Link it up

Link it up to keep your spirits up

Hi,

Some Sunday morning links for ya. I am planning to spend a lot of time between now and Wednesday morning (and beyond) lying down on my couch. Here is some reading material for those of us who are prone to being prone when we’re overwhelmed. Take a break from doom scrolling and read these!

1. First, thank you to those readers who shared their stories for Thursday’s Estranged article on Estrangement and Politics. The stories I shared focused on families where political beliefs had not always been a wedge issue but have turned into one. The newsletter After the Estrangement shared a POV on being estranged from family who, in their words, “were born to be Trumpers.” I appreciated this perspective, especially since it was not one I reflected in my post. LINK

2. Earlier this week I interviewed Monica Cardenas, who writes the Bad Mothers newsletter. We had an absolutely fascinating conversation that I CAN’T WAIT to share with you in an upcoming Estranged post. In the meantime, Roxane Gay selected her essay, “It’s Better This Way,” about Monica’s estrangement from her mother. Read “It’s Better This Way” here.

3. Back to election politics. Politico went the “brother against brother” route, literally. I’ve been waiting for this kind of article to pop up somewhere. It’s a loving deep dive into a complicated family relationship. The estrangement, like so many things in our culture, is both not about politics and all about politics. Dive deep here.

4. When I launched Estranged a few weeks ago, I shared the song “What’s Fair,” by Blondshell, released back in August. At the time I said it was the only song I could think of that was directly about a daughter’s estrangement from her mother. But then I found this Reddit thread and now I stand corrected. Special mention goes to “I hate my mom” by GRLwood. Nothing like the direct route! LOL. Obviously many posters also mentioned “Cat’s in the Cradle.” But there were about 100 songs on here I’d never heard of, by artists as diverse as Mitski, Linkin Park, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Phil Collins, Sinead O’Connor, and Tyler the Creator.

Do you have a go-to song or playlist when your in your estranged feels? Let us know in the comments.