can't believe stranger things season 5 ends with vecna being shoved off the stage of the hawkins philharmonic by none other than hometown conductor lydia tár

everyone talking about the inevitable shitty horror movie but nobody is mentioning that alec can finally stay married to betty boop without problem

making everyone insanely mad by getting sworn in on both my copy of infinite jest and my wife's copy of infinite jest

Ancient Sheldon

here is 2000 words on why I thought the stranger things finale was honestly pretty good despite it all! please give them a read!

This is the feeling that Eric Adams was trying to capture when he said that New York is the only city where you might see a plane fly into the World Trade Center

the stranger things finale was good

[rick astley voice] we're no strangers to things

I have figured out why Steve is imo the only Stranger Things "teen" who can pull off being visibly in his thirties: he has a real Wet Hot American Summer vibe

2025 was the definition of a growth year for me. I defended my thesis, got married, and started a cultural crit/essay writing career. For the first time in my adult life, I feel like things are on the right track, even if that track is terrifying and kind of insecure. Here's to a calmer 2026!

i saw a hat that had the word "feminist" on it written in the FRIENDS title font and this chart entered my mind unbidden

inlaws' cat

it does kind of feel like a lot of bluesky users spent four days around their extended family and immediately got on here to be like "the pizza you ate as a child sucks. the twin cities are overrated. what else. pencils should be illegal" you all are disregulated and you need to settle down!!

Sometimes when I am feeling down I pull up the car dealership post celebrating J Mascis for buying a sensible compact car and draw strength from it like a jpg spirit bomb

ME: team rocket will never steal these rare Pokémon! Not unless they wanna take on me and my fully evolved Miss Cigarettes! MISS CIGARETTES: miss cigarettes

kind of grimly fascinating how the aesthetic of "fancy restaurant in a small town" has so quickly evolved to mean AI graphics EVERYWHERE. was out for a (very nice!) dinner with the inlaws last night and not only was the menu slathered in AI slop, they had framed AI "art" on the walls

Found a bookstore that stocks your novels

one of the literal Temptations of Christ, from Satan, is a kingdom on earth, and I believe our failure as Christians to reject that temptation was the first and greatest of our failures as a faith, one that every further atrocity came from

as a Christian fuck this!!!!

WERNER HERZOG: naeow.... zhe.... jingle-haupe.... has begaune

she speaks truth

🎅🏼

The Grinch in the studio trying to record a comeback to Thurl Ravenscroft like Drake coming back at Kendrick

Merry Christmas! Here is a bunny named Xbox I saw at the state fair this year. He is my gift to you

in the Pokemon anime, it is canon that Team Rocket's Meowth used all his brain power on learning how to talk and now is too stupid to use normal Pokemon moves. I feel this is a potent metaphor for American drivers

[first day as a shepherd] boss: where are you going? me: [pointing] star boss: what? why me: [shrugging] baby

In this week's Monday Rundown: Wicked's unsolvable second act, Train Dreams' hallucinatory magic, and a whole bunch of Christmas stuff

Bouncy House of Leaves

It's time for this month's mailbag! Inside: great Rob Reiner moments, new Oscar categories, Rankin-Bass pitches, and a very traumatic viewing of Love Actually.

Was just on a bus w/ a female driver where, when the driver honked at a truck illegally parked in the bus lane, the workers unloading the truck refused to move and then openly mocked her for like a WHILE. I am really angry about it and I have no idea what to do with that anger!! aaaaaaaagh

The wait is over: free Wednesday newsletters have returned! This week, Lily and Emily run through 21 movies, episodes, songs, and novels that capture the spirit of winter without so much as mentioning Christmas

In this week's Monday Rundown: Pluribus and the trauma plot, Disney and the YA-ification of everything, and 1985's strangest Christmas movie

oh, you want to see the show about It, the scary clown? well, let me tell you about another lt you might be interested in. that's right: rhode island's lt. governor, ella mckay

He's also responsible for raising all the money that paid for bringing Hollingsworth v. Perry & even more importantly Bostic v. Schaefer, which created the circuit split that forced SCOTUS to take on Obergefell v. Hodges. The role he played in American marriage equality cannot be overstated.

This week's Friday newsletter features the long-awaited return of @emilystjams.bsky.social with an essay on the fascinating way Wake Up Dead Man talks about Christian faith!

in a twist no one who knew my old profile picture could have seen coming, I loved the new Joachim Trier movie!!!

In this week's premium subscriber newsletter, @lilywrites.bsky.social on the new season of Stranger Things!

listen I think CW Network Star Trek can be good—great, actually!—if it bothers to nail the fundamentals. for one thing they should all hang out at an all-ages club called Petey's Place or something where Death Cab plays a show during sweeps

this is the worst used semicolon i've ever seen

In this week's Monday Rundown: holiday classics, webs of lies, and a game designed to irritate your friends and loved ones.

I signed a bunch of copies at Woodworking at Women and Children First bookstore in Chicago, where I am annoyingly stranded for 36 hours. It is in STAFF PICKS. Also, it is my BIRTHDAY, so you should buy my book in MY HONOR.

to the tune of short skirt/long jacket

i am completely serious i stared at this for fifteen seconds thinking she meant ari aster

so much to critique here but i feel like i have to mention how hideous the serving vessels are. feels very "we had $80 to spend at target." hideous ostentation mixed with Hearth + Hand by Magnolia® vibes mixed with a disposable sheet tray of unseasoned elbow macaroni

As Stoppard wrote, and as I contemplate often: “I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little or make a poem which children will speak for you when you're dead.”

Happy Thanksgiving from your pals at Episodes! We've got an open thread on your fave movie from your birth year going for paid subscribers; if you're already one, click below and jump on in! (And if you aren't a paid subscriber yet, you can become one today at episodes.ghost.io !)

As an editor, I need it to be clear that I basically told @lilywrites.bsky.social to reject my offer to give up all her holidays to write about #StrangerThings Season 5, but Episodic Medium's fall coverage is better for her stubborn refusal to listen to me.