Hello friends,

I haven’t been writing here in a bit because I’ve been busy going hard on a few other projects. I am excited to tell you about them!

Support Women’s Sports newsletter: As you all know, I love sports. And I have been a vocal and active supporter of women’s sports for decades. A few years ago I thought my voice was no longer needed as a lot of pros with bigger soap boxes got into the space, but earlier this year as I was pondering what to do after the election and I found my way back to women’s sports. While there has been an explosion of popularity and investment, I want to center the feminist fans voice. You can read more about the newsletter at the intro post.

I am also asking readers to chip in to financially support the newsletter so I can devote more time to the content and its growth.

Pitch Your Peeps: I’m a yes person. You have an idea? I’ll probably say yes to it and then figure out how to make it happen. That’s how I found myself as co-founder and co-host of an in-person, live dating show for LGBTQ+ folks who are over 35. This was not on my bingo card of things do in my life. But here we are, doing amazing things with this life.

I am utterly amazed at how fast Pitch Your Peeps found its place in the community. This month will be our 9th show and we have been standing-room since January. Stonewall Sports reached out to us and we partnered with them on their singles events.

So what is Pitch Your Peeps? A friend makes a 3-minutes slide deck and pitches their friend or peep to a room full of people looking for a new connection. The pitches are all positive - no roasting at our show.

Shows have been funny, sweet, sexy, and so much fun. I’m so hyped at the end of the night.

Sekile, my co-host, and I will be out here running the streets for Pride month. Check out our Instagram account to see where you can find at least one of us this month.

MY BOOK GOT BANNED! Last week someone text me, “Is this you? Is your book banned?” So thanks to People magazine for writing a story about the rise in book banning the USA (what a way to celebrate 250 years of democracy!) and that my children’s book is on the list of most banned nonfiction books. Book banning is fascist. So fight fascism, buy my book, J is for Justice: An Activism Alphabet.

Thanks to Block Club Chicago and Politico Illinois Playbook for covering this ban.

It’s been a whirlwind of a week and there are a lot of emotions. I’m mad and glad. Mad that we are even discussing book bans in 2026. Glad because this is definitely renewing interest in the book.

When I was asked to write this book in 2022 I had so many words I wanted to explore and define for young people. Paring it down to 26 words was so hard. As I said in the Block Club interview, I definitely drew inspiration from my own activism and my parenting journey. What kind of book did I wish I had to read my daughter when she was younger and asking questions about the injustices she saw in the world? To help explain what her mom was doing at all the meetings I was attending with and without her? That was the guiding star for J is for Justice: An Activism Alphabet.

Advice No One Asked For by Jenny Hagel is a hilarious and touching look at the numerous decision points in our lives that feel sticky. If life is a stage, the decisions we make at our bestie’s wedding or at work determines if we get curtain calls. Who better to help us navigate those curtain calls than a comic who has failed countless times?

Hagel is best known for being a writer on Late Night with Seth Meyers and the genius behind the segment “Jokes Seth Can’t Tell.” In Advice No One Asked For, Hagel is pointed in sharing the ups and downs of working in comedy, especially the failures. The peek behind the curtain illustrates the ferocity one must have in their dream to take hit after hit day after day. The advice Hagel dishes is one that most of us wouldn’t take from our parents, maybe a close friend, but absolutely from our weird cousin.

And that is the tone Hagel takes with readers. Imagine that Hagel and you are at a late-night café getting every penny’s worth of the endless coffee cup. Having seen Hagel’s show, “Jenny Hagel Gives Advice,” I could picture her shaking her head, laughing, and sprinkling a “honey” in with her ridiculous wisdom.

There is a moment in her show with a speed round. Hagel and a guest co-host rapid fire through a bucket of questions with, “Quit!” “Dump him!” “Yes! You are being ghosted!” showcasing Hagel’s confidence in doling out advice. Advice No One Asked For moves in a similar pace - you could read this all in an afternoon while at the beach.

One chapter healed a part of me that requires ongoing care – being a No Sabo kid. Growing up in an acculturated Mexican family where my parents spoke Spanish, but didn’t teach us, during a time where not speaking Spanish was not seen as the benefit it is today is hard to explain. My Spanish-speaking classmates were sent to remedial reading classes for fear that their bilingual skills were a weakness, as was any hint of a Spanish accent. Hagel, who is half Puerto Rican, spent part of her childhood living in Puerto Rico and speaking perfect Spanish. After moving to the mainland, she lost that skill. And for years worked hard to regain the ease she once had with the language.

There is advice for you in here. And there is probably advice you have given a friend, who didn’t listen, who just might get the message when delivered with a good punchline. Warning that her procrastination chapter is hilarious, but if you have experienced a hard time getting pregnant, head her warning to skip part of the chapter.

Advice No One Asked For by Jenny Hagel is now available!
The link takes you to Bookshop using my affiliate code.