Friday Things

1 month ago | fridaythings.com | Stacy Lee Kong

Theroux: “The millions of people who have nothing to do with Oct. 7, right? Who would actually just like to live free, full lives.”Abramowitz: “If that’s really what they wanted, they would have had it a long time ago. They want to wipe Israel off the map. They want every last Jew dead.” Theroux: “So what’s the answer?” Abramowitz: “The answer is for us to declare sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria. And all of the land of Israel. And Gaza.

1 month ago | fridaythings.com | Stacy Lee Kong

“While we aren't currently in a recession, that doesn't mean it doesn't feel like it,” writer Christianna Silva noted. “The wealth gap is widening and racial wealth divide remains. The cost of living has surged while wages have remained stagnant. Over the past 30 years, the wealthiest Americans have seen their net worth soar, while the poorest have plunged into ‘negative wealth’—where their debts outweigh their assets, according to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

1 month ago | fridaythings.com | Stacy Lee Kong

Each essay in the book references a particular song, from Sheryl Crow’s “If It Makes You Happy” to “I Wish I Was the Moon” by Neko Case. How did you decide which ones to include? I made a really big playlist, and then I went on a lot of walks and I listened to the songs. I needed just songs to spark a memory. The opening essay is a song by The Waterboys called “The Fisherman's Blues,” and when I listen to that song, I am back in this place of like, okay, the living room [of our house] is different.

2 months ago | fridaythings.com | Stacy Lee Kong

Regardless of the specific group these demonstrators claimed belonging to, the overall perspective was anti-government nationalism. The entire point of the convoy was to uphold an idea of Canada that was unconstrained by this country’s existing social order. The vision was a Canada for some people (white, Christian, politically conservative), which necessarily meant others (Indigenous, racialized, politically progressive people) were unwelcome.

2 months ago | fridaythings.com | Stacy Lee Kong

I’ve had an ongoing list of potential newsletter ideas in my Notes app since I started Friday Things in 2020. Sometimes they’re newsletters I want to write but there’s something timelier to tackle that week (I’m still mad I didn’t write about Michael B. Jordan’s appropriation rum in 2021, but don’t worry—one day you are getting an absolute opus about the celebrity liquor industrial complex), other times they’re topics I just want to think about more before I delve into them.