Electoral College Inhabitants,
Last week, I signed off with this:
“Really, really cannot believe that next Sunday will be a very different feeling in the air, no matter what.”
Yes, there is “a very different feeling” alright.
And “really, really cannot believe…”? Check.
I have felt many things during this week, along with most everyone else. Grief and anger, primarily. Fear, running a close third. For some reason, also embarrassed. And guilty. And angry. Oh wait I think I said that. Others can add disbelief and surprise. Unproudly, I can honestly say, not I. Nope, I am so not surprised!
Have I mentioned that I’m angry?
I would like to say that “many people are saying” that I knew Hillary wouldn’t win. But I can’t say that because our President-elect co-opted the phrase to mean “only I am saying that.” But really, I knew! I’m not saying that I accepted it, but I knew.
You know who else had the right prediction? The producers of Watch What Happens Live. And my friend David! Well, at least the polls they ran “knew.” For some reason these particular ones allowed people to be honest, unashamed of copping to the truth. Apparently that was not the case for the polls that were run by very fancy people and organizations who run polls for a living, or write about them.
Now, everyone’s trying to figure out how and why they were wrong, and they are appropriately defensive about being less wrong than they seem. Very famous media pundits are scurrying to figure out what went wrong with the data and the polling and the ignoring and the under-reporting and the over-reporting blah blah spew spew who cares, actually. Everyone wants an answer. The answer. It is like a massive media mea culpae combined with heavy finger-pointing.
For me, the basic take-away is that if you have your head in the sand for a long time, when you come up for air it’s really blinkingly, uncomfortably bright out here.
The point of the LZ Sunday Paper is to report on a wide variety of news stories about women in business, media, and tech, with a smattering of the best of the high/low arts and pop culture. I tell a little story at the top and let the articles of the Paper — the news of the week — carry the message. Most weeks, I write this top-note about something distinctly bland, not particularly “feminist,” usually something quite quotidian. Just my take on my own week’s events, meetings, travel, personal encounters, activities, memories. That’s the “LZ” part. The “Sunday Paper” part is the news, curated by me, for you.
It’s morphed — maybe metastasized is a better word — into something else.
What I’m saying is: The din of curating might be getting too loud for me right now. It’s insane. Doing almost nothing but deep-diving into endless refreshes of news streams (rightly) focussed on politics and the election are drowning out the joy of doing it. Even the tougher stuff had resonance and heft, not like this debilitating muck. Also, I don’t want the important news about women in business, media and the digital realm to get lost, and at the same time I don’t want news about movies and tv, art and music, fashion and pop culture to seem gross and petty.
That makes it hard to curate a digital Paper which is highly dependent on reading and listening to (what feels like) everything in the world, every six days. I went into a bit of a self-imposed media blackout this week. So thanks more than ever to my most active readers for sending such great items.
Thanks also for many of you reaching out to say that you were eager to hear what I think, this week in particular.
I have been very faithful for almost three solid years, every Sunday, through ups and downs and many time zones, through MailChimp malfunctions and internet outages. We’ll see if we are going to continue.
You can always reach me here.
At least for now, you can follow me on Twitter @LZSundayPaper.
I did add a couple of Instas this week, at both @LZSundayPaper as well as the always-soothing @LZFloors.
I think it’s safe to say that next Sunday, the feeling in the air will be a variation on the theme of today.
LZ
POLITICS:
A Letter To America From Leslie Knope, Regarding Donald Trump via Vox
Hillary Clinton’s Celebrity Feminism Was A Failure via The New Republic
Thank You, Hillary. Now Women Know Retreat Is Not An Option via The Globe And Mail
Panel: What Does The U.S. Election Say About Misogyny? via The Guardian
Black Women Were The Only Ones Who Tried To Save The World Tuesday Night via The Root
Minority Women Made History In The Senate via Glamour
Somali Refugee Makes History In U.S. Election via NPR
Norway’s PM: There Is No ‘Global Girlfriends Network’ via The Washington Post
Don’t Cry For Ivanka: Fear Her via Buzzfeed
CAMPUS CLIMATE:
Defining Rape Culture via Inside Higher Ed
NEWS: BUSINESS, TECH, MEDIA, & INTERNATIONAL:
Top French Offices Stop Work In Support Of Gender Pay Gap Protest via The Guardian
Can’t Find A Mentor? Look To Your Peers via New York Magazine
Sexual Assault Enters Virtual Reality via The Conversation
ARTS, FASHION, SPORTS, LIT & POP CULTURE:
‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ Is Still The Smart, Subversively Feminist Comedy TV Needs via The Daily Beast
Agent Scully Wants To Be A Mentor To Teen Girls via The Cut
Back To Basics: How To Find The Best Hairdryer via Fashionista
The Stages Of Realizing My Tampon Is Leaking via Medium
The Rules That Guided Janet Reno’s Life via The Washington Post
AND WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT:
Political Commentator Yoko Ono Responds To The Election via Slate
The LZ Sunday Paper™ launched at the dawn of 2014. We expose and recirculate interesting content that is about, and frequently by, women in business, with a dose of ultra-relevant culture. We think that culture comes high and low, not much in between. Our audience is vast and not gender-driven. Every week we expect to deliver at least one good laugh. Send suggestions, clips, or names of people you think might enjoy this toLZSundayPaper@gmail.com.
