This is such a kick in the teeth to Vietnam veterans. If only they'd fought harder. Laziness and political correctness (in the 1960s-70s!) let the Viet Cong win.

Hell yeah. New @catherinelacey.bsky.social short fiction.

Don’t believe anyone who tells you that intelligence shows anything “without a doubt,” but even if the intelligence was water-tight, this strike was still murder. No law permits the deliberate, premeditated killing of civilians.

The phrase “war-ravaged Portland” is so deeply unserious I don’t know how she can utter it without bursting into laughter.

One Battle inspired me to rewatch Magnolia this week, and I liked it even more than I remember. Deranged film.

Any authors whose work was stolen by Anthropic should file a claim now to get a small sliver of the Copyright Settlement pie. Website just went live. (If in doubt, there is a search function you can use to see if your book(s) is included.)

"You have to feel depressed, but then there’s something that says: ‘There is still an awful lot left and that’s what we’ve got to fight to save.’" Rest in peace. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

I read 300 pages of the Savage Detectives and then accidentally left it on a plane ... and I feel ok about that. A far lesser work than 2666.

Twins. US and U.K. editions.

A rare feat: Every fellow from one Leon Levy cohort has turned their “kernel of an idea” into a published biography — with critical acclaim. That’s what we call a launchpad www.gc.cuny.edu/news/how-leo... @lancerichardson.bsky.social

Book Launch! October 14 at the New York Public Library. Should be a really fun evening. Tickets (free) here: www.showclix.com/event/richar...

The fire has burned through one-third of Etosha National Park, home to the endangered black rhinoceros.

Age yourself with a movie you saw in a theater as a kid.

There Willa be blood: Paul Thomas Anderson’s exhilarating ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, reviewed. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Perfect movie. Flawless.

Floored by this review of my book by Pico Iyer. Gosh.

🙏

No time to do so but dying to read Flesh, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, Flashlight, Audition, Electric Spark, Wild Thing, Heart the Lover, What We Can Know, and Sally Mann's new craft book. Feels like a bonkers year for good books. (Also, my own is out in 18 days.)

Seven of nine planetary boundaries now breached – ocean acidification joins the danger zone," says PIK director Johan Rockström presenting the key findings of the Planetary Health Check 2025 today. #PlanetaryBoundaries ➡️ www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

Imagine celebrating a massacre of Native people. The absolute depravity.

There is so much in the news cycle these days that the complete dismantling of the Forest Service -- so *our* forests can be auctioned off to Big TImber -- is unfortunately getting little air play. But if this happens, US landscapes may be almost unrecognizable in a decade, and never coming back. 🌍

I was back at 26 Federal Plaza today, where an ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital. (🎥: Elias Eliahu)

Such a lovely piece by Megan Marshall. Honored to have my work discussed alongside my great friends Francesca Wade and Nicholas Boggs.

Grim. www.npr.org/2025/09/24/n...

Sound list; no notes.

Miami Herald: Two-Thirds of Immigrants Held at “Alligator Alcatraz” in July Have Disappeared

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Can’t help but remember interviews with many ICE detainees who told me that Tylenol was the only medicine prisoners were ever given, no matter the illness, no matter if they were dying.

I am actually fine with the Rapture happening tomorrow. I am tired.

The Trump admin is nearing a deal to allow a road through an Alaskan wildlife refuge, documents show. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/c...

And today I finally saw it for myself. The printing is perfect. Eight years of work in my hands.

Finally, some passion and backbone.

The New Yorker, September 29, 2025

Compare this with suggesting that houseless people should be murdered.

One of these rich dudes invested in a food company with all proceeds going to kids in need. The other started Sundance Institute, boosting the lives of countless artists. Hey modern rich dudes, don't be a typical greedy AI crypto-prick, be like these two.

This book is wonderful.

Book tour time! Excited to be hitting the road this fall to talk about Matthiessen and TRUE NATURE with these incredible people. Ticket links and full details at lancenrichardson.com/events. ❄️🐆

Jai Chakrabarti is a brilliant writer and one of the nicest people you could ever meet.

Chuck speaks truth

The WINNER of the 2025 Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing is... Raising Hare, @chloedalton.bsky.social (@canongate.co.uk) #WainwrightPrize #StoriesThatConnect

Finished copies of my book have arrived in the Penguin Random House office. It lives!

Signing hundreds of bookplates is a strange experience. It is like saying a word over and over; meaning breaks apart. You start to question the coherence of your own signature. Is this really my name?

Do *you* have an interesting, weird, funny, passionate, rambling, some combination of all or some or none of those things thought re: books that you want to share on the Lit Hub Podcast? Send me a voice note! Gmail it to me at thelithubpodcast! Treat it like a voicemail, say hi, say bye, etc!

The answer to the first two questions below is yes if certain conditions are met: Putting reviews in front of online readers; not expecting/caring that every review do equally "well," traffic-wise; and caring about subscribers' desires/behaviors beyond clicks. Etc.

Back to work after a blissful three-day vacation, and the leap in my anxiety and stress this morning is so considerable that I am really wondering if I should just throw in the towel on a career and commit myself to idleness and the quiet contemplation of beauty.

Fifty years ago this month, Terry Gross took over at Fresh Air, changing the world of journalism forever. Gross and a slew of colleagues, competitors, and guests sat down with @petecroatto.bsky.social for this @phillymag.com oral history on the most important public radio show in American history.

I'm looking for pitches for @MotherJones' print culture section, Mixed Media! These are ~2,000-word essays that combine reporting, cultural criticism, historical research, and/or personal narrative. More details in our pitch guidelines here: www.motherjones.com/contribute/w...