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  • Writer's pictureThe Blue and White Magazine

Bwecommendations, June 2021

Because everyone needs summer reading—except us, because we are already doing it. Obviously.

Illustration by Lyla Trilling

Dominy Gallo, Editor-in-Chief: Izumi Suzuki, Terminal Boredom. The Great (Hulu). Dinah Washington, “There Is No Greater Love - Live in Los Angeles, 1954.” King Princess, “Hit the Back.” Wallice, “Off the Rails.” Zadie Smith, “Elegy for a Country’s Seasons” (recommended to me by B&W’s very own Elizabeth Jackson). Barrett Swanson, “The Anxiety of Influencers” (recommended by Lyla Trilling, enjoyed—but not without reservation—by Cy Gilman, un-recommended by Sam Needleman and all of the n+1 interns, apparently). Stacy’s Garden Veggie Medley Pita Chips.


Lyla Trilling, Managing Editor: Todd Haynes, Velvet Goldmine and Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987). J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace.The Anxiety of Influencers” (Sam Needleman and the n+1 interns don’t know how to read). Triple Beam Pizza in Los Angeles.


Hailey Ryan, Publisher: The Jersey Shore. Jersey Shore (Hulu). Solange, Saint Heron. Coffee naps. Hula hooping. Cafe Bustelo in a Bialetti Moka pot. Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros.


Samia Menon, Illustrations Editor: Kim’s Convenience (Netflix). Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books on Carmine Street. French toast cookies. Sitting under a kind-looking tree.


Benjamine Mo, Literary Editor: Min Jin Lee, Pachinko. The Queens Public Library at Hunters Point. Bruce Cost Passion Fruit + Turmeric Ginger Ale. Matt Maltese, “Mystery.”


Kat Chen, Assistant Literary Editor: Grant Morrison, Doom Patrol. Doom Patrol (HBO Max). Richard Feynman’s letter to his dead wife. Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet. Kim Petras, “I Don’t Want It At All.” Anything by Tomm Moore—I swear he’s the next Miyazaki.


Sylvie Epstein, Senior Editor: The Met’s Alice Neel exhibit. Couples Therapy (Showtime). Shake Shack ’Shroom Burgers. Julie Mehretu at the Whitney. Roasted asparagus. @Kate on TikTok. Going back to sleepaway camp at 20 years old.


Elizabeth Jackson, Senior Editor: Bunheads (tragically canceled after one season). The Big Switch podcast. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix). Oat milk chocolate pudding. Cam Anthony’s performances on The Voice. Savanna Woods’s performances on The Voice. Joshua Clover, “An Archive of Confessions, A Genealogy of Confessions.”


Nicole Kohut, Senior Editor: Xanax. Federico Fellini, 8 ½ (4k restoration). Lactaid. Arriving late to La Piscine at Film Forum because someone attacked the conductor on the 1. Girls Incarcerated, Season 1 (Netflix). Trader Joe’s Frozen Chocolate Fudge Oat Bars.


Brooke McCormick, Senior Editor: Copenhagen, Denmark.


Zoe Metcalfe, Senior Editor: Bo Burnham: Inside (Netflix). Italo Calvino, If on a winter’s night a traveler. Smoking rosemary before adding it to a cocktail. Beaches.


Sam Needleman, Senior Editor: Deana Lawson at the Guggenheim. George Eliot, Middlemarch. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (2020). Jamaica Kincaid, “Putting Myself Together.” Stefanos Tsitsipas. The early films of Willa Neubauer.


Sophie Poole, Senior Editor: Hacks, Episode 8 (written by Pat Regan, my aspirational sister). Suzan Lori Parks’s 1994 interview with Han Ong. Otessa Moshfegh, “The Weirdos.” Sir John Soane’s Museum.


Eliza Rudalevige, Senior Editor: TikTok accounts dedicated to mushroom foraging. Dachshund merch. Harvest Snaps green pea snack crisps. THE ANXIETY, WILLOW, and Tyler Cole, “Meet Me At Our Spot.” Mark Fisher, Postcapitalist Desire. Having a crush on Dino from Masterchef Season 8. Tankinis.


Claire Shang, Senior Editor: Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen, “Like I Used To.” Hanif Abdurraqib, A Fortune For Your Disaster. Jorts, in moderation. Pret Harvest Cookies. Figuring out who Yashar Ali is, alongside my Twitter timeline.


Daniel Seizer, Assistant Publisher: Hacks (HBO Max). Kim Petras, “Malibu.” Survivor: Cagayan (Netflix). Have’a Corn Chips.


Annie Poole, Layout Editor: Outfits from The Nanny paired with contemporary art (@thenannyart on Instagram). Candy Crush on the 1. The Strokes, “The Adults Are Talking.”


Alexander Aibel, Staff Writer: Pi’erre Bourne, The Life of Pi’erre 5. One Piece Wano Kuni. 13 Assassins (2010).


Emily Bach, Staff Writer: Pablo Neruda, “United Fruit Co.” Anything by Yvonne Vera. Fahira Roisin, “On Surveillance Culture.” Swiss cheese.


Elysa Caso-McHugh, Staff Writer: Studio Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies (1988) and Only Yesterday (1991). Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese.” Pink Floyd, The Final Cut. Indigo Girls, “Closer to Fine.”


Michael Colton, Staff Writer: Beach Fossils, Somersault. Best in Show. PAUSE with Sam Jay (HBO). Deante’ Hitchcock, Better.


