Sunday Paper Recommends—Week of November 15, 2026
This week at The Sunday Paper, we’re sharing a new book, album, and film that we believe will add inspiration to your days. We hope these suggestions open your heart and mind and encourage you to come together for meaningful conversations.
What We’re Watching
In 2022, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison. In the 34 days before she reported, directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim and their film crew stayed with her and documented her every move. The result is the surprise A24 documentary You Can See Everything, and our team at The Sunday Paper can’t stop raving about it. Some of us knew the Theranos story going in and others barely knew a thing, but Fielder fills you in either way. Holmes and her partner, California hotel heir Billy Evans, are both on camera. Are they trying to manipulate us, or do they believe what they’re saying? The film is in theaters now, and it will have you wondering whether Holmes is showing us everything.
Continue down the Theranos rabbit hole with The Dropout on Hulu, starring Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes. The series traces Theranos from its start to its collapse, and Holmes even watches a few scenes herself in the documentary. Start with it for the background, or save it until after the film so you can see how the real Holmes responds to her portrayal.
Finally, go back to Holmes at the height of her fame with Maria’s own interviews.
On October 6, 2015, Maria sat down with Holmes at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit, just 10 days before the Wall Street Journal story that began Theranos’s unraveling.
On April 18, 2016, Maria interviewed her again in an exclusive for TODAY, as the company’s troubles mounted.
Our Be Lit Bookshelf
This week’s book recommendation comes from a dear Sunday Paper contributor, Stephanie Sarazin. In her new book, The Little Book of Loss Rituals, Sarazin offers a gentle guide through some of life’s hardest moments. Grief doesn’t only follow death. It can come with a move, a breakup, or any change that leaves us feeling unmoored, and few of us are ever taught what to do with it. But how can you teach something that is processed differently for each and every person? For anyone carrying something heavy right now, it may be the company you need.
For more book recommendations from The Sunday Paper, check out our last Be Lit Bookshelf!
What We’re Listening To
In the summer of 2026, Ashe released a viral hit, “Stop the Wedding!”, based on her own experience of second thoughts before her wedding day. After leaving fans gripped and playing it on repeat while they waited for the full album, she blew us away again with her fourth studio album, The Girl of Your Dreams. Filled with whimsy, a sweeping orchestra, and ’70s flair, it’s an album that will have you spinning around and singing along. Let “Lasso the Moon” and “Stardust” carry you through the dreamy first stretch, then settle in for the title track, which reads like a page from her diary.
What We’re Eating
Sweet Garlic Tomato Soup with Barley
The Big Book of Dinner: Recipes and Rules (and How to Break Them) by Melissa Clark
This recipe uses a lot of garlic, in two ways. Smashed cloves mellow as they’re gently sautéed in olive oil, adding a nutty, caramelized depth to the tomatoey broth. And thinly sliced garlic chips make a crunchy topping that contrasts with the soft nubs of barley. Feel free to use purchased prepeeled garlic cloves here if you like; if there was ever a place for them, this is it.
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 14 garlic cloves (from 2 heads)
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced, or 3 shallots or 1 leek, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon red chile flakes, plus more to taste
- 1½ cups pearled barley, wheat berries, or brown rice
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 4 to 5 cups chicken or vegetable broth, homemade (page 24) or store-bought
- 2 sprigs rosemary or thyme
- 1½ teaspoons fine sea/table salt, plus more as needed
- ½ cup chopped mint, cilantro, dill, or parsley (or a combination)
Directions:
- Using the flat side of a large knife or the bottom of a large skillet, smash 6 of the garlic cloves until flattened but not completely falling apart. Pull off the peels.
- Peel and thinly slice the remaining 8 garlic cloves and set aside. I use a small mandoline but a knife also works.
- In a large pot, heat ¼ cup of the oil over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in smashed garlic and continue cooking until the cloves are a rich golden brown all over and the onions are tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the heat if necessary to make sure the garlic colors without burning.
- Stir in paprika and chile flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add barley, tomatoes, 4 cups of the broth, the rosemary, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until barley is fully cooked, 50 to 60 minutes (this might be slightly more or less time if you choose another grain). Pour in more broth or water as needed to maintain a soupy consistency.
- Meanwhile, to make garlic chips, in a large heavy skillet, combine the remaining ¼ cup oil and sliced garlic. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring, until pale golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer garlic to paper towels to drain; sprinkle with salt. Stir the garlic oil directly into the soup.
- Taste the soup and add more salt and chile flakes, as necessary. Ladle into bowls and finish with mint and a scattering of garlic chips.
Rules and Variations:
- You can bulk this soup out in so many ways. At the end, stir in proteins like cooked chicken, leftover braised meat, or cooked/canned beans, or add a big handful of chopped greens.
- Smashing the garlic causes it to cook at slightly different rates, yielding a range of complex flavors from sweet to nutty. The technique works well for any long-simmering soup or stew (or tomato sauce!) where the garlic has time to mellow and melt into the liquid.
- Pearled barley is barley that’s had its dark, chewy bran removed. It cooks more quickly than whole barley, but when steamed, it can turn out a bit sticky. In soup, this starchiness is a good thing, working as a natural thickener and contributing to a creamy consistency. You can substitute just about any hearty grain in this soup, but the end result might be brothier than the barley version. If you choose a relatively quick-cooking grain, like millet or quinoa, simmer the tomato mixture long enough for the garlic to soften, then stir in your grain for the last 15 minutes or so of cooking.
- Heating the garlic and oil together is the best way to get evenly golden garlic chips without scorching them, rather than heating the oil first, then adding the garlic.
Mushroom Barley Soup:
Omit the garlic. In Step 3, when sautéing the onion, add 8 ounces sliced mushrooms, 2 sliced carrots, 2 sliced celery stalks, and 1 teaspoon ground coriander. In Step 4, omit the paprika and tomatoes and increase the broth to 6 cups. At the end, season with a dash of Yondu, soy sauce, or chili crisp. Stir in ½ cup chopped cilantro or parsley.
The Big Book of Dinner Text copyright © 2026 by Melissa Clark. Photographs copyright © 2026 David Malosh. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
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