October Favorites: Lenny Letter

My October favorite is Lena Dunham's and Jenni Konner's Lenny Letter, a weekly newsletter dedicated to feminism, health, politics, style and literature. The project debuted in late September this year and has already become a regular highlight of mine. Its contributions are a mix of political information, personal essays, advice columns, interviews and book reviews, along with quirky artwork and beautifully drawn illustrations. Dunham compares this latest brain child of hers to an "over-sharing Internet friend", which perfectly captures the essence of Lenny Letter: Everything we need to know as young, confused, regularly overwhelmed, yet dedicated, politically-minded, and empowered women in the 21st century, and then a bit. 

The first issue of Lenny Letter, featuring an interview (and a flawless selfie) with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

USA Network’s Mr. Robot: I Hack, Therefore I Am – or Am I?

By Mario Rader

Picture found here

American fiction is replete with signature openings. “All this happened, more or less” from Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is a case in point; “I am an invisible man” jump-starting Ralph Ellison’s eponymous novel is another. And what about that most iconic of introductions “Call me Ishmael,” as featured in Moby Dick? All three lines attract our attention since they break with the aesthetic illusion and the conventional semantics generally associated with storytelling. It is in this line of tradition that we are introduced to what is arguably the biggest televisual happening of the year:

"Hello, friend. Hello, friend? That’s lame. Maybe I should give you a name. But that’s a slippery slope. You’re only in my head. We have to remember that."

Book Launch Party: The New Formula for Cool

I'm thrilled to reveal what I've been cooking up the last couple of weeks: My book, The New Formula for Cool: Science, Technology, and the Popular in the American Imagination (Bielefeld: transcript, 2015), is finally out and will be officially launched on November 16th at 7:00 p.m. at Lane & Merriman's, Spitalgasse 3, 1090 Vienna. Join me for an evening of literary pleasure, live acoustic music and delicious cocktails to celebrate - everybody is welcome!

Read on for a synopsis and more infos on the party!

Don't kiss the frog

July 6^th marked International Kissing Day, which didn’t really affect my daily routine in any substantial way, except that my usual Facebook feed of angry political commentary, inspirational yoga quotes and puppy content was perceptibly interspersed with chap stick ads, kiss-blowing selfies and the well-meaning encouragement (in variations) that I, too, will find my Prince Charming if I just don’t give up on kissing frogs. Here's why I take issue with this saying and the wealth of popular commentary, advice books, and dating manuals it has inspired.

Otto Ubbelohde, Der Froschkönig, ca. 1900. Picture found here.

The Peculiar Case of Carrie Mathison, Or: Be That Woman or Die Trying

With the upcoming season premiere of my all-time favorite binge watching delights, Showtime's Homeland, I'm already hyped for the return of one of the most fully fledged, nuanced and refreshing female protagonist that contemporary US-American prime time drama has to offer: Carrie Mathison.

Many of you, my dear readers, might agree (like this commentary), while even more will differ (see here and here), in particular because the character of Carrie seems to lend itself so perfectly to be read as both a feminist role model and the worst thing that has happened to the televisual portrayal of women since the neoliberal, post-feminist fantasy of Sex and the City.

So, what to make of bi-polar, single mother, CIA agent Carrie Mathison, played by Claire Danes? Which one shall it be - Yay, she's a feminist? Nay, she's so not?

Picture: Showtime