A Thing or Two with Claire and Erica

When you are expressing gratitude these days, are you appropriately prayer-hand-emoji for video streaming (and, frankly, the streaming wars that are keeping us so deep in good content)? We’re taking this week’s ep as an opportunity to really lay our thanks on thick—for The Fight, I May Destroy You, Shrill, and Love on the Spectrum specifically. Light spoilers in some spots (and possibly too much excitement in others).   The linkage:   First things first: boiled potatoes!! With seafood, in a niçoise salad, and as leftovers...which gets you halfway to fried or roasted potatoes like Julia Turshen’s Kinda Sorta Patatas Bravas or these crispy roasted potatoes with burrata.   Also, congrats to white potatoes on joining the Whole30 club. Sorry the announcement of this news didn’t feature a more flattering photo of you all.   Ok, second things second: our watch list. The Fight available for rent on various platforms, I May Destroy You on HBO Max, Shrill (Season 2 specifically) on Hulu, and Love on the Spectrum on Netflix.    Some further reading around Love on the Spectrum: a Time review by Sarah Kurchak, an article from The Cut that runs through the criticisms, and a piece from the Los Angeles Times that gets into the filming behind-the-scenes.   What else should we be watching? Tell us at @athingortwohq or 833-632-5463.    If you haven’t signed up for our Secret Menu yet, well, join us!   Give Michelle Obama’s new Spotify podcast a listen. Download the Caviar app and get $10 off your food order of $20 or more with the code ATHINGORTWO. Tune into the Everything Is Fine podcast with Tally Abecassis and Kim France. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

Big day, team! We’re catching up with our very favorite photographer, Jamie Beck, who moved to Provence, France, longer ago than we like to acknowledge and who has been creating all kinds of greatness recently—much of which you can even purchase for the first time. Friends, let’s dive in.   The linkage:   Ok, you have to follow Jamie Beck on Instagram for the full behind-the-scenes.   Jamie’s incredible #IsolationCreation project, which she invited her community to contribute to (and, whoa, did people!).   Lucky us! Jamie started selling her work, in the form art posters featuring her isolation creations—and there’s a signed, limited-edition finale poster coming, too (along with phone cases, camera straps, fine art, stationery, journals, a couple books…).   You know about our Secret Menu? Joining will get you a ~bonus~ members-only newsletter once a week.   Our DMs and voicemails are open! Get us at @athingortwohq or 833-632-5463.     Produced by Dear Media

What is ambition anyway? And ambition toward what? Join us as we contemplate—and, frankly, give side-eye to—one of the driving forces of our lives.   The linkage:   WOW, Maris Kreisman’s “Where Did My Ambition Go?” essay. (It’s probably worth following Maris on Twitter too, while you’re at it.)   Tavi Gevinson on shutting down Rookie, and Grace Bonney on shutting down Design*Sponge.    The profiles of The Chicks and Viola Davis that resonated.   We want more from you! Get in touch at @athingortwohq or 833-632-5463. If you want more from us, join Secret Menu, which will get you a members-only newsletter once a week.   Give Noble Cup, Ethiopia’s first menstrual cup, a shot. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

However many months in, we’ve found our fitnessing-at-home rhythms (which, no, do not involve dance cardio). Also! We’ve landed on a way to keep our very clean hands moisturized: shea butter, specifically the stuff from Eu’Genia Shea, and we clearly needed to talk to the company’s founder Naa-Sakle Akuete for the inside scoop.   The linkage:   Have thoughts? We want your DMs and VMs! Get us at @athingortwohq or 833-632-5463.   Online fitness stuff we’re now in long-term relationships with: the Peloton app, Melissa Wood Health (which you can try out on her IGTV), Revolution Motherhood, Exercise Snacks, Sky Ting Live & TV, and Kate Posch’s streaming yoga classes.   Home equipment worth the investment (in money and space!): Bala Bangles, Manduka cork yoga blocks, the Exercise Snacks Snack Pack, and a Jade Yoga Harmony mat.      We’re so very into Naa-Sakle Akuete’s company Eu’Genia Shea and its stocked-at-Target spinoff, Mother’s Shea.   More info on the Target Takeoff Accelerator program Naa-Sakle went through.    Other beauty brands Naa-Sakle wholeheartedly endorses: Sahajan, One Love Organics, True Moringa, Kreyòl Essence, and Thrive Causemetics.     If you want more from us, let us direct you to Secret Menu, which, for four bucks a month, gets you a members-only newsletter every dang week.   Dig into details on Succession Strength. For 20% any of their business-planning products, use the code ATHINGOR20. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

