74. READ.LOOK.THINK.

READ: ”Dumb is not an inborn condition. You get to dumb after going through smart. Smart is stupid because it stops at smart. Smart is a phase. Dumb is post-smart.” | Rape Joke by Patricia Lockwood. | Some unhappy literary trends. | Two essays by Helen Hayward are like a welcome, grown up version of vulnerable internet lifewriting. My children, my life and My husband travels. | “over the years, i’ve almost unconsciously used future and lil b and chief keef as tools to slowly, painstakingly reveal glimpses of myself, and to let myself build up trust with others. if i can trust your taste in music, then just maybe i can trust you as a human.” | “You have time. Meaning don’t use it, but pass through time in patience, waiting for something to come. Prepare for its arrival. Don’t rush to meet it. Be a conduit. I believed him. I felt this to be true. Some people might consider that passivity but I did not. I considered it living.” Currently reading The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner (and Monkey Grip by Helen Garner). | Enjoying Vela Mag’s Women We Read each week.

LOOK: Pleasant summer indie mixtape. | The Royal Society of Literature soundcloud has all their author talks. | 100 UK boutique hotels under £100.

THINK: “Firing more words into the middle of all that began to strike me as futile and unnecessary. I started to view myself as yet another factory mindlessly pumping carbon dioxide into a toxic sky.” | The allure of the New Domesticity. | So you think Skyler White is a bitch? | So-called “boat people” remind Australians that we haven’t earned what we’ve got. | The more “controlling” the director—the more structured the film— the more attentive the audience. | The presence of women makes men more generous. | Resistance to change puts you at risk in an emergency. | Urban noise drives you mad. It’s also a class issue.

LINKNESS: As always, my wrap up of the week’s top strategy creativity marketing reads on Nextness.

This will be my last READ.LOOK.THINK. for a while because sometime in the next few weeks, if all goes well, we will have a baby girl. Thank you for all the kindness you’ve shown us as we’ve been so excited over the past 38 weeks <3