Billionaires, Bob Dylan, and Romanian Canals
27th Jan - 02nd Feb
Hello my lovely subscribers,
Welcome to the first week of the rickleverse!
What should you expect from this newsletter? Well, the general format includes: musings about a current world trend (Now That I Think About It), reviews of fun media that I’ve watched or read (Consumption Corner) and a Weekly Stats column on how I’m functioning as a human (tldr; bad).
No doubt more things will be added as time goes on, but I hope you find something you enjoy.
Happy reading!
Now That I Think About It….
This week I have been thinking about the mantra that says ‘the people that trigger you are a reflection of the parts of yourself that you have yet to accept.’ There are few people more triggering at the moment than Trump, Musk or Zuckerberg but the ugly truth is that I see myself in these men more than I care to admit.
In an article I wrote for Medium, I tell the story of a time in my life where I believed I had to became a person not too dissimilar from these men in order to survive.
I look at the how our leaders are a reflection of both the norms that we value and the structural stresses we are put under.
Yet, just like James Baldwin said, we always have a choice:
Walk down the street of any city, any afternoon, and look around you. What you’ve got to remember is what you’re looking at is also you. Everyone you’re looking at is also you. You could be that person. You could be that monster, you could be that cop. And you have to decide, in yourself, not to be.”
Read the full article on Medium (for free) or join as a member to support me here.
(Note: I’ve read some great stuff on Medium. Esther Uwanah Edet is a Nigerian writer focusing on women’s issues and this piece, on how writing fiction allows us to imagine a better world.)
Consumption Corner
*Warning: may contain light spoilers*
Dracula, Bram Stoker (1897) ☆☆☆
It took four men (one a doctoral expert!!) to figure out Dracula was the one making their girlfriends look ozempic thin but as soon as they recruited one to the cause, she figured out the Romanian canal system faster than you could string a line of garlic together! Questionable science about blood transfusions; accurate portrayal of the multi-therapeutic qualities of brandy.
2001: Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick (1968) ☆☆☆☆
Let’s be clear, if it had been me on that ship, Hal would have never turned bad. We would have bonded over the filthiest dramoine fics while I got my 10k steps in.
Shogun, Season 1 (2024) ☆☆☆☆☆
Stop stabbing yourselves!!! (Ps. I want a kimono so bad.)
A Complete Unknown (2025) ☆☆☆☆
I see what you did there.
As I am chronically online, you can find all my reviews and thoughts on Letterboxd and Storygraph under @rickle400.
Weekly Stats
Capitalist purchases that temporarily numbed my sadness: 2
Bob Dylan songs listened to: 4 (think I prefer Joan)
Boyfriends (fictional): 5
Cats: 0 :(
Matcha lattes consumed: 3
Spoke to god: ∞
Thanks for reading! What to expect from the rickleverse week 2:
Next week you’ll hear about my kombucha workshop, my thoughts on the decline of social media, and the most intense episode of Grand Designs I’ve ever seen (The Brutalist).
See you then!
Love,
Rachael
Ps. If you’re my mum, I look forward to hearing about the typos.