Last night, the US House finalized pulling back money that Congress already approved for public broadcasting. The cut means @wbez.org will lose $3M - and smaller, rural public media stations could go dark. We are going to keep serving Chicago. I hope you can help us: donate.wbez.org/secure/wbez-...

"I can't get in the ring for $20K. That guy's gonna knock me out. That'll barely cover the hospital bill." "Well, have you met your deductible yet?" ...is the most late-stage capitalism conversation I've overheard in a while.

Thanks to the narrowing of the de minimus exemption, a whole new generation of women on r/skincareaddiction, newly deprived of their Asian sunscreens*, have learned that the political is personal. *Yes, they really are better than any of the FDA-approved sticky, ghostly white sludge we have here.

ALL Haymarket Books are 40% off through August 22nd! ✊🏾✊🏿✊🏽

My Lyft driver is very impressed I got a full ride to a writing program at WashU as a first gen student: “Your parents must be very proud of you.” “Wellll, about that, Mehdi—“ But for real, Lyft Driver, thank you for the most parental encouragement I’ve had in years. Five stars. Custom tip.

That's my name there on the cover! Go read "Eucharist," the winner of the 2025 Calibre Essay Prize (and the rest of the issue, of course), and THANK YOU so much to the judges and editors at @austbookreview.bsky.social

In this week's Short Reads, Jeanette Mrozinski (@jeanettemrozinski.bsky.social) finds hope in a very unlikely place, and maybe we all can, too. www.short-reads.org/literally-any/

for now, she is Margot until she presents her passport at the border, when she will become someone else, though only for a moment, because she has been, always will be, Margot powerful essay about hope by @jeanettemrozinski.bsky.social @short-reads.org www.short-reads.org/literally-any

So excited to share the wild vibes of trying to be a creative at the end of the world with @short-reads.org readers. www.short-reads.org/literally-an...

Every time I hear the Easter story and the resurrected Jesus asks Mary Magdalene why she’s crying, I can’t help but hear it like a Jewish dad joke: “What? Somebody die around here?” And, tbh, I think that may be an accurate interpretation.

So, SO incredibly bummed to have missed Jesus v. Death in the ring with Gilead Chicago, but at least I know who won. #HappyEaster

Just turned in 213 pages of nonfiction written this year for my MFA portfolio (excluding most of the memoir and all of the non-nonfiction novel). Halfway to an MFA, baby. I suppose this explains the chronic hand, neck and shoulder pain, but it's still been the best year of my life. #amwriting

can’t wait for my Microsoft Word Wrapped this year. wonder how many characters I typed. my longest sentence. and what was my most written word? probably “the” again but I’m hoping for “to”

I want to gift every man on The Bear a facial with extractions and a salicylic acid peel.

I brought this pupper home 13 years ago today, making her approximately 16. Or 112. Happy Gotcha Day, Newt.

Just turned in the first 50 drafty pages of a second memoir, completing my semester and marking 1/4 of the way to my MFA. ...Now to finish that *other* memoir manuscript. #amwriting

#Illinois flag contest finalists! I’m kinda into this one: www.ilsos.gov/special/IFC/...

My mother, who I once went no contact with for a year, is in a fight with her mother who claims my mother was switched at birth (probably because she's a brunette), and I find myself in the real strange place of resisting the urge to say, "Have you considered going no contact?"

Somewhere at the Dept of Ed, a bureaucrat facing the threat of losing their job has just processed my #PSLF buyback application, which will, once my last payment posts, fulfill the government's contractual obligation to discharge $87K in loans I have been paying since '08. Pray for this bureaucrat.

"Nothing we’ve given men so far—more power, more money, complete bodily autonomy, apps that offer on-demand dates, fancy iPhones, innumerable prestige TV shows, and an entire subgenre of fun podcasts that promise infinite lifespans—has helped."

My Christmas list is this. ⬇️

Logged 7 full hours today rewriting my personal essay on ACT UP, the eucharist, chasing post-exposure HIV meds between suburban Chicago Walgreens locations, and that super hot stripper I slept with in college. 2025 is gonna be a good year for publications, friends. #amwriting

A Tennessee school district is pulling #Wicked from the shelves. Luckily, there is absolutely no other place outside the school library they will be confronted with such radical witchy smut.

Just finished All Fours by Miranda July. Perimenopause is coming for me, and I am ill-prepared. #booksky

Happy Unsubscribe From Marketing Emails Friday!

Show me your pet and what they're named for.

So what you’re saying is, there’s a chance! #bears

#writingtip If you want to understand why you’re getting rejected from the lit mag slush pile, volunteer to be a reader for a lit mag’s slush pile. Woof.

Knew I'd find you on here, @writercct.bsky.social! Follow this woman for news about her beautiful WIP memoir, AN EXTRA, about the life of a Chinese immigrant and daughter, recent first runner-up in Red Hen Press' Women's Prose Prize.

Follow all my #Chicago literary friends, mentors, and inspirations (authors, small presses, etc.) in this starter pack from @michaelzapata.bsky.social and my literary home in the city, @storystudiochicago.bsky.social go.bsky.app/VN2bfPQ

Finally buy and unbox the Bissell carpet cleaner I've had my eye on for months. Geriatric chiweenie immediately pees on the rug next to the carpet cleaner. And that, my friends, is ROI.

I don’t suppose Linda McMahon is inclined to lay the smackdown on my student loans.

Leaf blower season in St. Louis is the first time I have ever really appreciated the People's Republic of Evanston (Ill.). It's called a rake, people.

Hey #Chicago, if you're looking for a fun thing to do today, we'll be at the American Writers Museum between 1 and 4 pm for their Free Museum Day. The theme for today is Writers Space -- come hang out, grab some swag, and work on your project! #writers americanwritersmuseum.org/program-cale...

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: The Spectacle: Art & Comics Our open call deadline has passed for poetry/fiction/cnf, but we're still accepting subs for art and comics till Nov. 30. (And we pay! Very little! But still!) thespectacle.submittable.com/submit #litmag #submissionsopen

1. What would you add? (I'd include something about building capacity for art-making.) 2. What kinds of skills/knowledge can you lend to someone else trying to do something on this list? (I have WAY too much experience founding community gardens as covert community organizing spaces.)

ICYMI: Here’s what’s happening in Illinois’ second-largest city, where I’m basically famous.

i’m receiving intelligence that there is a hamas headquarters underneath MOHELA student loan services in st. louis

If Congress is dysfunctional, and the people seem to do a decent job making decisions when it comes to actual issues (Ohio)… maybe it’s time to let representational democracy go? “Should we go to war?” “Should we raise taxes?” Just text me a referendum question, America. It's not 1788. We can text.

Just got an email from MOHELA saying they got my email from 43 days ago, and will respond within 15 days. So the return to #studentloan repayment is going about how we all expected.

Nooooo…. That old car is worth money! wgntv.com/news/deans-l... #chicago #chicagoland

Definitely not a cult. But buffalo plaid is only for those who have leveled up.

Workers of the world, unite for an April 30, 2028, contract expiration date. #MayDay2028

Compiled my draft from Scrivener to MS Word today for developmental edits. Clippy would never do me like this.