Welcome to Article Club! A few that require our attention this week span topics from an important anniversary to management tips to recommendation culture. Now off to go eat a personal pan pizza…

Is it an overstatement to say that Book It! is one of our generation’s premier cultural references? This NYT story commemorates the 40th anniversary, and an LA Times article from 1985 made us feel nostalgic. See also: pins for sale on eBay and Tejal Rao’s fascinating review of Chain.

We loved “Want To Be A Good Boss? Be A Bitch.” by Samhita Mukhopadhyay for Bustle. Here’s to intergenerational slaying!

The Locavore Guide to Shopping NYC by Caroline Weaver is a tribute to physical guidebooks of yore featuring 670 NYC shops. It has a a searchable digital directory too! Relevant: "The Banality of Online Recommendation Culture" by Kyle Chayka in The New Yorker.

Does anybody have any intel on Cutie Eyes? Please share with us at podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

Look to Shopify for all your ecomm needs and get a $1-a-month trial with our link.

YAY.

Another day, another kookalook collection of topics from us, including new lingo care of (honorary Bob) Jack Schlossberg, wrinkle makeup, minimalist shoes, LaGuardia Airport, and a straw cupdate.

Wrinkle makeup—not what you think, probably! Check out a couple of looks by @shine__rising and rachy_mua. Related: crackle lips.

In which we dip our toes into the minimalist shoes conversation: Gait Happens, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, and The Infinite Race 30 for 30 doc by Bernardo Ruiz are all relevant on the content front. Some brands of interest: Muki, Vivo Barefoot, and Groundies. They kind of remind us of Prada Sport from the late 90s/early aughts, Miu Miu rope sandals, and ballet flats with wide toe boxes from Sandy Liang and Proenza. Also: Let’s take this opportunity to shoutout Yoga Toes.

We’ve been considering giving our ComfiLife a break and trying a kneeling chair. Memor and Varier are good-looking options!

In the world of straw cups, Claire got a BrüMate and really likes it! (Don’t get her the MargTini though.)

Where do you stand on Eat/Pray/Love vs. FMK? Do you believe they can coexist? Let us know at podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

Care for your hair love with Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Learn from the best with MasterClass and get up to 50% off when you use our link.

YAY.

We are DELIGHTED to have Alana Cloud-Robinson on today to share her Thingies from her perfect, wood-paneled home (more on that, clearly). She’s the author of the 831 Stories release Hardly Strangers, out tomorrow, and, wow, we can’t wait for you to read this one.

Alana’s Thingies include shoulder pads, thrifting (see: The Council Shop!), her home in Century City, and Irish culture (shoutout to Fontaines D.C., and Say Nothing).

Want more Alana? Check out The Artists Are Frightened, her premier collection of personal poetry.

Also, a really important album that is (somehow) a follow-up to our milk.com conversation.

What are *your* Thingies? Let us know at podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

Find some support with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Level-up your cleaning experience with Blueland and get 15% off your first order when you use our link.

Fall in love with 831 Stories and take 15% off your order with the code ATHINGORTWO.

YAY.

After this episode, we have some action items for the Bobs: 1. Petition Dairy Queen and Carvel to make their ice cream cake minis available nationwide, year-round. 2. Use “whenharrymetsallying” in a sentence. 3. Send us your thoughts on NYC Marriage Bureau merch.

We aren’t doing gift guides this year, but we’ll tell you good places to look once it's time! Start with giftguide.substack.com.

We’re excited to meet Chewbie, Hi-Chew’s new Mascot, but perhaps this is a "say less" situation?

The Rat Pack is still in our lives, and it introduced us to the MeowSquad.

Speaking of local government initiatives, the NYC Marriage Bureau has merch! We especially love the Witness Tee and "I Got Married in New York City" mug.

All about Split59’s Raquel high waist crop legging, and we’ll try their Icon legging and report back.

A shoutout to A24’s book Hey Kids, Watch This! It’s full of movie recs, great design, and FUN.

What menu items do you whenharrymetsally? Let us know at podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

Hire with Indeed and get a $75 sponsored job credit when you use our link.

Send your first Moonpig card for FREE with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Pre-order Hardly Strangers from 831 Stories and get a free Only One Bed Keychain—and take 15% off any order with the code ATHINGORTWO.

YAY.

We have some very serious reporting about very serious topics coming your way, including the official Sanrio character rankings, a Jellycat status update, and some wild news from the domain-hoarding beat.

We have to take a moment to show some love to Kuromi, the third-ranked Sanrio character overall and Sanrio costume-sourcing, ℅ Sueju Design and Nerdy Treasures by Amy.

How Jellycat became so popular with kids and grown-ups alike. Also: Their pop=ups give Sew Your Soul vibes, in our opinion.

Let’s talk tech! Our listener Olivia shared her Notion tips, we are flatted for the credit you’re giving us for Google Tabs, and we loved the piece “The Million-Dollar Mystery of Milk.com” by Alex Mayyasi for The Hustle.

Finally, have you listened to "Longer Gone" yet?

Name how much $$ it would take for you to change your email for at podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

Show your hair love with Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Send your first Moonpig card for FREE with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Upgrade your cleaning experience with Blueland and get 15% off your first order when you use our link.

Get a free Sage guidebook for parents with kids ages 5 to 12 who want to better navigate tech and their digital worlds.

YAY.

Gather round! We have a whole lot to say about Fudgie the Whale, learning chess, finding your inner paid tier, and a whole lot more. But what’s new?

This many week post-launch of 831 Stories, we’re so grateful for the love you’ve shared for Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff! If you’re looking for additional recs to hold you over until Hardly Strangers by A.C. Robinson comes out in November, take a peek at our list.

Did you know Fudgie the Whale’s mold moonlights as Santa during the holidays? Check out this CNN article for the deets. If you’re feeling ambitious, we love this Ali Slagle ice-cream cake recipe.

We are now deeply committed to Jouer’s Skin Barrier Cream. Shoutout to Knockout Beauty’s facialist!

We’re also hyped on Seed’s Pediatric Daily Synbiotic and Storytime Chess over here.

"If" by Rudyard Kipling has some good life advice for 8th graders and grown-ups alike.

What’s your personal paid tier? Let us know at podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!

Challenge your preconceptions about the real origin of our species and check out Eve by Cat Bohannon, available everywhere books are sold.

Tackle your fears with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Give your first Moonpig card for FREE with the code ATHINGORTWO.

YAY.

Bobs, you all have been sharing a lot of Thingies that are unignorable. They’ve been moving, unhinged, funny—and we must discuss them.

We’re loving the nym SNAG: Sensitive New Age Guy, ℅ Maia via the podcast Shameless.

Portlanders, have you been to The Croc Stop yet—a jibbitz lending library, brought to our attention by Kelly? See also: shoe charms…which we’re kind of charmed by.

Your bathing rituals, friends. Kelsey had a tip on washing makeup brushes in the shower; Rebecca has a tub desk that we could talk about for hours.

Also, very publicly hoping our favorite establishments follow Garlic Expressions’s lead and give us some bottled salad dressing! Thank you for the comments on this one, Laura and TK.

Keep those Thingies coming! Enlighten us at podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!

Hire with Indeed and get a $75 sponsored job credit when you use our link.

Support your hair with Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Challenge your preconceptions about the real origin of our species and check out Eve by Cat Bohannon, available everywhere books are sold.

YAY.