Bingeing 'Succession' six years late, new work, and women's basketball

And travels with Mom in Mexico City

Because I have no self-control when it comes to gobble-able TV series, “Succession” is currently ruining my life. Yes, I know the show started when I was still in my thirties; yes, I know it’s weird that I am not in possession of spoilers. The other day at the office (Big Magazine Corporation, rife with glamorous intrigue and layoffs), my colleagues and I found ourselves eating popcorn and drinking sparkling wine with a Big Executive. Dozens of coworkers had just had their terminations finalized, so it all felt very, well, Roylike. Here’s Rhea and Kendall on media education:

I am also watching “The Sympathizer” (pretty good, but way too much Robert Downey, Jr.) and my very favorite, “Hacks,” now in its third season, also on HBO. I was not paid for this plug.

A few days ago, I went to my first professional basketball game. Thanks to my friend A., who has season passes and access to the Qatar Airlines VIP lounge (free fries! not-free beer!), I got to see the New York Liberty play my hometown team, the Seattle Storm (those old Sonics colors, RIP!). It was a blast. So many baskets! Sitting right in front of us were Clara T$ai, Cord Jefferson, and the coach of the Nets. We also spotted Sue Bird (great hair). I was most delighted by Ellie, the twerking elephant mascot; the Timeless Torches, a mid-/late-life dance troupe; and the superlative, ur-Brooklyn diversity of the crowd.

My mom turned 75(!!!) in Mexico City. This was my gift to her: a chance to celebrate her health (she held up better in the heat than I did), eat amazing things (we both had grasshoppers for the first time), admire the flora, and practice her years of Duolingo Spanish in situ. I continue to believe that she’s the most brave, interesting, smart, beautiful woman in the world. Here she is before the Pyramid of the Sun, at Teotihuacán:

Okay, I do also work for a living, I swear. Here are two recent pieces:

• a feature, one year out, on the train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, and the mystery of environmental and corporate toxicity: https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/east-palestine-after-the-crash

• a short piece about a provocative new anthology of the photographs of Corky Lee, the late documentarian of Asian America: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/what-asian-america-meant-to-corky-lee

If you’re free tomorrow night (6pm PT), please join me and LA Public Library bookworms in an online discussion of Djuna, the mysterious, anonymous Korean novelist and critic, and their first novella in English translation, “Counterweight.” RSVP at mtwain@lapl.org, and read my review from last year here: https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/djuna-science-fiction/

Finally, some wartime recommendations:

• donate to Anera and UNRWA and the IFJ journalists’ safety fund;

• support Rafah evacuations by getting this awesome shirt;

• tell me what you think about Macklemore’s “Hind’s Hall”

Let me know what’s happening where you are! And thanks for reading.

-tammy