Snacking Cakes, and its filled with easy (often one-bowl) cakes, no stand mixer needed. She works at NYT Cooking and has lots of great, easy recipes on the site.
Below are three, very easy cakes I love. They can all be made without a stand mixer, though you might need a handheld electric mixer.
Sweet Potato and Brown Butter Snacking Cake - Sweet potato cake bangs so hard. Cannot recommend more highly.
Strawberry Summer Cake - I have been making this cake for 10+ years. It is easy and good, there isn’t even any frosting to worry about.
Chocolate Guinness Cake - This is my favorite chocolate cake.
If you could see any actor perform any Shakespeare part, what would it be?
There are so many ways I could go with this question. But I am a Jeremy Strong stan so I feel like seeing him play Shylock could be kind of amazing. Throw in Ruth Negga as Portia and you’ve got a banger on your hands.
I love your running updates! Curious if you’ve ever ran a marathon or plan to?
I have. I ran the LA marathon in 2013. I had a goal of running it in under 4 hours and finished in 3:59:35, which means I never have to run another marathon again.
Is there another Stacks tour in the works any time soon?
I do have an idea. I won’t be elaborating further. But, if it works out, I think it could be really awesome.
It’s Wimbledon season! Name two tennis players you love & one you hate (any gender).
I feel like it is boring to say I love Coco Gauff and Frances Tiafoe, but its true. And my hate, and I have hated him since way before it was cool to hate him4, is Novak Djokovic.
You’re turning 40??? Definitely thought you were 30!
Thank you. You win this mailbag. Gold star!
But also, sometimes when people say this kind of thing to me, I can’t tell if this is a compliment because I look young or an insult because I am immature. Like one time an author said to me in an interview, “you ask such good questions for such a young person,” and then I said “I’m 37,” and he said “oh.” So like, don’t you think that means my questions were good for a young person but less good for an old wench like me? That’s how I took it.
Books/genres you enjoyed postpartum (not how-to’s, just books you liked at that time)?
The first book I read after the Minis were born was Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. After that I promptly went back to my dark nonfiction ways and read American Prison by Shane Bauer, and Jason Reynold’s Stamped and YA remix of Stamped from the Beginning. Kids or no kids, I like what I like, and what I like is dark current-interest shit.
Did you get 2028 Olympic tickets? If so which events?
I did! I am seeing gold-medal soccer, track and field, late-stage tennis and men’s basketball. These Olympics might destroy my city, but I will be there to watch it all go down.
How do you carve out time to read?
These days? Not very well. I try to schedule my reading into my day, or at least have a plan of when I will read. I want to remind you that reading is my literal job, so like, I have to get it done. That can mean dedicating a day to reading if I’m on deadline. I also love to find a few minutes here and there to read, whether that’s in transit or in line or over lunch. I try hard to squeeze in pages when I can.
I always have a daily goal of 10 pages no matter what. I am very goal-oriented, self-imposed rules work for me. More than finding the time—which, again is hard to come by—it has become a lot more about getting good quality reading time. For me, that means Bricking my phone, turning on Do Not Disturb mode, and reading in a upright position or out in public (so I don’t fall asleep).
What did you think of the Argentina vs Egypt game?
It was crap. I hate to say every bad call is corruption, but FIFA is such a fucked up organization that it is hard to take anything they do in good faith, which is such a crazy thing to write. I talked about the Balogun red card fiasco in my newsletter earlier this week, and like I said then, Trump being involved is a bad, bad look—and also, FIFA can do bad all by themselves.
In response to the heat he got for the Trump stuff, the president of FIFA said he doesn’t weigh in on these things and there’s an independent body, and blah blah blah. But he also said this:
“Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues.”
Which to me reads like, “yeah bro, I talked to Trump, but all your little presidents be calling me trying to rig the system in their favor too. Trump ain’t special, he’s just annoying. But the truth is this is what we do here at FIFA”.
Anyway, back to the original question. Ugh, Argentina.
What book without a sequel do you think should have a sequel?
I am sure you want me to say something fiction here, but I would like a new book from Bryan Stevenson. It has been a while since Just Mercy came out. I loved that damn book, and since its publication, Stevenson’s life and scope of work has changed so much. I’d love to hear him reflect on changes in the criminal legal system, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice that he founded, and how his fame has impacted his work (both good and bad).
If you could recommend a few Shakespeare plays to a Shakespeare newbie, what would they be and why?
So my answer to this is one most people do not like, but it is Romeo and Juliet5. It is a great play, easy to read, and showcases so much of what Shakespeare does well. People don’t like this answer because they feel like they know it already, but I promise if you’re a newbie, you don’t. And also, knowing a little bit of Shakespeare going in is helpful. You’ll be less worried about “getting it.”
A few others that I love and think read well on the page (and that’s important because some are great on stage but harder to follow as a reader) are Richard II, Titus Andronicus, Othello, and Macbeth. I think the comedies are often pretty hard to read because they rely on visual tricks and gags, but if I had to say one to read, Twelfth Night is a favorite.
Song of the summer?
I am such a boring person who really doesn’t listen to a ton of new songs. My songs of the summer have been “Yukon” and “EVERYTHING HALLELUJAH” by Justin Bieber.
But, if I’m being really real, the undisputed most-played song with me and the Minis has been “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) - K-Mix”. They love this shit so much, and so do I!
We did it. That’s the end of the first mailbag. Did you like it? Should we do it again? The more fun and random your questions, the more fun and random I can be! Oh, and if you made it this far and you’re not subscribed to Unstacked, you should go ahead and subscribe now. You’re obviously my people.
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I edited this because there are only 8 teams left (and there were only 8 teams left when the question was asked).
And his legs.
Its fun for me to watch all of you discover him for the first time. Similar to how I felt about being a Scotland fan and trying to warn you all about the amazing Tartan Army and then seeing you see it all for yourselves.
I distinctly remember being out on him in 2011.
The Stacks Pack was so mad at me for picking it for book club and then when they read it they were all like “oh yeah, sure, this is actually sorta great.”
Yes, more of this please! #anyonebutArgentina
Have you been to Montgomery? My mom and I went back in May to see the Legacy sites again (we'd been in 2018 when the museum and memorial opened) and the scope of them has really expanded. There's even a hotel/conference center.