Children, the ignorant, and Democrats, and me

Hi there! Welcome to the second first issue of The Pleat, a publication from Eve Batey (that's me). If you're seeing this, you signed up to the last iteration of this thing a few years ago — and you might have forgotten about it in the interim! But I promise that I didn't spam you, and at some point you asked for this. But if that's changed, please just unsubscribe! I won't be hurt.

I've been meaning to revive this thing for a while, but a couple recent events got me off my ass and into your inbox. First, my colleague at FOUND (I edit the San Francisco iteration), Sylvie Florman, just launched her excellent newsletter Sidecar, which made me feel like a slacker. Second, my role at Vanity Fair — where I've been a regular contributor since 2023 — has recently changed, a shift that reminded me that one should always don one's own oxygen mask first.

I have a few goals with this publication, which I aim to send once a week. First, I'd like to use this as a way to highlight some of the work I'm doing that I'm proud of and — when it's interesting — provide some additional context. Next, I want to share other things I think are cool. And finally, I'd like to treat this a grab bag/junk drawer for things I'm thinking about that aren't necessarily related to my professional work. Am I kind of saying I will treat this as a personal blogish publication? I think so! Guess the 1990s really are back.

So let's start with Vanity Fair

For the last couple years, I've been VF's weekend and holiday writer for its Hollywood and Vanities verticals (though my editor has generously let me dip into Hive — that's the politics vertical — here and there), writing chatty/voicey blog-style items about news of current interest. Last week, top management announced that the website verticals would be folded in to one big Vanity Fair. They also announced a change in content focus that resulted in the layoffs of some of the magazine and website's excellent full time staffers. The weekend work my team and I have been doing is also not part of the publication's future plans.

This is a bummer, because I have been having a genuine blast doing that regular work! It was great to hone my aggregation and analysis skills after so many years as a traditional reporter and editor. (Having that reliable compensation was also an important part of my family revenue stream, I can't lie.) You'll still see my work at VF moving forward, but my last weekend on the crew ended yesterday. I'm proud of my last Sunday story, Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Ready To Take On Gavin Newsom, which was just as much fun to write as my first one.

But like many of the stories I have written in my career, that piece inspired some angry email messages! This one was my favorite.

Elsewhere:

"Aging is the real killer in Bay Area author’s latest serial killer tale." I spoke with Samantha Downing about her new thriller, Too Old For This, for the San Francisco Chronicle's Datebook section, what a treat.

One of the things I really like about the Chron is that even for fairly straightforward author interviews like this one, journos are pushed to include another voice. In this case, I spoke with Sara DiVello, a true crime writer who hosts "Mystery and Thriller Mavens." Between those two, it was an empowering and galvanizing set of conversations that ranged well beyond the novel's elderly female serial killer. Read their books!

Also cool:

My friend Andy Dehnart recently reviewed new Netflix series Fit for TV at his site, Reality Blurred. The docuseries is about long-running and deeply problematic weight loss series The Biggest Loser; Andy says the new show takes a superficial approach that fails to reckon with the show's deeper issues. (I haven't watched Fit for TV yet but I trust Andy's judgement.)

It's a great review, but — and I almost never say this — you should really head to the comment section of this one. Biggest Loser co-creator Dave Broome drops in to defend the series and himself to Andy in kind of jaw-dropping fashion. Based on Broome's remarks, even after studies suggest that the series caused harm to contestants, he continues to believe TBL was somehow in the right. Which is pretty fucking wild.

And speaking of Reality Blurred: That site is also the website home of Sarah D. Bunting and my true crime analysis and review publication Best Evidence, which can get sent to your inbox as well. Today we published Susan Howard's 1999 Edgar Awards winner flashback review of Death Sentence: The True Story of Velma Barfield, the First Woman to Be Executed in the United State by Lethal Injection. (I guess female killers are a theme this week?) You can read her contemporary take on that 26-year-old award winner now.

Looks like we made it

I feel pretty excited about getting this thing up and out, and I can already tell the next one will be easier. Thanks for reading, I'll see you next week.