OCTOBER 4, 2019

Happy Friday! It’s almost time for the weekend, so let’s all channel the verve, energy and je ne sais quoi of a stylish interloper on a runway in Paris…

May we all be so bold.

We were simultaneously cracking up at and rooting for a French performance artist who jumped up onto the Chanel catwalk and joined the models during the show’s fashion week finale. The iconic brand was built on the style and wisdom of a famously strong and passionate woman, so it seemed a fitting moment for such a stunt. The artist, who calls herself Marie S’Infiltre, claims she was responding to fashion’s occasional dour seriousness and said she wanted to remind everyone that style should be joyful—a mindset we can’t help but believe after listening to the joy-finding (and space-claiming) manifesto of former Teen Vogue editor Elaine Welteroth.

A game-changer for student athletes.

This week California passed a law that will allow college athletes to earn money from endorsement deals. This is a major first step in the ongoing battle between the NCAA—a billion-dollar organization—and its student athletes. Each year the NCAA profits in a big way off the names and likenesses (and of course, performances) of its athletes, from football to basketball and beyond. Here’s hoping there are more victories to come.

When he’s such a catch comes with a catch.

As someone married to a man 6.5 years her junior 😱, editor Courtney has been subjected to plenty of commentary about her May-December romance (a former boss referred to Courtney’s now-husband as her child groom). So she related to the viral-at-least-in-her-network piece, Darkness on the Edge of Cougartown, in which writer Sarah Miller perfectly nails the anxiety of dating the handsomest man who’d ever gone out of his way to get my attention—who also happens to be in a wholly different age demographic. It’s like The Graduate, if Mrs. Robinson had maybe 1/10th of the confidence. It also has us atwirl on the Lolita debate all over again (e.g., can you imagine anyone ever referring to Humbert Humbert as a large, desperate feline?).

A dashing prince takes a stand.

Prince Harry made two bold moves this week. First he sued a British tabloid for allegedly publishing a private letter his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, sent to her father. Then he shared a scathing statement, which wasn’t cleared with his grandmother the Queen, accusing the tabloid of manipulating the letter while waging a campaign against Meghan that, for him, resembled the all-out frenzy surrounding his mother, Princess Diana, before her tragic death. That has been the most poignant aspect of Harry’s lovingly defensive move for those of us who vividly remember the image of him as a young boy walking in his mother’s funeral procession. No one wants history repeating itself.

A moment for mercy.

On Wednesday Amber Guyger, the white former police officer who shot her black neighbor, Botham Jean, in his apartment, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The case was one of the more high-profile instances of police violence against unarmed black civilians that have fueled the Black Lives Matter movement. But perhaps the most unusual part of the trial came when Jean’s 18-year-old brother used his victim impact statement to forgive Guyger and give her a hug. It was a stunning moment that brought many to tears and has us thinking about the nature of forgiveness and mercy in the justice system—a topic eloquently examined in the aptly named classic Just Mercy.

Also in the news…

Till Next Week!
—the audible editors

Audiobooks in This Edition

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel Audiobook By Karen Karbo cover art
Indentured Audiobook By Joe Nocera, Ben Strauss cover art
The System Audiobook By Jeff Benedict, Armen Keteyian cover art
The Graduate Audiobook By Charles Webb cover art
Lolita Audiobook By Vladimir Nabokov cover art
More Than Enough Audiobook By Elaine Welteroth cover art