Sunday Paper Recommends—Week of November 23, 2025
This week at The Sunday Paper, we're sharing a new film, book, soundtrack and recipe 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
From online enemies to in-person friends, former Tea Party Republican Congressman Joe Walsh and gun safety advocate and author Fred Guttenberg sat down together at The Philadelphia Citizen’s 8th Annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival. The festival aims to "expand the problem-solving table, inspire change, and bask in hope." Watch their conversation below on gun safety and voting in primaries, and learn to listen to understand, not to respond.
How well do you know the people your child has playdates with? Author Andrea Mara was inspired to write the thriller All Her Fault after a real-life incident where she momentarily thought her daughter was lost. The book, now a series, follows Marissa Irvine as she searches for her young son Milo after he goes missing after his first playdate.
What We’re Reading
The Sunday Paper has curated a list of over 30 books for the 2025 winter reading list. If you are looking for a memoir, we recommend The Uncool by journalist and filmmaker Cameron Crowe. For those hosting parties, there’s Having People Over by Chelsea Fagan, CEO of The Financial Diet. And for our Sunday Paper friends who are living in or traveling to extreme winter climates, there is How to Winter by health psychologist Kari Leibowitz, which offers tools to find warmth and joy. Check out the complete reading list here.
What We’re Listening To
The new soundtrack Wicked: For Good, inspired by the Broadway show, has just been released. It includes multiple Grammy-nominated pieces, plus two new songs from "Elphaba" and "Glinda": Cynthia Erivo's "No Place Like Home" and Ariana Grande's "The Girl in the Bubble."
Sunday Paper Recipe
The first and only time I’ve seen a whole, skin- on squash roasting over an open fire was during a trip to Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico. When they cut that baby open, they drizzled it with honey, sprinkled some salt and cilantro, and added a squeeze of lime. It was the most unctuous, velvety bite of squash I have ever had in my life, and I came home thinking about how to re- create that experience in my own kitchen. Excited to glam up the classic roasted butternut squash, I added honey, a habanero pepper, and some seasonings and spices to melted butter and drizzled it over the squash halves before roasting to sweet, savory, caramelized, spicy perfection. Add any leftover roasted squash to rice, pair it with other veggies as a side, or turn it into a salad. And don’t keep this luscious butter mixture just for this recipe; drizzle it on other vegetables before roasting them to level them up.
Honey and Habanero Roasted Butternut Squash
Serves 4
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 habanero pepper, finely minced
(adjust to taste for desired heat)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Kosher salt and freshly ground
black pepper to taste
1 medium butternut squash,
halved lengthwise and seeded
Fresh parsley or cilantro leaves,
for garnish (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the honey, habanero pepper, ground cumin, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well to combine, simmer for 5 minutes, and remove from the heat.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, place the butternut squash halves cut side up, and pour the butter mixture over the squash flesh.
Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the squash is tender.
Remove the squash from the oven and let it cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Cut into four pieces, garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro leaves, if desired, and serve.
Recipes posted publicly must include permissions copy: Excerpted from pg. 87 Rooted in Fire by Pyet Despain reprinted with permission from HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright 2025.
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