Today, April 24th
REDISCOVER MAVIS ON HBO. In these disconcerting times, we’re finding moments of laughter and inspiration everywhere—in books, on Zoom, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, Netflix, Facebook and more. Happening upon the HBO on-demand documentary, “MAVIS!,” I spent a joyful 90 minutes with one of the most moving and beloved singers of our time, Mavis Staples—and encourage you to do the same.
Read my tribute to Mavis here; and click here to view the trailer and/or stream the movie.
Microsoft’s fascinating and interactive site, FocusForests.com (pictured) is helping conservationists understand and protect forests.
HAVE YOUR GIFT TO THE EARTH DOUBLED. To mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Month, Microsoft is supporting The Nature Conservancy’s regreening efforts—which include planting 1 billion trees by 2025—in a big way. Trees are essential to our planet’s health—and last year, Microsoft and MSN readers raised over $100,000 to help plant 50,000 trees.
When you make a donation to the non-profit through the end of April, Microsoft will double your gift (up to $150,000). In light of our current administration’s total disregard for the environment, any amount is money well spent.
LAUGH OUT LOUD WITH SAMANTHA IRBY. I think fans of the author—whose Bitches Gotta Eat blog is subtitled “books, snacks, softcore, despair”— would agree that the 40-year old, out-and-proud Chicagoan keeps it real. Real f_ckin’ funny.
“The only writer who can make me laugh with abandon in public."
—Julia Kosin, ELLE's Best Books of 2020
I loved her last collection of essays, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, and Wow, No Thank You (which debuted atop The New York Times bestseller list in March) is equally raunchy and honest, yet hugely relatable. It’s a connection that inspired the paper to call Irby “Our great bard of quarantine,” noting that she “understands suffering and uncertainty, and is wildly, seditiously funny on both.”
The hugely versatile Irby’s credits include writing Showtime’s “Work in Progress.”
This is a woman who prefers lounges over bars, “because you can sink into a plush banquette in the corner and not move your sloshing stomach around.” Whose assessment of a fancy vegan desert donut is, “Come on, just why?” Whose list of needs ranges from “the ability to kill someone with my look” to meeting Quentin Tarantino—and ends with “I need some muscl-y dudes around to carry my shit for me. I need some angry dudes who can beat bitches up when they fuck with me. I need some girly dudes around who can keep my eyebrow game on point. And I need some sweet dudes around to keep me from killing ALL OF THE OTHER TYPES OF DUDES.”
While I doubt this author, comedian and blogger is in desperate need of fans, she has found one in me.