Gabriel Garon, Staff Writer: Hacks (HBO). Patti Harrison in general. Tuna tartare. Frolicking.


Cy Gilman: Janet Malcolm, “Yuja Wang and the Art of Performance.” The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington. Bryan Washington, “The Japanese Fried-Rice Omelette that Rewired My Brain.” Attempting to make omurice after a cold and tiring day. Attempting to make gazpacho after a hot and tiring one. M*A*S*H (all 11 seasons).


Chloë Gottlieb, Staff Writer: Tomie dePaola, Strega Nona. Homemade ceramics. Tweed. Learning to drive a Prius.


Sadia Haque, Staff Writer: Lucifer (Netflix). Lana Del Ray, Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Blue Banister. In the Heights (2021). Fatima Farheen Mirza, A Place for Us. Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, “The Weight of James Arthur Baldwin.” Cathy Park Hong, Bad English.


Annelie Hyatt, Staff Writer: High Maintenance (HBO). Japanese Breakfast, “Kokomo, IN.” Harold Pinter, Ashes to Ashes. Hayley Williams’s cover of “Someday” by The Strokes, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By.


Jaden Jarmel-Schneider, Staff Writer: Ljubljana this time of year.


Chloe Kok, Staff Writer: Terra Mediterranean Vegetable Chips.


Tarini Krishna, Staff Writer: Cy Twombly at MoMA. Japanese Breakfast, “In Hell.” Rainy days in the Adirondacks. Experimental wine (Ovid). Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime.”


Becky Miller, Staff Writer: Odetta, Odetta Sings Dylan. Megan Thee Stallion’s “Thot Shit” music video.


Willa Neubauer, Staff Writer: Patti Smith, “My Buddy Sam Shepherd.” The Magnetic Fields, “69 Love Songs.” Arthur Jafa, “My Favorite Artwork.” Matcha Kit Kats from H Mart. “‘Oh my God, I'm in the mouth of a whale’: What it's like being swallowed by a humpback.


Victor Omojola, Staff Writer: Invincible (Prime). Ziwe (Showtime). Teju Cole, Open City.


Jai Qureshi, Staff Writer: In Defense of Plants. Overcoats, The Fight. Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.


Styvalizh Uribe, Staff Writer: Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown.


Samantha Sacks, Podcast Contributor: Day X. The Comedy Cellar standby line. Carrying cash. “‘Inside,’ Reviewed: Bo Burnham’s Virtuosic Portrait of a Mediated Mind.” Smalls Jazz Club (back at full capacity).


Hart Hallos, Staff Writer: Chunky headphones. Janis Joplin. Tyler the Creator’s lyric referencing Janis Joplin in “NEW MAGIC WAND.” Standing outside the Capital One building that says “A Proud Welcome” in rainbow lights (across from Union Square Park). The definition of the word “entrainment” in Ann Powers’s Good Booty. “Looong Sooongs” on WBAR, Sundays 12-2 p.m. (plug).


Madeleine Hermann, Staff Illustrator: Julie Mehretu at the Whitney. MARINA, Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land (specifically, “Venus Fly Trap”). Arizona Arnold Palmers. Country music (Garth Brooks, Zac Brown Band, Johnny Cash, etc.). Jin Ramen on the UWS.


Vanessa Mendoza Staff Illustrator: In the Heights (2021) (a masterpiece). Sarah Wilson, First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Story about Anxiety. Freaks and Geeks, Ugly Betty, and Killing Eve (Hulu). Mastering the art of homemade milk tea with boba (worth it). Lorde.


Kate Steiner, Staff Illustrator: Love, Death + Robots (Netflix). Gupi & Thaxiom, “Thos Moser” music video. Cucumbers with Tajín.


Aeja Rosette, CC ’22: Buzzballz. Dolly Parton. @happyfishhead tattoos. Hating on LA. Yellow boxed cake and canned chocolate frosting.


Rea Rustagi, Staff Illustrator: Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend. Earl Sweatshirt, “Riot!” The Goodreads app.


Maya Weed, CC ’22: Pushing Daisies (HBO Max). Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen, “Like I Used To.” Monster Verse: Poems Human and Inhuman. Cracking the shells of freshly cooked crawfish.


···

THE GOSSIP

Carefully collected, never crafted, by Hailey Ryan


Perez Hilton may have been #canceled, but I haven’t been (yet), and neither has gossip culture. Don’t let anyone, I mean anyone, especially not your softboi Hinge match, tell you otherwise.


If their egos weren’t already big enough, the 2021 class of Morgan Stanely Interns will have their faces projected on the side of the Times Square Headquarters. After a trying year of trading cryptocurrencies from their long-term Airbnb rentals, that’s the least they deserve.


In a moment of pure girlboss-slayery, two Columbia Undergrads used their ever-scarce dining dollars to purchase John Jay smoothies for the sole purpose of launching them at a plaid-clad gentleman with an ardent “fucker!”. The smoothie-punishable crime? Wearing plaid in the summer.


Barnard served homemade ice cream from Sugar Hill Creamery, a small business in Harlem, to celebrate summer in the city. No drama here. Just deliciousness.


Those trailers parked along Broadway? Rumor has it they were shooting scenes for the next season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The desperate crowds hovering around the set? Theatre students hoping to get a chance, just one chance, at fame.


And lastly, a brief message from our sponsor:


“Pent-up aggression? An unrelenting desire to fight for your country? I want YOU for the West 108th Street Militia, as we continue our brave fight in the neverending War on Rats.”


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