October 2023 Reading List! (Patreon)

Articles

Taylor Swift Likes to Work - one of my favourite newsletters covering Taylor Swift in a way that feels like intellectual gossip? I’m in.

With strangers, you’re a blank slate - (paywalled I believe) loved this edition from Franki’s Overthinkers Guide to Sex newsletter. She had her 2nd baby shortly after Rowan was born so we’ve been navigating bits of parenthood together and this was a really interesting look into her experience of her sexuality as mum and how she needed to get that side of her back but not through her husband but on her own. The article is about the decision to go to a sex party alone and whilst Franki & her partner are ENM (ethically non-monogamous) and Dan & I aren’t there was still a lot I related to.

Why are women still being pressured to take their partner’s surnames after marriage? - I share a lot of Gina’s frustrations in this article. Almost 90% of these married women take their husbands’ name - NINETY PERCENT!!! WHYYYYYYYYY!?! She also talked about how even if you don’t take your husband’s name, everyone still assumes you did and address post to you in that way. This is something I find INFURIATING (yes I know it’s just a fucking letter but it’s what it symbolises). When Dan’s family (yes calling out his family, it’s not mine lol) send us cards it’s always addressed to “Mr and Mrs. D. Leadley”. I have been completely erased. Mr? Not me. Mrs? Not me (I’ve been a Ms since I was 18). D? Not me. Leadley? NOT ME! It genuinely feels like like I’m being squashed out of existence. Am I even real? Do I exist? Where did I go? It makes me feel completely worthless and invisible.

Videos

NEW: Community Guidelines System: this is so niche to me but I wanted to share because based on feedback that myself and other creators gave to YouTube they have changed the community guidelines warnings/strikes system! I have been stuck with a permanent warning on my channel since 2020 but now finally I can get it removed! There’s a training (lol - it’s a quiz about the guidelines) you do and as long as you pass (I passed!!) and don’t commit any other violations for 90 days your warning will be removed. BRING ON 9TH JANUARY LET’S GO!!!

Sugar Baby TikTok is Selling a Lifestyle & People are Buying It - slightly adjacent to some of the tradwives/stay at home girlfriend themed articles of last month. Always love how Chelsea and The Financial Diet approach topics like this where it’s realistic and non-judgemental.

Announcing The New Financial Diet! - speaking of TFD, Chelsea made an exciting announcement about some branding and content changes. I’m super excited for the new format!

How she built every celebrity’s favourite show (Chicken Shop Date) - Colin and Samir interview with Amelia Dimoldenberg. Really interesting, loved hearing her backstory and creative process behind chicken shop date! It’s a video podcast so you can also listen - I started watching it but then had to go out and continued in podcast form).

divergent is literally the worse movie ive ever seen - some uncarly for the lols

Podcasts

I still haven’t really got back into audiobooks (in a bit of a dry spell) but that does mean more podcasts for all my walking! This month I discovered “Should I Quit?” which is a series from “The Real Question” - do they have a different question per series? I’m not sure! Anyway, I’ve been really loving all the different Should I Quit? episodes from watching youtube to mom instagram to career and small business stuff. The way the host Vanessa coaches people through this decision is so warm and thoughtful and I’m in awe of her ability to ask really great questions that allow the guest to really dig deep and figure out how they truly feel about a thing.

We interviewed the CEO of YouTube - I did not realise Susan had stepped down and the CEO had changed until I started listening to this Colin and Samir episode and they were introducing someone called Neal and I was like, wait who!?

Bridgerton x Reading the Romance - loved this episode of Material Girls (this is where I discovered Vanessa Zoltan from “Should I Quit?” It’s all about the romance novel, women reading, escapism, radical possibilities, history of the romance genre… lots of super interesting stuff! And of course they talk about Bridgerton.

Is coaching bullshit?  - episode of “is this working?” bit of a provocative title because coaching seems to be all the rage (people loving it or being thinking it’s a scam lol). They talked about how there are some shitty people but generally for people who do coaching it’s a really positive experience. They also talked about the cost of it and why coaches have to charge what they do which was interesting. I’ve had a few adhoc sessions with a coach, can’t afford anything more regular, but the sessions I have had have been so useful in helping me make big decisions.