#5SmartReads - November 11, 2022

Hitha on politics, power, and Paramore

November 11, 2022

As the results of the midterms are finalized and announced, this is the group I have my eye on.

I believe that if you deny the results of a fair and free election - one that has been investigated in great detail - it should disqualify you from seeking office, particularly one that puts you in charge of running elections.

Many of these races were extremely tight, so much that they haven’t been called as of Wednesday afternoon. And while certain states’ results give me comfort (I see you, PA & MI & MD), others are uncomfortably close and put future elections at risk for denial and meddling.

Elections are not the endgame, but a single move in a lifelong commitment to citizenship. It’s important to pay attention and participate in every election, but to also moderate your news intake and unplug to recharge.

I bought the audiobook of Fatty Fatty Boom Boom after I read this piece, and I think you will be doing the same (and if it’s not in your budget, please DM me and I would be happy to gift you a copy in your preferred way to read).

It’s not just a food book or a weight loss book or a book about growing up in the South Asian diaspora, as this review shows. It was this section of the article that had me hitting “buy” within seconds:

“In fact, atypical of inspirational weight loss books, Fatty Fatty Boom Boom, is, among other things, a love letter to Chaudry's native cuisine. Her memoir's table of contents reads like a menu, with chapters named for beloved Pakistani dishes. An appendix serves up her favorite recipes for ghee, chai, daal, pakoray, kababs, and chicken pulao, among others. Why? "Because everyone has to eat, yes, even fat people...and so many of the best memories of my family revolve around food.""

Weight is such a hot button topic in South Asian culture, with elders feeling it’s their duty to openly comment on your weight and appearance and what you put on your plate. And with food being such a central element in our culture, they are deeply intertwined in a way that can be a mindf*ck. I’m really excited to read Rabia’s own story as she unpacks these topics, and to also make some of her recipes.

My husband and I went on a day date earlier this week. We went to lunch, and then to the New York Historical Society to check out the latest exhibits.

The museum recently acquired Robert Caro’s archive (it was also the first time I learned that he’s a fellow Upper West Sider, and his wife is an equally prolific historian and they acted as each other’s research partners - love). I personally see a lot of parallels between Joe Biden and Lyndon B. Johnson (the subject of 4 tomes written by Caro, with a fifth in the works).

I left the museum with Caro’s first book about Johnson, and a desire to learn more about Caro, and this interview with the NYT Magazine was very satisfying - both in learning more about Caro’s writing process and how he views power.

“In my opinion, I’ve learned that power does not always corrupt. Power can cleanse. When you’re climbing to get power, you have to use whatever methods are necessary, and you have to conceal your aims. Because if people knew your aims, it might make them not want to give you power. Prime example: the southern senators who raised Lyndon Johnson up in the Senate. They did that because he had made them believe that he felt the same way they did about black people and segregation. But then when you get power, you can do what you want. So power reveals. Do I want people to know that? Yes.”

Paramore is BACK (and if you’re on TikTok and specifically ParamoreTok, you’re in the good place). But what happened to the band in 2018, when they withdrew from the limelight?

“When one of York’s family friends died while the band was shooting a video for one single, “I just started bawling”, he recalls. “I didn’t know I had this capacity until that moment. We realised nothing is worth risking our health.” They set a hard limit on touring that record. After that, says Williams, they knew they had to take their first ever real break: “Let’s see what it’s like to not hang our identities on Paramore all the time.””

The members of the band at the time retreated and took time to focus on their personal relationships with each other. And only when their relationships (with themselves and with each other) regained solid footing did they return to the recording studio and the road to tour.

Listening to their latest album after reading this puts a lot of the lyrics into a greater perspective, and their humility with this new album is really remarkable:

“They were conscious of re-emerging into a music scene rich with their influence. “I’d rather work harder than ever to try and find ourselves despite the noise,” says Williams.”

It’s never a wrong time to be a Paramore fan. But I’d argue that now is the best time to have been a longtime fan.

I know much of our attention in North America is on the midterm election. But please, please don’t look away at what’s happening around the world.

Especially in Iran.

It’s been 4 weeks since Mahsa Amini was killed at the hands of the Iranian police. And now, the Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi - the journalists who broke the story - have been charged with propaganda offenses and were accused of being CIA agents - with absolutely no evidence.

Women deserve to live in safety, with dignity, and bodily autonomy. These things are at stake both at home and abroad, but they are human rights that we deserve. It starts with paying attention - so please continue to pay attention to stories like these.

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