🎶 sitting is the opposite of standing 🎶
is anyone else obsessed with TJ Mack?
I’m sitting here writing to you, listening to the rain hit my window INCREDIBLY hard after being soaked to my skin on my way home. Hate to bring you the type of weather chat that you have with that friend you get coffee with once every six months but we’re currently in the eye of some sort of storm and I felt like setting the scene was imp today.
As with the rest of the world with a beating heart, I’m finding it tricky to be a person online at the moment. Of course, this has not resulted in me logging off - like a lot of us I’m reading more than I ever have and learning things I can’t believe I wasn’t taught at school, but it feels like there is very little allowance to be doing things in private - like if you’re not sharing you’re not caring, which is not the case. Anyway - I’ve linked some of the things I’ve been reading, and updated the resources I’ve been linking to here based on a lot of your feedback - so thank you so much for that!
We’re announcing our November book club pick tomorrow and I gotta tell you, it’s a different genre than Bel or I are used to, but we’re excited to be trying something new out with you!!! Sit tight for that…
Reminding you that school is COOL
Where to get trusted information on Israel-Palestine
I need to know if any of you are on TJ Mack-tok
This week in podcasts!
Reminding you that school is COOL
This segment was brought to you by Auckland University of Technology (AUT) who are putting on a webinar to help you figure out how to get into (or back into) study!
Ok, so some of you may have heard that our very own London Laura has just gone back to study - again!! If you missed it, here’s what she wrote about it a few weeks back:
“It’s so nice to be tapping into that part of my brain again, and being like, wow I’m being fully encouraged to study/read/think about something that I’m super passionate about and not just for fun?”
If you’re thinking about studying - or going BACK to studying - and you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed or confused by it all, Auckland University of Technology (AUT) have got you!!
They’re putting on a free webinar for anyone who has questions, concerns, or just wants to know a bit more about what it’s like to go to uni as an adult, and honestly, it’s so cool that they’re putting this on (I could have used it when I was trying to figure all this out), so I’d highly recommend checking it out!
When? Thursday 26 October
Time: 6.30pm - 7.30pm
Location: Online!
Where to get trusted information on Israel-Palestine:
As usual, pointing you to the journalists out there who are covering this in-depth (have taken on a LOT of your suggestions, so thank you!)
A big Google Doc full of links, books, podcasts, and helpful history
A piece I read and loved: to bear witness
Explanations Are Not Excuses (Intelligencer)
(If you have other sources you’d like to see covered here, I’m only an email away!)
How we can help!
Social media is currently awash with misinformation so I wanted to make sure that any info I passed on to you about places we could donate were safe, legitimate and effective.
This a list that has been compiled by CharityWatch, who’ve listed “legitimate, efficient, and accountable charities involved in efforts to aid and assist the people of Israel – Palestine during active conflict in the region.”
This is another list from Charity Navigator which includes only “organizations that are at least three years old, show a three-or four-star rating and have a track record of positive results in their region, among other requirements.”
I need to know if any of you are on TJ Mack-tok
Ok, this is a little silly - and I’m aware I’m LATE to the party here, but Rubes asked me the other day if I’d heard of TJ Mack and his song ‘Sitting’ and I hadn’t. She explained to me that TJ Mack isn’t a person but rather a character, conjured up by his creator Brian Jordan Alvarez, who puts on a face filter and an accent you can’t quite figure out, and just… exists. Fast forward only a few days though and I feel like I’m caught up on the Brian Jordan Alvarez extended universe (thanks in huge part to newsy bestie Kate Lindsay who wrote the piece on him) and I just needed to know if any of the newsy besties get it or not. That’s all.
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Culture Vulture: We Can All Do Hard Things
An IRL ep with London Laura AND a cameo from Stanley Tucci lite!!! We talk about the trials and tribulations of starting new things, and why it’s so hard (but necessary) to do! Then Stanley Tucci lite joins us for some F1 chat, so I reckon you’re gonna LOVE it!!
The Shit Show: A LOT of Updates For You
This week on the The Shit Show podcast, Squish and I give you:
The latest on Israel-Palestine and how we can help from wherever we are
How the NZ election unfolded and what this means for New Zealand
Millie Bobbie-Brown finding out she's a feminist through her psychic
META's new AI celebs and how much they freak us out
Listen wherever you get your pods!
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Thank you for sharing the Intelligencer piece, it really resonated with me. As an American Jew it's been devastating to watch my identity and my family's history be weaponized and used to justify brutality against Palestinians throughout my life and over the last two weeks. It felt really powerful to see someone else put that feeling into words that I haven't been able to find.
Opening with the weather chat, the London influence is doing it's thing 👌🏻