Unleashing the Kraken with Jenn Romolini

The Raygun and Logistx of newsletters delivers one recovering ambition monster and all the reads you need.

We’re here to reclaim the “women’s magazine.” Every week, two veteran editors read it ALL to bring you everything we believe women’s media should be: juicy yarns, big ideas, deeply personal essays, hot goss, and the odd shopping tip—aka, the full Spread. Plus: original interviews, podcasts, and more. Come hungry!  

---

Welcome back Spreaderellas,

So. What’s everyone been up to? Fine, we’ll go first: We spent the front half of last week a’readin’ from our beach chairs on Cape Charles and Block Island, respectively. (The back half was spent indoors with young children while Debby did her thing; though, thanks to Deb’s relative humanity, we only lost power once!) Now, we’re back to business with the fruits of that extremely sedentary labor: a list of the highlights from last week, along with a few more recent gems. 

But that’s not all, folks. Jennifer Romolini is in the house! (Point of inquiry: Do we look like Jenny Jones or do we just feel like Jenny Jones today?¹) You might know Romolini from Everything is Fine, the weekly chat show pod for women over 40—ding, ding, ding!—that she cohosts with her former Lucky boss,

Kim France

. And/or you might be one of the many women in our orbit who devoured her new, compulsively readable industry memoir, Ambition Monster, this summer. In the book, we ride along with Romolini as she claws her way from legitimately humble beginnings (Jenn’s parents were teenagers when they had her) to C-suite jobs in the media and tech world—but to what end?!?!?!—with formative stints at Glamour, Time Out New York, and Lucky along the way. The book is almost shockingly honest about money and class in our industry, and marriage between creatives. We’re so grateful to Jenn—who is on Substack!—for dropping by SpreadHQ. 

Love (and gold-medal-winning basketball!),

Rachel & Maggie 

P.S. Small housekeeping note: Things have been loosey-goosey over here this summer but this is your notice that Spread Tuesday is now…Spread Wednesday! Expect your weekly missive to officially pop up on Hump Day. Or, you know, whenever we get ‘er done.

---

Just how thrilling is this week’s paid newsletter? Imagine whooshing through the Stade de France! Dangling by a single cord! Wearing a pretty dang cool brown leather jacket! Having great taste in white chocolate coconut bundt cake! Being adored by David Miscavige—wait, OK, maybe not that one! But yeah, it’s worth it.

---