Lifestyle
You could subscribe to holiday gift-giving. Or you can move different like Goth Shakira
Goth Shakira wearing Acne Studios dress and gloves, Kachorovska shoes and Jéblanc earrings.
(Jennelle Fong and Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)
One might follow Goth Shakira for their “whimsigoth crypto nun” looks posted from the bathrooms of Tom Bradley, for their poetic takes on digital existence, for their deep cuts of darkwave en Español and uncanny images of art, or for being an OG long-form confessional meme queen (a contribution that has garnered academic study). The digital director is known for a specific kind of output that feels uniquely Goth Shakira: one that combines an esoteric gaze with an artistic one — a sharp observation of the world around us and worlds beyond us. An Aquarius whose ultimate gifts of space and freedom can’t be bought, Goth Shakira takes her own path. The rest of us just want to follow along.
Name, occupation, neighborhood: Dre, a.k.a. Goth Shakira, digital director, Koreatown.
Ascetic, observant and karmic are three words that describe my essence.
My mantra for the end of the year is “I am.”
The gift I would buy myself that coincides with my astrological sign: The ultimate Aquarian gifts of freedom and space can’t be bought — just given or taken.
An L.A. artist whose work I want in every room of my home: My decor is very simple and minimal because I like my home to feel like a hermitage. I don’t really like having things on my walls, but I appreciate sculptures and found objects, or works made with earthen elements. A silver breastplate or lacquered body cast by multidisciplinary artist Holly Silius would be a dream, as would a work by Lizette Hernández in dissolved salts and stoneware.
The designer/brand I rocked the most this year: I’m almost always wearing a piece by Latina-owned and L.A.-based brand Gil Rodriguez. Their Trinity zippered catsuit is one of my most favorite pieces I’ve ever had — I have worn it on a 16-hour flight with slippers and to a party paired with vintage Prada stiletto boots. They’re elevated basics that I know I will own for a long time; they feel like the new vintage. The pieces are also very compatible with an L.A. lifestyle because I can wear a Gil outfit as a pool coverup or to the park, and it’s so elegant and well made that I don’t have to drive all the way home to change if I decide to go to a gallery opening or drinks afterwards.
“The ultimate Aquarian gifts of freedom and space can’t be bought — just given or taken,” says Goth Shakira.
(Jennelle Fong and Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)
Goth Shakira wears Heaven by Marc Jacobs top, Shushu/Tong skirt, Vegan Tiger trench coat, MyUS scarf, Heaven by Marc Jacobs boots, Frou York necklace, Serpenti earrings, Jéblanc and Lilou Paris rings.
(Jennelle Fong and Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)
The clothing item in my closet I consider high art: A vintage Comme des Garçons black wool skirt that I thrifted in Kyoto earlier this year. It has an incredible structure that allows it to transform into an off-the-shoulder dress and culottes. I travel for work and only take a carry-on, and I end up packing this piece a lot because of its versatility and masterful design. I hope to enjoy it for many years to come.
Breathwork, daily meditation, kundalini yoga, morning pages and at least seven to 10 white candles from the botánica burning in my apartment at any given time is the spiritual practice that’s grounding me lately.
The thing that has been sitting in my online shopping cart for months: This silver Ann Demeulemeester “Charliese” fingernail ring that sits above your top knuckle and looks like a wabi-sabi acrylic.
What I’m getting the people I love this season: My Aquarius placements don’t subscribe to the capitalist gifting obligations of mass holidays — because my Capricorn placements are always giving my loved ones little presents year-round. My favorite things to give are candles, books, love notes, natal chart readings, money, dinners, work opportunities, time, loyalty, space, active listening, my healing abilities and surf trips.
The one thing I wish the people I love would band together and buy me this season: OK, so I don’t subscribe to holiday gift-giving, but I might accept two things and two things only: a Moog Etherwave theremin, and the August 1995 issue of Playgirl with the Peter Steele editorial. It’s a goth girl/gay grail.
