Well, here we are! Your weather dispatch: hot with a chance of a thunderstorm that will scare my cat. I (Gaby) am sick and don’t have a single thought in my brain. As such, Gaby Recommends is on a brief hiatus until next month, when hopefully I’m smart again.
With that, let’s get into it!
xoxo,
Gaby, Hannah, Marcelle, Coach, and Zoe
We’re still having a hot slow summer, but we have a brand new episode out all about Reservation Dogs with the fabulous Karrmen Crey! In this episode, Marcelle (who is a huge fan of the show) offers some insight into how Reservation Dogs came to be. We're talking co-creators Sterlin Harjo and Taiki Waititi, the success of Thor: Ragnarok, and the influence of both the Sundance Film Festival and Toronto’s imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. Karrmen helps Marcelle and Hannah think through Indigenous sovereignty in the context of cultural production, pulling on her own research about the rise and influence of Indigenous media. Marcelle, Hannah and Karrmen then talk about specific episodes and characters that mean something to each of them. Reservation Dogs is available to stream on Hulu, and you really oughta check it out!
Making Worlds out of context
We can’t stop having fun on Making Worlds!
Ever wondered what an average episode of Making Worlds looks like? The above is a screenshot from our episode with Lark and Jessie of Hashtag Ruthless Productions in an episode all about Star Trek: The Next Generation. What does this still have to do with the episode? You’ll have to join our Patreon to watch the full episode and see!
As a reminder, Making Worlds is a video podcast (with audio-only versions available!) where Hannah talks with a guest (or two) about a sci-fi, fantasy, speculative fiction, or magical realism text that has changed the way they think about and view the world around them.
New episodes are released to the general public at a 3 month delay, so if being a Patron is not financially feasible at this time, you can still see the episodes! It’s the same amount of fun no matter when you join.
This photo of Zoe’s dog has no relation to the text that follows. It just felt important to share.
We’re in pre-production for Season Two of Gender Playground and we need listener voicemails! We’re accepting voicemails for the next six weeks. Help us spread the word and share the voicemail form far and wide! We want to know what questions you have about gender-affirming care for kids — and what topics you want us to consider in this next season! Thanks for helping us shape this exciting new season.
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Have a strongly worded comment about this newsletter? You can now reply right on Substack and we’ll be able to see it and even reply! Just be nice to us.
I have a passion for short books that teach me something I didn’t know about pop culture (hence my love for the whole ECW Pop Classics series, cough cough preorder my book cough). Right now, I’m reading Cait McKinney’s I Know You Are, but What Am I?: On Pee-wee Herman, which is full of fascinating histories I didn’t know about Paul Reubens’s beloved cult tv show, his 1991 arrest, and the subsequent afterlife of his work. I’m obsessed with the fact that all of the Talking Pee-wee dolls—collectibles for fans of the show—are broken in the same way: the governor doesn’t work. They’re literally ungovernable!!! And don’t even get me started on McKinney’s reading of Reubens’s arrest as per of an AIDS-phobic crackdown on queer gathering spaces. No spoilers! Read the book!
As global temperatures continue to rise we are all doing our darndest to cool off with the limited resources we have. I am about to get EVANGELICAL about your ice cube trays. You simply NEED a silicone ice cube tray that makes decent cubes of ice. Gone are the days of novelty ice cube trays— they cannot cool a beverage adequately in this climate. So instead, you want something like this joie silicone "Big Ice Cube Tray with Spill-proof lid" or like the starfrit silicone 15-cube tray. Both of these SHOULD be under $10. You may be thinking that all ice cube trays are the same—my friend, you deserve better than a shit ice cube tray. You deserve the ease and structural integrity that the silicone ice cube tray has to offer. Once you have treated yourself to a proper ice cube tray, the other thing you need is some fresh mint. Whether you pour yourself a glass of tap water or crack open a can of La Croix or Michael Bubly, a sprig of fresh mint does wonders. This is the perfect combo for a brief moment of relief from the relentless heat.
I’m listening to the birds! I went to Hood River, Oregon last week for a friend’s wedding and found myself reminded of how much there is to listen to in THE WOODS. So now I’m back in Brooklyn, trying to pull out some bird calls amidst the sound of traffic. It’s working! I’m also listening to so. much. Petey!
Last night I went to see Twisters. My biggest gripe was THERE IS NO KISS. If one goes to the movie, one expects to see smooches, yes? Why go to movie if no kiss?? Aside from the lack of kisses I really enjoyed the movie. I had zero expectations, which is perhaps the best way to go into a movie theatre. I laughed, I cried, and held my breath when the Final Boss Twister descended on small town Oklahoma. Anne Helen Peterson captured my feelings perfectly on Glen Powell: “Three weeks ago, I felt like Glen Powell had been manufactured in a lab to become the next Hollywood star. I didn’t like him, I didn’t get him. He seemed bland. Handsome, sure, but in a boring way.” (Read the whole Substack here. But, similarly to Anne Helen Peterson— I found Glen Powell’s magic comes through when he is in motion. He isn’t afraid to be the butt of a joke. He has a self awareness to his handsomeness that is refreshing. His character exhibits a form of masculinity that is not violent, and that is nice. (The bar is so low, guys… it’s so low). Now that The Glen Powell of it all has been addressed, I would like to note that the entire Twister Wrangler crew was an absolute delight. I loved Boone. I loved Lily. I loved the uptight British journalist who vomited after going through his first twister. I wanted more screen time with them!!! I wanted more peaks of Katy M. O’Brian in her cowboy hat and muscle tee. Why wasn’t she the leading man? I would have eaten that up. This was my first Daisy Edgar Jones film too (I know. I know. I haven’t seen Normal People) and she was a definite highlight. I can forgive the bad accent because she was great in every other way. In parting, I’ll say this: Go see Twisters. You won’t regret it. P.S. RELEASE THE KISS CUT, LEE ISAAC CHUNG! I DARE YOU
I’m loving a coconut milk and cherry tomato combination these days, and I make this recipe probably every other week. It’s so good! And easily veganized by replacing the fish with chickpeas (which I have done and loved). It’s great over rice, and I’ve also topped it with cucumber mint yogurt (easy—just dice up half a cuke, chop up some mint (or basil or cilantro), mix with a dash of lemon juice and stir into plain Greek yogurt).
Okay, bye! xoxo
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I have a strongly worded comment to share: That is a FANTASTIC picture of Hannah at the mic!