One of the (deeply unimportant) indignities of a year lived largely in social isolation is the lack of gossip. In the absence of office gossip, dating gossip and friendship gossip, we’ve had to rely on… Bachelor Nation gossip.

So that’s what we dive into on this week’s Rich Text pod chat. (There may be a small audio glitch at one point during our conversation thanks to Emma’s shaky Zoom connection. Apologies in advance.) We chat about Kit and Bennett’s alleged date, the joy of seeing the women of Matt James’ season finally get to be friends sans show-driven conflict, and, of course, all of the weird drama that has unfolded between Matt and Rachael this week.

Hope you enjoy this grab bag of moderately interesting gossip. Somehow we managed to talk about it for 35 whole minutes.

Call to action…

We have been outraged and heartbroken over the killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, yet another Black man killed at the hands of a white police officer during a routine traffic stop. There are many ways to support Wright’s family and the Brooklyn Center community, whether you live in the Minneapolis area or want to show solidarity and financial support from afar. We’ve rounded up a few:

• Directly send funds to Chyna, Wright’s girlfriend and mother of his nearly 2-year-old child, on CashApp ($hubby98). @thuy-jones is collecting funds for her on Venmo, and @holisticheaux is doing the same via PayPal.

• Donate items for Wright’s son via local wellness business Holistic Heaux. They are looking for diapers, clothing (18-24 mos.), groceries and gift cards. Items can be dropped off or shipped. Holistic Heaux is asking that people DM them on Instagram or Facebook in order to get the address.

• Donate to the verified GoFundMe that Wright’s family has set up to cover his funeral costs.

• Donate to the Brooklyn Center Mutual Aid Fund.

• Donate to a GoFundMe that has been set up to support students and families in Brooklyn Center who are struggling in the wake of this latest trauma.

And last but not least, advocate for real, systemic change when it comes to policing. American policing has always been linked to the enforcement of white supremacy. To stop these extra-judicial killings, we need more than police “reform.”

We’ve been reading…

“Police Keep Creating Black Corpses. We Are Being Crushed Under The Weight,” by Hayes Brown for MSNBC. I can’t stop thinking about this one part of his beautiful, aching piece: “I saw Wright's picture, smiling in a red Chicago ball cap at his son's first birthday, before I learned he was dead. I still knew. Black men don't have their names and pictures, frozen in random moments of happiness, go viral like that while they're alive.”

“Libertie” by Kaitlyn Greenidge, a historical novel about the dreamy, rebellious only daughter of a Black woman doctor who runs a women’s hospital in 19th century Brooklyn.

We’ve been listening to…

The “Why Are Dads?” episode about “10 Things I Hate About You,” which reminded me (Emma) why that movie is such a perfect teen rom-com.

The finale of Jo Piazza’s fantastic pod about mom influencers, “Under The Influence.” (Please, iHeart, give us a second season!)

We’ve been watching…

“Summer House” on Bravo. I (Emma) can’t stop. Also, my friend Miriam got her first story producer credit on the most recent episode, so I’m partial.

Claire’s son tear apart the apartment during a two-week break from daycare (thanks to a Covid cluster). Pray 4 us!