T Lo’s Weekend Pop Culture Reading List

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Darlings, we’ll be back over the weekend to wrap up our coverage of The Crown season 3, but until then, here are all the posts, articles and essays that tickled our fancy this week.

The House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered a statement on the status of the…her hands clasped before her — and wearing a white pantsuit.

Nancy Pelosi and the Persistent White Pantsuit by Vanessa Friedman at The New York Times

I wasn’t the only person surprised by the simple reasons for Peloton’s popularity. The brand, too, seems to have initially misjudged what its own appeal might be, and the controversial ad appears to be part of a larger effort to walk back some of its early messaging. The company’s first ads, which have been widely mocked in their own right, featured young, confident, clearly affluent people working out their already toned bodies while gazing out the windows of their multimillion-dollar homes. After a few years, however, it became clear to the company that many of its bikes were going into the basements and guest bedrooms of middle-class American homes, used by regular people who lead regular lives.

Peloton Doesn’t Understand the People Who Love It Most by Amanda Mull at The Atlantic

What you can see, and what you can’t see, in the official White House photographs.

Melania Trump Reveals Christmas Décor but Stays Hidden by Vanessa Friedman at The New York Times

“Everything in this room is a mix of everything that I love,” he says. “They all mean something. And they’re not just things. . . . They’re sort of the beginning of a concept.”

Ralph Lauren’s American Dreams by Naomi Fry at The New Yorker

As a music-video director, Melina Matsoukas helped female artists own their power. Now she’s wielding hers with her debut film, “Queen & Slim.”

‘Queen & Slim’ Director Melina Matsoukas Is Making Moves by Megan DiTrolio at Marie Claire

But the dress was a kind of perfect thing to catch fire at that moment. The internet was less polarized and politicized, and it had shifted to mobile fully so people were looking at mobile devices. With the dress, if you saw it on your phone and you were with people, you could hold the phone up and say, “What color is this?” Plus, in the early days of BuzzFeed, our traffic would die in the evening because people would watch television or go out with their friends. Now, with mobile, we see prime time for our content as the same as prime time for television. People are sharing content and looking at content later.

In the 2010s, BuzzFeed Made the World a Meme By Max Read at The Intelligencer

“I feel like there’s been lots of moments that I’ve done things that I think people aren’t sure how to fit into their notion of me,” she says […] And I guess I enjoy not being completely categorizable in that way.”

Greta Gerwig on the Twin Adventures of Filmmaking and Motherhood by Chloe Malle at Vogue

Actresses Barbie Ferreira, Shannon Purser and Natasha Rothwell also open up about the barriers to success and the movement toward body inclusivity: “Fat girls can be sexy.”

“All Body Types Can Be Badass”: Aidy Bryant, Niecy Nash and TV’s Positivity Push by Lindsay Weinberg at The Hollywood Reporter

“Humans have always thrived with routine,” she told me. “But children, their memories aren’t long enough. Sometimes, when we’re getting our 3-year-olds dressed for winter, they’re like, ‘I can’t do it!’ And we’re like, ‘You’ve put on snow pants before. You’ve put on boots.’ But for them, it’s so long ago. They don’t remember snow from when they’re 2; it’s new again for them.” So to have something happen every week at the same time—and especially something that “seems a little bit magical”—can boost kids’ sense of familiarity with the world, not to mention give them something to look forward to.

Why Your Kid Loves the Garbage Truck So Much By Ashley Fetters at The Atlantic

“I knew she was a star. In the context of how Madonna was very influential, I always thought of her as our generation’s [equivalent],” says Marko Monroe.

Lizzo’s Stylist Talks Singer’s “Confident” Fashion, Becoming This Generation’s Madonna by Lilly Pace at The Hollywood Reporter

[Photo Credit: David Bailey/Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ]

• T Lo’s Weekend Homework