My talented friend Kathleen is writing again
My dear pal Kathleen Martinelli is writing again and we are all better off for it. Here’s an excerpt from her new post:
I used to watch everything, all the “good” shows, and now I just put on the same four seasons of RHONY over and over. My Peacock app has a pop-up screen that routinely asks me, “bitch you live like this?” and I just click it away and hit play once again on Bethenny in the Bezerkshires screaming about how Luann is a slut. It’s cozy and numbing at the same time, like falling asleep inside a snowbank.
I don’t know exactly what she has in store, but it’s safe to say that if you enjoy sharp and funny commentary on both high and low culture, there will be something here for you. Her newsletter is called Attention Kmart Shoppers and you should subscribe.
When I started Green Bananas, I immediately tapped Kathleen for a mixtape. And she delivered the bops.
I wrote this about her at the time:
Kathleen is one of those special people that everybody should be fortunate enough to have in their lives. She is a sage of sorts. A low-key guru. An inadvertent sherpa. A reluctant lighthouse. An accidental Jedi.
You’ve heard of this distinguished class of American leaders known as the Captains of Industry? Well, Kathleen is a Captain of Culture—which is to say she always has, like, really, really solid recommendations on what you should be reading, watching, and listening to. Music, television, movies, tweets, long reads, TikToks, YouTubes, podcasts, GIFs, subreddits, substacks, subgenres, and so on.
And while nearly anyone is capable of voraciously consuming popular culture today, Kathleen possesses the exceedingly rare ability to digest, analyze, and discuss it in a way that is refreshing, lighthearted, considered, and insightful, but magically somehow not pretentious or juvenile. And if that wasn’t enough of a feat, she inexplicably manages to be ironic, but not cynical, and sincere, but not saccharine. I have no idea how she does it, but my leading theory is that she is a witch.
I stand by every word.
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