Whee

Welp, I am no longer the editor in chief of Portland Monthly. Hour Media has acquired SagaCity, and several editorial employees have been laid off. I feel so, so proud of the work we’ve done over the last (almost) two years—please continue to support the super talented people who are still there.

Toward KAPUTT’s end, Malaparte hears the Neapolitans exclaiming ‘O Sangue, O Sangue’ (‘the blood, the blood’) and imagines war’s human tragedy has finally broke upon the populace. But it is only their collective worry that the relic of St Gennaro’s sacred blood has been hit by an Allied bomb.

The most normal of Portland subreddits continues to be very normal

I support the never ending pivot to video. Making print journalists talk into a camera and pinch and zoom on a prop iPad? That’s gold, baby.

A reminder that the man gets shown a two minute context-free highlight reel of shit in Iran blowing up as part of his preferred briefing method.

I decided I missed writing a newsletter so here's a few words on the very normal topics of omen texts, Julia Kristeva and cod loins. open.substack.com/pub/dustinku...

Clown event still possible time.com/article/2026...

In the mail: exciting late(r)-in-the-day arrival bonus, a recent @academic.oup.com Hsu-Tang Library of Classical Chinese Literature volume, 𝐿𝑎𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑔'𝑠 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑔 ("Passion and Desire in a Buddhist Temple") global.oup.com/academic/pro... Have really been looking forward to this.

This counts as an Oregon shout out. Any mention of the metabolic rift is a williamette valley shibboleth because of Bellamy Foster.

This. The dream of the 90s is dead. Cheap rent enables every kind of creative work and nothing else can substitute for it.

The number of people who would give both kidneys to write for NYTBR, and this guy does this...

Carving our initials into the tree that gives you depression

Here’s a tree that gives you depression.

wait i'm sorry is Jordy Rosenberg also hot? That's hardly fucking fair.

This iron age man buried in Sussex was so proud of his awesome helmet that he developed an archaeologically detectable neck injury from wearing it so often.

Look. Look. Can we Can we agree Can we agree that No Kings is good AND AND that the Portland baloon letters guy piggybacked off of it is indicative of something.

@rorynaismith.bsky.social's Making Money in the Early Middle Ages is an examination of coined money & its significance to rulers, aristocrats & peasants in early medieval Europe. Read a free preview & save 30% on the new #paperback edition with code PUP30: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...

Sun's out...people having loud conversations about polyamory at the farmers market...portland is fucking back

Original drawings from my Power Lines Drawings series are for sale at my store here: marcusmerritt.bigcartel.com/category/pow...

Intern: Patient's 35 years old, checked in because he saw a dog that was "too big" Dr. Robby: Come on we talked about this. You can't come in for that Dr. Al-Ashimi: Actualllly, one in three dogs is too big *she looks at the camera* And it's perfectly normal to be afraid of them.

Aw yeah, who’s ready for some disappointment?

*looking directly into the camera* I, Doctor Kurtz, a real doctor and your real friend, think that bad things are bad.

Never use a react to a text you wouldn’t want to see in court documents. They taught me that in law school where you learn laws.

Some new exhibits just dropped in Musk v Altman trial including these texts with Mark Zuckerberg and Musk

Imagine being the one who gets the name Horkheimer.

*pounding the table, chanting, until the whole cafeteria joins in* fish fucked Fish Fucked FISH FUCKED

aw yeah that's the stuff

“What would please this Jingbo would be to descend the mountain on a stout horse in fine attire, then give my ear to melody and indulge in sensual delights, wander­ing between Chang’an and Luoyang.” Niu Sengru (c. 780–848; Tang dyn.), tr. Max Massa out on May 15 asterismbooks.com/product/an-a...

The discrimination and stigma that sex workers face for simply doing their jobs is a labor issue and an occupational hazard. As Lil Tay and so many others have quickly found out, achieving success as an OnlyFans creator isn’t always quick—and it’s certainly not easy www.playboy.com/read/sex-rel...

I have almost no sense of smell and/or my exposure has been pretty limited

*bravely* I don't know what odor people mean when they constantly talk about linden or pear trees smelling like cum.

I took a closer look at the ProPublica union’s vote to strike, including their demand for protection from AI-related layoffs. The vote marks the first time a major U.S. newsroom has authorized a strike, at least in part, over AI protections. www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/prop...

Using my Time Machine* to go back to the Farewell Transmission studio session, closing one of the doors, thereby altering the sound enough that a generation of Sad Boys never survive. *a machine that can travel through time

Undertaking eight years of psychoanalytic training just so I can pronounce it ‘eggo’ to clients until they cry.

Making anton chigurrh play best of three with me until I get that sweet bolt gun.

Graywolf is publishing Irene Solá’s debut novel this fall. I love her work, though the copy for this one gives me pause. Reservedly excited. www.graywolfpress.org/books/dams

Just met Wes the @organizeworkers.bsky.social narrator behind this so now I’m going to recommend it again. Everybody say Good Job Wes.

THREAD: Cherise Doyley was in her 12th hour of contractions at the hospital when a tablet was brought to her bedside. On the screen was a Zoom call with a judge and several lawyers and doctors. She was in court, a nurse told her. The reason? For failing to agree to a C-section.

*speaking a bit too loudly as I strew tinned fish and sausage around* I'LL JUST DUMP THIS TRASH HERE, I SURE HOPE NO CUNTY BIRCH DOMS ARE WATCHING, THAT WOULD BE TERRIBLE

Nobody fuck with this guy until he gets it sorted

Oh no not the chihuly art how awful what a loss www.artnews.com/art-news/new...

I didn’t grow up reading DC but am I correct that this is a superhero whose power is mostly Never Pants

ProPublica has been listing a lot of jobs lately. Would love to hear more about conditions there. Good on the union’s team for seeing AI job replacement as an existential threat.

🚨Book launch alert🚨 Monika Ostrowska brings her debut collection SQUIRMING to Black Spring Books on 4/20. She'll be in conversation with Jamie Hood. #NationalPoetryMonth

Google is now screwing with the 10 blue links in traditional search and rewriting headlines - including ours - to be the worst kind of slop. This sucks so bad www.theverge.com/tech/896490/...

sure hope nobody dies behind a wheel of some sort

Exciting news

Just saw someone cite the 'Screams Without Words' piece in all seriousness. Incredible.