T Lo’s Weekend Pop Culture Reading List

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A smattering, darlings! That’s what we’re leaving for you as we dash out the door for a weekend of luxury; a smattering of the posts, articles and essays that caught our eye and captured the zeitgeist as we saw it. Why? Because we love you. Have a fabulous weekend!

My Nana never explained to us why she’d chosen to go by a more culturally neutral shorthand for “grandmother” instead of the customary — and irresistible — Greek word “Yiayia.” She was a proud Greek-American who worked as a receptionist until she was 84, listened to Nana Mouskouri records on the hi-fi in her living room, and rolled dolmades so perfectly uniform they belonged in an encyclopedia of domestic miracles.

Picture Books That Celebrate a Grandparent’s Selfless Love by Benjamin Anastas at The New York Times

It would have been so easy for the creators of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” to get it all wrong. We’ve all seen New York through the eyes of the Hollywood dream machine in a way that could not fool us, the native New Yorkers.

The Marvelous World of Mrs. Maisel, Through Vintage Photos by Veronica Chambers at The New York Times

Pornographic content, which had a large female viewer base on the site, will no longer be allowed.

Tumblr Fans Abandon Ship as Tumblr Bans Porn by Jonah Engel Bromwich and Katie Van Syckle at The New York Times

The pavilion outside the Barclays Center on Saturday afternoon was a world of naked want. Ticket holders bounced with frantic entitlement. Scalpers preyed on the unlucky. Police patrolled. Bomb-sniffing dogs sniffed. Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” global book tour had made a stop in Brooklyn and, three hours before the event was scheduled to start, a hundred giddy middle-aged women wearing dark lipstick tried and failed to skip past a group of giddy college-aged women in sweatshirts and Vans.

Michelle Obama’s New Reign of Soft Power by Doreen St. Félix at The New Yorker

Schur on his ambitions of making a smart show that anyone can understand—and whether he thinks Jeff Bezos would get into the Good Place.

The Good Place Creator Michael Schur on How He Made Philosophy a Pop Culture Phenomenon by Elizabeth Angell at Town & Country Magazine

For me, as a 48-year-old gay man, when I came out, we had to fight for our lives. Because the fight was so intense — and this is what this show has taught me — the T in LGBTQ was almost invisible. The fight was about something else.

Pose Star Billy Porter on Ball Culture, ’80s New York, and the AIDS Crisis by Jackson McHenry at Vulture

If you could steal the wardrobe of any film to make your own, which would you choose? The upcoming release of Matthew Vaughn’s latest movie, “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” has prompted the website Mr Porter to create a collection of menswear under a Kingsman brand name – Kingsman suiting, Turnbull & Asser shirting and George Cleverley shoes from the film have been collated on the site. Its launch got team Vogue thinking, which films would we like to see collections based around? From Michelle Pfeiffer’s glamorous gowns in “Scarface” to Cher Horowitz’s cult Nineties wardrobe in “Clueless,” here is our pick of the best movie looks.

Vogue’s Most Wanted Film Wardrobes by Laura Weir at British Vogue

I was also very interested in limiting my materials so I could manipulate a fabric to tell a story,” costume designer Alexandra Byrne says of her work on the film starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie as rival queens.

Costuming ‘Mary Queen of Scots” Denim-Clad Queens by Booth Moore at The Hollywood Reporter

WEAVER I don’t know how she managed to come up with these neat little jackets and sort of swirling skirts so that when I moved I could knock over everything. Everyone always knew I was coming. I found Katharine when I got to her office and saw her ski boots and gym equipment. It helped me understand the size of the person I was going to play, her vision of herself, her audacity, her confidence.

‘Working Girl’ Turns 30: On-Set Romances and Secrets of the Staten Island Ferry Revealed in Juicy Oral History by Chris Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter

Not all “offensive” jokes are equally bad. Jerry Seinfeld’s crack about scrolling through his phone contacts “like a gay French king” is hacky and annoying, mostly because he uses it to rail against “political correctness.” But it doesn’t cut nearly as deep as Hart’s. As the gay comedian Billy Eichner tweeted, “Many of us have jokes/tweets we regret. I’m ok with tasteless jokes, depending on context. What bothers me about these is you can tell its not just a joke—there’s real truth, anger & fear behind these. I hope Kevin’s thinking has evolved since 2011.”

Why Kevin Hart Had to Go as Oscars Host by Michael Shulman at The New Yorker

[Photo Credit: The New York Times]

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