As two married gals getting older by the day, this ep feels like a real throwback. We’re talking babysitting and dating—the latter with Lindsey Metselaar, the savvy host of the We Met at Acme podcast who knows much more about the topic than we do at this point. Something we’re obviously NOT talking about: inviting the person you’re dating to the house you’re babysitting at without permission.   The linkage:   Do you know about our Secret Menu? It’s our new thingy where, for $4 a month, you get access to a weekly members-only newsletters.   You’ve heard about The Baby-Sitters Club Netflix reboot? Course you have.   Further BSC reading: Michelle Ruiz for Vogue.com, Gal Beckerman for NYT, Katie Baker for The Ringer, and The Hollywood Reporter interview with the showrunner Rachel Shukert. Further listening: The Baby-Sitters Club Club podcast!    Tune into Lindsey’s podcast We Met at Acme to get your regular dating updates and intel.   Add The Newsette to your morning routine. Snag the latest issue of the health-and-arts mag Womanly. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

Oh, it’s just us, with a little to say about a whole lot of things! There’s some playlisting, some cookbooking, some sunblocking, some angsting—you’ll see when you dive in.   The linkage:   We have a new thing! It’s called Secret Menu, and, for $4 a month, you get access to a very special members-only newsletter. Yes, intriguing.   Powdered SPF! We’re all about it, especially for babies, scalps, and pandemic scenarios when you definitely don’t want to be touching your face in public. Brush On Block is our new (translucent) go-to.   The source of our playlist-for-the-ages tip: the wonderful Cat Dash. Related: Spotify’s Time Capsule feature.   The quick version of what Claire refers to as the gospel theory of activism.   A recent installment of Courtney Martin’s newsletter and one of Mona Chalabi’s excellent graphics compare the duration of the current BLM protests to the Montgomery bus boycott.   This Mother Jones article "The Gas Industry Is Paying Instagram Influencers to Gush Over Gas Stoves" 1) is about so much more than that headline conveys and 2) got us RILED. Sigh, related: Pregnancy risks related to air pollution disproportionately impact Black mothers.   Our most recent book purchases by Black authors (for ourselves and for gifts!): Vegetable Kingdom by Bryant Terry, The Dooky Chase Cookbook by Leah Chase, The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty, Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert, and Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender.   The single-blade Oui razor—so chic, so worth it! Read this Glossy interview with the founder Karen Young for more context (paid subscription required).   Check out the Encyclopedia Womannica podcast! Every weekday, there’s a new, five-minute episode introducing game-changing women throughout history.   Wash your clothes with Celsious and snag 15% off their eco-friendly laundry supplies with the code 15% ACLEANERTHINGORTWO. YAY.    Produced by Dear Media

Um, aspirational friendship alert!! We’re bringing you THE Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow, hosts of the podcast Call Your Girlfriend, brilliant minds behind Shine Theory, and authors of the book Big Friendship that all of your pals are going to be talking about on the group text. They’ve gotten practice writing—and talking—about the hard things in their relationship and working through conflict and, in doing so, are downright inspirational. But what’s new?   The linkage:   Big Friendship! Have you ordered your copy yet?!?!   If you aren’t consuming all that Amina and Ann create, get on that—starting with Call Your Girlfriend and Shine Theory.   To share any and all thoughts with us, DM us on IG at @athingortwohq or leave us a VM at 833-632-5463.   Subscribe to the Folding Chair newsletter for a weekly rundown of underreported stories impacting Black lives.  YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

