Go read this delightful cartoon by Kelly Bahmer-Brouse about Frances Perkins and her hats. Which is relevant because early this week, Elizabeth Warren spoke about Perkins in Washington Square Park, right by Perkins’s former home. I was there, but wasn’t planning to write about it because Tablet had already assigned it to the lovely Paul Berman. But then in the staff meeting the next morning, another dude said he was going to cover it too, and I blurted out, “SO ARE ALL THE WHITE MEN GOING TO WRITE ABOUT ELIZABETH WARREN???” To my editors’ credit, they encouraged me to write something too, and though I don’t know that we needed three takes on the same event (they billed it as a triptych) I was very jazzed by the topic of Elizabeth Warren and the Triangle Fire. (And Perkins too.) Regular readers know the depth of my Triangle Fire obsession.

And my brother took this picture, which became the banner for my Tablet piece. The park was so crowded I couldn’t make my way over to where he was standing. 

What else? In recent days I have also written about culinary goddess Leah Koenig’s terrific new cookbook of world Jewish cuisine. It’s so fun to just READ. Also, I tested the albóndigas recipe for her and it is, no lie, one of the most successful things I’ve ever cooked for my family. 

I also wrote about the history of roller derby (my daughter Maxine, aka Maxiemum Damage, is a Gotham Girls Junior Derby skater) and did a fun history piece on a turn-of-the-century Lower East Side Jewish street gang that specialized in horse poisonings. History is nutty. 

Also, that piece in The Horn Book I mentioned last time I posted, about the 30th anniversary of Number the Stars, is now online.

Meanwhile, over at SorryWatch, I wrote about Camp Playapology at Burning Man and, in honor of ousted sullen baby comic Shane Gillies, I made a Comedian Edition of Bad Apology Bingo.