Posts by kmstraum
No one. Absolutely no one.
Pam Bondi: THE DOW IS ABOVE 50,000
(Dog tax)
There aren't enough heating pads in the world to drown my shame (and agony).
I made the 40yo-amateur-hour mistake this morning of announcing to my chiropractor that my back has been feeling GREAT, 1000% AMAZING, only to lean a little to the right a few hours later to pet my dog. ☠️🫠
Nationwide outcry over the killing of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE agent spilled into the streets of cities across the US, with protesters demanding the removal of federal immigration authorities from their communities and justice for the slain Renee Good. https://cnn.it/4sAhJj5
The way some organizations try to steadfastly gaslight their way out of paying an invoice THEY are on-written-record (in multiple places) asking YOU to send and saying (numerous times) THEY will repay is vewwy angwy siwwy-goose energy, IMHO.
People are out there flat-out lying (and acting like the rest of us don't keep receipts) or else presenting severe memory issues that should be checked by a neurologist. Politically and professionally speaking.
@lithub.com.web.brid.gy got the headline right.
Walz: "Do you have no decency? We have someone dead in their car for no reason whatsoever. I don't want to be right about this, but I said if they do this they're gonna create a chaotic situation where someone innocent is gonna get killed. And they did it."
The U.S. cannot keep it in its pants for a SINGLE DAY.
www.openletterbooks.org
2026 is feeling like a bit of drawing some boundaries, a tad of holding people accountable, a sprinkling of burning bridges 💅✨
incl. THE RIVER! open.substack.com/pub/abookfor...
This week's THE TUNNEL notes, no context.
@openletterbooks.bsky.social
Laura's THE RIVER means so much to me. To see it on the 2026 PEN Translation Prize longlist, and in such good company, is thrilling—and the cherry on top of this year!
(Drinking optional. Full cans fly harder)
(Already out of cans and TVs)
Drinking game for the president's live address: throw a can at the TV each time you catch yourself saying "this motherfucker..."
Turned on the radio to hear NPR news mid-sentence talking about how "Rudolph has been hit hard by tariffs on China" and, for more seconds than I am comfortable with, legitimately wondered how fucked things are that even reindeer are getting economically railroaded.
Kicking off a deep dive into @openletterbooks.bsky.social’s backlist with this post about publishing strategies, looking at backlist trends, and Ingrid Winterbach’s TO HELL WITH CRONJÉ.
threepercentproblem.substack.com/p/the-promis...
I bought my own copy of OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE HUMAN CONDITION when Chad and I were first dating and I *still* have not read it.
I̶ ̵d̶o̶n̶'t̶ ̵k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̵w̶h̶o̶ ̵n̶e̶e̶d̶s̶ ̵t̶o̶ ̵h̶e̶a̶r̶ ̵t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̵b̶u̶t̶ you really should be proofreading your public-facing shit.
Great chat with @chadwpost.bsky.social about this book and its author. And what to do with artists that do terrible things. And the time I conned my way into meeting Jeanette Winterson. dalkeyarchive.substack.com/p/the-ikon-m...
Scam me on a sunny day but in THIS weather?
Wherein I hope William Gass's German pronunciation in THE TUNNEL is just a bit and 100% Kohler. open.substack.com/pub/threeper...
Giving Mark Nowak's . . . AGAIN a final proof and it is so hard to remember/believe he is writing about things that happened in 2021 and not 2025. coffeehousepress.org/products/aga...
A head-and-shoulders photo of an older man wearing glasses, a dark pinstripe suit, blue striped shirt and a patterned tie, smiling slightly while looking at the camera.
We're sad to hear of the death of David Bellos, a wonderfully witty writer, professor, translator and judge of the 2016 International Booker Prize.