The Short List — Substacks I'm Loving, Noteworthy Reactions to the New Administration, What I'm Wearing on Repeat, & One Great Thing I Drank.
This is The Short List—a weekly curation of what’s on my radar.
Delivered to your inbox every Friday-ish, consider this a thoughtful selection of media, people, places, and things that I think are worth knowing now.
AL
P.S. Happy Valentine’s Day! Check out our Juliet spot on Good Day LA! 💕
What I’m Reading
Books, articles, and substacks that are worth your time—
New Substacks I’m following:
My favorite Substack hands-down is Noahpinion by
, so I’m excited to see more juicy, smart macro-econ content courtesy of NYT contributor .If you are a woman on the dark side of 30 (and beyond) who wants an insider’s POV on navigating the beauty industry,
is someone to follow We used to work together at Town&Country—she’s brilliant and as insider-y as it gets.
A book I’m currently devouring: I’m very invested in ACOTAR Book 3 right now. Credit to La Patiala Founder, Kristen Shirley for introducing me to the brilliance of the SJM universe.
SVB State of the US Wine Industry: This is an annual must-read report for wine professionals. It’s kind of remarkable how little the wider industry has changed to adapt to emerging consumer behavior since we launched Juliet. My Linkedin hot take on how the industry should evolve from TWO YEARS AGO is exactly the same response I have to the just released 2025 report.
Liberal thought leaders delivered a wave of Op-eds in response to the new administration’s first few weeks. I thought these ones were worth a read:
Lina Khan on AI, competition, and innovation.
Ezra Klein on flooding the zone.
Aurora James on the DEI rollback.
What I’m wearing on repeat
Quality knitwear is one wardrobe item worth investing in, especially if you live somewhere with seasons. Personally, I find that lower quality sweaters only last a season because they pill and stretch too much, which justifies a higher price tag on items that last. Enter Jenni Kayne—pricey, but worth it.
One new piece I can’t stop reaching for—the Cashmere Half-Zip in Ivory. As in, got it for Christmas and have worn it at least 10 times since then.
Another luxury knitwear brand that I’m loving is Eleven Six. I bought a sale-priced sweater on a whim this Summer after getting served some IG ads, and it’s been one of my most complimented pieces to date.
They still have the cardigan I purchased, but their winter collection has some gorgeous pieces as well, like this and this.
Interesting People I’m Following
Wine influencers can be intimidating. Pilar Brito is not.
I discovered her on my TikTok FYP and fell in love with her content. It’s cool, approachable, and knowledgable. She does fun, useful series on cult classics or “name-drop” wines that walk the line between relatable and aspirational.
I highly encourage wine lovers—at any level of education—follow her.
@barpilarr on Instagram
@barpilarr on TikTok
- on Substack
This is also a reminder to myself that I need to get her a sample of Juliet. 🥂
A Campaign to Watch
Nobody advocates for childcare like the powerhouse Reshma Saujani.
Her non-profit Mom’s First is running a clever awareness campaign, billboards and all, targeted towards the new administration. Simple and to the point, asking for continued tax cuts to alleviate the burden of childcare costs.
What I’m Listening To
Quite a few long form podcasts that I found interesting recently:
Ray Dalio on All-In, plugging his new book, How Countries Go Broke.
Nearly 4 hours of Marc Andreessen on Lex Fridman.
A spicy interview with democrat fundraiser Lindy Li on Shawn Ryan.
What I’m Drinking
I did not do Dry January (wine is my job, after all) but I did go to dinner at a friend’s home who is currently not drinking. I wanted to bring her something that she could enjoy, so I ordered the Eins Zwei Zero Chardonnay from Boisson.
I have to say, we were all pleasantly surprised.
The aromas and flavors were pretty damn close to a lightly-oaked New World Chard (not too dissimilar from the OOS Juliet Chardonnay tbh). My main critique was a somewhat flabby finish from a lack of acidity.
Non-alcoholic wine notoriously doesn’t mimic traditional wine closely (I might have to write a whole other post on the challenges here), but industry insiders generally agree that German producers, like Weingut Leitz, are doing it best.
A Thought I’m Sitting With
Those who know me really well know that I’m a closet Redditor.
I can’t get enough of the unfiltered (& anonymous) truth on the platform. I love getting breaking news there while it’s still just unconfirmed gossip, and am definitely a voyeur of the much-talked about r/NYCinfluencersnark.
Anyways, I stumbled across this question while scrolling on Reddit last week…
“If you were the main character in the movie of your life, what would the audience be screaming at you right now?”
Sometimes the most random quotes hit you in the face and make you reconsider things—this was one of them.
And yes, I know exactly what the audience would be screaming at me.✨
For those who are new here—Welcome to On the Rise.
Each week, I share personal reflections on building a business (Juliet Wine) and navigating life as a modern professional woman. You can read more about my story and why I started this newsletter in my post here.
Plus, catch up on some of my recent longer form posts—
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