NEW: In the middle of the night, the House tried to pass a bill that would have given President Trump and Stephen Miller the power to spy on Americans without a warrant for years to come.

It failed due to pressure from the public — but they plan to vote again in just 2 weeks.

I need to visit you!

fascinating—I'd never heard that, but this happened to me with Elizabeth McCracken's The Hero of This Book a couple of years ago.

it's so good. I reread it periodically.

Exciting New Rumpus Initiatives - The Rumpus Debbie Millman and I are thrilled to share some exciting new initiatives we are launching with The Rumpus. Beginning on April 1, 2026, we are increasing

In other news, I am really excited to share some new initiatives we're launching at The Rumpus including increased pay, writing and editorial fellowships, and microgrants. therumpus.net/2026/03/31/e...

new short fiction “Glass Houses” in the latest @altajournal.bsky.social 🙌🏽 featuring the artwork of Victor Juhasz

altaonline.com/culture/fiction-and-poetry/a61159424/jose-vadi-glass-houses-fiction

order the print issue via the link below 📰

The Life-Changing Power of a Book Review Before Algorithms

good story “words of praise from someone whose opinion you respect can give you a rush of courage — let you take on a piece of work that is risky” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/b...

Instagram, YouTube found liable in lawsuit alleging they were designed to addict kids Jurors handed down a landmark decision in Los Angeles County Superior Court in a civil trial over a lawsuit filed by a Chico woman who charged social media companies built apps to hook young people.

Instagram, YouTube found liable in lawsuit alleging they were designed to addict kids

Recruiting You to the Barricades In Privacy’s Defender, Electronic Frontier Foundation executive director Cindy Cohn illuminates highs and lows of her career and life.

“Only an advocate who deeply believes in the public good could speak so earnestly, with the conviction of a fighter who has both won and lost in her mission,” @gshans.bsky.social writes of Cindy Cohn’s “Privacy’s Defender” in @altajournal.bsky.social.
www.altaonline.com/books/nonfi...

Recruiting You to the Barricades In Privacy’s Defender, Electronic Frontier Foundation executive director Cindy Cohn illuminates highs and lows of her career and life.

I reviewed Cindy Cohn’s smart, inspiring new memoir “Privacy’s Defender” for Alta. She’s wrapping up her tenure leading the Electronic Frontier Foundation (@eff.org), so it’s a great time to read about her journey and their work on tech, law, and the digital world. www.altaonline.com/books/nonfic...

Congrats Ilana!

‘Trump is aiming for dictatorship’. That’s the verdict of the world’s most credible democracy watchdog | Martin Gelin Sweden’s V-Dem Institute warns that the US is no longer a liberal democracy. And autocracy is creeping across Europe too, says writer Martin Gelin

"The speed with which US democracy is being dismantled is unprecedented in modern history." www.theguardian.com/world/commen...

I never thought I would live through that. But here I am.

Scratch A weekly newsletter of interviews, essays, and real conversations about how writers are surviving. Launching March 2026.

Obligatory plug that today is the last day to get 15% off your first year of Scratch using the link below. We made the intentional choice NOT to use Substack for our literary project, which means we’re particularly dependent on word of mouth and subscriptions to maintain it. Thanks, all.

On the Genius of Frances Burney, Jane Austen’s Most Important Literary Predecessor Cecilia—that is, Frances Burney’s magnificent second novel—is breaking my heart. I picked it up after being floored by her first, Evelina, for its cutting wit, epistolary laundering of unladylike o…

Considering the genius of Frances Burney, Jane Austen’s most important literary predecessor.

Reupping this one more time, because, truly, I do not want any interested parties to miss it.

👇🏻

California could be attacked by drones because of Iran war, memo warns In a memo sent to agencies in California, the government warned “We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland, specifically…

California could be attacked by drones because of Iran war, memo warns. Officials downplay threat

Rebecca Solnit Says the Left’s Next Hero Is Already Here

This happened. The print interview was edited in ways that feel very jumpy, but I got to say some things. Like: Maybe changing the world is more like caregiving than it is like war. Too many people still expect it to look like war. [and then there's a crazy jump-cut w/out transition.]

Don’t Call It ‘Intelligence’ Humans are question machines. AI is an answer machine.

great essay on AI by Charles Yu "Getting lost is not the rough part. It’s the whole thing." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

When you support indie presses, you keep art and writing made by people alive. You make it possible for voices to exist outside the mainstream. You support real people who are going to work everyday and creating when they can (usually by sleeping less).

it's a beautiful review!

For Alta Magazine, I wrote about Hannah Lillith Assadi's novel PARADISO 17 which imagines the life of a Palestinian man from birth to death and beyond, living as a refugee in search of home. Well worth sharing with those who claim the news is too much for to bear. www.altaonline.com/books/a70521...

We're still holding onto the Valentine's Day blush, but we’re interested in all kinds of love—messy, quiet, obsessive, unexpected. How We Know Our Time Travels by Anita Felicelli encompasses them all. 💖🧡

What kind of love do you like to read about? Comment down below! ⬇️

The cover the novel, Any Kind of Known Tomorrow, by Leah De Forest. The central image is a still life of flowers; that image is surrounded by a range of small insects, including dragonflies, a snail and a small wasp.

Here it is: the cover of my debut novel, ANY KIND OF KNOWN TOMORROW, coming from @bettybooks.bsky.social on 9/15.

Head here to learn more about the book and about Betty: www.wtawpress.org/betty. For media and review inquiries, contact Lauren Cerand Public Relations (@laurencerand.com)

A New Wharton Study on AI Warns of a Growing Problem: Cognitive Surrender Casual users should pay special attention

This is a mental war that we have to win. It's not about being a luddite, it's about destroying or retaining the ability to think. It's about how insidious this becomes in a situation where generative AI is adopted and then subverted intentionally.

www.thealgorithmicbridge.com/p/a-new-whar...

I'm Still Not Over Losing My Book Review Gig You can still get the Humble Bundle of every book by Annalee Newitz and myself published by Tor Books for a pittance — please select adjusted donation! — and...

"The notion of making a living with A.I.-generated books appears to be based on the belief algorithms will be serving up book slop the same way we are force-fed other kinds of slop"

I'm still not over losing my job as a book reviewer. Here's why we need book critics:

buttondown.com/charliejane/...

Ted Chiang
Kim Samek
Jamel Brinkley
Laura van den Berg
Marguerite Sheffer

You’ve Done It Again, Michael | Jynne Dilling Even as the pace of work life quickened exponentially across the next two decades, email inboxes overflowing, media outlets proliferating and then contracting, websites and newsletters dominating and ...

beautiful remembrance of Michael Silverblatt, and also of a different era of publishing and media www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...

Seven Billion Reasons for Facebook to Abandon its Face Recognition Plans Meta’s analysis that it can avoid scrutiny by releasing a privacy invasive product during a time of political crisis is craven and morally bankrupt. It is also dead wrong.

Meta thinks now is a great time to launch facial recognition surveillance tech in their creepy glasses because EFF will be too distracted by fascism to notice.

We noticed.

www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism

“The global publishing platform Substack is generating revenue from newsletters that promote virulent Nazi ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism, a Guardian investigation has found…” www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...