Writer
You might spot fashion writer Liana Satenstein on a run around Prospect Park or food shopping in Brighton Beach. We chatted with her about working at Vogue, getting into fights at school, and spending time in Ukraine and Russia.
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Writer and activist Carol J. Adams, the pioneer of feminist-vegan critical theory, spends a lot of time thinking about the ethics of what we eat and how we care for one another — and she also spends a lot of her time cooking and eating with those she loves.
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We spoke with writer and professor McKenzie Wark about her punk-soundtracked pathway to academia, rave strategies to keep you on the floor no matter your age or the hour of the day, and the manual labor being a writer entails.
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If you’ve ever read one of Naomi Fry’s pieces for The New Yorker — or follow her on social media, for that matter — you know that her sense of humor and ability to curate culture into text (from highbrow art all the way to reality tv) is unparalleled. In our conversation, she speaks about growing up across two continents, the financial aspects of raising a family in NYC, and why she’ll never quite feel a sense of belonging in America.
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As a writer and editor for the likes of Travel + Leisure, The Wall Street Journal, or Vogue, and co-founder of James Beard award-winning food magazine Gather Journal, Fiorella Valdesolo can look back at years of powerful epicurean storytelling. In this conversation, she elaborates on her two-breakfast routine, the NYT cooking app’s comments section, and why we should all eat more kraut.
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Self-described as a “creature of habit,” fashion journalist Mélody Thomas is most often found at the neighborhood bistro down the street from her cozy home in Paris’s 18th Arrondissement.
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Maryam Mortaz is a woman who sees herself as “a mother, a daughter, and a person who loves to write and help others.”
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German-born publicist Claire Brodka made her way to NYC to work with the iconic art book publisher, TASCHEN.
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If there’s ever been a person who is wholly tapped into the culture, it’s Lynette Nylander. She’s a writer, editor, creative director, and so much more: the current Executive Editorial Director at Dazed simultaneously runs her own creative consultancy, imaginethat, and a publishing house called Onomatopoeia. She spoke with us about how she does it all, and we got a glimpse into how the more personal aspects of her life—like her magnificent collection of furniture—all came together.
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American writer and journalist Lindsey Tramuta has spent decades pulling back the curtain on the real and evolving Paris and the mythologized Parisian woman—red-lipped, white, thin, bourgeois, seductive, and perfectly composed. Sharing the spirit of Passerbuys, Lindsey’s work reveals “Parisianness” in all its multiplicity while highlighting those who are bucking tradition, making names for themselves, and transforming the city. She shares her journey of moving to Paris as an American and her path to becoming a writer and publishing 2 books.
Read More‘Camera roll’ is a new interview series where we glimpse into the current moment via the mundane and the ordinary; the life lived in this moment of a global pandemic and revolution. We are excited to kick off this series with a passerbuys alumni Fariha Róisín, a poet and writer based in Crown Heights.
I’m in the city with the highest covid cases in the world, New York baby! While a revolution is happening.
Yes.
Yeah, a lot.
Personally, It’s super easy to be in a work mindset. I'm a Capricorn Sun and Mercury, and am ruled by Saturn... So just obsessed with work. Of self. Of body. Of mind. Of vocation. I was already a freelancer for many years and that in itself is a groove. Just to be patient with the flows is an important skill to acquire. Sometimes you don’t want do anything, and those are important moments of downtime. Of reflection and healing. It's basically important to utilize effectively whatever is coming up for you. When you live in capitalism, you think that your only value is the work you create, and I’m guilty of that for sure. Trying to go slow—with myself—is the easiest way for me to achieve balance. To really check-in, and be patient with myself. Good thing is, I feel like I’m learning to harness my time for relaxation more than I ever have before.
Cooking, dancing, smoking weed, reading, writing my new poetry book, and my new book Who Is Wellness For, that I just sold. I'm thinking about what to write for my newsletter, jerking off, watching the occasionally good thing (latest faves: I May Destroy You, Pain and Glory by Pedro Almodovar and My Brilliant Friend) taking long sun baths in my backyard, doing shrooms, getting take out from Zaytoons or Saraghina or Diwan Grill (my top Caviar treats), drinking natural wine sparingly but just the right amount to really enjoy it, even the assortment of cool wines I’m trying has been a small gift. I’ve been buying from Thirst Wines and Bed Vyne intermittently.
I have a weekly Union Market walk, which usually takes 45 min. The route I take is walking down the Promenade on Eastern Parkway right to Grand Army, past the Brooklyn Museum and Botanical Gardens and Library. It’s so delicious. I’ve been feeling parks a lot — like Prospect Park just hits different during these times, doesn't it?
I have one from Collina Strada and my friend Roopa Pemmaraju gifted one, as well as one from Abacaxi. I also got this silk leopard print one from Etsy.
