This Week
Judith Light in the Transparent finale (Photo credit: Jessica Brooks/Amazon Studios)
Only three days until the Transparent series finale — a very special musical episode! — and this interview with Pfefferman matriarch, Judith Light, (“I’m Judy from New Jersey”) is an utter delight. A comprehensive list of all the Fall TV premiere dates. American swimmer, 37 year old Sarah Thomas, became the first person to swim the English Channel four times non-stop. A pelvic floor therapist wants us all to stop apologizing for our vaginas. Ditching ageist stereotypes in advertising. We do Outward Bound too, yo. For anyone who needs a reminder about what they deserve from a partner. Bravo, Greta Thunberg, bravo. Your new Instagram follow: NYT Cooking Comments.
TueNight Live: Photos from a #DayofAction
Our storytellers and hosts (Photo credit: Neil Kramer)
On September 17, National Constitution and Citizenship Day, we gathered in Brooklyn for a truly impactful TueNight Live. With support from our friends Feed Our Democracy, and stories curated by Sloane Davidson of Hello Neighbor, we listened to TueNighters share their stories while raising thousands of dollars for Hello Neighbor, an organization that helps new refugees settle in the U.S. via mentorship programs. SEE THE PHOTOS!
Obsessed: Couples Therapy on Showtime
Annie pleading with Mau in the waiting room (Image via YouTube)
I probably wouldn't comb through a basket of someone's dirty clothes. So why would I binge NINE STRAIGHT EPISODES of random strangers' personal, private counseling sessions? Because it is personal and, for some bewildering reason (I have searched my soul and the Internet and found NO viable, practical answer as to why you'd agree to record and furthermore televise your therapy session, but bless the strangers who did) it is not private, which is why I plowed through the entire season of Showtime's Couples Therapy.
I could tell you about the utterly gripping, ultimately cathartic journey Elaine endures or the gold medal-level professional therapeutic skills of Dr. Orna Guralnik, the show's effortlessly chic psychologist. But I'd be robbing you of the show's real hook, which is the loathsome, champion gaslighter and mega villain, Mau, a human Destructicon and emotional rat king. (I needed my own therapy after watching him berate and belittle his wife, Annie.) While the show never exploits the couples and instead shines a light on the safe, transformative space therapy can provide, I did feel slightly guilty at how quickly I transformed into an unblinking popcorn-eating GIF as I ruthlessly availed myself of the sheer indulgence of Other People's Inner Lives. But, as eleventh-hour feminist and ersatz political reformer Taylor Swift once sang, we're happy-free-confused-and-lonely-in-the-best-way. So we might as well embrace Showtime's sanctioned voyeurism and learn from random strangers willing to air out their dirty laundry and show us what real relationships — and real work and growth — looks like.
— Tamar Anitai
TueNight 10: Cara Raich
Cara in front of Château de Chenonceau in the Loire Valley, France
Age: 45
Quick Bio: Cara, a former attorney, is a mediator and group dialogue specialist who engages with institutions to help create more respectful workplace cultures and solve employee relations or governance conflicts. Cara also helps groups of all types have challenging conversations in a structured and productive manner.
Beyond the bio: "Having been to almost 30 countries, I'd say travel early and often. And at some point do it alone. Solo travel is so empowering. Nothing beats adding to one's memory bank and experiencing new people and cultures is a wonderful way to do that. And have girlfriends. Good, solid girlfriends who will tell you when your clothes are awful, your hair is a mess and you have food in your teeth, who then hug you and give you wine."
1. On the nightstand: She Said, the jaw dropping back story of the Harvey Weinstein story told by the reporters who broke the story, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. Just read it. These women are remarkable professionals who exemplified tenacity, journalistic integrity, grit and excellent judgment in the face of severe pressure.
2. Can't stop/won't stop: Helping groups of people have challenging and engaging conversations about hard stuff. And traveling.
3. Jam of the minute: Weirdly been re-listening to Eminem and also loving acoustic covers on Spotify...look, there is no accounting for taste and to each her own, okay?!?
4. Thing I miss: Canadian notions of civic responsibility and not feeling like I need to check my phone.
5. 80s crush: Hands down, 3rd grade me LOVED Ricky Schroeder in Silver Spoons circa 1982/83.
6. Current crush: If I'm being honest, my husband — I'm not really into celebrities — and any man who lifts up the women in his life and treats them with respect.
7. Will whine about: Politics and the lack of integrity in the White House. And loud chewing, I mean obviously.
8. Will wine about: Those very same things drive me to drink, but it has to be either a Sancerre or really good cabernet sauvignon, or port. If I'm at a party, vodka.
9. Best thing that happened recently: Finding my way back to work I love and becoming American!
10. Looking forward to: A new administration, celebrating my husband's 50th (love you, babe!!) and seeing my girls (and all our girls) change the world for the better.
Story: Make America Great Again, The Canadian Edition
By Cara Raich
When I was a kid, coming to “the States,” as we called it, was the shit. I mean, you guys had everything. I had never seen that many types of breakfast cereal in my short, Canadian life. The soda aisle alone blew my 9-year-old mind… PURPLE SODA? America the beautiful, indeed.
But other than those occasional Sunday family drives to Plattsburgh, New York—and the obligatory trip to Disney World, when I was 4—my primary exposure to the U.S. as I was growing up was via TV and the news. American presidents are so present and powerful when you live just next door. You almost feel as if they are your president, too.
But mostly, the States was just fine—like an annoying older brother, always around, obligated to protect you, much stronger than you, and a little less refined. I certainly had no grand plans to live there.
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