The zine/book/item on my coffee table I want people to see: “California Surfing and Climbing in the Fifties” and “AfroSurf.” The former is a rare find that I scored on eBay, and an important piece of history photography-wise, but it features all white people — despite the presence of Californian surfers of color, like the Black Mexican waterman Nick Gabaldón, who were going to great lengths to surf in Malibu during the time of beach segregation. To counter the predominantly white canon of surf documentation, “AfroSurf” is a gorgeously designed and historically rich celebration of surfing culture in Africa, including everything from photos to essays to poems to playlists to ephemera. It’s a book every creative should own.
Goth Shakira wearing Jéblanc and Lilou Paris rings.
(Jennelle Fong and Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)
I will never stop rocking my beloved vintage black leather trench coat with fur trim that I thrifted in pristine condition in Montreal about 10 years ago.
The cause or organization I’m supporting right now: Red Comunitaria Trans is an advocacy group for Colombian trans communities. Red Condor Collective is a Colombian diaspora initiative that secures material support for activists in Colombia, including those protesting the genocide in Gaza.
The sounds fueling my creative right now are Deftones B-sides, pretty much anything shoegaze/distorted/DIY coming out of Arizona or Texas right now (Glixen, Bedlocked, Teethe), Cocteau Twins live at Ministry of Sound in 1996, demo cuts from the Smashing Pumpkins studio sessions for “Gish” and “Pisces Iscariot,” Natalia Mantini’s “casted in caves: black moon lilith” mix for Dublab, Dungeons & Dragons ambience videos that I project on my wall, the same 20-minute Tibetan bowl sound file looped for eight hours, field recordings of waves receding over rocks at the tide pools, the sound of the little solar-powered garden fountain outside my window <3.
I’m manifesting a project in 2024 with: There’s so much amazing shoegaze/goth/darkwave/ambient/experimental music coming from Latine artists in L.A. right now — Closed Tear, Beli and Wisteria, for example. I love to see independent L.A. designers have more of a presence as well, like Latina-owned brand Siempre, a.k.a. World of Siempre. Venice local-run and -owned surf archival project and streetwear brand corelords is one of my favorite visual inspirations lately. On the wellness and skincare front, I’m really into what Latine-owned Noto Botanics does — their scrub is one of my favorites. I’ve had my eye on skinwear brand Humanoid, and they’re one of the most exciting beauty initiatives coming out of L.A. right now.
The meal I’m cooking on rotation right now: I’m on a lifelong mission to create anything that even closely resembles my abuela’s ajiaco, but I must confess that I’m a total disappointment to my ancestors in the domesticity department. At least I have the caldo from the neighborhood spot to warm my heart in the meantime.
This is the highly specific thing inspiring my style most lately: Black trans women and nonbinary people, and senior citizens. Always.
The color I’m dreaming in/obsessed with: It’s always the shade of the lipstick I’ve been wearing for about half my life at this point: Diva by MAC, a deep, cool-toned burgundy that’s almost black. It’s also the same shade that Courtney Love wore in the ‘90s. It’s so melancholic, elegant, vampiric and earthy all at the same time.
The 2023 drop I missed that still haunts me: The Stüssy x Our Legacy “Surfman” jacket that dropped earlier this year. I had it in my cart but didn’t pull the trigger in an effort to exercise restraint, because I already have a pretty robust Stüssy collection. But I think about that jacket all the time, and now it’s on resale sites for three times the retail price (and, of course, never in my size).
All of 2024 I’ll be smelling like: Byredo’s De Los Santos eau de parfum, with a bit of Hwyll by Aesop layered on top — and, inevitably, a hint of the hinoki incense and palo santo that I’m always burning in my home.
Goth Shakira’s mantra for the end of the year is “I am.”
(Jennelle Fong and Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)
Makeup: Carla Perez
Hair: Belen Gomez
Styling Assistants: Stacey Barton, Karina Boylan, Annunziata Santelli
Lifestyle
‘Wait Wait’ for April 18. 2026: With Not My Job guest Phil Pritchard
Phil Pritchard of the Hockey Hall of Fame works the 2019 NHL Awards at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 19, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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This week’s show was recorded in Chicago with host Peter Sagal, judge and guest scorekeeper Alzo Slade, Not My Job guest Phil Pritchard and panelists Alonzo Bodden, Adam Burke, and Dulcé Sloan. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.
