Welcome to Spreadlandia, where two veteran editors read it ALL to winnow out only the best: juicy yarns, big ideas, deeply personal essays, and hot goss—aka, the full Spread. Plus: original interviews, podcasts, and more. Come hungry!
Spreadumentarians,
We haven’t awoken to this many breathless text messages since Friday, October 2, 2020—the day that the world learned, via an overnight tweet, that Donald Trump had Covid. That was a biggie. But this past Monday morning, there was a similar volume of thrill awaiting in our inboxes as soon as the alarm went off: Nathan Fielder had made a secret documentary with Theranos scamstress Elizabeth Holmes, which screened at the Telluride Film Festival, where the response had been effusive. While we were sleeping, A24 had released the teaser trailer for You Can See Everything; by 7 a.m. EST, people we know had watched it between two and 24 times. The memes of Holmes—all bugged-out, effusive eyes, and Stepford smile—were crashing in.
The excitement felt dang good! And arriving just as pool-hopping, flip-flopping, beach-snacking season came to its official close, it couldn’t have hit at a better time. Buh-bye summer, a packed fall pop-culture slate awaits! We realized it was high time to get rolling on the Spread’s very own autumn preview, which we begin today with a sumptuous buffet of 19 hand-picked, all-new TV shows to gorge yourself on through Thanksgiving. Next week, a full feast of fall movies, followed by the handful of books that are about to burn up your nightstand.
As usual, we’ve also got you covered with a smattering of the week’s Spreadiest op-eds, profiles, essays, reporting, and features from the likes of Lauren Collins, Lizzy Goodman, Véronique Hyland, and Elizabeth Bruenig.
Hope you’re hungry,
Rachel & Maggie
P.S. Speaking of TV: Tonight at 11 p.m., unofficial Spread correspondent (we’re ironing out the contract!) Jia Tolentino will discuss America’s obsession with plastic surgery on the Daily Show. Prop those perimenopausal eyes open with toothpicks and keep ’em peeled!
P.P.S. We wouldn’t say no to you booping that ❤️ button.
The Spreadiest Shows of Fall 2026!
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, September 17 (Netflix): Ryan Murphy does not sleep. This time his ghoulish anthology series is taking on the Victorian-era axe murderess, played here by Ella Beatty (as in Warren and Annette’s daughter). Also starring: Charlie Hunnam and Rebecca Hall (the parents), Vicky Krieps (the maid), and Bille Lourde (the sister). Also: Sarah Paulson as…Aileen Wuornos?
Youth, September 20 (HBO): Things don’t get much Spreadier than a Sharon Horgan half hour, and in this one she’s a recently divorced, crushingly sandwiched 50-year-old.
Line of Fire, September 21 (NBC): Hope Davis, fresh off of Furious (keep reading!), completes her comeback—and looks a whole lot like Hillary Clinton, no?—alongside longtime Spreadthrob Peter Krause (Nate Fisher forever) in an hour-long family drama that’s also a twisty crime thriller.
Brothers, September 23 (Apple TV): True Detective pardners Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson reunite for a comedy that turns the subtext (dang do these two sound alike…and look alike…) into text in a half-hour, eight-episode limited series.
A Different World, September 24 (Netflix): The reboot of the beloved ’80s sitcom stars Maleah Joi Moon, who won a Tony for playing Alicia Keys in Hell’s Kitchen, as she sets out to carve her own path at a fictional HBCU.
My Sad Dead, September 24 (Netflix): Created by everybody’s favorite moody Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín (Jackie, Spencer), this miniseries follows a middle-aged doctor with a “sixth sense.” When her niece arrives for a visit, literally all hell breaks loose.
American Horror Story: 13, September 24 (FX/Hulu): The gang’s all here—Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe, Jessica Lange, Mena Suvari, Frances Conroy—and some colorful newbies, too. Please welcome John Waters and Tig Notaro to the franchise!
War, October 1 (HBO): A legal drama starring Sienna Miller (hot) and Dominic West (hot) at the center of a high-profile divorce case.
East of Eden, October 1 (HBO): Zoe Kazan’s big-budget, seven-episode adaptation of the Steinbeck novel stars Spreadgoddess Florence Pugh, Spreadcrush Mike Faist, and Plazababydaddy Christopher Abbott.
Carrie, October 7 (Prime): An eight-episode limited series based on the pig-blood-soaked Stephen King novel—and subsequent Sissy Spacek classic—about a socially stunted teenager who wades into the horrors of high school only to find that she has telekinetic powers!
Below, October 7 (Netflix): When a sea monster surfaces in a Newfoundland fishing village, Josh Hartnett (forever Tripp Fontaine1 to us) and Mackenzie Davis (an actress with a middling profile but incredible taste in work: Halt & Catch Fire, Tully, Station Eleven) must rise up and save the day. While the description sounds a whole lot like Widow’s Bay, we’re assured this is a six-episode limited thriller.
