Issue #91: Summer To-Dos, Heat-Proof Outfits, and the Best Iced Coffee

Plus 5 questions with Elise Loehnen.

Morning Person is a weekly newsletter packed with obsessively-curated recommendations and ideas—let’s get to it

📚 On Our Best Behavior by Elise Loehnen: Scrolling through Elise’s podcast “Pulling the Thread” is like a who’s who of thinkers and writers I most admire (Maggie Smith, Jenny Odell, Gabor Maté, Mark Epstein—they’re all there). Her book On Our Best Behavior (out today!) is, in many ways, a synthesis of the ideas she’s learned in her years as a journalist and ghostwriter and illuminates the ways in which women equate self-denial with being good. An instant add to the “wild women” canon, you can read my Q&A with her below!

🥗 Rotisserie Chicken with Greek Yogurt, Dill, and Fennel: My local farmers’ market opened last week and I went truly nuts. Strawberries! Fennel! Squash blossoms that I promptly made into quesadillas! Spring turnips! (I ate an entire bunch raw so quickly, I had to return for more.) The true hit though was the rotisserie chicken I let cool then tossed in Greek yogurt with tons of dill, fennel, and cucumbers (similar to this recipe), and proceeded to eat all week over thick slices of bread and in salads with butter lettuce. It’s summer, baby!

🎧 The Debutante by Jon Ronson: This Audible original by one of my favorite investigative authors (his book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed provides a compassionate look at the internet’s most reviled figures) explores the unlikely story of ex-debutante Carole Howe, who’s been linked to the ‘95 Oklahoma City bombing. At just over three hours, it’s ideal for those of us who enjoy a true crime story, but don’t quite have the patience for a full podcast season.

Last summer passed in a haze of painful confusion. I spent Portland’s fleeting gorgeous days alone in an Airbnb contemplating the future of my marriage, emerging only for class and when friends dragged me out for walks. When winter came far too soon, I soothed my sense of having missed summer by drafting a warm weather to-do list I’ve been adding to every since (and began checking off this week ✔️). Below are some of my top to-dos for getting the most out of summer, favorite heat-proof outfits, and a new go-to iced coffee recipe: