The Poetry, Prince Podcasts, and ‘RHONY’ Profiles That Got Us Through the Week

The news continues to be heartbreaking and overwhelming. And in New York City, where the majority of the Jezebel staff lives, it’s forecasted to rain for the seventh weekend in a row—which is not helping a general sense of impending doom. Elsewhere in the country, athletes are buying houses; Texas is suing a city for funding reproductive health; Republicans keep lying; people are trying to read Julia Fox’s memoir; and our government is seemingly collapsing from the inside. It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter, but yet it’s only October.

However you’re choosing to spend this weekend, we hope you’re giving your nervous systems a respite. Here are the podcasts, books, and music we’ve been using to calm our souls.

One can rightly complain about the way Prince’s estate has handled his posthumous releases in terms of their quality and frequency: When the Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe Edition with a trove of unreleased tracks from Prince’s vault drops next week, more than three years will have passed since a project of this size dropped (the Sign ‘o’ the Times deluxe was released in September 2020). But what his estate consistently gets right is the podcast that accompanies these releases, which manages to go even deeper than the extensive liner notes. The Story of Diamonds and Pearls is no exception, as it collects stories of those who contributed to the artist’s 1991 album, Diamonds and Pearls, a commercial comeback of sorts (though it’s considered a bit less successful artistically). Journalist Andrea Swensson talks to members of Prince’s band, the New Power Generation, with whom he cut D&P, and, perhaps most impressively, she tracked down a high school girlfriend of his, whom he wrote about in the vault track “Schoolyard.” That level of dedication and commitment to detail (talking to the subject of an unreleased song!) is what makes the official Prince podcast simply the best commercial I’ve ever listened to. —Rich Juzwiak

If you’re a casual Swiftie—or even a non-Swiftie!—who’s feeling fully tapped out on whatever sports player she’s dating or whatever record she’s breaking, I’m here to tell you…don’t tap out just yet. I admittedly would pay to listen to Swift cough, but please trust me when I say that “Cruel Summer (Live from Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour)” is exceptional—and if there’s any piece of Swift news that deserves to break through the noise, it’s this release.

Especially if you’re already a fan of “Cruel Summer,” the live version (which I’ve been listening to via my own iPhone recordings and bootleg YouTube versions for months) is glorious. There are more drums, there are higher notes, and there are thousands of fans singing along. Above all else, the ending is slightly different and more drawn out compared to the clear-cut stop of the album version. She harmonizes “with you” and ends on a gorgeous high note. Since I first saw her perform this iteration on tour, I haven’t been able to listen to the original version without humming “with you…with you…wiThHh yOOOuuu…” at the end. I promise you won’t be able to either. —Lauren Tousignant

Last Friday, former poet laureate and Nobel Prize in Literature winner Louise Glück passed away at the age of 80. Her slick, straightforward and often playful writing always spoke to me, standing out amongst heavier and wordier poetry that sometimes feels too dense to really enjoy. Glück’s 1996 collection of poems, Meadowlands, is a retelling of The Odyssey that also chronicles the breakdown of a marriage. OK—maybe I was too quick to say her work isn’t heavy, because this is certainly a heavy topic. But she approaches heartbreak and confusion and narcissism with tenderness, wonder, and a sense of humor. In one short poem, “Telemachus’ Detachment,” told from the point of view of the son of the marriage, Glück writes:

When I was a child looking

at my parents’ lives, you know

what I thought? I thought

heartbreaking. Now I think

heartbreaking, but also

insane. Also

very funny.

I’ll miss her pithy wit. —Kady Ruth Ashcraft

If you could use some, uh, levity in your life, give Michelle Wolf’s latest stand-up special a try. After a week of terribly shitty news, Wolf still got me to laugh about the serial killer gender gap, things white women are still saying in 2023, and Nancy Reagan being a blow-job queen (allegedly). I didn’t care for it being three parts rather than a single go, but it also means that, if you don’t have a full 78 minutes, you can have some bite-sized comedy pieces. (Or if you hate it, it’s easier to bail I guess?) —Susan Rinkunas

New York is the only Real Housewives franchise I’ve ever watched and I’ve been mostly enjoying the entirely revamped cast this season: I love Brynn, I appreciate Jenna, huge fan of Sai, huge fan of Ubah, I don’t like Erin, and Jessel I was...I don’t know. I really hated her little lingerie temper tantrum at the beginning of the season, but I became a little more endeared to her as the weeks went on, while still never feeling as strongly about her as I did any of the other castmates.

Until now! Taank’s profile/ Q&A with Rolling Stone’s Louis Staples was a delightful read that highlighted Taank’s humor and charm—fully convincing me that the show has no idea what to do with or how to edit her dry British sense of humor. If you, too, have been grappling with your perception of RHONY’s most “forgettable” new cast member, be prepared to be won over. —LT

This song actually came out this summer but my partner and I just caught Semler on tour during Pride Weekend in Atlanta last weekend (it’s too hot here to celebrate in June). They opened the show with this anthem about showing up for an ex-lover which will make you want to cry, jump, and scream. I think it captures what you want from any relationship or friendship: Someone who knows the worst parts of you and still decides that you are worth loving in your lowest moments. The very Jane Austin line of “I’d show up for you” makes me swoon every time.—Caitlin Cruz

We are deep into autumn, and it’s at this time that we must indulge our human need to lie in bed as the rain falls outside, guzzle down some hot chocolate, and watch something that is vaguely spooky but mostly comforting. To that end, I recommend a complete Only Murders in the Building binge, now that Season 3 wrapped a couple of weeks ago. From start to finish, the Hulu comedy-mystery starring Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short as an unlikely trio of neighbors who solve a (different!) murder in their building every season, is as comforting as it gets. And somehow, even when you’ve already watched the series all the way through and know what happens, it’s still a deeply entertaining watch rife with natural comedy and pitch-perfect chemistry.
—Kylie Cheung

Yes, yes, it’s spooky season... but the world itself is already so scary. So, if you’re looking for a good fright or just an eerie feeling to keep you company as the air gets nippier, might I recommend some true crime books? The true crime genre is rightly maligned—particularly in its podcast form—but I find nonfiction books take what I love about crime stories (quests for justice, scary circumstances) and make the genre much less skeevy. That is, if you choose the right ones. This weekend, pick up Mark O’Connell’s A Thread of Violence: A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder or Elon Green’s Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York. And if you need more, here is my complete list of recommendations. —CC