Who’s Alzo This Time
The Don Vs The Poppa; World’s Worst Doctor; Should We Eat That?
Panel Questions
Big Cheese News!
Bluff The Listener
Our panelists tell three stories about someone missing a huge opportunity in the news, only one of which is true.
Not My Job: Phil Pritchard, the NHL’s Keeper of the Stanley Cup, answers three questions about the other NHL, National Historic Landmarks
Peter talks to Phil Pritchard, the NHL’s Keeper of the Stanley Cup. Phil plays our game called, “Let’s Go Visit The NHL” Three questions about National Historic Landmarks.
Panel Questions
The Trump Dump and Air Traffic Control Becomes Animal Control
Limericks
Alzo Slade reads three news-related limericks: Spice Up Your Spring Cleaning; A Fizzy Meaty Drink; The Right Way to Eat Peeps.
Lightning Fill In The Blank
All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else
Predictions
Our panelists predict the next big AirBnB story in the news
Lifestyle
How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Paul W. Downs
Paul W. Downs can’t help it that even on the weekends, his life intersects with “Hacks,” the HBO comedy he co-created and co-showruns with his wife, Lucia Aniello, and their friend Jen Statsky. (He also appears on the show as Jimmy LuSaque Jr., the besieged manager of its two stars, played by Emmy winners Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder.) The fifth and final season of “Hacks” premiered last week, but on Downs’ days off, he often finds himself at its previous filming locations or hanging out with cast members who have become like family.
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Downs moved to Los Angeles in 2011, but soon after, he and Aniello were hired to write (and for him to act) on the über-New York show “Broad City,” keeping them away from the West Coast for years. Now the couple live in Los Feliz, which they enjoy with their young son.
“I love Los Feliz because it’s a real neighborhood with restaurants and bars, but also feels close to nature with Griffith Park,” Downs says. “Also it’s very central to my Eastside friends and Westside agents.”
And if he had to live at a local mall, like the character Ava Daniels did in the third season of “Hacks,” which would he choose?
“It would be the Americana, obviously.”
Here’s how he’d spend a perfect day in L.A.
10 a.m.: A late rise and a li’l barista
I’m sleeping in if I can, which I can’t because I have a toddler, but let’s say I can sleep ’til 10. That would be insane.
Then I’m making coffee at home. I’m making it with my 4-year-old because he likes to make my coffee now. He always wanted to help, now he really wants to do it on his own. I’m still there to supervise, but he does do a lot of it.
I do batch brew. I’m doing Verve Coffee that I’m grinding there, and then I’m brewing four cups because I need my coffee. I had a Moccamaster for a long time, but I recently got a Simply Good Coffee. There’s no plastic — it’s all glass and metal.
11 a.m.: Chocolate croissants for everyone
We’re driving to Pasadena and we’re going to [Artisanal Goods by] CAR, which is the place to get the best chocolate croissant, I think, in the world. I don’t just think in L.A., I think they’re better than Paris. I’m going there with my wife and my kid and I’m having another coffee and some pastry. We’re ordering three [chocolate croissants]. We’re not doubling up.
11:45 a.m.: The family business
We’re driving to Fair Oaks in Pasadena. There’s a place called T.L. Gurley. We shot “Hacks” there, actually. Not only in Season 1, but also full circle in Season 5. We’re going to shmay around and look at antiques. My kid is going to want to play a vintage pinball machine. We’re going to find a little piece of art for the house or what have you. It’s not necessarily that I’m on the hunt. It’s to pass the time and to have some fun. If I could do anything and have a leisurely day and take my mind off work, that’s what I’m doing.
People love to interact with my kid when he’s there. We’re really training him to appraise things at a young age. My parents are part-time dealers of antiques. My grandmother bought and sold antiques. It’s kind of a family business.
1:30 pm.: Baguettes and books
We’re driving to Larchmont and we’re getting a sandwich at Larchmont Village Wine, Spirits & Cheese. I’m doing prosciutto-mozzarella-basil on a baguette.
