Boygenius, girlidiot 💋
+ Trump being stupid, drag bans, & Olivia Rodrigo has a new album coming out!!
I’m not gonna lie - yesterday was SO STRANGE not sending a newsy to you all. It feels so weird to be forcing myself to take a break when all I want to do is hang out with you 24/7!! But, I promise it is all for a VERY GOOD REASON and I will stick to my new three-day-a-week newsy schedule unless something very big and important happens. I will say, in the meantime, if you’re REALLY missing your daily dose of Luce, you can get a lil news update over on TikTok:
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This morning is a biiiig morning for the SYSCA gals - I’m interviewing Chris and Gavin (aka Conrad and Jeremiah) from The Summer I Turned Pretty and Bel is interviewing Curtis Sittenfeld (Romantic Comedy author) for our very first BOOK CLUB podcast!! PS - if you’re not in our book club WYD???
Ruby, in the meantime, has been producing/ organising both of these things, so there’s just a LOT of girl power going into getting you all really good content lately.
Update: just had the interview and it went SO well!! They were so cute and I can’t wait for you to see it, I am REEEEEEELING!!!
I’m also going to meet New Zealand’s very own taylor-trapper for a coffee today, who I assume is gonna be very cute and sweet:
Ok - that’s all for now, lots to catch up on!!
Boygenius dressed in drag to protest Tennesee’s drag bans and I’m so hot for it
🔔Bel Chimes In: Is this the emoji of the year?🔔
🗺Around the world!!🗺
Honduras starts El Salvador-style crackdown on gangs after massacres
Trump heard on tape discussing 'highly confidential, secret' documents
Spanish swimming pools in Catalonia told not to ban topless bathing
Violet Grohl is asking people to stop sending her edits of her dad
Olivia Rodrigo has a new album coming out
You can book a night in Barbie's Malibu Dream House on Airbnb
Boygenius dressed in drag to protest Tennesee’s drag bans and I’m so hot for it
In protest of the recent anti-LGBTQ bills being passed in Tennessee, boygenius - a band made up of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker (and even their cameraman) - dressed in full drag for their Nashville show. I’m so hot for them, and Phoebe’s drag name is one of the most iconic things I’ve heard in a long time.
Baker — whose home state is Tennessee — paused the show to take aim at Gov. Lee, who earlier this year signed controversial laws banning minors from receiving gender-affirming care and preventing drag queens from performing in certain public spaces. “Today I’m so grateful for my life, not because I get to stand onstage with my best friends … but because I’m content with the person that I am,” she said. “I have a lot of anger for the people that have made me feel small, and feel erased.”
“And I’ve found it’s a really powerful and humiliating tool to make those people f–k off,” the musician continued. “I would like you to scream so loud that Gov. Lee can hear you.”
“Can we say ‘F–k Bill Lee’ on three?” Bridgers then proposed, before leading a countdown that ended with thousands of voices screaming “F–k Bill Lee!”
🔔Bel Chimes In: Is this the emoji of the year?
This section is written by my crush, the refreshing-as-a-house-chardonnay-on-a-steamy-day, Bel Hawkins. She also writes our Sunday newsletter ‘No News is Good News’ which all our paying supporters receive. Upgrade your plan to get her newsy here!
Crushes! (Lol, I got teased for calling you that last month but I j'adore it, I'm going to make the wild assumption that you do to, leaning into it, live your truth, etc etc).
So — this funny thing happened to me three times last week, which I obviously wanted to bring to you because I love you, and I love these chimes.
It was about what the emoji of the year would be. You know, like the way the 'colour of the year' is announced or how dictionaries release their word of the year. So far, what would your emoji be? Three friends of mine in unrelated chats send me this without me even having to ask:
And, ok, not trying to project my own first half of the year of immense trials and tribs but isn't it just, like, it?
I always try and leave you with funny/lol/omg yes feelings each week and I don't want to enforce my own experience of the world in case you're having an incredible time over there in your life, but to me it just captured everything:
The permacrisis, the recessioncore, the cozzie livs, the radical acceptance, the relentless positivity, the Who Cares Moments, the C'est La Vies, the Lean In, Tap Out, the whole fucking buckle in, survive and find the joy in it anyway mentality that post pandemic living has demanded from us and I just wanted to give you a cute reprieve from your working day today to say crush, I get you.
See you on Sunday if you've taken the leap and become a ~ paying subscriber ~ aka one of the cutest parts of the internet and this week I'm revealing a new era. Love u! xoxo
🗺Around the world!!🗺
Some of the headlines you missed while I was gone xxx
Honduras starts El Salvador-style crackdown on gangs after massacres (The Guardian)
Authorities in Honduras have launched an “El Salvador-style crackdown” after arresting a suspect in a pool hall shooting that killed 11 people. They think it’s possible that the shooting was ‘revenge’ for last weeks gang-related massacre of 46 female inmates.
Now, the Honduran government is ‘cracking down’ on gang violence and has put curfews in place.
“On Monday, the military police – who have taken charge of the nation’s prisons – posted photos of male inmates forced to sit in rows, spread-legged and touching, during a raid to seize contraband in one prison.
Such tactics – with inmates clad only in shorts, their heads bowed on to the backs of the men in front of them – were made famous last year by the Salvadorian president, Nayib Bukele, during his crackdown on gangs. Bukele’s harsh tactics have succeeded in weakening organized crime, but at a high cost to human rights.”
Trump heard on tape discussing 'highly confidential, secret' documents (BBC)
Would loooooove to have at least a month without talking about Trump but he persists, and so shall we. The latest is that CNN got hold of an “audio recording in which Donald Trump appears to acknowledge keeping a classified document after leaving the White House.”
You won’t believvvve the details:
Mr Trump is heard saying "these are the papers" and referring to a document about Iran which he calls "highly confidential".
"This was done by the military and given to me," he says. "See as president I could have declassified it. Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret."
Spanish swimming pools in Catalonia told not to ban topless bathing (BBC)
Basically Catalonia’s government has just told its town and city halls that they must allow women to go topless in public swimming pools because it’s enshrined under a 2020 Catalan equality law. Slay!
Violet Grohl wants you to stop tagging her in thrist traps of her dad
Airbnb is offering a free stay at Barbie’s Malibu Dreamhouse
Barbie’s marketing budget???? UNMATCHED. JUST GO AND LOOK AT THE AIRBNB LISTING!!
Olivia Rodrigo has a new album coming out
I survived the Olivia Rodrigo drought and you did too. We’re getting her sophomore album ‘Guts’ on September 8th - HELL YEAH!
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It took me a while to work out what you meant by "shit dead" in the TikTok 💀
🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠OMG BEL YES🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