The Weekly Spill #20
clocking in for my shift at the tortured substacker's department
Happy Friday! I know that some of you have the day diving into the mind of Taylor Swift, and I am here to offer you a different mind to explore. Less poetic, though potentially just as chaotic. Some divas write songs, others send out weekly newsletters. My way seems easier, but she seems pretty dedicated to the whole song thing. Anyway, here are the things that have been on my mind this week:
Lili Anolik’s upcoming book about Joan Didion & Eve Babitz: Yes, she wrote a book specifically for me. To use a potentially outdated reference, the relationship between these two women is my roman empire. After Babitz’s death (and Didion’s 6 days later), sealed boxes containing letters were found in the back of Eve’s closet. These included the bitchy letter to Joan Didion that was written about in Anolik’s 2022 Vanity Fair article. I have laid awake at night pondering the possible stories, tea, and unpublished writing that was found amongst her belongings. I can’t wait to find out what is in this book. It’s all I want to think about, and I apologize in advance for the absolute menace I will become once it’s in my hands. I’m about to make one of those Christmas countdown paper chains to mark the days until this is released. If anyone knows anyone who can get me an advanced copy, I will love you forever.
This story in The Cut about friendships ending over Taylor Swift: unhinged, illuminating, dystopian. The intensity of the Swifties is frankly scary. The Cut dedicated an entire section of their site to TS content this week in preparation of the new album, and I think most of it was pretty good. In addition to the friendship piece, I really enjoyed both of the Swift fashion dissections that came out this week. This one (once again from The Cut) focuses on her style more generally, while this Vanity Fair article dives deeper into her fashion choices in this new era, specifically how she might be channeling the sartorial styles of famous poets.
The WNB-slay: I was previously unaware that the athlete girlies were serving looks of this caliber, and that’s on me. I’m not a sports person (shocking, I know), and so maybe that led me to being ill-informed. I know better now, and feel it necessary to share these looks with you.
top row: Cameron Brink, Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese; bottom row: Kamilla Cardoso, Nika Muhl, Rickea Jackson Much has been said this week about the giant pay gap between these players and their male counterparts, and rightfully so. If the men are going to earn that much money, I better see that reflected in their looks. These women are scoring on the court and the red carpet, and they need to be paid for that!! Also, I would like to take the time right now to make a prediction that Caitlin Clark will be at the Met Gala.
JoJo Siwa’s new era and subsequent contribution to the culture: we love to watch a delusional train wreck happen in real time. The videos of her in what can only be described as Gene Simmons drag, telling reporters that she’s never heard of him, but she loves niche references. That’s iconic. I mean this diva just invented gay pop…. thanks queen!
The return of the body deodorant grift: Recently, I’ve been bombarded by advertisements for “whole-body deodorants,” which are apparently huge in the body care market at the moment. Every brand or article selling them claims that these are filling a huge gap in the market; that the stinky consumers have been begging for this product. Every dermatologist recommends you skip it. This grift is as old as time: convince people that they have a problem, then sell them the solution. Even this exact body deodorant scheme isn’t new, I know because Nora Ephron wrote about it for her Esquire column in 1973. The essay was a standout for me when I read it a few months ago in her collection Crazy Salad, and was the first thing I thought of when these commercials started to be everywhere. I kept waiting for someone to draw this comparison, but I haven’t seen it happen yet. So, here I am to do it myself. Go read it, Nora was onto something 50 years ago.
Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces: I went into this kind of blind, and by the time it ended I said, “wow so he’s a genius and I think I love him?” Steve Martin is such an archivist of his own life, which is what makes this project so compelling. Even the very small moments from the start of his career are accompanied by pictures, old video footage, and journal entries. I might pick up his memoir because I’ve only heard good things, and watching this left me sort of fascinated about Steve.
My only disappointment was that there was no mention of his relationship with Eve Babitz. She claims to be the one who told him to wear the white suit on stage, and I kept waiting for him to bring that up especially since the doc touched on the influence of some of his other girlfriends. I wish she had popped up in the old pictures/videos, but I am crazy so take that criticism with a grain of salt.
The woman who inherited the world’s largest Barbra Streisand collection: I’ll admit that part of me is drawn to this because while I have a decently sized vintage magazine collection, it’s not big enough to fill 6 storage units and that makes me feel less crazy. I wish that someone had noticed this story and done something with it before the collector, Lou, passed away. He was obviously very passionate about this collection, the article mentions that at one point it was estimated to have been as large as 100,000 pieces. I’m sure he had a ton of stories to tell about the different pieces and it would have been cool to hear those, and all about how he built the world’s largest collection of “Barbrabilia.” Side note: whoever came up with that term is a genius.
Anne Hathaway reacting to her old movies: I can’t believe that as a society wr turned on this woman just because she let her inner theatre kid out. Long live the Hathaissance!
The new Lady Gaga wax figure: I am obsessed. To me, this is art. I’ve never felt more compelled to visit a Ripley’s Believe It or Not in my life. Who is she? What has she been through? What is this woman’s secret? She has one, I can tell.
wait this is kinda giving gay pop i think…
My cold medicine is starting to wear off, so that is it for this week! Bye divas!