Sunday Paper Recommends—Week of November 8, 2026
This week at The Sunday Paper, we’re sharing a new book, album, recipe, and show 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
Ezra Frech has gone from the Paralympic podium to the Dancing with the Stars ballroom, and this week he and partner Daniella Karagach take on Grammy Night as the contestants waltz through music’s biggest night. The Sunday Paper had the chance to talk with Ezra about learning to dance from scratch, the work he and his family do through Angel City Sports, and what it would mean to compete in a hometown Paralympic Games in 2028. Read the Q&A below!
The Sunday Paper Recommends: Be Curious with Ezra Frech
1. Tell us something about yourself that might surprise people.
I had pretty much zero dance experience before Dancing with the Stars, and now I’m out here doing sambas on national television!
2. Describe your ideal day off when you’re not training or rehearsing.
Honestly, just spending quality time with my family and friends, relaxing, and giving my body a chance to recover from the craziness of training and rehearsals. I love going to the beach and watching movies.
3. Do you have a pre-dance ritual you never skip before hitting the ballroom floor?
I am approaching every performance on the show like I would a big track meet. I will meditate to help me stay focused before stepping onto the floor. If you are in the ballroom with me, you will notice that I like to skip around the dance floor right before my routine… I do the same thing on the track as a way to signal to my nervous system it’s “game time” to appreciate the crowd’s energy right before our number.
4. Which part of learning a new routine each week has been the most challenging?
In terms of challenges, Dani and I work really hard to figure out how to adapt each dance given my prosthetic leg. We have really embraced the process of finding my limits and making the dance look as smooth as possible. I am actually enjoying the process of learning the various types of dance, which I had no idea of before the show.
5. Of all your Dancing with the Stars performances so far, which has been your favorite, and which song have you most enjoyed dancing to?
Our cha-cha to “Low” by Flo Rida will always have a special place in my heart because it was just so much fun. But getting to dance alongside my mom on Dedication Night was truly something I’ll never forget.
6. What’s the first thing you do when you leave the ballroom floor?
Usually just take a second to catch my breath and then I give Dani a huge hug for all the work she has put in on behalf of Team Footloose! I often will run into my castmates and the crew in the hallway or in the makeup area. I love sharing these moments with my DWTS family as I know I will miss the show when it ends.
7. Has anything about yourself surprised you since joining Dancing with the Stars?
I’m constantly in awe of these dancers and the creativity they put into every routine. But I am genuinely surprised by how much goes into making the show so magical each week—everything from costumes, production, music, lighting, it’s such a well-oiled machine. Being part of the show has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life, right up there with competing at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo and Paris.
8. Beyond the ballroom, what’s one lesson from Dancing with the Stars you’ll carry with you?
Dani has really taught me to trust the process. With no dance experience, this was not easy and has forced me to get out of my comfort zone. But every week we have pushed the limits of what I think I can do. It’s a beautiful reminder that the limits we put on ourselves are often the very ones we’re capable of breaking.
9. You and your family do a lot for the community, especially when it comes to adaptive sports. Can you tell us a little bit about Angel City Sports, how it got started and what opportunity you saw when starting it back in 2013?
My dad and I were traveling across the country for adaptive sports. At my first Paralympic-style competition, held in Oklahoma, my dad asked why Southern California didn’t have events like the one we were attending.
Two years later, in 2015, we launched Angel City Sports to make adaptive sports local, free, and accessible. And for this community, representing 15% of the population, sport is magic, it is healing, it is more powerful and impactful than you can imagine. Our work provides a sense of belonging and community that can massively impact lives.
10. Los Angeles is your hometown and will host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. What would competing there again, this time in front of your home crowd, mean to you?
I get chills every time I think about competing in LA28. I love that I have the opportunity to represent my country again (this will be my 3rd Paralympic Games), on the biggest stage in the world, right here in LA, in the Coliseum no less, with my family, friends, and community cheering me on. It’s hard to imagine how incredible this is going to be… It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have the Paralympic Games in my backyard.
Our Be Lit Bookshelf
The Open Field is releasing a new book this week, and it asks you to look again at the woman from the nativity scene. Mary Aloe, the producer behind Netflix’s MARY, spent years inside this story and came away certain that Jesus’s mother was never the quiet, folded-hands figure we picture. Let It Be Me offers 100 devotions, each pairing Scripture with reflection and prayer, for the days that bring uncertainty, grief, or a decision you don’t feel ready to make. “I didn’t just learn about Mary. I learned from her,” Aloe tells us in our interview, which is worth reading before the book arrives Tuesday.
For more book recommendations from The Sunday Paper, check out last week’s Be Lit Bookshelf!
What We’re Listening To
We’ve been listening to Remi Wolf’s new album Mud on repeat all month. It’s pop with a little soul and a lot of groove, and choruses you’ll want to belt along to. The songs get honest about sobriety and the messy work of starting over, set to melodies you’ll be humming for days. Whether you’re in the thick of a breakup or remembering a chapter you thought you’d left behind, there’s a track here for exactly where you are.
What We’re Eating
Monster Cookie Party Bars
Simple Sugar: Comforting Baking Recipes with Midwestern Heart by Jenna Barnard
When I was young, a neighbor dropped off cookies that became an instant obsession. “WHAT are those?” I asked, as my entire childhood changed. I had never had a monster cookie—an oat and peanut butter cookie jam-packed with M&Ms and chocolate chips— and from then on, I requested my mom to make them for any and every event. The only way for me to improve on the perfect cookie was adding more peanut butter in my favorite form: peanut butter cups. Baking them as a bar creates more surface area and thus more peanut butter. It’s not a party without them.
Makes: 12 or 16 bars
Ingredients
- Nonstick spray, for the pan
- ½ cup (120g) creamy (not natural) peanut butter, like Jif or Skippy
- ½ cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) refined coconut oil, melted
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (100g) old-fashioned rolled oats
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (115g) spooned and leveled all-purpose flour
- ¾ (150g) regular M&M’s
- ½ cup (85g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 6 peanut butter cups (regular size, or use 12 mini cups)
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
- Sprinkles, for decorating
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat the inside of an 8 × 8-inch baking dish with nonstick spray and line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, coconut oil, egg, maple syrup, vanilla, and kosher salt until smooth. Switch to a silicone spatula and mix in the oats and flour until the flour is just barely visible. Just before it’s fully mixed, add the M&M’s and chocolate chips and fold to combine.
- Plop the dough into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Press the peanut butter cups into the dough just so they stay put, arranged to your heart’s desire. They can be left whole for big bites or chopped.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the surface no longer appears glossy and wet. Sprinkle with a pinch of flaky sea salt and as many sprinkles as you like. Let cool at room temperature in the pan for 20 minutes, and then transfer to the refrigerator to chill completely, about an hour, before slicing into 12 or 16 bars and serving.
- The cut bars will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Simple Swaps:
- GF: Use 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour, certified gluten-free oats, and gluten-free peanut butter cups.
- DF: Use dairy-free chocolate chips, candies, and peanut butter cups.
- GF & DF: Both work at the same time.
Reprinted with permission from Simple Sugar: Comforting Baking Recipes with Midwestern Heart. Copyright © 2026 by Butternut Bakery LLC. Photographs copyright © 2026 by Kristin Teig. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
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