Happy June! Happy Pride! I hope you’re celebrating safely and joyfully.
I love the month of June—it’s finally starting to feel like summer, maybe the workload slows down a little bit (if it doesn’t, I feel you and I’m sorry), and strawberries and soft serve ice cream are at their peak. Some of life’s great joys!
If you’re gay, happy birthday! If you’re not, congratulations on being one of the only straight people to read this newsletter. <3
Read on for the latest from your pals at Witch, Please Productions!
Queerly yours,
Gaby, Hannah, Marcelle, Coach, and Zoe
p.s. Have you listened to our Gender Playground episode about celebrating Pride with kids? Have you left us an Apple Review? Shared the show with friends? If ever there was a time for that, it’s NOW!
We’re enjoying a summer slowdown over here at Material Girls HQ, meaning we're still releasing episodes every two weeks, but every other episode will be a Material Concerns episode; an unscripted, more casual conversation between Marcelle and Hannah. In these episodes, they talk about how they're doing, what they're up to, research they didn't get to in "regular" episodes, content they're consuming and more! The first half of a Material Concerns episode is published on our main feed and the second half on our Patreon.
Other than that, in the last month or so we released an episode on Dirty Dancing and an episode about The Last of Us! In the former, Marcelle and Hannah are joined by Andrea Warner (she/her), the author of The Time of My Life, an exploration of Dirty Dancing as a deeply feminist film. Together, Hannah, Marcelle and Andrea discuss postmodernism, nostalgia, late capitalism and the construction of history to get a better understanding of why Dirty Dancing is such a compelling film.
In the latter, Hannah and Marcelle talk all about The Last of Us and think through the ways art gets transcoded across media! Together, they consider the process of adaptation and the intertextuality between original content and adaptation(s). Of course, for all you Last of Us fans, they also talk about Long, Long Time — aka the Bill and Frank episode. And without spoilers!
Hot News from Coach
July 25th marks one year since we launched Material Girls and in celebration of our upcoming birthday, I’m so thrilled to announce that we will be doing a live episode recording open to all paying Patreon supporters. Join at any tier and you’ll be invited to the recording. I’m telling you, it’ll be a BALL. We’re going to dress up and we think you should too!
The topic? The final four episodes of Bridgerton Season 3! The date? Friday, July 12th at 1 pm PST, 2 MT, 3 CST, 4 EST, etc. The vibe? Thirst. Chaos. Joy!
For Carly: I’m terribly sorry, but this book isn’t out yet. It’s out in October, but this is your sign to request it from your library or preorder it from your favorite indie! Feast While You Can by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Dutta is a queer speculative horror novel that gripped me by the THROAT. It has hot lesbians with some gender fuckery going on, small town horror, and illicit romance. I hope you enjoy it!
For Amy: You mentioned wanting something cozy, and this is the coziest one in my repertoire: Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah (CW for discussion of suicide). This book genuinely fills me up. It’s contemporary lit fic about male friendship, masculinity, and queerness. It makes me so happy and feels like a hug.
For Ryan: The last book you read and loved was Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams, which means I have to recommend one of my favorite nonfiction books ever written: An Immense World by Ed Yong. It’s an immaculate audiobook experience, and you will definitely laugh! It’s an exploration of the vast arrays of animal senses, and Yong uses them to help us better understand our own world. It is beyond excellent.
I know I make up all the playlist themes, but this one was honestly truly made for me. Blast it while you get ready for your gay little weekends!
Get your playlist on Spotify here or Apple Music here.
