OPE! Mixtape #47: Happy Thanksgiving

Three Quarter Skies, Sophie Jamieson, The Weather Station, Samora Pinderhughes, Bob Dylan, and more

Welcome to OPE!, the weekly newsletter by writer and rock critic Brady Gerber. This is where I share my favorite new (and new-to-me) songs and links, along with the occasional announcements and life updates. All typos are intentional.

Well, hello there. How are you?

Programming note: I’ll be away from my computer starting today throughout the rest of Thanksgiving and a few days after, so no OPE! next week. Happy Thanksgiving.

Another programming note: I got to see an LA press screening of the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic (my feature forthcoming). What I’m allowed to say for now: Despite my low expectations, I’m happy to report that Timotheé did a great job! Time to officially put the movie back on your calendar.

The most important programming note for this week: For all my subscribers (paid and free), I’m sharing a special link that I wanted everyone to have access to: ASAN’s official statement on RFKJ’s nomination to head the HHS.

For my recent subscribers, some context:

I’m a writer on the autism spectrum, though I rarely write about it in this newsletter or for any of my freelance publications. I have my own reasons for not writing about it much in public. I made an exception a few years ago when for New York Magazine, I wrote about being a culture critic on the spectrum and watching pop culture’s promising yet slow evolution of more nuanced depictions of autism, specifically for adults on the spectrum, and the thorny push-and-pull between the quiet power of popular works of art that helps us gain empathy (aka the ideal kind of representation that adds much to everyone and doesn’t take away anything from anybody) versus the dangers and lingering effects of misguided, or just straight-up lazy or mean-spirited, depictions of historically not-well-treated folks (aka fuck Rain Man, even though I understand why it was made and why it felt groundbreaking at the time). I won’t rehash all those points here; here’s my feature link if you’d like to read all my thoughts on these topics.

I’m bringing all this up because Trump recently-ish announced his nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Health and Human Services. It’s freaking me out in a way I was not expecting. And I felt stuck. I didn’t know how to write about it. Until now, I think.

In general, I don’t talk about politics too much in this music-focused newsletter. I think most of you can guess where I land on Trump—essentially, I’m not anti-conservative, but I roll my eyes at MAGA. Yet there’s a difference between “I’m apolitical” vs “I pick and choose the hills I die on.” I subscribe to the latter. Autism and disabilities are some of those hills. And I bring up ASAN (the Autistic Self Advocacy Network) because their official statement from last week summed up everything I wanted to say about RFKJ’s potential impact and the complicated, mostly thorny baggage that comes from a man whom I would describe as a villain of folks in my world (a comparison that makes more sense after reading the ASAN link).

It’s a doom and gloom feeling that I’ve had for many years and which have really crystalized in the past few weeks. It’s something I still struggle to talk about with other people, especially my friends and family who might mean well yet don’t seem as interested in my corner of the autism world that doesn’t directly affect them. (It’s the same problem of indifference that gets in the way of most progress: If it’s not my problem, it’s not a problem.) Ever since the outcome of this most recent election, I was getting nervous, because I felt stuck not knowing how to talk, or even write about, this election and how much I’ve been freaking out over a very hyper-specific reason, and in a way I think would feel most effective and processed. Now, I’m thankful to ASAN for creating a handy link that is easy to share. (ASAN usually does good work; I highly recommend their newsletter if you’re curious to learn about the biggest news and updates related to this world.) It feels like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. And now the best thing I can do right now is to pass along the right message that doesn’t need more words from me.

I do plan on writing more about autism in the future. For now, if you care at all about what I’m about, and I’m assuming you at least are curious about my thoughts—though I also like the idea of someone hate-subscribing to OPE!—I highly encourage you to check out the statement and keep these thoughts in mind as we see if this nomination goes through. I have no illusion that sharing these words will stop the nomination, and I have no interest in changing your mind if you’re not open to reconsidering any preconceived notions. However, I do ask for your time and attention; I take your time and attention seriously, so I hope you return the favor.

Again, here’s the link: https://autisticadvocacy.org/2024/11/asan-opposes-robert-f-kennedy-jr-s-nomination-to-head-hhs/

Thank you again for reading.

Here are this week’s links and songs.