good things 03.19.26
salon details, vladimir, annie (1982)
one week until the inaugural GOOD THINGS SALON! i’m so excited and also very nervous. what if it’s the lamest dumbest flop gathering ever? i will try my hardest to prevent this. here are the details:
date: Thursday, March 26, 2026
location: the place where this very newsletter was launched! we’ve got the back space reserved at Prima in Clinton Hill (147 Greene Ave)
time: the salon is from 7 - 8 pm and we’ve got the space til 9 so hopefully everyone won’t want to run away immediately once it’s over.
topic: EXPERIENCES IN GROUPS
listen, i have been agonizing about what the topic of the salon should be for weeks and weeks. it has kept me up at night. i’ve asked every living person what they think it should be. but of course the answer is always to keep it simple, so i’m going with the article that i have not stopped thinking or talking about for months. i hope this is not so annoyingly meta to meet in a group and talk about groups. but i guess we’ll find out!
topic: EXPERIENCES IN GROUPS
reading material: Experiences in Groups by Lily Scherlis for N+1 (this is long but you can do it i believe in you)
listening material: Is Your Social Life Missing Something? The Ezra Klein Show (if you are not a NYT subscriber let me know and i’ll send you an mp3 of this)
alright now on to some good things…
1. vladimir (netflix)
why did i think this show was going to be about vampires? it has nothing to do with vampires. it is an unhinged campus soap opera starring rachel weisz and john slattery, a married couple who are professors embroiled in a sex scandal. leo woodall is also there and it’s produced by sharon horgan. i thought it was fun and silly and said something interesting about desire, but i can see why many of you might hate it. they didn’t land the plane with the ending but that’s ok.
2. overheard outside my window on a rainy monday
a little girl with a pink umbrella walked by on the grayest, most depressing rainy monday shouting an indignant song that went: “RAIN. RAIN. WE LOVE YOU BECAUSE YOU WATER THE PLANTS!!!!” great point queen.
3. “Lindy West Thought She Couldn’t Handle Polyamory. She Was Wrong.” (Modern Love)
this isn’t good in the sense that i like it but rather in the sense that i have so many thoughts about it. acclaimed feminist writer lindy west just released a memoir about her journey to polyamory and she joins anna martin to talk about it. the whole thing is… honestly tragic. i almost made it the salon topic but i am not qualified to speak in a public forum about the concept of polyamory. if this sparks a similar interest in you, i recommend this bonkers video next and this review. and i am occasionally back on twitter on my laptop sometimes while procrastinating but thought this was relevant too. TRAGIC! the whole thing is tragic.
4. annie (1982)
i have not watched this movie since preparing to star in the 2010 mary seat of wisdom summer stock production of annie as the titular role (see below). so when emily announced it was the first film on the list for her birthday movie marathon party, i was thrilled. it is just as good as i remember and completely unhinged in a way i don’t. worth spending $3.99 to rent and see for yourself.
5. good hang with carol burnett
recommending good hang is kind of like recommending the sun. yeah, thanks for the hot tip, genius! if you’re not already listening i’m not sure what your problem is. but ICYMI, this episode is in my top 3 so far and includes some incredible bits from when burnett was miss hannigan.
6. every time ethan hawke speaks
god he’s good.
let me know if you haven’t already and you are planning to come to the salon! see you next week xo
Lucie as little orphan Annie - I didn’t know I needed it