Required Reading
Reckoning with Harry Potter fandom as a trans person, Hallmark Christmas movie plot twists, a hard-hitting interview with Santa, and more.
Reckoning with Harry Potter fandom as a trans person, Hallmark Christmas movie plot twists, a hard-hitting interview with Santa, and more.
Lightscape, the holiday light show at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, is one way to spark some holiday spirit in the depths of winter. It's one big art installation, a stunning cathedral of light that impresses the harshest of critics. Pro tip: Try the hot chocolate at the cafe. (photo Jeremy Weine, courtesy Brooklyn Botanical Garden)
Mike Drucker interviews Santa Claus in the style of the New Yorker's Isaac Chotiner for McSweeney's, which is to say not all was merry and bright:
And those children are getting dragged to hell by Krampus on the one night that you said you could do something. But you don’t. Why?
Because Krampus has his role and I’ve got mine! I think it’s weird that the Tooth Fairy takes teeth, but that’s not my job either.
So your job is to judge people, but not to judge people for judging people.
You’re making it sound like I approve of Krampus’s methods. I don’t. Just because you share a holiday with someone doesn’t mean you agree with them on everything. I love kids.
Sandy Ernest Allen confronts their Harry Potter fandom as a trans person for Literary Hub (spoiler — it involves a bonfire):
In reality, the number one lesson of the Harry Potter series was, ironically: We’re all humans deserving of equal rights, even the “weirdest” amongst us, even those most discarded by our families and/or by society, even those who’ve been caught up in histories we ourselves don’t yet understand. We’re all people deserving of love and respect and dignity. [...]
What to do about this situation, I myself had not been sure. I was an adult and not especially “into” the series (as some adults are). I’d still comfort-binge the movies if they were marathoning on a hotel TV perhaps and I felt the right sort of depressed. But now I’d walk into my office and see her books there on my shelf—and feel sick about the whole situation.
There will soon be an artist living in New York City's Gracie Mansion — Rama Duwaji, wife of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, sat for a profile and photoshoot with The Cut, and the internet is atwitter:
The best latte art in all of antiquity:
i bet she was the best barista at the carthaginian coffee shop pic.twitter.com/ptW6bu0ll8
— romanistani state-affiliated media (@djangofetts) December 17, 2025
If you've been in the art world for any length of time, you know about the near-cultish obsession with Julia Cameron's 1992 self-help book The Artist's Way:
The plot twist I've been waiting for in every Hallmark Christmas movie:
Finding the holiday spirit in the most unexpected of places — that's what it's all about. Merry Christmas, everyone!
@sven.johnson dryer keeps it in the pocket #piano #charliebrown #jazz #christmas #pianocover ♬ original sound - Sven Johnson
Required Reading is published every Thursday afternoon and comprises a short list of art-related links to long-form articles, videos, blog posts, or photo essays worth a second look.