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Dear Readers,
This time next week I’m going to be making a huge announcement. ‘Excited’ doesn’t cut it. I’m vibrating. This is probably the biggest professional leap I’ve taken since quitting law eight years ago.
If you follow me on Instagram you’ll see me posting ‘teasers’ every day on my stories about what’s coming. But at 5pm next week—because my Five Star Nerds here are my number ones—you’ll get the link and news first.
What do you think is gonna go in this beautiful banner of hers? :) :) :) If you guess right—either in my Instagram DMs or by replying to this email—I’ll tell you!
And to be honest, working on this project has been a beautiful source of relief from otherwise being hypervigilant monitoring the election coverage. I’m typing to you at 4pm (cutting it close) with this newsletter on my right monitor and the New York Times election needle on the left monitor. Every time the left page refreshes my gut churns all over again. I’m sure you’ve all felt some way similar for a while now. There’s a monitor in the back of your mind, refreshing all the time, asking: are we really going to do this again?
Some of us are more materially affected than others by this outcome. A lot of people are devastated. Wherever you are, watching the results roll in, I hope you aren’t alone.
Best wishes and happy reading,
Bri
Spoiler Alert
Last week’s livestream was a RAGING success. Sam whipped up some little clips and I’ve shared them here if you can’t picture/hear in your mind what Spoiler Alert is.
Next month we’re getting together on Wednesday 18 December. The books are: Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser, and The Season by Helen Garner. The Garner is published on 25 November, so make sure you pre-order it or put your name down at your library ASAP. The de Kretser has a ZINGER of an ending. We shall discuss! Luckily both these books are short and sweet; it won’t take you long to read both.
The question of ‘What do you want from a novel?’ ended up being a really nice way to tie the conversation together at the end of last week’s chat. So the question I’m giving you for this next one is: ‘What is the #1 book on your summer reading list and why?’ I have a feeling we’ll get some ripper answers. That’ll be a Five Star Nerd Summer Reading List.
If you can’t attend the livestream, or you feel too nervous to put your hand up live, please leave me a voice memo here. (It’s super easy—especially on mobile.) Just say ‘Hi Bri, my name is xxx and…’ Then a question for me, or a comment about either novel, or an answer to the summer reading question. See you then.
News: Good or Bad? We’ll Know Soon Enough But at the Time of Writing, it Doesn’t Look Good.
The global media machine is always guilty of centreing the goings-on of the USA, but the fact is, the outcome of this election has huge consequences for every human on the planet and also for the planet itself.
For months now I have listened at my local dog park and read comments online saying that Harris ‘isn’t ready’ for the role of president, despite having served several years in the one job that could most-and-best prepare her for the role. The fact is that tons of men (and not just American men; see below) still believe women are fundamentally unsuited to leadership roles.
The so-called Pro-Lifers are killing women by denying them miscarriage healthcare. Trump is a convicted felon under criminal law and a rapist in a civil suit. He is backed by one of the wealthiest men in the world, Elon Musk, who most recently bought a secret compound for his 11 (that we know of) children and re-tweeted a false report fearmongering about the great replacement. Trump has indicated he is open to RFK Jr’s proposal to ban vaccines if he gets elected. If he wins it will be extremely dangerous for migrants, who he describes as violent invaders.
It is real and valid criticism that the democrats have spent over $20 billion so far arming Israel’s war on Gaza (and now Lebanon). Progressives are right to criticise Harris’ position on this. But Trump describes himself as the ‘best friend that Israel has ever had’, and at the Trump-Biden debate promised he would let Israel ‘finish the job’. ‘Israel’s extremist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, wants Trump to win and says he will be better for Israel.’ Trump does not represent an alterative on this issue.
Americans don’t have compulsory voting or a preferential system like we do here. That means their vote is much more clearly a choice between the candidates they hate the least. It’s true that media often do false ‘both-sides’ journalism (i.e. platforming a scientist opposite a bogus climate emergency denier) but in an American election we are forced to consider only two real sides. Most people I’ve spoken to are dismayed that the polls would even be close. It’s offensive that we even had to consider the possibility of a second Trump term. He is sexist and racist and fascist and will fuck up the planet.
So how did we get here? This piece in the New York Times by Ezra Klein makes a compelling argument that, more than any other factor, this election is about institutions:
‘To Democrats, the institutions that govern American life, though flawed and sometimes captured by moneyed interests, are fundamentally trustworthy. They are repositories of knowledge and expertise, staffed by people who do the best work they can, and they need to be protected and preserved. The Trumpist coalition sees something quite different: an archipelago of interconnected strongholds of leftist power that stretch from the government to the universities to the media and, increasingly, big business and even the military. This network is sometimes called the Cathedral and sometimes called the Regime; Trump refers to part of it as the Deep State, Vivek Ramaswamy calls the corporate side “Woke Inc.” and JD Vance has described it as a grave threat to democracy.’
