Here are things that I’m thinking about: how dark the dusk feels – a kind of sad elegy on a shortened day. I’m thinking about the wheels of justice are whirring backwards or just stuck in the muck of political partisanship. But I’m also thinking about all the adorable pictures I’ve seen of babies and children in their Halloween costumes, the beauty of the fall here in the mid-Atlantic, and how my guest this week, Meghan Daum is one of the smartest people I know.

Her new book The Problem with Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars takes aim at the wokeness at the center of the young progressive talking points… and yet she is a progressive. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

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Here are my five things for the week.

1. The Wing. A “We work” space for women only, The Wing is a blush-pink colored, highly designed and comfortable club and hang out. You can meet people, eat, leave your child in a chic daycare there or shower and attend special programs. And there are now 12 Wing chapters in 8 cities around the world. Earlier this week I “interviewed” E. Jean Carroll at the Wing’s Soho branch. You know by now that we are friends. Her bravery is something the wingers wanted to see and understand up close. The questions from the audience were nuanced and sincere. I think we all learned from one another.

2. Cauliflower Cheesecake with cauliflower ice cream. You read that right. I know they sound improbable if not downright disgusting, but after our night at The Wing, E. Jean and I went to a restaurant on the lower east side called Dirt Candy,(yes, you read that right too), an all-vegetable restaurant. Yes I liked the carrot sliders and the portobello mushroom pate, but the dessert – made from cauliflower – was otherworldly and delicious. I assume a tremendous amount of sugar was sacrificed for the dessert.

3. What happened in Virginia. Namely, the Democrats retook the state House and the state Senate, for the first time in about 30 years. It is suggested that at this point Virginia could become the 38th state to ratify the ERA. I’m just going to leave that there. Hope is not a small thing these days.

4. My newish bathrobe. For the longest time my bathrobes were of the terry cloth variety. Reversible and lined and warm and heavy. They weighed me down. I ordered a short cotton kimono on line and feel wonderful every time I put it on. It’s barely there, but perfectly modest when our super shows up to fix the toilet again. Anyway, I am wearing it as I type these words.

5. The radiator smell. Does the heat in your house have an odor? Ours does, but it’s impossible to describe other than heat thrumming through ancient pipes. But that scent – I love because it means the room is warm. I need that reassurance on a cold morning. I don’t even mind the whirring of the gears noises that our radiator makes. It’s all part of the routine.

Meghan Daum’s 5 Things:

1. Dogs (preferably large, furry)

2. Winter sunsets (I inherited this from my mother)

3. Wide plank wood floors (ditto above)

4. The Bach B Minor Mass (got this from my father)

5. Free — often frenetic — exchange of ideas with friends over drinks (my doing entirely)