The Monday Media Diet with Danya Issawi

On Opulent Tips, Fatima Farheen Mirza, and The Sims

Danya Issawi (DI) is a writer at New York Magazine, where she covers fashion and culture. Have a great week. -Colin (CJN)

Tell us about yourself.

I’m a fashion writer at The Cut and New York Magazine where I cover style, culture and the Zeitgeist at large. Previously, I worked at the New York Times, where I did a million different jobs, but most notably wrote for the Style section and worked on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Coronavirus tracking team. I’m in the early stages of writing a manuscript for a novel but :/ long-term  projects are daunting. 

Describe your media diet. 

I’m terrible at routines at this stage in life, so I’m sad to say I grab my phone the minute I open my eyes and start consuming whatever media catches my eye first. Sometimes, that’s scrolling on Twitter (which, surprisingly, still has a decent amount of breaking news and funny discourse) or a push notification from one of the newsletters I subscribe to, like Emilia’s Shop Rat or Rachel’s Opulent Tips (which is, by the way, the most perfect newsletter name to exist). Sometimes, but far less frequently now, I’ll skim the Skimm. 

What’s the last great book you read?

I’ve spent the last two years sporadically reading “A Place for Us” by Fatima Farheen Mirza. I’ve been so slow to finish because I truly can only get through a few chapters without bursting into uncontrollable sobs (I cry often, this isn’t really anything to be worried about. In fact, this is more my natural state than anything else). It’s one of those stories that sounds like a cliché, a first-gen, Muslim family finding their way and themselves in the U.S. But it’s still a story that hits close to home and the book is just so phenomenally, excruciatingly well-written and the characters are each so complex and overtly human. I’ve finally reached the last chapter, and it’s somehow descended further into sadness.

Beyond that, the last great book I read was “I Feel Bad About My Neck,” by Nora Ephron. It was an easy lift that pulled me out of a pretty long reading lull and in some ways solidified to me how I wanted to pursue my adult life. I never, ever reread books, but I’ve recently started my second encounter with this collection. 

What are you reading now?

I’m reading “Play It as It Lays” by Joan Didion and “The Idiot” by Elif Batuman. 

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

I like to read every print copy from front to back. If I start reading something and I’m genuinely not interested, I’ll skip it, but I like to at least make eye contact with every story. 

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz. Up until recently, she was a senior writer at The Cut and is now freelance, and I think she’s so sharp, witty and fearless in her writing and reporting. 

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? 

Shuffles! It’s Pinterest’s collage app. I love playing around on it. I’ve been big on vision boards these past few years, and recently started making mood boards that never see the light of day just for fun.

Plane or train?

Train!!!!! I looooove the train!!! Granted, the longest I’ve had to sit on one was 4 hours, but I loved it! High-speed rail line when?! 

What is one place everyone should visit? 

The depths of their subconscious. I don’t know, maybe try somewhere not in Western Europe! 

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.

I’m almost always inside of a rabbit hole. When I become interested in something, I have to know as much as I can about it and its history, tell people fun facts about it at home or social functions, until I forget it exists and lose interest (a few of my rabbit holes have stuck around to form long-standing hyperfixations, though. A few years ago I fell into a rabbit hole about 18th century hygiene and now the entire era is one of my deep-rooted interests). At the moment, I’m in a fun rabbit hole about The Sims. I never played as a kid apart from watching friends play, so now I’m learning about the game, its development, its influence in the world, watching creators play the Sims (like drag queen Juno Birch, who I’ve become really, deeply obsessed with) and started playing The Sims 4 last week. My Sim is named Countess BellBottom. (DI)

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Danya (DI)

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