The irony though, is that last week I was at Rick Morton’s book launch for Mean Streak and was struck by how Trumpian the Robodebt story is. Scott Morrison lied and lied for so many years. The government targeted vulnerable humans. People died. That one institution—our welfare system—went from supporting people to killing people. I worry about how much Australians pat ourselves on the back here for not being ‘as bad’ as the Americans, but a Guardian Australia poll showed 44% of males and 36% of females here would vote for Trump.
What relief is it to know that Harris is going to win the popular vote? No relief at all to the people most at-risk of fascist policies. No relief to the planet.
Am I making it worse by fuelling this nice little echo chamber of kind nerds? Do I only write for places and people that are exacerbating the bubbles? In one sense, yes, absolutely. But also, I believe solidarity and community is important and we need these spaces to be able to come together; to celebrate when it’s good and commiserate when it’s bad. If you’re feeling hopeless, remember that action can create hope—you don’t need to wait to feel hopeful to be spurned to action. Find and write to your MP. About what? Anything. But don’t wallow. Wallowing is a luxury a lot of people can’t afford.
Bad Review
I had something else drafted but then I was in a cab last night mindlessly scrolling through Instagram and did a double-take on a post from local Australian brand Venroy. Three slides of photos/videos of women on a beach, all taken from behind, at least one of them a ‘zooming-in’ style video. The women—all women of colour—appear to be unaware they’re being filmed. The caption?
A “bunda grande” is how Cariocas refer to a big butt. Rio de Janeiro 2024 online and in stores now. #venroy #rio
I… wait… what? Obviously I wanted to ask: do these women know they’re being filmed? But I couldn’t comment on the post. Which was weird, because you can comment on any of their other posts. This carousel had been up for almost an hour.
So I thought, give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they’re pivoting in an exciting new direction? Except… they’re not. None of the models on Venroy’s entire site or Instagram account are anything other than tiny. Here’s a shot from that Rio de Janeiro collection they used the women at the beach to promote. That, my friends, is not a bunda grande:
Venroy’s sizing only goes up to an AU14. They very obviously don’t actually want women with bunda grandes in their clothes. The average Australian woman is around an AU14-16. They don’t even want an average woman in their clothes.
And we’re not even at the racial component yet. Not a single person on their team knew anything about the long and terrible history of fetishisation and hypersexualisation of women of colour? I thought brand people got across this stuff back in 2020.
I paused again, maybe I’ve got it wrong somehow. Maybe the people who make Venroy do actually know and understand more about these things than I do and I’ve missed some cultural element going on? Seems like nah. On their ‘About’ page there’s a photo of a model (left) but the man who founded and runs the brand is actually this guy (right).
It seems like, in trying to be racially inclusive (nice) and have a globally-inspired design aesthetic (cool), they’ve lost track of what it means to appreciate. It’s good to be inspired by language and culture if it is an actual partnership involving respect and understanding.
I could go a LOT harder on this (you know I could) but Venroy have now taken the posts down, so I’m going to presume that enough people have let them know it was cooked and why. Let’s call it a teachable moment for this brand and for brands in general.
Good Reviews
Thanks to Simon & Schuster we have a special extract to offer you from Santilla Chingaipe’s new book, Black Convicts, which just came out. It’s a short intro and then the story of Ann Hicks, who arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in February 1830 after being sentenced to seven years transportation for stealing a watch, box, and £15. As Chingaipe writes here, ‘The figures in this book have been neglected for too long. It’s time their lives were considered part of our history.’
I’ve bought my tickets to see Amyl and the Sniffers when they tour around Australia in January next year. (Find your dates here.) Their new album, Cartoon Darkness, is pure, riotous, punk rock poetry. Caltex Cowgirl (aka Amy Taylor) is a personal hero of mine. Her commitment to rocking out and saying fuck the haters fills me with euphoric righteous happiness. Is there anywhere in this world a dream can’t take me? You are ugly all day // I am hot always.
In order to be hot always (but in particular at the Amyl show in January) I bought this frankly deranged bikini. (Self-Portrait, on sale for $96 plus an extra 20% off on MyTheresa.) I will be wearing my tiny bikini and my tiny shorts and rocking out in blue eyeshadow. Me and the girls look snazzy and hot. See you there.
Giveaways
The most-requested giveaway from last week’s poll was Australian Gospel by Lech Blaine. (The Thinning by Inga Simpson was such a close second we’ll do that in coming weeks too.)
Enter with your name and address here and I’ll draw the winner at random next week.
Friendly reminder that giveaways are for paying subscribers. I cross-reference entries to my subscriber list. Broke people on comb subscriptions can still enter because I’m not an asshole.
Got a big huge juicy giveaway next week too—to coincide with my huge announcement. :) :) :) xxx
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Smart takes on books, news, and culture. Straight from Bri's desk in Sydney to your inbox each Wednesday at 5pm.
Been thinking a very similar thing re all the recent edms from that bad review….. Really leaves you wondering.
A big 👏 & thank you for this 'Bad Review'