Hi Hart Beat! Off the heels of International Women’s Day I want to share with you one of my favorite women in the media world, Ann Friedman. I don’t remember how Ann came into my life but if she’s not in yours then you need to GET WITH ME (well her really). It’s hard to write about Ann Friedman, primarily because she is one of the best journalists/commentators/writers out there, and because you probably have (with or without knowing) read her work all over the internet. While trying to write a bio for her I just kept getting sucked into her website and that lead me down a rabbit hole of distraction.
As a quick overview, Ann Freidman is a Los Angeles based journalist who writes for many national publications like NYmag.com, The Guardian, Elle Magazine, and The New York Times Book Review. Ann writes about all kinds of things but mostly concentrates in gender, politics, culture and media. There are so many other things that I love about Ann that I think it would be easiest to list them.
1. Ann is one of the hosts of the podcast Call Your Girlfriend! Tbh I hadn’t actually listened to Call Your Girlfriend until very recently. I don’t know why (so don’t ask me) but I can now attest that it’s amazing. The most recent episode (apparently) was very classic so I guess listen to that one first? P.S. Aminatou Sow is the other host to CYG and she is equally awesome. Check her out.
2. She also (like all that isn’t enough) sends out the most amazing weekly newsletter which will knock your socks off. It’s send every Friday and is an amazing compilation of interesting articles Ann recommends (hello Friday subway readings), articles that she’s written in the past week (here are a few recent examples), and a GIF of the week. There are other things really but you should just subscribe and see for yourself this Friday.
3. PIE CHARTS. These are pretty self explanatory. Ann hand draws amazing pie charts on things like “What have we made our peace with?” and “Why didn’t we exercise this week?” They’re hilarious and I love her.
And those are the three reasons I’m loving Ann Friedman right now. Are there any girl crushes you’re nursing right now, Hart Beat?
Top two images via The Dreslyn. Pie charts by our girl Ann Friedman.