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I have had a tab saved on my computer for over a year now dedicated to the Colombian summer drink Limonada de Coco. The probably was that, until recently, I didn't have a blender. But now I do! So no more excuses! This summer is going to be the summer of icy blended beverages, starting with this one! Limonada de Coco is basically limeade plus coconut milk, blended together. There are plenty of recipes on the ol' internet, but the one I've had saved forever calls for a can of full fat coconut milk (unshaken, so the cream separates), 3 limes, about a cup and a half of ice, and sugar to taste. Scoop the separate coconut cream into the blender, juice your limes, add sugar and ice, and blend until smooth! You should probably put a little umbrella in it when you're done, but I'm not the boss of you.I didn't expect that the great generational rift between Gen Z and Millennials would be caused by a combination of ankle socks and a movie about tennis, but you know what? There are a lot of things I couldn't have predicted about the 2020s, so go figure! [NO SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW] After much ENTHUSIASTIC HYPE from the Gen Z queers in our social circle (GABY), Hannah and I went to see Challengers in gleeful anticipation of a big gay romp with the occasional threesome and maybe a tennis racket. If you haven't seen it yet, I promise not to spoil it here because you should see it! It's the talk of the town and there is a lot to enjoy! Everyone in the movie is hot and sweaty and the soundtrack is perfect. What I need readers to understand, though, is that a lot of older Millennials and Gen Xers will see Challengers and leave the cinema feeling a teeny, tiny, itty, bitty bit... disappointed. "BUT WHY?" You may rightfully gasp. "HOW DARE YOU?" You may rightfully cry. "DID YOU WATCH IT WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED?" You may, perhaps, unkindly accuse. Here's the thing. Geriatric Millennials and Gen Xers had our own version of Challengers way back in 2001: Alfonso Cuarón's Y tu mamá tambien. In some ways the film is a hot summer road trip flick; a coming of age story about two teenage boys (played by Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal) who drive through rural Mexico with a slightly older married woman (Maribel Verdú). It's very, very sexy and (like so much content inhaled by Gen X and Geriatric Millennials) utterly devastating. It has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, which I think is pretty good? I have seen this movie exactly once and it has HAUNTED me ever since. I can't watch anything starring either Luna or García Bernal without sweating. I mean it! Rogue One is not a sexy movie and yet I ate my popcorn like I was compensating for something. Hannah can attest to this—we saw it together, too! I want you to watch Y tu mamá tambien. I need you to watch it. It was absolutely formative to my sexuality in ways that I couldn't quite articulate until recently. If you liked Challengers, I believe in my heart that you will like Y tu mamá tambien. And if you loved Challengers and can't understand why the Olds you work with aren't as excited about it as they should be, just know that we're still recovering from these two. But there's only one problem... The movie isn't streamable anywhere (at least in Canada) that I'm aware of. So listen, I have a ripped Criterion edition that I'll share with you on Dropbox as long as you don't call the cops, ok? Ok. Tenoch + Julio forever. RIP youth.I genuinely feel like everything costs $16 these days. A pair of socks. A cocktail. A ticket to Challengers during off peak hours. It’s rough out here, no?? SO, for under ten bucks, I recommend buying STAMPS so you can send letters to the people you love! Or this Muji toothbrush holder that I’ve probably already told you to buy! Or how about you support your favorite Substack for less than $10/month? It doesn’t have to be ours, check out The Honeypot (I have an essay in the latest issue), or Hitman, or Pillow Fort!“Desire,” Greta said. “You may not understand this, but I haven’t felt real desire in years.” “What else are you feeling?” “I’m feeling pretty gay, to be honest,” Greta said.“—Big Swiss | This month I am recommending that you read Big Swiss by Jen Beagin. This book made the rounds in my bookish friend circle and I was waiting with bated breath to get my hands on it. It’s the sort of book that you inhale in one weekend. It’s messy and sorta nasty, and all about strange and complicated women. You know I love a strange and complicated woman. Big Swiss follows Greta, a woman in her 40’s who lives in an ancient crumbling home with her enigmatic older roommate. She works as a transcriptionist for a sex therapist named Om. Greta soon becomes infatuated (obsessed?) with one of the patients who’s sessions she transcribes. The woman is Swiss (hence the name Big Swiss). Messy enough for you? Just wait. Then Greta meets Big Swiss IRL and they start a relationship! I support gay rights and wrongs, and I especially support Greta’s messy ass relationship with Big Swiss.Bitch, it’s BRAT summer!!! Of course I’m listening to the new Charli XCX album. It absolutely fucking GOES! My girlfriend said once that the straightest thing about her is that she doesn’t “get” Charli XCX, which is something I fear I cannot relate to. I love that diva! I’m alternating between bumping BRAT while I walk and listening to the Interview with the Vampire soundtrack while I work. By the way, are you watching Interview with the Vampire on AMC? You simply have to. It’s the best show on TV right now. If you watch it and find that you also have a weird crush on Eric Bogosian, this is a safe space.
Okay, bye! xoxo
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