Rebecca Auman is a “pragmatic witch” with the most honeyed non-offensive Southern accent you’ve ever heard. She first ensorcelled me on the Deep Dive. I booked a reading faster than you can say “blessed be” and we got on like a house on fire. I interviewed her for my forthcoming book on intuition, and she then interviewed moi on her podcast, Voices in the River, which is medicinal and mindblowing.
Cards from my year ahead reading with Rebecca. Pls send help in June and July.
I’ve never been interviewed by a witch and lemme tell ya, Rebecca moves energy! I found myself talking about my project in a way I never have before, leading to dare I say, a breakthrough?! This book in indeed a quest to get to the bottom of the perennial question: Is it anxiety or intuition? But it is also a homecoming. Listen here, and do yourself one better and book a reading!!!
A note from our office of DEI:
So many of this installment’s recommendations come from a sorely underrepresented group at Letters of Recommendation—white men! They have to dance backward and in heels to get on this Substack, so if they’ve made it here, you know these are good. I now give roses to the following pale gentlemen:
North Woods by Daniel Mason: Never want this one to end. Sure, it was named a best of the year book by the New York Times but now it has the LOR imprimatur. And Mason is also a medical doctor?!?! How dare some people.
Ten Trips by Andy Mitchell: He did the impossible-- made personal psychedelic experience fun to read about. I lol’d and learned throughout.
Prescription for Pain by Phil Eil: Not just because he is a #catdad and uber-mensch but because he is a big-hearted curious writer who spent 15 years telling a most comprehensive story about how a good doctor goes bad.
Adam Driver’s TED Talk from 2016: You can always count on LOR for the most courant recommendations! I randomly watched this over lunch the other day and it reminded me why we all fell for this weirdo (Skip the end tho, which gives open mic poetry slam… And I should know! Shout-out to friends who knew me in this era.)
The new Ripley on Netflix: You just have to surrender to the fact that this is not the sun-drenched 1999 masterpiece, in which Anthony Minghella coaxed out the best performances of movie stars Damon, Law, and Paltrow they ever gave. I very much enjoyed this interview with Andrew Scott and also this New Yorker article on Patricia Highsmith.
Ok, now that we got the diversity bit out of the way, back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Botox from a true artist/American hero: You will be rescheduled several times, you will wander midtown with wads of cash in your pockets, your will have an expression reminiscent of Michael Keaton for a few days, and you will regret nothing.
Me post-tox
Bethenny’s divorce podcast- I find her nervy, discursive cadences so soothing, which says something about me.
The Class, IRL: I had an appointment in Lower Manhattan the other day (I’m a Trump juror! JK!) so I popped into the mothership. Best bathroom products I have ever experienced. Come for the lotions, stay for the spiritual burpees.
Pansy from Lush: Spring-as-unguent.
Following this Instagram account of bats has made me less afraid of them. They’re actually really cute when swaddled and drinking from baby bottles???