Monday Miscellany: They vibrate in the air
Notes from February 2 - 8
Friends, happy brand new week! I hope today has been kind to you so far. There’s a lot of excited yapping in store for you below, so I recommend reading this post in a browser or the Substack app to make sure you see the whole thing. Let’s get into it.
Read this week
While I’m aware of fetish as a concept, I don’t have any personal experience in that realm and I know very little about it—so I was completely intrigued by Anastasiia Fedorova’s nonfictional dive into “the worlds of fetish, kink, and deviant desire,” Second Skin.1 In chapters focusing on specific topics like leather, latex, feet, and the gimp, Fedorova thoroughly examines desire: where it comes from, why it might be stimulated by certain objects and materials, and how we as humans express it. She draws from personal experience as well as interviews, history, art, and existing scholarship, and writes in an informative yet highly welcoming tone. I especially appreciated her holistic approach to sexual and commodity fetish and her nuanced look at the complex overlap between the two types.
It’s easy to see how a sought-after model which commands a six-figure price tag signifies status, wealth and power. But there is more to it than status and aspiration: our ideas of gender, pleasure, technology, change, conformity, nostalgia and connection are all filtered through the car. Our sexuality, in some sense, is linked to something we often do not even perceive as straightforwardly sexual. (163)
Second Skin turned out to be one of my favorite types of reading experiences, a book that I didn’t realize I’d be interested in but that, in the end, had me googling works of art and objects and people, going down fun fact rabbit holes, widely expanding my horizons and greatly enjoying myself in the process.
We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge was this month’s pick from my backlist unread shelf. It originally released in 2016, and according to the used bookstore receipt that I found tucked within its pages, I bought my copy in November 2021.2 Greenidge tells the story of the Freemans, a Black family who are chosen by a primate research facility, the Toneybee Institute, to move in with a chimpanzee named Charlie and teach him to communicate using sign language. Things start unraveling pretty quickly—Charlie develops a potentially unhealthy attachment to Laurel, the mom of the family, while sisters Charlotte and Callie have polar opposite reactions to his new role as their brother. When details about the institute’s origin and past transgressions come to light, the situation reaches a breaking point, echoes of which will be felt throughout the family for years to come. This story went notably darker than I was expecting based on the premise, but I really appreciated it—a strong debut to be sure. Greenidge’s newer novel, Libertie, is definitely on my to-read list now as well.
Side note: It’s rare that a book introduces me to a word I was completely unfamiliar with, and this one taught me three.
Fulgurate (v.) - to flash or emit flashes of light; to sparkle
Pabulum (n.) - intellectual sustenance or food for thought
Mondegreen (n.) - a misinterpretation of a phrase or lyric due to homophony, which often creates a new meaning
There is a specific word for the mishearing of lyrics! I love knowing this!
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Recent listening
Any fellow fans of The Format in the house? Remember them? Or maybe you were more familiar with Nate Ruess’s later project, fun., whose singles “Some Nights” and “We Are Young” were annoyingly inescapable circa 2013? I was introduced to The Format in college when they opened for Guster at a show on our campus, and after that I remember playing the heck out of Interventions + Lullabies (2003). All that to say: they’re back, bay-bee!
The new album is called Boycott Heaven (2026), and it manages simultaneously to feel recognizable and familiar to existing fans of the band and to sound fresh, grown-up, and modern. Thematically, there’s a lot of anger and disillusionment here, but also a certain confidence in the choice to break from past allegiances and forge ahead on one’s own. The first track, “No Gold at the Top,” starts slow before building to a cathartic peak where Ruess shout-sings “there’s no gold at the top, just vultures waiting for you to die,” a driving kick drum beat carrying us through to the end as he reassures that “I’m alright, just had another bad night, but I’m alright.” It’s cathartic, the kind of song that just begs to be yelled along to in the car, eyes shining, alone.
The album wrestles with genocide and complicity in “Leave it Alone (Till the Morning),” takes a catchy and upbeat approach to mental health struggles in “Depressed,” and fires shots at toxic organized religion in “Boycott Heaven.” I so deeply appreciate an album that goes hard musically and also resonates lyrically, and whew, this is one.
