The world of politics is deeply bumming me out/horrifying me lately (always relevant!), so I’ve drawn a frog in a top hat to soothe myself. I must say, it helped. I recommend the method.

Last weekend I taught at the Desert Nights, Rising Stars conference at ASU, and I had a fabulous time. I met a lot of smart writers (both fellow teachers & students), took part in interesting conversations, and generally felt alive in the world of literary affection & ambition. Hoorah!

Today I recommend pairing this roundtable on diversity in publishing with this roundtable on diversity in the film industry. They’re both…well, I don’t want to say dispiriting (or do I?), because the writers, actors, directors, producers, & etc. who took part are clearly brilliant badasses. So I suppose I’ll say “illuminating,” and also add that both are conversational, fun, and easy to read. I feel like some people let themselves stop listening because they fear that conversations about diversity will be didactic (I’m sure I’ve been guilty of this), but neither of these fall into that category, in my opinion.