5SR - July 7, 2023

Madison works as a full-time freelance writer and is the owner of Grief Cards, where she sells sympathy cards that don't suck. In her free time, she plays in Stonewall Sports leagues and attends KC Current games.

California Is Becoming Uninsurable (Curbed)

Two pieces of information that I simply can’t stop talking about since reading this:

1. Some California homes are uninsurable due to ongoing climate risks. Among numerous other structural issues, this will only further cause housing to become inaccessible to all but the wealthiest people.

2. The California effect has traditionally shown that what happens in this coastal state will, often, soon be coming for the rest of the U.S. Like June’s air quality advisories in Kansas City, and New York City’s uninhabitable days in the same month due to smoke from Canada’s wildfires.

When Pregnancy Is The Crime (Intelligencer)

Even after all of the conversations and research I’ve been a part of with reproductive rights, I had never come across Lynn Paltrow. For me, this interview and introduction to her work, brought up a type of hope I’d worried that I had lost.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight one of my favorite sentiments from the conversation: “The idea is that people who end their pregnancies are different from the people who continue…Except they’re all the same [people], just at different moments of their lives.”

How Yoli Tortilleria Went From At-Home Experiences To A James Beard Award (KC Today)

If there’s one thing Kansas City does right, it’s vocally support people who claim the city as a pivotal part of their own life experiences. (See: Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis.)

Yoli Tortilleria’s unexpected receipt of a James Beard Award is no different. This Mexican tortilla shop is incredible and I can’t recommend them enough. Thankfully for all of us, they also sell online and ship nationally!

Drew Barrymore Is Figuring It Out Live (Vulture)

I’m yet to catch a full episode of the Drew Barrymore Show on television as it airs, but I can’t seem to stop seeking out clips on social media, ranging from audience conversations to free-flowing emotions to incredibly infectious laughter.

In a post-Ellen world, I’m resisting any urge to put the show up on the pedestal, while still remaining very thankful that a show this joyful has found its place on prime television.

1,268 Minutes With My New Fambly (The Cut)

Fun childhood fact about me: I had portions of 2 Fast 2 Furious memorized before I ever knew that it was the second in a series that (thankfully) is still going on today. So my roots in unimaginable stunts, constant reiterations of family, incredibly attractive humans, and relational adrenaline go back, quite literally, to some of my earliest memories.

Before I came along, my partner’s exposure to the franchise was limited at best. We made a deal where I agreed to enter the Star Wars world for the first time if he’d do the same for Fast and Furious.

As a result, this breakdown of 1. First watching the Fast and Furious films, and 2. Subsequently ranking them hit especially close to home. Some people have soap operas, some have romance novels, and others have muscle car-littered films.

(I’ll admit that watching all of the Star Wars films and tangential shows was worth it for The Mandalorian. Pedro Pascal + Grogu’s cuteness makes every minute of the franchise worth watching. Highly recommend.)