Odds & ends

• So lovely to see Infertile Phoenix back writing on her blog again! :) 
• I'm SO glad I read Louise Penny's latest newsletter (which landed in my email inbox last weekend, I think) in time to catch her on Tuesday, Sept. 3rd, in a live (recorded for later viewing) YouTube conversation with Alan Bradley, author of the delightful Flavia de Luce mysteries. The 11th in the series, "What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust," was released that same day. (Penny also has a new Inspector Gamache/Three Pines mystery coming out later this fall.)  I think I had a smile on my face the entire hour!  :)  
• Margaret Renkl in the New York Times is a gorgeous writer. And her latest column -- "My Bookshelf, Myself" -- well, I feel SEEN, lol. 
• Annoying thing:  AARP Medical Supplement TV ad from the U.S., in which a woman crows "Grandkids!! I can't wait!!"  (eyeroll) 
• (I also got to hear this line from someone at a recent family gathering. Sigh...) 
• In a recent link roundup in her "Life, Almost" Substack, Jennie Agg flagged this fascinating article about the lack of data related to pregnancy loss in the U.S., and what can be learned from other countries (the U.K. in particular). (Sadly, I don't think Canada is too much better than the U.S. in this regard...) 
• New Substack for childless and childfree aunties: "The Auntie Bulletin" by Lisa Sibbett.  
• Jody Day examines "The friendship apocalypse" at 60 in her Childless Elderwomen Substack. 
• Nesrine Malik in the Guardian: "The right’s obsession with childless women isn’t just about ideology: it’s essential to the capitalist machine." 
• "Sperm donors are anonymous in Canada. Adult children are finding their roots anyway." (I knew about the shortage of donor sperm in Canada, but was surprised to learn that -- outside of the province of Quebec -- my country is one of the few where donors can still remain anonymous.) 
• Michael Hughes of the Full Stop podcast spoke to a reporter about "The grief of childlessness on Father's Day" (which was celebrated in Australia recently).  
• Michael & I will be discussing  "What Can We Learn From Our Family History?" in a webinar for World Childless Week on Monday, Sept. 16th. Details and links in this post.  
• Are men (finally??!) waking up to the importance of reproductive rights in America?  Great article (gift linked)  in the Washington Post:  "A louder voice in fighting abortion bans: Men in red states." (Subhead:  "More men are speaking out in defense of reproductive rights because of harrowing experiences that wives or partners have suffered when a pregnancy went awry.")  
• "When Oprah says ‘childless cat lady,’ and the camera’s on you."  (I remenber noticing the camera on this particular woman nodding at Oprah's remarks, and thought "Yikes!"  Glad to read that she's taken her moment in the spotlight in good humour...!)
• Monica Hesse's recent column in the Washington Post is an absolute must read (so here's a gift link!):  "JD Vance's repeated digs at childless women are worse than you thought." Subhead: "It’s not about the kids they don’t have. It’s about the empathy he can’t even fathom."  
• The whole piece is great, but I especially loved this passage:  

Disparaging childless people once is a misspeak. Twice is a PR crisis. Three times and you have, as we say in the journalism business, a trend.