something kind of disappointing about demos/bootlegs/live songs that I pirated from, like, some shady russian website circa 2009 ending up on spotify. so much less magical when you don't wonder whether a file will contain a real mp3 or just a virus

thank you!

come hang out (on the internet) with us to ring in a beautiful new issue — my first on the masthead 🖤

A list from Issue 153.

screen shot of a paragraph with "If you don't believe your own bullshit, the fans aren't going to believe your bullshit" highlighted

a section of a project that has sort of become the mantra for said project

me: *wrestling with a draft, not sure how to start*
fernando: what about "the cuckoo bananas is confounding"?

“It Was Survival Mode”: The Lunar Mission That Nearly Ended in Disaster Fifty-six years ago, after a tense race to save the Apollo 13 crew, the astronauts finally splashed down safely. Here’s what flight directors who got them home remember.

in 1970, an explosion on board Apollo 13 nearly spelled disaster for the mission and its crew. for the new york times magazine, I interviewed two of the flight directors on duty, now in their 90s, about how they brought the astronauts home. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

you just don’t get to brat summer (2024) without daisies (1966)

for NYT Mag, I talked to two 92-year-old NASA flight directors about the Apollo 13 explosion — and the moment they knew they got the crew home safe
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I wrote about the end of
the U.S. Forest Service and the arrogance of trying to kill something like a forest: defector.com/the-trump-ad...

massaging tiger balm into my brainstem

the greatest honor is when a source says "you've really done your homework"

Wrestling’s Newest Star Is Massive, Bearded, and Ready to Piledrive ICE The debate over immigration enforcement has crept into a brash and crass entertainment, which is less immune to reality than you’d think.

pro wrestling is, at core, about rooting for absolute good to overcome absolute evil, and so maybe it is the entertainment we need right now !!
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...

Katherine Cusumano A literary magazine named after the Vedic fire-god. Transformative. The writer in witness, the imagination in combustion.

so so so excited to say that at the end of the month, I will be joining the @agnimagazine.bsky.social team as its (first!) assistant nonfiction editor agnionline.bu.edu/about/our-pe...

Writer Larissa Pham on why we should all get over the shame of self-promotion – The Creative Independent Writer Larissa Pham discusses navigating expectations, advocating for your art, and finding balance

"I want to stand up behind this project because first of all, if I don’t do it, no one will." !! thecreativeindependent.com/people/write...

it's so sick that he wore the same "no a la guerra" button in 2003

'That's When the Boos Started': The Oscars Speech That Lost the Room Days after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Michael Moore used his moment in the spotlight to rail against the war. Here’s what he and others onstage remember.

I have mixed feelings about Michael Moore, but this was brave and much-needed. Wonder who, if anyone, will step up tonight?

Why Your Next Flight Is Likelier to Hit Turbulence With climate change, the skies are becoming bumpier. Can today’s planes still keep us safe?

as a certified Anxious Flyer, I was equal parts appalled and fascinated by this look at the present and future of turbulence… I’ve idly wondered if climate change is making flights bumpier but honestly never thought to investigate. the answer is YES. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

The Story Behind Michael Moore’s Controversial 2003 Oscar Acceptance Speech Days after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Michael Moore used his moment in the spotlight to rail against the war. Here’s what he and others onstage remember.

for the New York Times Magazine (!), I interviewed Michael Moore and others on stage with him about his famous, fiery 2003 Oscars acceptance speech. time IS a flat circle. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

3/12, 2nd Round: (6) Collective Soul vs (14) Des'ree — March Sadness 90s Edition

VOTE FOR EMILY VOTE FOR DES'REE VOTE FOR LEO marchxness.com/2ndround-col...

oo try crux by gabriel tallent

hello I called dozens of neon and neon repair shops across the country to see what they had to say about sadness, the moon, and how to encounter the memories of what we once had but no longer have

NEON MOON IS SAD! VOTE NOW! KATE BUSH IS FORMIDABLE!

(it included a url that still had the chat gpt referral code at the end. it also included the phrase "many great things and opportunities," a formulation I cannot stop thinking about)

it happened to me: I received an editorial note that I know for certain came from AI

‘All It Is Is Pain’: The Olympian Testing the Limits of Endurance

“This is the healthiest sport in the whole world — except at the very top of the sport. The way we do it is maybe not that good for us.”

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/m...

I interviewed Alysa Liu in 2021 for NYT Kids and have been fascinated by her career arc ever since — loved this appraisal of how she got here

Le Grand K in Saint-Cloud The former global standard for the exact mass of one kilogram sits under lock and key outside Paris.

learned today that the kilogram was, until 2019, a cylinder of metal housed under two bell jars in a locked vault outside of paris. the kg was an actual object called le grand k. other countries had to borrow it to figure out how much a kilogram weighed. www.atlasobscura.com/places/le-gr...

Announcing the 2026 Oregon Literary Fellowships Announcing the 2025 Oregon Literary Fellowships

a banner year for oregon literary fellowships: brilliant friends @jeremyklemin.bsky.social @devonfredericksen.bsky.social @jasonsepac.bsky.social all fellows in the same class?? literary-arts.org/2026/02/olf-...

I love the olympics, the two weeks during which I become the world's leading expert in every Sport that exists, I love Sport

right now, snowpack in the northwest is the lowest it's been since 1981. we're about a week out from a new record. we need rain badly — what snow there is on the ground isn't saturated — but we need snow even more.