Hello all, hope this week has been productive and fun for you, and you have a restorative/exciting weekend ahead. Obviously, the news in the wake of Hurricane Helene has been distressing; we hope everyone who found themselves in the path of the storm are safe and okay. If you want to help, USA Today has a helpful article rounding up ways to do so. (As I noted at DWB this week, I donated to World Central Kitchen.)

This week, at Drinks With Broads: I took on the 18 most intriguing outfits of this second chunk of Emily in Paris. Heather recapped the newest episode of Only Murders in the Building. She also advanced an intriguing Doctor Odyssey theory, while I looked at some of Shirley Bassey’s jewels. Finally, Heather’s FB algo is OUT OF HAND and I found us an excellent HQ, and we all talked about Halloween carols.

I enjoyed being a guest on the Extra Hot Great podcast this week. We talked about Doctor Odyssey, and a LOT of Real Housewives franchises, plus there was a tricky Game time.

This whole thing is amazing: Treasure hunter finally finds Golden Owl after decades. [BBC]

I too was unaware there is a new Nic Cage live-action 1930s-set Spider-Man being filmed and I…also agree that I am intrigued??? [Lainey]

Important work at The Ringer: The Definitive Ranking of Clowns

I really enjoyed this piece at The Stripe about what to bring to a dinner party.

This is fascinating and also I think this is how Jurassic Park started. Per Bloomberg, via Financial Post: “Film director Peter Jackson and his partner, producer Fran Walsh, are the latest wealthy celebrities to throw support behind de-extinction startup Colossal Biosciences Inc. The couple invested $10 million in the company known for trying to bring back animals from the dodo to the woolly mammoth.”

This is fun: Sausage slices and love notes: The improvised bookmarks librarians find.  Don’t stick a sausage in your library book! (I use CVS receipts and old Lotto tickets sometimes though.) (But I take them out before I return the book!) [WaPo, gifted link]

Conde Nast Traveler rounds up The World’s Most Iconic Train Journeys.

OMG ME TOO: I Think Way Too Often About Steven Spielberg’s Failed Submarine Restaurant [Pajiba]

I do not need any more coats!!! But I WANT this one. [Anthro, affiliate link]

I will read any article along these lines: At Smithsonian: A Junk Dealer Discovered a ‘Horrible’ Painting in a Cellar 60 Years Ago. It Might Be a $6.6 Million Picasso. 

At Slate: “Brad Pitt has shown us who he is. Why do we refuse to see it?

I don’t know how they thought they were going to get away with this: Whole Foods Tried to Change This Cake Recipe. Customers Lost It. [NYT, gifted link]

At Eater: Every Single TikTok Grandma Is My Favorite

Our Halloween shopping post is coming soon but I couldn’t sit on this.  IT’S SO CUTE. [Williams Sonoma, affiliate link]

This is a great headline, at Lainey: Megalopolis is Cats.

At Defector: The WNBA’s Season Of Clash Is Big Business For The Permanently Aggrieved

This is a few years old but nonetheless delightful, at Collectors Weekly: Fun Delivered: World’s Foremost Experts on Whoopee Cushions and Silly Putty Tell All

Finally! As a reminder, we’ve been raising money for state legislature races in swing states with The States Project; state legislatures are a huge part of our governmental process, and can create real change in people’s daily lives. We easily met our original goal, and the folks at the State Project suggest we double it. I’m delighted to report that we’re 75% to the new goal! The election is just over a month away, so this is crunch time for campaigns. If you’d like to donate, the fundraising page is here.

(Photo by Jason Kirk/Online USA)

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