Boundaries, bodies, brains and trad wives

A July linkfest.

Here we are in the throes of summer, and I’m back with the monthly roundup of some of my favorite Internet reads and listens for you. And this month I’ve clearly been thinking about … boundaries and trad wives and brains and bodies? Sure, why not.

(And if you want to feel 20 all over again, in ways both good and bad, may I also recommend keeping the new Olivia Rodrigo album on loop, which is all I’ve done since it dropped last month.)

Boundaries

Ever since I listened to Lena Dunham on Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang,” I’ve been trying to abide by the wisdom Dunham got from her brother: Make sure your replies to emails have fewer words than the one you got. A practical, attainable lesson on boundaries? We love to see it. (Good Hang with Amy Poehler, May 26)

I have been thinking a lot about the impact that Laverne Cox has had on The Culture and the way she’s modeled caring for yourself and protecting your truth — and how she’s modeling midlife now as she promotes her memoir, “Transcendent.” (The New York Times, June 10)

88-year-old Joyce Carol Oates takes a daily three-mile walk through the woods. This also feels like boundary goals for me: yes to protecting your time to move your body. (Of course her new short story collection, “The Frenzy,” is as subversive as ever.) (Vulture, June 17)

Shot: A great reminder from Deb Benfield over on her Substack that there’s no one right way to age and no one right way to have a body and your mileage may vary on all advice and takes and that is extremely OK. (Unapologetic Aging, June 21)

Chaser: CNN’s Audie Cornish and Ari Shapiro’s too freaking real conversation on their podcast about how menopause influencers have become the latest iteration of the “Can women have it all?” trope that simply will not die. (Added bonus: They also talked about NPR’s Rachel Martin being tired of menopause diets that are clearly not for her — just like we did two weeks ago!) (Engagement Party, June 19)

Bodies

I cannot deadlift 180 pounds and reading about these kids who can and are achieving Internet stardom for it was a very specific kind of humbling and fascinating. It was some real food for thought when it comes to how we share our bodies and in what mediums. (Written by the one and only Danielle Friedman, who talked to us for this newsletter about vibration plates!) (The New York Times, May 30)

More GLP-1 debate surrounds us. The latest? Whether they should be considered performance-enhancing drugs as part of the coverage of Serena Williams’ return to professional tennis. (The Atlantic, June 20)

Veteran health journalist Michele Promaulayko has been my editor-in-chief twice (at Yahoo Health and Cosmopolitan). So her latest on caring for her friend during her facelift recovery was always going to be automatic (and voyeuristic) reading for me. (Allure, June 17)

Obviously I had to also read the behind-the-scenes commentary on the Allure story by Robin Levine Shobin, the friend in question, on her own Substack. (Charlotte’s Book, June 19)

I have had a love-hate relationship with Vogue for decades — and have been an admirer of NPR’s Michel Martin even longer. In other words, Martin’s sit-down with new Vogue editor in chief Chloe Malle on her desire to curate a more accessible, more inclusive version of the fashion bible was a must-listen for me. (NPR’s Newsmakers, June 18)

Trad Wives

It’s hard to explain how much time I spend thinking about the impact of “Lean In” and the so-called Girl Boss era — so this episode of the Diabolical Lies podcast (co-hosted by “Yesteryear” author caro claire burke) really scratched a certain itch. (Diabolical Lies, May 31)

Related: Hannah “Ballerina Farm” Neeleman said she hasn’t read “Yesteryear” — allegedly inspired by her online persona — but knows “what’s going on” in regards to the so-called trad wife novel of the summer. (Vulture, June 16)

And I extremely appreciated Jo Piazza weighing in on Substack about the “all trad wife novels are the same” discourse that has recently emerged … about her own novel! (Over the Influence, June 23)

Brains

I loved listening to Emily Jacobs (whom we spoke to about ADHD and menopause back in October!) talk about sex hormones and the brain and how to make sense of what we do and don’t know about all of this yet. (Radiolab, June 19)

… but then my brain melted altogether after reading the always excellent Cheryl Wischhover on the rise of the “AI granny” influencers over on her Substack and what they’re selling and what this even does to our psyches to be force-fed this kind of fake (aspirational???) imagery. (Good For Your Age, June 25)