5 things I loved in December

The Other Black Girl
 
This poppy-yet-literary novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris is a satire of diversity in the book publishing industry. Harris, who is the sister of Aiesha Harris, a reporter with National Public Radio, worked in book publishing for several years before taking time off to write the novel. It sold for over $1 million and is now a Hulu series (I haven’t watched it). Basically, Nella, the main character, is the only Black employee at the publisher where she works, until Hazel is hired. Hazel is everything Nella, who grew up in white suburban Connecticut, is not – she’s from Harlem, wears long flowing locks, and embraces her family’s activist heritage. Nella, who is quietly trying to push diversity in the workplace without losing her job, is at first excited that there’s another Black girl she can bond with. But something’s up with Hazel. I didn’t love everything about this novel, whose plot can get a little meandering at times, but the descriptions of white fragility and the moral dilemmas of speaking up in the workplace seemed pretty spot on.
Listen to Zakiyah Harris on NPR’s It’s Been a Minute. 
 
Michael Stipe’s slow reinvention
 
REM, one of the greatest bands of all time, disbanded in 2011. Since then, frontman and singer Michael Stipe has published books of photography, exhibited visual art, and performed at a few concerts and rallies. He hasn’t, however, as a recent article in the New York Times by Jon Mooallem points out, done the thing fans most want him to do – make music. That could change soon – or not. Stipe has been working on an album of solo material for nearly five years, but he hasn’t released anything yet beyond a single. It was supposed to be out in early 2023, but it’s been delayed multiple times. “I’m in no rush,” Stipe said, while at the same time remarking, “I’m at the age where I’m realizing, OK: All these ideas I want to focus on, I’m not going to have the life span to be able to complete all of them.” I liked this article for how much the author got in the subject’s head – from giving us anecdotes of Stipe’s childhood, to demonstrating how his uniquely creative brain pings from one thing to the next, to giving us a scene where he is in the same studio as Taylor Swift and runs into Jack Healy of the 1975, who cites REM as a big influence. Mooallem shows us what it’s like to be an aging rock star whose influence looms large but who is out of step with pop culture, where rock music is for old people. I think anyone who’s had to reinvent themselves will be able to relate. Read the article. 
 
Brandy Clark
 
In 2020, the New Yorker published an article with the headline, “No one is writing better country songs than Brandy Clark is.” This month, David Remnick did an interview with Clark about her 2023 self-titled album. She wanted to call the album North West, after a song she wrote about growing up in that part of the country, but when she told people this, they immediately associated the words with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s child, so she changed it. Clark, a lesbian who has written songs for country artists, leans into Americana, which she calls “country music for Democrats,” amidst the culture wars that continue to rage in country music. Her simple songs exhibit many of the things I love about folk and country music – its lyric poetry, its storytelling, its emotional truths. Standouts are “Buried,” an achy love song, “Northwest,” about the pull of home when you’re away all the time, and “She Smoked in the House,” about her old-school grandmother (“lipstick-circled butts in the ashtray” is one of many good images). 
 
Allison Russell
 
This is someone I just discovered this month after Terry Gross interviewed her on "Fresh Air." Allison Russell released an album of powerful, redemptive songs this year, “The Returner,” that grapples with freeing herself from sexual abuse by her racist father. These are powerful, redemptive songs. Check out the interview here.
 
Dan Savage’s love and sex advice for the new year
 
I first started reading Dan Savage when I was in my 20s, young and trying to figure out my own attitude towards sexuality and relationships. Savage, a gay man, is best known as a sex advice columnist, and he and his partner have been in a committed-yet-open relationship for more than 30 years. I’ve always found Savage’s words to be powerful and insightful and to offer something for all of us. And, frankly, these are perspectives about monogamy, commitment, sex, marriage, and relationship tradeoffs of relationships you don't often hear in the media. One of the fascinating statistics he cites is the growing number of people who identify as queer (20% of Generation Z, according to Savage, compared with 10% of Millenials and 2% of baby boomers – how typical, ha, that the statisticians have skipped over Generation X, my generation, as Katherine pointed out). This interview with Ezra Klein is long, but worth a listen. 

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