The Sunday Digest 102
"I will put my hands up and surrender."
Welcome to The Sunday Digest — a free Sunday newsletter featuring long (and some short) reads, original columns, things I’ve saved over the last week, relaxing playlists, episodes releases, exclusive product drops, and more. Yes, you can reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you. Or, if podcasts are more your speed on Sundays, we’ve got that too.
Sunday Read: How Chicken Tenders Conquered America
by Pete Wells for The New York Times
There was a theme for Sundays in my late 20s when I was still trying to go out like I was in my early 20s. Of course, after a big night, waking up is never something that feels natural. Ice water, coffee, shower, couch, Premier League match, slight nap (unintentional or not).
And then, we’d go to Popeye’s for spicy chicken tenders, red beans and rice, a side of gravy, and a large fountain Dr. Pepper (or Sprite depending on the mood).
Whether you’d like to admit it or not, chicken tenders play a huge part in our lives — especially our hangovers. They’re scratch an itch that’s hard to describe, they’re readily available in most airports, and it’s rare to have a batch that doesn’t scratch that aforementioned itch.
This week’s Sunday Read is about just that: tendies. Here’s an excerpt:
Today, the chicken tender is not just familiar. It is triumphant. It is a fixture of school lunches and kids’ menus, of all-night diners and gas stations. It can be found at airports, food courts and stadiums. It is a major reason for the double-digit sales growth that Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, Raising Cane’s and other chicken-centric chains have reported for five straight years.
Along the way, the chicken tender has become a symbol, although its meaning is hard to pin down. It can be an icon of simple, straightforward, unpretentious American taste. It can also be an expression of dull, unadventurous food engineered for the lowest common denominator. Restaurants, in their drive to stand out, have expended great effort devising crunchier breading, zestier dipping sauces, more tender tenders. And yet all the sauces in the world will never quite dispel the suspicion that the tender itself is, at heart, not very exciting.
Read in full here.
The Sunday Haiku: “I don’t want to get out of bed to go to the refrigerator.”
Bouquet of flowers,
that desperately need water,
and, well, so do I.
New Episode › Retail Therapy 090: Books & Bag Charms
After two very targeted episodes, this week was much more of a grab bag — Daniel Craig's fit for the Loewe show, bag and shoe charms, GQ trying to cancel Gorpcore, Sydney Sweeney's abomination of an ad deal, kitchen upgrades and aesthetic appliances, Sally Rooney's "Intermezzo" as a status symbol, Divorced Wife-core, Nike news, and some footy collabs. Of course, we finished everything out by adding some items to our personal wishlists.
Listen to Retail Therapy on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube (see above), and anywhere else podcasts are found. And a reminder to follow Retail Therapy on Substack!
Things I Saved This Week
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