Friday Flames | 8.11.23
A weekly synopsis of what we figured out about Columbus, Lahaina, Pluto, Bridgerton, and Ilium.
Issue 1 is done
On Tuesday, the fine people in Magda’s home state of Ohio beat back albatross Frank Larose and the rest of the state’s terrified Republicans by voting No on Issue 1 by 14 percentage points. Ohio, which for years supported labor and social justice, has been taken over and gerrymandered by Republicans, who have installed a gubernatorial legacy of extreme-right religious zealots. Issue 1, which would have required a 60% majority to pass any statewide referenda—and made it much more difficult to get citizen-led referenda on the ballot in the first place—was the GOP's attempt to keep anyone from initiating any pro-choice legislation.
Fresh off this humiliating defeat, this Larose character is hoping to unseat beloved senator Sherrod Brown, and it's all enough to give a person major agita. If anyone knows how we can support Ohioans in this fight for democracy, let us know.
Help for Hawai’i
We watched aghast at footage of the Maui wildfires, which have consumed centuries of royal and cultural history in Lahaina, turned “every single house and car” to “toast,” and reduced paradise to something out of Avengers: Endgame. If you’re looking to contribute to the relief and rebuild,
and our friends at Cool Mom Picks have put together an extensive list of resources.This week on the podcast
On Monday, we launched our Monday Check-In, inspired somewhat by the weird feeling that by the end of this month we’ll be living 800 miles apart.
Welcome to the Monday Check-In!
Listen now (21 mins) | After we’ve lived in proximity since 1996, Magda is moving 12 hours away at the end of the month. So we’ve decided to set up a weekly check-in for 10-15 (ok, 20) minutes every Monday, just to talk business, compare notes on the boys, and just bounce ideas off each other like we’ve done basically since Clinton was president.
We also spoke to Pastor Emily Swan, who sees the current decline in church affiliation as an opportunity to shed what no longer works. And she doesn’t really care how big her church community is, as long as its people feel accepted.
Episode 12: "What can faith look like that is both relevant and progressive?"
Listen now (63 mins) | Pastor Emily Swan comes from Low Church. She doesn’t disrespect the “smells and bells,” but she sees more value in building an accessible, judgment-free community while preaching in jeans and Birkenstocks. She also knows the dangers of imposed uniformity of thought, having been fired from her previous pulpit for being gay.
Feeling ‘Stacked
As we explore Substack as our new medium, we’re finding a lot of people we know and love—and more people we don’t know and love. Soon we’ll be publishing a list of our favorite reads and adding to our Recommendations list. And if you’re looking to add to your Stackroll, you can find Magda at
and Doug at .Got any recommendations? Shout ‘em out! ⤵⤵⤵
(Dwarf) planetary update
It takes Pluto 248 years to complete one orbit around the Sun, which means that it only completed one-third of an orbit during the time it qualified as a planet in our solar system (1930-2006). So if you’re 50 years old here, on Pluto you’d be barely out of the womb.
Currently watching
Doug and our son have started Season 5 of What We Do in the Shadows, one of those rare TV shows that supersedes its very entertaining source material. Its appeal is kinda specific—either you like horror/comedy full of f-bombs, or you don’t—but we’ve found this season funnier than the previous two. A return from the dead, as it were.
Magda is watching weight-lifting videos on YouTube and doing the exercises to try to sculpt her arms and shoulders in time to have a zillion photos taken at her wedding. Boring, but true.
Currently reading
Magda is reading various bits of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series—most recently, the Rokesby prequels. They're like potato chips, and she can't stop. Her future sister-in-law is trying to get her into "midlife crisis paranormal romance," so stay tuned.
Doug finished re-reading Slaughterhouse-Five, which hits so much harder now than it did 30 years ago. We should start a book club focused on books we were assigned to read long before our spongy, unadulterated brains could possibly appreciate them.
Next on the podcast
Dementia is not part of normal aging. It’s hard to define, and even harder to develop a care system for someone you love. On Wednesday, Emily Gavin MS OTR/L joins us to discuss the many forms dementia can take, the causes of (and remedies for) the frustration that sets in, the best practices for care, and the options to pay for it.
Thanks for reading, and so it goes.
Magda and Doug