Maggie Dunbar's Recent Picks

Maggie Dunbar is an artist & consumer of culture who lives and makes pottery in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. 

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Here are 5 things Maggie is into right now...

Heavyweight

After a perilous absence from my Spotify feed and existence more broadly, Jonathan Goldstein’s PERFECT podcast made its triumphant return this fall. Heavyweight tackles big questions disguised as trivial ones—whose love letters did I find in an abandoned suitcase in Brooklyn? Why was I kicked out of my sorority twenty-five years ago? What happened to the two-year-old my mother babysat on their shared flight from Rome to New York in 1956? The show steps straight into strangers’ worlds to help them reckon with what lingers—unsolved mysteries, unrequited love, unshakable guilt. Some episodes are the culmination of ten years of research & conversation. Goldstein was a longtime producer at “This American Life,” another podcast I love so dearly that I have become an annual supporter in our post-NPR landscape. If you’re new to Heavyweight, start with Episode #59, Etta, or #32, Vivian, and get ready to be transported. 

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval

I Went On A Hinge Date With A Professor of English At NYU And All I Got Was This Book Recommendation. Worth it!! This debut novella from Norwegian musician & producer Jenny Hval details the queer awakening of a Scandinavian college student studying abroad in coastal Australia. As the weather grows cold, our protagonist grows increasingly fascinated by her roommate and the dank apartment they share. The book is visceral, sexy, surreal, dark, and at times disgusting—a porous, slimy wonderland of psychosexual discovery.

Ming Fay at The Campus Upstate

I was lucky enough to visit the second edition of this Upstate Art gem last month and it did not disappoint. The Campus is an exhibition of contemporary art that spans thirty rooms and the grounds of a former school building in Claverack, New York. The setting is dilapidated and unpretentious, and the caliber of work is remarkable. The show is expansive, yet intimate—the exhibition trusts you to engage with artwork in a mazelike space under minimal supervision. Paintings are displayed next to chalkboards; amongst auditorium bleachers; atop cabinets that used to hold beakers and bunsen burners. Francis Upritchard’s whimsical museological display of teeny tiny objects in a stand-alone vitrine was a highlight—replete with amphoras and kantharos the size of my thumbnail. My personal favorite, however, was a room full of Ming Fay’s playful sculptural objects, an exploration of the textures & colors of the natural world. Delights include an engorged fruit hanging inside a school locker, a ceramic seed pod the size of a labradoodle, and a mobile reminiscent of Calder but composed of twigs, leaves, and slices of apple. If you missed the Campus, which closed a few weeks ago, fear not—some of the very same objects are on display in an exhibition of Fay’s work at kurimanzutto through December 13th. 

Edie Parker Rolling Papers

I picked up ten (yes, literally ten) packs of Edie Parker floral rolling papers at a random boutique clearance sale earlier this month and I couldn’t be happier. As someone who one—rolls her own cigarettes and two—treasures the art of gift giving, these packs are my pièce de résistance. They’re charming, chic, and have the classic features of the perfect gift—affordable and functional yet something you wouldn’t really buy for yourself. Bonus: they fit nicely in an envelope with a card. The perfect stocking stuffer for the smoker in your life! 

The Alamo Season Pass

My best friend and I decided to get the Alamo Season Pass last month and it’s quickly become part of my persona. All of my friends have heard me hawk this. The economics are unbeatable—one ticket to a movie (at the Alamo or anywhere) will cost you north of $20. I have the All In+ Alamo Season Pass, where for $39.99 a month every ticket is FREE and you get 10% off all concessions. In the land of plush reclining seats and bottomless popcorn, this pays for itself. Some upcoming screenings I already have (free) tickets reserved for include cult classic Halloween favorites Rocky Horror and Joel Schumacher’s 1987 queer vampire comedy The Lost Boys; Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia (I have loved Jesse Plemmons since Friday Night Lights); and Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value. If anyone out there is tempted by this, we’re doing Movie Wednesdays for the rest of the winter and would love your company…