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A TASTE OF TASTE WITH...

LENA DUNHAM

The writer, director, and actress stops by to tell us what she's been into.

July 16, 2025

LENA DUNHAM
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Lena Dunham is a North London/Northwest Connecticut/Downtown NYC-based writer, director, and actress. We’re stoked to have her back on Perfectly Imperfect (and in case you missed her first appearance a few years ago, you can check it out here). Lena is the creator and star of HBO’s Girls, which is either having a wild resurgence on Twitter for the past few years – or maybe no one’s ever stopped talking about it. Her new Netflix show, Too Much, is streaming now and stars former PI guest Megan Stalter alongside Will Sharpe. Lena’s also written for The New Yorker and Vogue, and we hear her new book, Famesick, is coming out in 2026. In the meantime, you can keep up with her on her Substack, Good Thing Going. Lucky for us, Lena’s here to tell us what she's been into.

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The Right Hat
Hats are hard. The options are either ironic (Von Dutch) absurd (any fedora) or serving “mom on a cruise who desperately wants to dock so she can buy some local jewelry.” But when I am outdoors I have to cover the face or I will turn millennial pink. Gemsun makes hats that are the perfect marriage between freaky lady of leisure and practical woman preserving her youth. 
I also love my Samantha Pleet collapsible striped beach hat for those days when I want to create at least a foot between me and anyone else.
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pigs
Last time I recommended kittens. I still recommend kittens. But I’ve expanded my roster and wow, pigs are amazing. They’re not easy pets- they require a lot of focus, patience and gentle discipline- but they are so fucking smart and they have wonderful senses of humor. Victor, my boy, has a passion for unplugging lamps and yanking them off the table, then running away laughing. It’s not a bit that would work for everyone- he’s sort of an Andy Kaufman absurdist- but I think he’s hilarious.
If you are thinking you might also want a pig, Autumn Whitaker is the woman to explain their inner lives: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGue5Kp5AwOXkReCGPUyImA
There are a lot of incredible pigs who need parents at pig icon Susan Magidson’s Ross Mill Farm: https://rossmillfarm.com/
This is Victor and Cherry:
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Jajaja Mexicana
I’m in NYC for the summer after many years away, and it’s been disorienting to realize how many of my favorite spots are gone (vote democratic socialist to repair our fraying social fabric, plz!) But living in this city is all about finding reliable comforts amidst the mayhem, and for me that is vegan Mexican food. I’ve missed Mexican food so much, because it’s not really a London genre like it is here- I’ve had more than one UK burrito that tastes like weed. And as I mentioned I’m also a pig mother, so I’m not gonna be chomping down on a pork belly birria taco platter with my homies. Jajaja meets all my needs, has several locations and is fun to say.
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Having a Sibling You Like
I know this is a true luxury, but liking your sibling- not just loving them but genuinely thinking they’re the absolute shit- is a real short cut to well being. My brother Cyrus is straight up the funniest, smartest and most supportive person in the entire world. He delights me. Being around him- heck, just knowing he exists- is what I imagine being on a really powerful sports team is like. You win together, and even when you lose you know there’s someone who is in it with you, ready to train hard and rise again. He’s also an incredible writer https://www.booksoup.com/book/9780316444972 who is currently finishing his PHD thesis, so that’s a great shortcut for having something compelling to say at a party. 
This is a picture of us during lunch break on the set of the movie I’m directing (he’s doing a little role in it, because he’s low key a great actor) just gabbing our heads off like we’re still kids at our grandma’s house on Christmakkuh.
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Rhode Lip Case (for iPhone 16 pro)
People either ask me what the fuck this is or start pouring their heart’s out about their private admiration for Hailey Bieber. My father thinks it’s “a remarkable piece of design” and a colleague assumed it was an on-the-go lube. The point of an iPhone case, to me, is that it must bring pleasure all day long while you’re forced to pick up this anxiety machine we are all tethered to, and this does the job. (I am also a devotee of Bailey Hikawa’s sculptural cases, but when I’m on set I need to be able to pocket my phone so I’ll slap that back on come September.)
This case (lip gloss flavor vanilla, duh- it tastes like that edible body lotion Jessica Simpson made in 2003 and that I rubbed all over myself in case someone decided to finally kiss me on the shoulder or shin) reminds me that I also really recommend enjoying things you’re too old for. Dabbling in Gen Z culture (Tik-Tok drama, the girl group Katseye, Peachy Den booty shorts) keeps you spry and bemused.
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singing boy summer
What are men good for? Singing, apparently!
I’ve always been partial to women’s voices- Lilith Fair was my first live music experience, which tells you all you need to know about why I’m this way- but the boys are feeling feelings this summer and I’m okay with that! 
Role Model, MJ Lenderman, Cameron Winter (plus Experience, a new album from my husband, Attawalpa) have been the soundtrack to writing, swimming and riding to work across the George Washington Bridge. 
If I ever have a son, I hope we writes a song called “Mama On The GW Bridge.”
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Such Brave Girls
Kat Sadler’s show, about a pair of damaged sisters with big dreams (starring her and her real life sis) is the funniest thing on television. It has the absurdity of Ab Fab and the sociological specificity of a Mike Leigh movie. It’s charming and joyful and gross. It reminds me it’s still possible for a piece of art to find you right when you need it and feel like it was made just for you. 
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Matthew Brown Gallery and 56 Henry
These are my two favorite galleries in NYC right now, and not just because they show my parents’ work (head to Matthew Brown in 2026 to see my father Carroll Dunham’s next painting show, or check out some of my mother Laurie Simmons’s pop-splosion shadow boxes with the 56 Henry gals.) 
I love these galleries because they’ve turned me on to remarkable female artists. (I told y’all last time, I love it when women be painting, but it’s also fun when they sculpt or create large scale installations!)
56 Henry shows aces like Al Freeman and Cynthia Talmedge, while Matthew Brown is bringing us the next great class of female painters in the form of Julie Baufils, Sasha Gordon and more.
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not giving a fuck
It’s not that easy. It takes work. And it’s a power you must not abuse. But if you can give a fuck about the right things- your loved ones, your passions, the needs of an ailing world- and not about the wrong ones- OPP aka other people’s perceptions- you are freed from a certain sort of tyranny and your life force will be tripled. Most people have inherited judgements about the world that even they don’t understand, so why should you? You’re stronger, smarter and chicer than that! And you’ll be shocked by how much of what you thought would always be your reality can be shifted using the renewed energy that comes from DGAF. 
Since life is not linear, sometimes you’ll think you’ve nailed not giving a fuck and then something anxiety inducing or unkind or even mundane but alarming will happen and you SUDDENLY really really do give a fuck. That’s okay. But returning to a baseline level of DGAF is a good goal, so keep your eye on the prize. 
Actually, fuck it- who needs a prize anyway?
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