Just published a little update from Brazil — on burnout, clarity, Locomía, and the emotional weather of the past few weeks. politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/a-break-fr...

I’m pressed for time this week (heading to Australia via South America next week, may or may not be returning to New York in a few months) and need to focus on packing up my apartment and doing other work that might be more lucrative and help with my credit card bill.

Great interview by @annabel-ross.bsky.social with good-guy and great DJ, John (Juan) MacLean open.substack.com/pub/politics...

Had one of my favourite-ever conversations for the newsletter with one of the nicest guys in music, The Juan MacLean politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/the-juan-m...

My main point in this Róisín Murphy piece, which many people (terfs) seem to have missed, is that whether or not you agree with them her comments are extremely hurtful to trans people, an already vulnerable community politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/the-truth-...

Two weeks ago I interviewed @pempem.bsky.social about their brilliant new book Breaking Awake, in which their nervous breakdown and attempt to recover with the help of prescribed and illicit drugs sparked much bigger questions about what is making us depressed and anxious

This week's newsletter is about the avant-pop icon who blocked me (and many others) this week. No one's out to get you, Róisín. We just want you to stop acting like a c*nt politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/the-truth-...

A new chapter for the newsletter, plus a reader feedback survey. I’d be so grateful for your input ♥️

Featuring Jimmy Kimmel, Karen Attiah, Ezra Klein, Netanyahu at the UN, the pathetic Australian Prime Minister, Kamala Harris’ new book, Resident Advisor and The Great Regression, Najla Said (daughter of Edward) and purity politics, Roi Perez, and the statement that “PLUR is inherently g3noc1d@l.”

Chatted with brilliant Philly-based DJ/producer estoc abt the problem with political raves, trying to make a living while staying true to your values, why longform content is an essential tool in beating fascism and the importance of engaging with the past to better understand the present & future.

Since her breakthrough EP Evaluate Me was released in 2019, Gyrofield aka Kiana Li has made a name for herself as one of the most exciting new talents in drum & bass. Over the past few years, however, the 22-year-old has demonstrated that her sound is far too broad, inventive and confounding

I’m not trying to encourage social media pile-ons, but in the face of a live-streamed ethnic cleansing, I think it’s reasonable to publicly challenge influential figures in dance music (and everywhere). politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/in-defence...

Spoke with the wonderful producer/live performer/DJ/writer Russell E.L. Butler on their uncompromising sound and values, how DJing too frequently dilutes what should be a sacred experience, why they don't fuck with Berghain, online cancelling, and how marginality can create its own kind of freedom.

just published: Amir Ashkar is a Palestinian winemaker and PhD student of philosophy who has written a yet to be published book called Fragments of a Man During Genocide. He is about to commence writing his dissertation on festivals as a counter movement to nihilism.

Your love of wordle and recipes at the NY Times is paying Bret Stephens’ salary.

this is the worst thing the NYT has published since the discredited Oct 7 rape story and that's saying something. There is no excuse for this, and in this moment, are you fucking kidding me? Shame on AIPAC stooge Bret Stephens and shame on the New York Times, beyond disgraceful

Went long about ten years of Love Injection and two of the humblest and hardest-working people in New York dance music, Barbie Bertisch and Paul Raffaele for @TheVinylFactory www.thevinylfactory.com/features/ten...

Despite her progressive image, she has failed to take a consistent and courageous stand on Palestine. Her compromises amount to enabling systemic violence through silence or half-measures. Being the best of a bad bunch isn't much good to the dead.

Spoke to Zopelar about his new record, social inequality in Brazil, the electronic music scene in São Paulo, how Brazilian music is perceived globally, and how quitting weed changed his relationship to making music. politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/on-art-add...

This week’s planned Juneteenth interview was postponed so instead I’m running the obituary of K-Hand that I wrote for Dazed in 2021. Kelli Hand remains one of my favourite producers of all time. politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/rememberin...

I wrote about Julie Szego's hit piece on Clem Ford in The Australian's Weekend Magazine politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/the-eterna...

I wrote about the influx of people who have finally spoken up about the genocide in Gaza in the past couple of weeks, and how hard it is to take them seriously.

I loved speaking with C Powers last week, a DJ, producer and organizer currently based in Portland, on Chinook native territory. Her backstory is truly wild and fascinating and her music is 🔥 politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/i-will-not...

I had the honour of speaking with Dr. Seema Jilani, a pediatrician and medical aid worker who led the International Rescue Committee’s health response in Gaza in December 2023 politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/real-allys...

