CHAD AND I just finished watching the Netflix mini-series Wayward, which is about a boarding school for troubled teens in Vermont. I would give it a 6/10, with probably 5.5 of those stars going directly to Toni Collette, who plays the Mephistophelean cult leader of the school, promising emotional stability to vulnerable kids in exchange for their slavish devotion to her quasi-religious self-improvement scheme.

The show made me think about how our society is terrified of teenagers. I would be lying if I said that I didn't get it; when I heard about the large gatherings—called "trends"—organized by and for teenagers in Chicago, I recalled my own youthful inability to assess risks. Imagining a spontaneous outdoor event involving a hundred-plus people with underdeveloped pre-frontal cortexes doesn't exactly give me comfort. On the other hand, these gatherings seem primarily driven by a need for connection rather than reckless rioting. And maybe they wouldn't be happening in the first place if teens weren't regularly shunned.

Even if we hadn't watched Wayward, I'd be thinking about teenagers anyway, since my daughter is on the brink of becoming one as she loves to remind her father and me. She teases us with "Gen Alpha" slang, like "6-7," while asking us what sort of slang we used to use. (We told her that we used to say "rad" but honestly I think our main contribution to American speech may have been using "like" as a filler word.)

I lose sleep worrying about Michaela and the future she will have on this planet. In one of her classes, she was given the assignment to research different colleges. I really don't know how this is useful to a fifth grader, but maybe there is a lesson in it for me. I need to stop pressuring her to behave a certain way and quit fretting about her academic progress. I need to counteract the toxic effects of the College Application Industrial Complex. I do worry about our teenagers. How they are staying home more and more. Looking at their devices. Leaning on AI for companionship. I don't think a remote boarding school with a cultish vibe is the answer to helping teens become emotionally healthy adults. But I understand why some parents wouldn't rule it out.

Meanwhile, this month is "Inktober." I've been trying to make a daily sketch of Rosie and decided that drawing a cat is not dissimilar to drawing a melting pat of butter.

Three Things That Kept Me Going This Week (Give or Take a Few)

1. Roger Brown's House: I keep a mental tally of things that the Art Institute does that seem designed to alienate its core constituency, i.e., Chicagoans, such as closing the third floor restaurant and reopening it only for private events and members, or casually dismissing its devoted team of docents who underwent years of serious training, or threatening to tear down part of its original World's Fair building to make room for yet another contemporary art wing. Now I can add shutting down the Roger Brown House Museum to the list. The one bright spot, which is why I mention it here, is that it looks like the house will be green lit as a landmark, so at least it won't be demolished to make room for yet another bland townhouse. Thanks to friend of Mushroom Head Tom Giordano for drawing my attention to this situation!
2. Greta Thunberg is a person whose bravery and integrity need no further proof and yet this interview offers a lot more further proof.
3. Zohran Mamdani: Speaking of heroes who we need more than ever these days, the Daily's interview with Momdani is excellent—it's so refreshing to hear a politician answer the actual question being asked of them. But mainly it is worth listening to for just the opening five minutes, in which one New Yorker after another explains why they are supporting him.
4. Vic Mensa peels an orange and explains how 47's actions are deliberately designed to sow chaos and division in Chicago. He also wrote about this for the NYT.
5. Bonus thing: Frog Costumes at Protests
6. Home Run Inn Pizza FOR THE WIN!! (All credit to Chad for this one, and also for introducing us to Home Run Inn Pizza way back when.)

That's it for this week! I'll be out next week but back again for All Hallows Eve. Stay spooky!

Love,

Claire