Lost my motivation, wasn't much for chasing the cross Boycott heaven 'cause there's gotta be somewhere better, far from the sun Holy roller, please, the damage to your knees is something that cannot be undone So boycott Heaven 'cause they never, ever gave a fuck about us
If you’ve been here awhile, you’ve already heard me shouting about I’m With Her—I included their album Wild and Clear and Blue (2025) in two consecutive newsletters when it came out:
Seeing them live at an amphitheater in Cary with my parents this past summer was a highlight of my year.
So you can understand how unwell I was this week when they announced their upcoming live album from that tour and released a cover of Paul Simon’s “The Obvious Child” as a first single.
Friends, the way these three take a famously vocally spare, percussion-focused song and make it sound like it was written for banjo, fiddle, guitar, and three richly-layered voices is just astounding. Their instrumental skills are, as always, perfection, and their harmonies so intentional, so controlled, so tight that they vibrate in the air. You can see that Colbert performance here, but I prefer this one from their Seattle tour stop since it really showcases their talent in the live concert setting. They really do sound this good, no studio or editing required.
Sorry in advance for my inevitable insufferability when the whole album drops in April (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME). But also, not sorry. You’re welcome.
Haiku round-up
Monday, February 2
Our journey stretches over multiple decades— may it continue
Tuesday, February 3
Liquid, a life source hydrating necessity Solid, a weapon
Wednesday, February 4
Another mother I alone remain empty breathing through the doubt
Thursday, February 5
We are the butter, from our special shelf on high observing, judging
Friday, February 6
Who would say no to the spontaneous request for a wee tipple?
Saturday, February 7
Lyrics break through fog where they meet me in a dream, melody looping
Sunday, February 8
My bath is too cold so you ask, kettle or pot and set to boiling
And another thing
My bestie John Darnielle was interviewed for Flaunt Magazine and it’s very worth a read even if you’re not a Mountain Goats fan. I loved what he had to say about freedom,3 running, aging,4 the current ICE raids,5 and resistance, among other things.
I’ve never been one for a mass market—I’m more of a trade paperback girlie myself—but this obituary of sorts really made me feel something about the format’s discontinuation.
Football doesn’t appeal to me at all, but I will show up to your watch party for a tasty dip! A spinach and artichoke yogurt-based one caught my eye this week.
This profile of Patricia Lockwood has been open in a tab for months waiting for me to get to it, and I’m so happy I finally did. What a person. What a mind. It’s long, but you won’t be sad you invested the time.
The Millions book previews never disappoint, and the winter 2026 edition is no exception—Pedro the Vast (Simón Lopez Trujillo, trans. Robin Myers), The Silent Period (Francesca Manfredi, trans. Ekin Oklap), The Natural Way of Things (Charlotte Wood), and The Life You Want (Adam Phillips) were all brand new to me and immediately went on my to-read list.
Electric Lit’s roundup of books by women of color to read in 2026 also added a few to my radar: The Hour of the Wolf (Fatima Bhutto), Missing Sam (Thrity Umrigar), With the Heart of a Ghost (Lim Sunwoo), and Daughter of Mother-of-Pearl (Mandy-Suzanne Wong).6
Until next time
Jordan and I went with a friend to see Bad Bad Hats in concert on Thursday and the venue had a small balcony where we were able to snag a spot with a couple of stools. Tall people, you will not understand this, so feel free to skip ahead. But my short homies, you get it—my 5’2” self got to sit down for most of the show and I had an unobstructed view the entire time. What a rarity, what a treat. I wish us all an abundance of such little wins this week.
See you next Monday, and until then, bang, bang, bang, on the door, baby!7
♥︎ Emily
P.S. If you especially enjoyed today’s newsletter, here are a couple ways to support its continued creation (thank you)!
Thanks to Catapult for my copy!
At the Greensboro location of McKay’s, may it rest in peace.
“I think any notion of freedom that is just individual freedom to do whatever we like is an infant's notion of freedom.” AHEM.
“I'm in an old body. It's what it is…”
“Let's you and I agree that you have a wound on your leg. I'm going to pour salt onto it, right? Well, one, I don't have a wound. And two, if I did, I don't want that. And that's the situation here. Sending the army into cities is moronic, by any standard. There is no reasonable position in defense of any of this. Even if the problem were as it is described by them, that would not be the solution.”
The blurb for this last one started with “For lovers of Sabrina Imbler’s How Far the Light Reaches and Lulu Miller’s Why Fish Don’t Exist” and oh my god, shut up and take my money.
We just finished season 3 of Ted Lasso and I need more NOW.