Imagine being proud of writing this gushing article about two pieces of shit

this 10,000 word essay by Taffy Brodesser-Akner about the legacy of the Holocaust mentions the word Gaza just once in passing, while "Never Again" is repeated solely in reference to the Jews www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/m...

I wrote about how The New York Times misrepresented the results of Harvard's reports on antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus, published this week. politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/reports-in...

Spoke to Elijah about how letting go of expectations can lead to the most interesting results, why he is not a fan of the idea of sustainability, and why everyone should learn to DJ politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/im-not-try...

Really enjoyed working on this piece that I wrote for Em Guide. It's about how sound and music is used in different industries, focussing on the military, health and marketing. emgui.de/publications...

A few months ago I had the pleasure nerding out with @annabel-ross.bsky.social about one of the most influential albums in my musical DNA. (Hint: it’s not Vanilla Ice’s “To The Extreme”) Links👇to interview + offending set mentioned therein resulting in @dj-surgeon.bandcamp.com “dying on the inside”

Unlocking last year's Katy Perry takedown because she deserves the pile-on frankly and all of it holds up politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/girl-so-co...

Today, Musicians for BDS launches its Artwash Database, a list of names of musicians who have played in Israel since it began its genocide in Gaza. I had a chat with them about their aims, how the database works, and how art is used to whitewash Israel’s crimes. shorturl.at/X0OiR

It was an honour and a delight to speak with ghetto house king DJ Slugo this week.

I wrote about cancel culture backlash and #metoo fatigue and the need to stay vigilant when we’ve all had enough. Featuring rapist DJs, Jonathan Majors, Andrew Cuomo and 😭 Prince. politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/the-burden...

Spoke to Ryan C. Clarke, currently in New York as the host and curator of “Living Equipment”, “a series of conversations, listening sessions, and performances devoted to the radical resonances of Black electronic music.” politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/everyone-s...

one thing i keep thinking about is how there is simply no way to design a constitutional system that can resist authoritarian incursion if participants in that system do not actually care that much

we need a new news website wholly dedicated to debunking fake news, supported by indisputable facts and data

it's an honour and a thrill to publish this interview with the brilliant Nicolás Jaar, who I admire as much for his humanity as for his music politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/all-sounds...

We’re back 🐣 Just in time to celebrate a groundbreaking artist at the end of Black History Month. I had a really good conversation with the excellent, prolific San Francisco-based DJ and producer Akua Grant, aka Femanyst aka Lady Blacktronika. shorturl.at/lBKZL

This week, the newsletter opens with an excellent essay by Palestinian DJ Haya, who writes about tokenism and complicity in Israeli nightlife. The essay is followed by an interview with Haya in which I dig a little deeper into what prompted the piece. politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/tokenism-s...

reposting my analysis with the much better title as suggested by @pester.bsky.social. "A Master unmasked: Lila Shapiro’s exposé makes the allegations against Neil Gaiman impossible to ignore" politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/a-master-s...

"People in the normal world will always be incalculably more relaxed about the exposure of a movie producer, a job they instinctively regard as commoditised, than they will be about losing any kind of artist, a job whose works have affected them over the course of many years." rb.gy/1mvc7t

I felt like cheering when I read Lila Shapiro’s exposé for New York magazine this week. I wrote about all the new information that's come to light about Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer since the Tortoise podcast broke the story in July, & what it all means politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/a-master-s...

lawyers fact checkers and carefully carefully treading on other people's trauma. gaiman is a rich man and a lot of his weapons are lawyers. i'm glad this was reported, but something like this is a huge endeavor that takes a big, resourced and courageous team.

If you wanna read about Neil Gaiman from vulture read this one. While I was reading it they took out the entire portion about Scientology, presumably thanks to threats from the religion.

In case you're not familiar with @lilashapiro.bsky.social, who wrote today's big Neil Gaiman exposé, she also wrote the 2022 investigation into Joss Whedon that we all read (among other achievements):

I love Demi Moore & Nicole Kidman as actors but I’ve been thinking about their refusal to age for a while now, especially since seeing The Substance at the movies last September & watching Nicole in the Netflix series The Perfect Couple the same month. politicsdancingxyz.substack.com/p/forever-yo...

I've written and recorded an excellent eight-part podcast about sexual assault in dance music. It's very comprehensive and includes a bunch of interviews with various DJs and music industry folk, and sexual violence experts. Sadly, the company that commissioned the podcast folded before we were able