Then we’re going to Chevalier’s Books. What’s sad is that I’m often not looking for leisure material. I’m looking for something that I’m interested in learning more about or writing about, or that they’re turning into a show I want to audition for. But we’re also doing Little Golden Books for my son. He’s obsessed. We’re not huge on screen time, so we really encourage the book-buying.
2:30 p.m.: Cast pool party
We’re having some family fun in the pool and we’re doing that until evening. We invite people over all the time. My sister-in-law is a New Yorker, but she actually wrote last season on “The Rooster” and she’s often writing on shows in L.A., so she’s often here and she’ll have a couple friends come over. I know this sounds like a piece of PR or something, but we’ll really literally have Hannah [Einbinder] and maybe Mark Indelicato from “Hacks” come over to swim. Jen, our co-creator of “Hacks,” will come over.
6:00 p.m.: Family dinner
Sometimes we’ll order Grá to the house, which is a pizza place in Echo Park — excellent sourdough crust pizza. But if we don’t do that, an ideal evening is an early dinner at All Time on Hillhurst in Los Feliz. We’re ordering the ceviche and my son is having all of it and not sharing with anybody at the table.
8:45 p.m.: A thrilling ending to the day
After putting my kid to bed, my wife and I, in an ideal world (full disclosure: we haven’t done this in two years), we’ll watch something together that we’ve been meaning to watch. We have a long list of movies and we either want to revisit or that we haven’t seen that we need to watch.
We don’t watch a lot of comedies. It’s a dream to watch a “Black Bag” or a little espionage thriller. We really like that because it’s so different than the stuff that we’re working on in the day.
Often the things we watch are things that we admire. We like deconstructing it as fans of film and television. We do like talking about the making of it, but it’s less of a critique and more of a listing of the things we appreciated about it.
10:30 p.m.: No work tomorrow
And then it’s lovemaking ’til morning on a perfect Sunday. If it’s a perfect Sunday, there’s also a Monday that’s off.
Lifestyle
Sitting in a jail cell, alone and hopeless, a man’s life is suddenly changed
Jay (not pictured) found himself alone and hopeless in a jail cell when a fellow inmate’s unexpected words of comfort changed his life.
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When Jay was 22 years old, he was a self-described loner. In this story, he is being identified by his nickname to allow himself to speak candidly about the following experience and his mental health. He says the few people he did hang out with at the time had questionable morals.
”I chose my friends poorly, and your friends have a tendency to rub off on you. And so I started making poor decisions,” Jay said.
One evening, when he and his friends were out drinking, someone suggested they should try to break into the chemistry building on his college campus. Most of the group shrugged the suggestion off, deeming it impossible, but Jay was convinced he could pull it off.
“The next night I made a plan of how to do it, and I did it,” Jay remembered. “And I didn’t get caught doing it, [but] I got caught afterwards.”
At around 1 that morning, Jay was placed in the county detention center. Sitting alone in his cell, reality began to sink in.

“I pretty much thought that my life as I knew it was going to be over, and I had decided that the world would be better off without me in it.”
Jay made a plan to end his life. As he prepared himself, he began to cry.
“But just in that moment when I was ready to do it, I heard a voice coming from the top left corner of my cell, from a little vent. And someone called out to me and said, ‘Hey, is this your first time?’”
The man who called out was an inmate in the cell next door.
“I collected myself a little bit, and I said, ‘Yeah.’ And he said, ‘Can I pray for you?’”
Jay had grown up religious, but had stopped going to church years before. In that moment, though, he knew he needed support. He said yes, and listened as the man began to pray.

“I wish I could tell you that I remember the [exact] words that he said to me, but what I remember is that his words landed with me, and instead of wanting my life to be over, suddenly I saw hope,” Jay said.
The interaction happened nearly ten years ago, but it was a pivotal moment in Jay’s life, and one he thinks about all the time.
“[Now], I have a good job. I have a girlfriend who loves me. I have a life. But I have a life because somebody who was in the same situation I was in had the courage to talk to a fellow inmate and be kind.”
Jay says that he wishes he could meet that man again and express his appreciation.
“[I would] shake that guy’s hand, give him a hug, and tell him what his small gesture meant for me, how he changed the course of my life.”
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
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