FMG: Sending Love to California
+ thankfulness for the art/joy that carries us through
Happy Friday!
I would be remiss to begin without first acknowledging what’s top of mind/heart for so many of us — watching the California wildfires destroy homes and businesses this week has been nothing short of jarring, tragic, and heartbreaking. Some of my favorite people live in Southern California (and are thankfully all safe), and some of my favorite memories with both friends and family have taken place there too. What a devastating reality for such a beautiful, creative, and vibrant part of the country and for all who live there. I’m risking sounding self-congratulatory but I hope you instead take this as helpful: I made a small donation to Dream Center LA, which is a nonprofit organization currently housing and helping those displaced by the fires. I know there are a lot of other really amazing organizations out there doing a lot of good work — so for those of you who, like me, aren’t in LA and feel helpless watching from afar, I hope you take a little time to find somewhere that resonates with you and donate what you can. This post lists several places to start your research/donations, and this post’s caption really beautifully captures some of the emotions of the tragedy.
There’s no good way to segue from something so heavy, so please consider this interim paragraph your permission slip to click away if you don’t have the capacity for chatter about books/TV/podcasts today. I’m sharing the below because I’m a firm believer that art and creativity are what carry us through devastation, but I understand if not everyone is in that place.
Reminder: Another quick qualifier here — I mentioned last week that one of my goals for the new year is to take this newsletter back to the place from which I started it. I wanted it to be a creative outlet, a place to write whatever the hell I wanted, and a resource to anyone who needed it. That said, today’s edition launches into that new (old) frontier, so it’s a bit wordier than other recent versions. Carry on accordingly.
Books: One of my favorite columnists, Nicholas Kristof, wrote a memoir! Nick is a regular op-ed columnist for The New York Times, and he also contributes to CNN and has won two Pulitzers (and he’s a great Instagram follow!). His book, Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life, is part recount of his decades in journalism and also part love letter to journalism, journalists, and the importance of truthful media. Here’s what’s been percolating in my mind as I’ve been listening to it (you know I love a memoir while commuting):
My high school self was ambitious, naive, and idealistic — three qualities that led me to believe I wanted to be a journalist. I romanticized the thought of a life on the road, a passport filled with stamps earned while covering stories around the world, and a microphone-laden presence equally consistent on both red carpets and at the White House (I now understand that one generally picks a lane, lol). I want to hug my 18-year-old self — she was brimming with optimism and confidence, and she was so excited to study journalism in college.
I’m now 30, and I’m not a journalist. I do write for a living, and I have for my entire career. I am genuinely thankful to live in a time where a love of storytelling can be translated into more than a handful of career options, and that my desire/passion for writing can be used in other ways (as it turns out, the life of a journalist was genuinely not the life for me!) — but a piece of me does still mourn the fact that I will never write my own Pulitzer-winning exposé and will likely never have my own byline in the NYT. I truly do not wish to be a journalist in the traditional sense — but the fact remains that quality journalism stirs my soul, and this book has been serving as a powerful reminder that words matter and that the pursuit of the truth (and of sharing that truth) should be the height of importance for all of us, regardless of our professional fields.
A quote that quite literally stopped me in my tracks while listening: “[Journalists] don’t pack guns, but we do fight back at mass murder with our own weapon, the craft of storytelling,” Nick writes in chapter one. “Maybe it seems a lopsided battle, taking on gunmen with keyboards, but words can have impact. That’s why dictators and warlords murder dozens of journalists each year: They fear us, and they’re right to do so.” I’m so excited to keep reading this book, and already I recommend it to anyone similarly fascinated by the idealism and hope found in thoughtful, truth-centric reporting and the differences it can make in the scary world we live in.
Podcasts: If you want to listen to something a little lighter but also riveting, may I suggest the new episode of the New Heights podcast featuring Caitlin Clark? This was admittedly my first time listening to the Kelce brothers’ podcast, and I was so impressed with and entertained by their banter and interview style (Taylor and Kylie, I REALLY get it). It’s no secret that I’m a Caitlin Clark fan, and the episode was a delightful peek into her life in Indy and her thoughts on the past year. While I don’t directly work in PR, I do work at a PR-centric communications firm, so my personal biggest question while listening was whether or not Caitlin is formally and consistently media-trained (my guess is no). I don’t necessarily have commentary on that other than to say that it’s interesting (and rare these days) to hear a podcast interview that feels relatively unfiltered. I hope we see Caitlin in Taylor’s box at the Chiefs’ first playoff game next week.
Magazines/Basketball: Speaking of my favorite athletes, how much do we love Angel Reese on the winter cover of Vogue!? (Say it with me: SO much! And Gabby’s cover is a slay as well, as are all the pics in the article.) It has truly been SO fun this year to see women’s sports bleed into mainstream fashion, culture, and lifestyle media (Ilona Maher on DWTS, my queen on the cover of Highsnob, etc.), and I love seeing Angel continue to get her flowers for blending her passions for basketball and fashion (reminder that her statement about attending the Met Gala then flying straight to a game was one of my favorite moments/soundbites of 2024). Wake up, world! Women can do everything!!!!
Partying (lol?): I am feeling very vindicated by an Atlantic piece that came out this week titled “Americans Need to Party More” by Ellen Cushing. Hinging around a post on Reddit in which the poster so earnestly asked, “Did anyone else think there’d be more parties?”, the article shares and discusses timely statistics stating that we simply do not party enough. I’m vindicated!!!! I’m thrilled!!!!! I would love to party more!!!! It is an indisputable fact that Americans are incredibly lonely, socially anxious, and perpetually homebound — and while I love a night spent in my tub with the latest Taylor Jenkins Reid book (June 3!!!!), I also love a good party. More parties in 2025!!!!!
Nails: Finally, I’d like to pour one out for my coworker/friend Greta (Gen Z queen), who taught me about this special nail glue that all the cool girls are using. It’s insanely strong and has kept my Olive & June press-ons going for approximately two straight weeks with only three (THREE) single-nail re-applies. If you use press-ons, you know how wild that is. The glue is like $7, it’s big enough that it’ll last me approximately 12 years, and I had it personally hand-delivered to my apartment by Sally Beauty (who knew they offered that service!??). Worth every penny and then some.
I hope you spend your weekend taking care of yourself, of the people you love, and of strangers across the country.
XO, Gail