THE LIVING ROOM MEDIA HOUSE
NOVEMBER 2026
This November, we look at the things we do—and what our everyday habits reveal about who we are.
This Month in The Living Room
Some things become habits before we ever decide what they mean. The call we keep postponing. The advice we give without being asked. The people we choose, the stories we tell, and the ways we learn to begin again. Small gestures can reveal what explanations often cannot.
This November, The Living Room looks closely at the things we do—across art, culture, relationships, and the lives we are building. Not only what we do, but what it says about us.
THE QUESTION WE’RE ASKING
Why do we do the things we do?
Maybe it is habit. Maybe it is survival, desire, tradition, or something we learned so long ago that we stopped questioning it.
What do your everyday choices reveal about who you are—and who you are becoming?
WELCOME TO THE NOVEMBER ISSUE
FULL ISSUE
The November issue continues throughout the month.
NOVEMBER 2 · THE LIVING ROOM
EDITOR’S NOTE
The Things We Do
Some people will never say they missed you. They’ll just ask what time you’re coming over, then tell you there’s food. This November, we’re spending time in the space between what we feel and how we behave.
READ THE NOVEMBER EDITOR’S NOTE →
NOVEMBER 4 · NEEDLE DROP
HOMIE, LOVER, FRIEND
The children are at their grandparents’ house. The music is on. And the way he is looking at her suggests they might be late for their reservation. A story about two people who chose each other before parenthood—and still do.
GET READY WITH THEM →
NOVEMBER 6 · A NOTE FROM THE LIVING ROOM 008
WE SHOULD GET TOGETHER SOON
We mean it when we say it. Then somebody gets busy, the group chat goes quiet, and another month passes. A note about the friendships we love—and the plans that never quite make it onto the calendar.
LET’S MAKE A PLAN →
NOVEMBER 9 · SPOTLIGHT
MIKAYLA
Mikayla is building a candle business, but the work is only part of the story. We sit down with the woman behind the flame to talk about what she is creating—and the life taking shape alongside it.
MEET MIKAYLA →
NOVEMBER 11 · MARGINS
I DIDN’T ASK, BUT GO AHEAD
They know somebody who knows somebody who tried something similar in 2008. Naturally, they have a few concerns about your plans.
PULL UP A CHAIR. THEY HAVE THOUGHTS. →
NOVEMBER 13 · SPOTLIGHT
THE THINGS YOU DON’T SEE
Mikeisha knows how to look closely. Beyond the photographs is a life shaped by family, faith, love, and encounters she still carries. This time, the photographer, creative director, storyteller, and woman behind the camera comes into view.
MEET MIKEISHA →
NOVEMBER 15 · THE RECORD PLAYER
FOR ALL THE THINGS WE DO
For love. For survival. To make a life. Because somebody showed us how. November’s rotation is a soundtrack for the reasons beneath our choices—and the rhythms we return to without thinking.
PRESS PLAY →
NOVEMBER 17 · A SEAT ON THE SHELF
MARA BROCK AKIL
Before we had language for some of our friendships, ambitions, and romantic entanglements, we had her characters. This month, we make room for the woman whose stories allowed Black women to recognize themselves without first translating themselves.
SEE WHY MARA HAS A SEAT →
NOVEMBER 19 · LIVING ROOM LETTER 004
THEY’LL REMEMBER HOW IT FELT
You created the experience, carried the invisible details, and were left with the exhaustion after everyone else received the joy. A letter to the mothers creating childhood in real time—and wondering whether any of it registered.
It did.
REST HERE FOR A MINUTE →
NOVEMBER 21 · CULTURE
DON’T LET THEM KNOW YOU CARE
Mike Tyson learned that once people know what matters to you, they know how to hurt you. Boxing demanded the same concealment: feel whatever you feel, but never let the other man see where the punch landed. A look at the extraordinarily sensitive man behind a life built to suggest otherwise.
READ THE STORY →
NOVEMBER 23 · ONE SONG, ONE STORY 003
A BATTERY IN MY BACK
When Don Trip’s “All on Me” found CJ, he was learning how to put weight on his leg again. Then his daughter walked into the room. A story about fatherhood, recovery, and the songs that remind a man it is time to begin his shift.
HEAR CJ’S STORY →
NOVEMBER 24 · LEGACY
WALKING BOSS
She began on the waterfront in 1999, loading ships before taking the test that changed her position in the yard. Twenty-seven years later, Shundra manages heavy-equipment drivers, handles customer service, and carries the authority of a woman who earned her place one shift at a time.
MEET SHUNDRA →
NOVEMBER 26 · LEGACY
ALREADY HER OWN
At five, Mackenzie carries the stories, rituals, and love of the people who came before her. She also has ideas of her own. A portrait of a little girl receiving an inheritance while becoming unmistakably herself.
MEET MACKENZIE AT FIVE →
NOVEMBER 28 · THE ARCHIVE
EXHIBITION 008: SEEN BY US
Mara Brock Akil did not look at Black women from a distance. She knew the language inside our friendships, the cost inside our ambition, and the contradictions we carried home. A visual exhibition about what happens when Black women are created through a Black woman’s gaze—and recognized by the rest of us.
SEE WHAT SHE SAW →
NOVEMBER 30 · THE LIVING ROOM
NOVEMBER IN THE LIVING ROOM
Before we turn the page, one more look around: the people we met, the music we carried, the stories we shared, and the conversations waiting for you whenever you return.
SPEND A LITTLE LONGER →