Molly Ringwald is a New York City-based actress, singer, and author, best known for her extremely iconic roles in John Hughes’ films like The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and Pretty in Pink, as well as her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 1982 film Tempest. She’s currently playing Joanne Carson in the Gus Van Sant directed FX series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans with Chloë Sevigny + Naomi Watts, and working on a new memoir called The Paris Years to be published by Penguin Press in 2025. Molly has also written two other books, had pieces published in The New Yorker, translated numerous French memoirs & novels, and even released a jazz album in 2013. Lucky for us, Molly is here to tell us what she’s been into.
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Created by PJ Vogt and Sruthi Pinnamaneni, Search Engine is a podcast for the pathologically curious (raises hand). The premise is “No question too big, no question too small.” PJ covers everything from “How sad are the monkeys in the zoo? to “What’s it like to slowly go blind?” to “How do you survive fame?” (full disclosure: I contribute to this one). Funny, thought- provoking, and stealth emotional
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There is enough bad news online to keep me up at night so I subscribe to Nice News which reminds me that there are bright lights of humanity glimmering in our world.
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Artist April Higashi created a gallery in Berkeley California for jewelers and metal artists. Higashi describes Shibumi as a Japanese word meaning “a subtle, simple and unobtrusive sense of beauty.” Each piece is lovingly hand-created by artisans. April made me a bracelet 25 years ago incorporating the colors of a Sonja Delunay lithograph that I bought in Paris. It’s literally a one-of-a-kind piece.
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A streaming goldmine for cinephiles, Criterion Channel is the antidote to superhero fatigue. I may not like everything but I always learn something and very often fall in love with cinema all over again. Some Favorites: In the Mood for Love starring the impossibly beautiful Maggie Cheung; Jean-Luc Godard on the Dick Cavett show; and Everybody Rides the Carousel, a trippy animated film by John and Faith Hubley. The film is based on the psychologist Erik Erikson’s theories of human development from birth to death. The hand painted watercolors are a feast for the eyes. The mostly jazz score features the legends Dizzy Gilespie and Benny Carter. It has some of the best voice acting I’ve ever heard in a film. In fact, I think I’m going to watch it again tonight. (I have to h/t my daughter Mathilda for introducing me to the film.)
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I was lucky enough to attend a retreat in Pound Ridge where Re Jin Lee teaches how to make pottery by hand. The day started with a walk in the woods and finding inspiration in nature and then learning how to create a piece of art and embracing the beauty in its imperfection (not an easy task for a perfectionistic overthinker.) It felt like what you wish art class would have been like in school.
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A few years ago when I was filming in South Africa, I met Shirley Fintz, who creates sculpture, upcycles clothing, designs jewelry and, along with designer Lindy Cohen, has a life/ yoga brand called Xubedesign. But the thing she does that blows my mind is she draws on fabric freehand with a sharpie. Last month, a friend of mine was filming in South Africa and I asked if he would bring a recently purchased Mister Larkin dress to Shirley to draw on. I just got it back and she does not disappoint!
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Often, illustrated/art books have text that is incidental, but this one is really well written and engaging. Reading about Gus’s journey to create art both inside and outside of “the system” is incredibly informative and inspiring.
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