The Sword Drew Blood, Azor, and Confessions of the Fox
No podcast this week, but we will be back next week!
Welcome to the eightieth installation of The Q : your one-stop weekly newsletter of culture recommendations.
Album
The Sword Drew Blood by Sefu
He’s fighting himself; fighting grief and betrayal; fighting the objects of his affection. “Loving you is like boxing. Don't let your guard down. But you must, to let them think they too can. Then right when they let their guard down, you strike.” He begins to sing, forgoing a rhyme scheme as he gets to the heart of the matter.
Film
Azor directed by Andreas Fontana
Tension within the country is hard to ignore on the streets. In one of the film’s opening scenes, a questioning police officer aggressively stops Yvan and Inés’ driver. He inquires about their whereabouts and asks to see their IDs. Yvan and Inés sit calmly in the back — as if shielding themselves from the events occurring right in front of their eyes. Rules? They don’t apply to them.
Book
Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg
For the past decade or so, discussions about the representation of marginalized groups have dominated spaces of literary discourse. From Tumblr rants about problematic tropes to the #ownvoices movement to, more recently, widespread media criticisms of the nepotistic and lily-white “Big Five” publishing houses, the discourse has snowballed a very long way. As a child of the Internet, I’ve engaged in every subsequent stage of this trend; I’ve bounced from platform to platform and made all the typical blog posts and TikToks and tweets.
Playlist
Sam’s “Snowed In” features Mal Devisa, Lil Peep, and Four Tet
Sam’s favorite track: “Good News” by Mac Miller
Description: The whole U.S. seems to be getting snow right now. This is a playlist to keep you company inside.