I’m loving Rohr Remedy’s Rosalina Face Cleanser, Paula’s Choice Resist C15 Super Booster and Aotea’s Mānuka Honey Day Cream and Harakeke Seed Oil Night Cream — I’ve also been putting Manuka honey on my face a lot.
Spending more time alone. In New York so much of your life is taken by the throes of the city which I don’t really like. So many folks I’ve been talking to have been mentioning how they actually welcome this rest. It’s just painful because clearly, the grief is still there. So, it’s examining the sadness of the moment, of the 132,000 (plus) people who have died, the death of Toyin Salau, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain… and the constant Black death at the hands of white inferiority. It’s incredibly painful. Even before the revolution started, I had been thinking about how important it is that we take this time to heal, to evolve, to start looking toward the future. This means understand patriarchal, white supremacist and capitalist violence. It’s divesting from these oppressive systems. It’s really understanding that our evolution as a planet and a species relies on us unlearning anti-Blackness, and caring for each other.
Black Visions, Forthegworls, Okra Project and Bail Funds.
I’m a die hard optimist. This is the future. We are being faced with ourselves, we are being forced to slow down and to confront ourselves. Both the pandemic and the revolution are engineering that end goal. I hate pessimism (especially from white people) because it’s so dishonest. If you don’t think things will change, invest in change yourself. Or… change yourself! We all have to do this collectively. So, I hope we all take the time to try and focus on evolution.
We can stop being so fucking greedy. I hope we can start looking at how dangerous and exploitative capitalism is and really start having integrity with what we say. The rich need to start divesting from their wealth to make a just and equal society. I wish we cared more about true equality.
Revolution.
Lonely lingerie sent me a tonne of underwear the day quarantine went into action in NY… so I got lucky. I’ve been wearing it around the house, and really focusing on the connection between myself and my body. So yeah, I do feel sexy. Not every day, but most days I’ve been feeling pretty ok in that realm. My partner makes me feel sexy.
I’ve been making a quarantine playlist.
My Brilliant Friend, Search Party and I May Destroy You.
I’m currently reading Scenes of Subjection by Sadiya Hartman and a book about Sylvia Winter called On Being Human Praxis as Praxis. I just finished reading Carceral Capitalism by Jackie Wang. I think it’s important that we all start reading and learning about abolition immediately.
I’m cooking a lot. Today I made shirataki sesame noodles with blackened catfish. For breakfast I had a thick Greek yogurt with passion fruit, grain-free granola and maple syrup!
Matcha and Pet Nats.
I try to do yoga everyday / and or go for a long walk.
I bought some Julia Heuer skirts. She’s definitely one of my favorite designers.
Images provided by Fariha Róisín
Courtney Preiss is an essayist and memoirist who knows the best cheap seats in Yankee Stadium. She is the Creative Director at Team Epiphany and a founding member of the Times Up organization and Times Up Advertising.
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Meet Nina Lorez Collins, a writer who never thought she’d be a writer but now also has an accomplished career in publishing. As the daughter of writer and filmmaker Kathleen Collins, she continues to stay creative and inspired by her children.
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Meet Haley Nahman, the Deputy Editor of Man Repeller and writer who transitioned into media after working in HR for five years in California. In a fast-paced media industry, she shares how she stays sane and how she acquired her sharp writing and editing skills.
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Verena von Pfetten is the business owner and co-founder of print publication, Gossamer, which also launched Dusk, a CBD tincture with CBN. She shares her cannabis recommendations and what it’s like to start a new business with a partner.
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Many of us came to know Melissa Broder through her Twitter handle, so sad today. Her online musings have often gone viral, for reasons that are obvious if you follow her (the latest tweet as of this writing says “brb, regretting major life decisions”). Her sharply funny and devastatingly relatable quips ultimately paved the way to a book of essays, also called So Sad Today and recommended to us by Passersby Lauren Nostro and Angie Venezia.
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Nat Guevara is the head of multi-platform and communications at Genius, the music media company centered on lyrics and music knowledge. Founder of The Afterglow, a forthcoming valentine to the classic New York City institutions and local haunts that are still with us. Born and raised in the tropics, but partial to cold weather. New Yorker for almost 15 years. Film lover for all her life.
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Lauren is a writer, editor, and digital consultant living in New York City's Lower East Side. She spends her days at the helm of The Zoe Report, where she manages the site's six fantastic editors, and spends her weekends finding new brunch spots, discovering new stores, and searching for white walls to use as a background for the 'gram.
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Alison Roman is a chef and writer, whose cookbook Dining In features over 125 recipes that highlight her unique style that has earned her a signature voice at The New York Times.
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Meet Sukey Novogratz, a philanthropist and writer, who has used meditation as a way to power through life and her career. Along with her sister-in-law Elizabeth Novogratz, Sukey is the co-author of Just Sit, a guide to meditation for beginners.
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