My latest newsletter for @niemanstoryboard.org: Featuring @soledadobrien.bsky.social with @cmtapper.bsky.social on documentary storytelling and the Oscar-nominated "The Devil Is Busy," plus links from @thelincoln.bsky.social and @lizkellynelson.com niemanstoryboard.org/2026/02/06/i...

[A tree about to fall in the woods] "I don't know who needs to hear this but..."

“Screw the platforms. Ignore the stuff that you think sucks. Find books and art you love. Share them. Review them. Recommend them to friends. Make your own art. Share it. Hope it finds people who love it. What else can we do?” — @thelincoln.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/counterc...

@thelincoln.bsky.social has written extensively on the topic of this sort of artistic erosion in genre literary spaces, and I agree with the assessment. We can’t encourage a world where the Sanderson’s or Yarros’s of the world… countercraft.substack.com/p/turning-of...

Every president from Nixon on released their tax returns, but Trump -- who insisted he would follow that custom -- repeatedly refused to do that. So finally they were leaked, showing he paid only $750 in 2016 and nothing in 2017. He's now demanding all of us, who *did* pay our full taxes, pay him.

One must imagine Sisyphus rolling the boulder down into Plato's cave and everyone running Indiana Jones style

What's the healthcare version of copoganda? Docoganda? Anyway, I'm watching the Pitt.

ICYMI 🦅😋💀

great post

Douthat is really one of the more pathetic mainstream media figures

There is no such thing as a moderate Republican entry #54,345,210

Great post that kinda makes me want to reclaim my younger self who did things like make zines, make my own band T-shirts for my favorite band that didn’t have them, draw postcards and comics just for the fun of it...

a lotta yall still dont get it tulip holders can use multiple slurp juices on a single bulb so if you have 1 astro tulip and 3 slurp juices you can create 3 new bulbs

"It is DIY or die." Great post on the (exciting, terrifying) future of literature in a world increasingly barren of mainstream book coverage

Scary idea here: oligarchs are buying and running legacy media into the ground to limit info to new systems they control (Nazi Grok, for ex.). Cf. Big Auto dismantling public transport. The piece’s big point on renewing DIY/punk culture to resist is good, too. #AI #WriteSky #WriterSky #writing

Never found the book coverage in the major dailies particularly interesting, rarely saw a title I wanted to buy. Bsky, on the other hand, has become the major source for my TBR pile, and I'm preordering more than ever. I promote those books here, and need to do that more!

Thought this was an illustration of Bezos nuking the WP book section for a second.

"Screw the platforms. Ignore the stuff that you think sucks. Find books and art you love. Share them. Review them. Recommend them to friends. Make your own art. Share it. Hope it finds people who love it. What else can we do?" hell yeah @thelincoln.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/counterc...

Quick and dirty post on this countercraft.substack.com/p/why-litera...

Excited to have a flash fiction piece in a really lovely new magazine called Strange Pilgrims! If you want to read some Greek mythology related fiction while you drink your coffee: www.strangepilgrims.com/p/consider-t...

With the WP book section closing and other publishing news, I think literary people really need to adopt a punk rock mindset. It's DIY or die these days.

This story is great & I love how Strange Pilgrims pairs pieces with a short interview. I deeply identify with @thelincoln.bsky.social’s answer to a writing routine question: “I think most writers have to be time thieves in this way. You learn to smuggle away time for the art when no one is looking.”

Starting to feel like conservatives don't hate education specifically so much as they hate the idea of facts, data, or information existing at all.

Very tasty little story!

Excited to have a flash fiction piece in a really lovely new magazine called Strange Pilgrims! If you want to read some Greek mythology related fiction while you drink your coffee: www.strangepilgrims.com/p/consider-t...

He just tweeted it out …

the ancient world just intuitively understood that hot beverages taste better when poured out of a little dude. we had the technology before, and we can again.

The House of the SEVEN Gables? In this economy?

Yep. This is also why even most of the financially successful "journalists" on e.g. Substack have pivoted from actual journalism to hot take opinion writing.

As a free indirect enthusiast, as both a writer and a reader, I really appreciated this post. Most of my favorite authors largely avoid what this essay is calling TV prose. Curious to discover whether this is just going to be the dominant style from here on out.

Welp. Another newspaper loses its books section. Not great. www.npr.org/2026/02/04/n...

Seems interesting that even AI companies are admitting reliance on LLMs impairs learning and skills: “We find that AI use impairs conceptual understanding, code reading, and debugging abilities, without delivering significant efficiency gains on average.” www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...

Oh look, Ross Douthat's co-teacher is back in the NYT with another Trump-flattering article, this time buddying up with a Bush admin co-writer.

Finally published my best books of 2025 list, wrapping up all my best ofs. Picks from @thelincoln.bsky.social @sgj.bsky.social and @pankajmishra.bsky.social maxashermiller.substack.com/p/the-best-b...

Oh look, Ross Douthat's co-teacher is back in the NYT with another Trump-flattering article, this time buddying up with a Bush admin co-writer.

"The mob" = people opposed to child sex predators?

Had a student log into Zoom class and then leave, which meant during breakout groups this face was the only one left staring at me.

Saw someone say that the "only reason [Ursula K. Le Guin is brought up anywhere" is because she once insulted JK Rowling. The only reason. Open the goddamn schools....

I wonder if the "LLMs are just a tool, there's nothing wrong with students using it to write their essays" feel the same way about smart glasses that can look up every exam answer for students. Just a tool only a luddite would oppose? www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

Lovely to see METALLIC REALMS on the Locus recommended list! bookshop.org/a/88357/9781...

Lovely to see METALLIC REALMS on the Locus recommended list! bookshop.org/a/88357/9781...

The Free P(edophiles)ress

Basically all the Epstein files people across the political spectrum just stayed friends with him after the first conviction huh?

Bari Weiss's partner is in the Epstein files. She hires Epstein files pundits for CBS. She worked for Epstein friend Elon Musk and is actively making CBS shift to be pro-Epstein friend Donald Trump. I guess I'm starting to realize how she keeps falling upwards in that world...

"Bari Weiss the Alan Dershowitz fan who worked for Elon Musk?"

If I have the right Nellie Bowles, the partner in question is Bari Weiss

Drag me, David Attenborough 😭