#5SmartReads - May 25, 2022

Abigail on mental health medication, anti-Semitism, and a hack to make boxed brownies better

May 25, 2022

Abigail is a writer and cooking teacher in Brooklyn! She loves books and long walks, and is currently obsessed with The Nanny (she's also from Queens)! Please join us in congratulating her on going full-time with This Needs Hot Sauce - congratulations, Abigail!

Love Thy Neighbor is a podcast about the 1991 Crown Heights Riots and its resonance in the present day (there's racism, police violence, anti-Semitism, and under resourced communities). Host Collier Meyerson is Black and Jewish and the daughter of a civil rights attorney. She brings herself to this story and it's all the better for it.

News you can use next time you want to bake! These brownies make any meal into a celebration and you might already have all the ingredients.

Mattie Kahn's work on the Holocaust is essential reading and also deeply personal: her great uncle, Arthur Kahn, was the first Jew killed by the Nazis in 1933, at just 21 years old. Kahn's work weaves in the questions of memory and how Kahn's murder is commemorated (or not) in Germany, how the Holocaust is remembered, and how this tragic loss shaped her family's story. I don't want to spoil the ending but it's a must read.

So many people I love would not be here (or not be fully themselves) without medication and Joanna's post about her experience with anti-anxiety medication is deeply important. She shares her story and reduces the stigma around meds and the comments section is full of hundreds of stories and bits advice. To paraphrase Ina Garten, if you can't make your own serotonin, store-bought is fine!

I loved this piece about building generational wealth in Latinx families. It addresses the mindset shift that needs to happen as well as practical tips and suggestions for speaking with family about these topics. Personal finance is so personal and this piece will be helpful for so many.

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