Crystal Lake, October 15 (Peacock): Potentially too terrifying for your Spreaditors to actually sit through but starring the superbly Spready Linda Cardellini, this Friday the 13th prequel has eight episodes, so you can make more than a week of sleepless nights out of it. So thoughtful of them.
Phony, October 20 (Hulu): Spread deity Connie Britton and one of our very favorite nepobabies Sam Nivola—please give our best to your mom (Emily Mortimer) and pops (Alessandro Nivola)—team up for a half-hour mystery comedy: When high -school-age Sonny wakes up after a car accident, he can’t help but wonder: Has his mom been replaced by an imposter?!
Nocturne, October 30 (AppleTV): A crime thriller that sounds pretty Mare of Easttown to us—here’s hoping—features Liev Schreiber as a former homicide detective who retires to Pennsylvania only to find a serial killer is on the loose! There are several sights for sore eyes among the cast, including Zazie Beetz, Chrissy Metz, and Rory Culkin.
The Body, November 11 (Netflix): A psychological drama about a high school dance team that begins having prophetic visions, causing the whole town to, like, freak the f*ck out!!!!!!!!
The Good Daughter, November 12 (Peacock): Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy (double swoon) play sisters in this dark drama about surviving violence and processing buried trauma based on the Karin Slaughter novel.
The Altruists, November 19 (Netflix): We are already seated to watch Julia Garner soar once again in another ripped-from-the-headlines limited series about a fraudster (or two), this one about the collapse of FTX. Anthony Boyle plays founder Sam Bankman-Fried; Garner is his girlfriend, business partner, and Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison.
Dig, November 23 (Peacock): Ta-ta to Pawnee, because we’re going to Greece with Amy Poehler! Maggie has been poppin’ bottles since this half-hour archeology comedy starring and cocreated by her parasocial bestie was announced.
The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey, No date yet (Netflix): Are we shocked that this tawdry real-life tale is being broached? No, this is America. Are we surprised that it will star such a sterling cast as Melissa McCarthy, Clive Owen, Alison Pill, Garrett Hedlund (Country Strong Forever—are we right?), and Margo Martindale? Yes, yes, we are.
Psst, Paid Subscribers: You will never again be left holding the remote, aimlessly scrolling with that “…now what did my Spreaditors say I should watch?” feeling, because at the bottom of this issue we’ve provided a link to a handy-dandy printable/downloadable version of this fall TV preview. Enjoy!
Everyone else: Help us help you have the least boring fall ever. Pay for a subscription to the Spread, why don’t you?
The Spreadiest Reads of the Week!
Calling Gloriaaaaaaa
So much ink has been spilled on the passing of Gloria Steinem that we began to wonder: Are we the only two lady writers/editors who weren’t invited to the woman’s Upper East Side triplex? If we had to pick two winners to savor—and we do, right?—we’ll highlight Rebecca Traister’s piece, which has real insight and great access (they spent a lot of time together) and deals head-on with the complexity of Steinem’s legacy as feminism’s best saleswoman, who used her movie star looks to her advantage and, yes, committed the occasional spectacular fuck up—but who also did a helluva lot of good. And of course, you don’t want to miss Steinem herself: Did she know her last essay would be published in the New Yorker, just days after her death? Her closing piece of advice, on the question of what to do in these crazy-making times:
“Treat every woman as a full human being, an equal human being, whether that means encouraging your mother to do what she’s always dreamed of doing, or not expecting your girlfriend to cook you dinner. Only with actions from each of us will we see equality as a true fact of life.”
Read “Gloria Steinem Loved Women” here.
Read “Gloria Steinem’s Final Essay” here.
Woah, Anne Carson on Rosalía?
“Total adoration pours towards her from the seats. You could stroke it like an animal prancing and preening through the arena.”
Read it in the London Review of Books here.
“Would My Marriage Be Better If I Stopped Writing About It?”
If you posed this question to our husbands, their answers would be a resounding OF COURSE IT WOULD. It’s not easy to be a private citizen attached at the hip to a professional oversharer. Both of your Spreaditors have had to resist the urge to spin minor domestic contretemps over toothpaste tubes and daycare pickup and major disagreements over [REDACTED] into yarns that would be both plentiful and easy to write but are also part of how we earn a living. We get where Shannon Keating is coming from with her essay, which ponders whether her habit of self-exposure is a compulsion, a choice, or just a way to pay the bills. Sort of. Reading her lay it all out there, we did have to wonder whether Keating is really questioning her editorial choices in the name of her relationship, or just doing what she’s always done: making hay out of a buzzy headline.
Read it here.