Slip on your comfiest shoes (ideally the ones that don’t go outdoors?) and get ready to curl up with a good book—or, rather, our enthusiastic endorsements of 26 novels by Black authors. YA and romance included, duh.   The linkage:   If you want more from us on Instagram, head to @athingortwohq. If you want to give us a ring, dial up 833-632-5463.   Some (Birkenstock-y) house-shoe picks: Arizona Essentials EVA, Boston Essentials EVA, and Boston Suede with Shearling.     NOVELS BY BLACK AUTHORS! That we love! Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid; Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue; The Idea of You by Robinne Lee; The Wedding Date, The Proposal, The Wedding Party, and more (!!) by Jasmine Guillory; The Nickel Boys (and next up: Sag Harbor) by Colson Whitehead; My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite; American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson; What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons; An American Marriage and Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones; The Mothers (and next up: The Vanishing Half) by Brit Bennett; Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson; Homegoing (up next: Transcendent Kingdom) by Yaa Gyasi; We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge; Americanah and The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.   YA NOVELS! With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo; The Hate U Give and On the Come Up by Angie Thomas; The Sun is Also a Star and Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.   Listen to Tayari Jones on our podcast or on Death, Sex & Money (where she talks about getting a call from Oprah!).   Get your DIY fix with Sewsquad. For free shipping on your first order, sign up for the newsletter. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

What’s up over here? We’re still giving too much headspace to Instagram...but our perspectives are shifting. And we’re also eating some of our very best meals of quar, thanks to Vanessa and Kim Pham, the sisters behind Omsom and its outrageously good Vietnamese, Thai, and Filipino sauces. Dig in?   The linkage:   Andrea Whittle wrote about whether the protests will change IG for W mag.   Whoa, did this @_nanders post get the wheels turning about the WHY of sharing content that’s getting shared a lot.    We always love Mary H.K. Choi, and this ep of her Hey, Cool Life! pod about optics and allyship really landed.   Another shout-out for 15 Percent Pledge!   We are obsessed with Kim and Vanessa Pham’s Omsom sauces, made in collaboration with the NYC restaurants Fish Cheeks, Jeepney, and Madame Vo.   For more ideas on how to put Omsom sauces to excellent use, their Instagram is a treasure trove.   Cookbooks endorsed by Vanessa and Kim (for reading as much as cooking): I Am a Filipino by Nicole Ponseca and Miguel Trinidad and Dishoom: The First Ever Cookbook from the Much-Loved Indian Restaurant by Shamil Thakrar, Kavi Thakrar, and Naved Nasir.   Get us on Instagram at @athingortwohq or by phone at 833-632-5463.   Treat your hair to Nutrafol—20% off with the code ATHINGORTWO. Learn more about The Renée and register for a maternal-health jam session. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

The two of us are calling our reps, donating money, consuming so much news, researching our primary candidates...and also rethinking where we spend our money and the businesses that warrant our support. We have SO MANY THOUGHTS. Also: We’re giving a free ad spot a week to a Black-owned business. If you’re interested, drop us a line at podcast@claireanderica.com!   The linkage:   The Who? Weekly episode intro that really spoke to us.   Check out the 15 Percent Pledge, which the Brother Vellies designer Aurora James started to urge major retailers to pledge 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses. But it applies to consumers, too!   Some places to find more Black-owned businesses to support: Instagram highlights (1, 2, and 3) from Erica, a spreadsheet compiled by Lingua Franca, restaurant spreadsheets via Helen Rosner’s IG, Julee Wilson’s list of 125 beauty brands, Black-Owned Brooklyn, Shoppe Black, banks (and many other businesses!) from Amira Rasool’s IG.   The Harvard Business School 2014 working paper "The State of Small Business Lending" that we cite a bunch.   For some abysmal venture-funding stats, read the Techcrunch article "US VC Investment in Female Founders Hits All-Time High" and this Forbes piece that breaks down dollars for Black and Latinx women.   This Onion headline (and whole story) about private equity!!!   We’re all about shifting online book purchases to Bookshop.org.   Get in touch! On Instagram at @athingortwohq or via phone at 833-632-5463.   Head to BiblioLifestyle for A+ book recs, and subscribe today to get their summer reading guide. Check out the stunning pottery from Lolly Lolly Ceramics, and get on the email list to be first to hear about restocks. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media