Welcome To "In Deep" with Mia Brabham Nolan

Warning: Critical thinking ahead.

Hi. I’m so excited that you’re here.

Introducing In Deep.

They say to write what you know. So it’s only fitting that I started this monthly newsletter, since half of my brain is entertainment.

“I like Taylor Swift because she is a conundrum,” I say in the first newsletter, There Goes “The Last Great American Dynasty” Theory. “I am angry with Taylor Swift because she is a conundrum.”

Have you ever heard that saying, that we contain multitudes? That is why I love pop culture, books, music, movies, and television. That is why I started this newsletter. 

Why this, why now.

There is so much being said between the lines of everything we engage with — and perhaps, more fascinatingly, not being said. From your favorite childhood show to a public figure you can’t stand to a song you’ve unwillingly (or, God bless you, “Espresso,” too willingly) downloaded to your brain. We miss it, what something is really saying or implying, if we don’t look closely enough.

This little space on the internet is called In Deep (a name I brainstormed with my best friend Michael over pizza and wine on a Friday night) because that's what it is. It's the deep end of my cultural interests, and there’s a 100% chance I’ll probably get — you guessed it — way too deep about it (honestly, run away now if you hate that).

I'm going to be talking about things like why certain celebrities and moments take up so much space in my mind, but also why Holes is a superior movie and why Queen Latifah (read: The Last Holiday, Just Wright) needs to come back to revive rom-coms because these other girls could never. It's kind of like my sassy alter ego, and the new sister to my old (and more personal, still running) newsletter, The Saturday Letter.

When I was studying video and cinema at James Madison University, we learned in our media arts and design classes that the “holy trinity” or intended trifecta of mass media is to inform, inspire, and entertain (I texted one of my favorite professors to check my memory). From very early on, I got the sense that there was a heavy emphasis on the “inform” of it all; that it was the most respected, the most important, and taken the most seriously. But I always found myself wondering: wouldn’t a trifecta just be a circle (or, idk, a collapsed triangle, lol?) if the triangle didn’t need each wall?

My friends and strangers on the internet (hi) are always asking me for my take on pop culture, television shows, films, books, and music. I love looking at things with a critical eye and an empathetic heart. I’ve been accidentally doing it for a long time now (I will regret this). I am so freaking excited to be in this new space. 

Calling a community.

The hope is to not just start a newsletter, but a community. “You are inviting people to subscribe to your thinking,” Substack told me to write here. They’re right! And I want to subscribe to yours.

Entertainment is not vapid, or stupid, or unimportant. What we see on the television, in books, and in Nicole Kidman’s movie theaters influences what and how we think of ourselves — and of each other. I’m extremely interested in what it can teach us if we look closely but also stand back, and I want to do my part in bridging that gap. Because I think we can all learn from each other. 

There is so much to dissect. And it’s also just fun.

What to expect.

I’m half serious, half deeply unserious. I’ll say the words “famously” and “read:” way too much, and use too many parentheses. I will quote the New York City sanitation commissioner who is unintentionally hilarious, and someone like

Anne Helen Petersen

who is deeply impressive and much smarter than me. I’ll reference culture writer

Hunter Harris

(“If a man has not embarrassed you, he just hasn’t embarrassed you yet.”) and basketball player LeBron James (“I can’t believe this is my life.”)

There are a ton of things I’m scared of. I’m scared that my corny, sometimes-dry, always-self-deprecating sense of humor (Bridesmaids and Mean Girls meets SpongeBob SquarePants) will not always translate. I’m scared of hurting someone’s feelings and even their ego, or upsetting Taylor Swift and her publicist Tree Paine (read: me being serious and unserious), or saying the wrong thing. But I’m also not afraid to apologize, dig deeper, tell my truest truth, or change my perspective.

I’m not an expert, by any means. I grew up going to the movie theater with my parents every weekend since I was two weeks old (confirmed, true story), watching shitty but amazing-to-me 2000s movies with my amazing dad (that we still call each other to laugh about; Sparky from Bring It On forever), then studying movies in school. But that is not a bold proclamation or boast.

I am just one girl on the internet with an opinion. You’ll learn very quickly that I don’t know anything. I am just an observer of the world and I notice things. That is my superpower.

I will try my hardest to be factual, but that doesn’t mean that everything I say is fact. Like I said, there are plenty of people smarter than me in every room. I’ve never been ashamed of that. I just pay attention to what’s being said, and — you’re getting the hang of it — not being said. Basically: I’m just here to inform, inspire, and entertain.

Whenever, wherever.

Before I write anything for In Deep, I’ve promised myself that I must go through this checklist (It's my very own Bechdel Test!):

1 - Do I think about it a lot

2 - Do I feel passionately about it

3 - Do I believe it could encourage someone to look at something or themselves differently

I know the key to a Substack newsletter is consistency, but isn’t surprise the spice of life? For my free subscribers, it will come out “when I feel like it-ly,” because I want this to remain true and not based on the “news” cycle — but my genuine interests. Paid subscribers, for the small price of five bucks a month you'll get content more regularly (at least once a month), the chance to be part of the chat, and also my deep, deep appreciation for supporting my time and my work. If you become a “Club Members Only” subscriber for fifty Washingtons (that is the one dollar bill…not that I had to look it up), you get all of this plus a full published newsletter on your topic of choice PLUS a shout-out IN FRONT OF EVERYONE! Yes, 100% of this goes to me (and my eventual editor).

Diving in.

One day, you will look back and say you were here in the beginning. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The deep end of the pool is intimidating at first, and invigorating, revitalizing, and restorative the next. It’s relaxing to sit on the surface (preferably in an innertube with a can of Dr. Pepper and lime green crazy straw), but it’s wildly stimulating and energizing to go underneath. It can be tiring, but for a moment and sometimes longer — it’s enlivening and exhilarating. Cannonball.

Signed yours, very truly, Mia 💚

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Introduce yourself by replying to this email or leaving a comment! What metaphorical area do you always find yourself in the deep end of? What topics do you want to hear more about? Let’s jump in.