I hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer!
Our family fig tree has yielded an insane amount of the sweetest figs this season—much of which has been shared with friends and neighbors. But there's at least 500 more figs on the tree. 🥰🤯
Friends in Queens, please reply if you'd like a batch.
I usually make fig, prosciutto, ricotta crostinis but this year we're aiming to make a batch of fig jam and even try out a fig clafoutis recipe I've had bookmarked for some time.
Hope the end of your summer is just as sweet as these figs! 😌
Below: a one day harvest yielded about 125+ figs and a fig & honey-whipped goat cheese tart below.
I know I shared a profile last week but I really love interview pieces—the NY Times Sunday Routine is one of my favorite columns. But this is a T Magazine series that interviews creatives about their work and daily routines.
Morris interviews the artist Zanele Muholi (they/them), whose hometown is Durban, South Africa. Muholi who identifies as non-binary, is an artist and visual activist who often photographs queer folks they meet at Pride rallies and protests for LGBTQIA+ rights in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Interestingly, Muholi does not have a permanent studio but rather is a nomadic artist, who moves their studio throughout the country.
“I work as I go. From any space. Whenever I feel like photographing [and wherever] is safe and conducive for a shoot,” they say.
Muholi prefers the title “visual activist” over that of artist. “It’s very important to make sure that as laws are put in place and transformation takes place, there’s a picture that backs all of that [history] up,” they say. Muholi views their work, less of an individual practice and more of a deeply collaborative, explicitly political project — “a project that not only speaks to the now, but a project that speaks to the future.”
Wicked Little Letters is a black comedy & mystery film that didn't quite get much love from critics but based on audience reviews, it seems folks enjoyed it as much as I did!
When residents begin to receive wicked letters full of hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose, played by Jessie Buckley, is charged with the crime. However, as the town's women investigate, they suspect that something is amiss, and that Rose may not be the culprit after all.
Perhaps, I'm biased as I love Olivia Coleman in just about anything. Jessie Buckley is a terrific actress as well. If you haven't already watched, you must check out Buckley's performance in I’m Thinking of Ending Things. She and Coleman also shared a screen in The Lost Daughter.
This article focuses on the current outbreak in the Congo, but some of you may remember the monkeypox outbreak that we recently had in NYC from 2022-2023. Stigmatized populations who are at high risk of contracting mpox, are sex workers and men who have sex with men. NYC offers free vaccines - you can find a clinic near you here. 🐒🦠💉
Absolutely horrific especially since the local police attempted to label the incident as a suicide. India has one of the high rates of sexual violence against women in the world.
A photo series titled “Submerged Portraits” by photojournalist Gideon Mendel highlights those who have been flooded out of their homes by human-caused climate change. As someone whose family lives on a tiny island with very low sea elevation, I'm hyperaware of climate change in our global communities, but these photos could have easily be taken after any flash flood event in NYC as well. Remember Hurricane Ida? Grim. 🌊
Growing up, my family often teased me about my heightened sense of smell and somewhat discerning tastebuds—my mother eventually would put me to use in the kitchen to taste test her dishes to see if she were missing any ingredients or whether the flavors were balanced. I certainly don't think I have the extreme case of hyperosmia as noted in this episode but I'm sharing this story with my family regardless. 😎
The Daily shares the story of Joy Milne who has the unusual ability to detect folks with Parkinson's disease through her heightened sense of smell known as hyperosmia. She first noticed a distinct change in smell to her husband's body odor, who was beginning to emit a musky scent, around the time of his Parkinson's diagnosis.
Years later, she met with a neuroscientist who would test her ability by sharing 12 t-shirts: 6 from Parkinson patients & 6 regular tees. She was able to successfully pick out the 6 t-shirts from Parkinson's patients. Researchers found she was picking up on large lipids or sebum from the skin's surface leading the way for future skin-swab-based diagnostic testing!
