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Here are links to my latest work, Daily Posts from the archives (July 14-18) in case you missed them, and articles, old and new, from around the internet. My aim is not to give you up to the minute news, but a historical understanding of our current times—too many people see everything going on as uniquely special to the current moment. You can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook (I am not accepting new friends on the last platform, but you can use the “follow” option).
Hello, hello!
Last week, I said I would not be producing new work and, well, I lied. I can’t help but respond to the state of affairs, it seems. And every now and then, I realise there is a back burner piece that I really should get out there. I will, throughout the summer, keep producing shorter essays as things happen and, oh, my, don’t they keep happening? It turns out that what I may not be able to produce are links to articles around the web — that requires a lot of time, and as much as I really do enjoy putting together a list, this summer is proving to be more stressful than I thought. I’ve also received quite a significant number of out-of-office responses to these updates on emails, which tells me that a lot of people are travelling and probably not able to catch up on their reading anyway.
So, I will not have too many “news from around the web” links in the months of July and August, if any, but will keep you apprised of my own work as it comes along. My priority this summer has to be the bigger projects that I need to get out the door, so offerings may be light even on that front. Then, in September, I’ll start up again as usual. In the meantime, many thanks to everyone who continues to support me in different ways! And while I don’t expect you to get on social media just for me: I’m relatively active on Facebook and Instagram, where I post frequent asides and comments (but, to be clear, more spottily than most FB regulars). On Twitter, I mostly repost other people’s thoughts, and I haven’t quite figured out LinkedIn.
Below you’ll find links to some thoughts on cars, liberalism, and the unpaid labour that writers have to constantly engage in. On the last: expect more work from me in the coming months, including a fairly significant announcement about plagiarism matters as well as new work on the state of publishing today.
I remain tired, and occasionally hopeful.
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NEW WORK!
I had fun returning to my childhood Saturday morning cartoon watching, in a way, with this, “Liberals and the Boing Boing Theory of Everything.”
I wrote about “On Cars Today,” which I hope you enjoy. And, yes, I really am that inept. But, also, cars are that big!
If you’ve ever been trapped in a comments section, you’ll know what I’m referring to in “The Unpaid Labour of Reader Engagement.”
FROM THE ARCHIVE!
Remember “Cat Person?” I wish we could forget, but “‘Cat Person’ Will Never Die.”
Nobody Passes, edited by the always brilliant Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, remains one of my favourite anthologies. Here’s my 2007 review, still so relevant.
“The NYT, Meghan Markle, and the State of Media”
There’s always a reason to remind you about “AOC and the Weaponisation of Trauma.”
And, of course, “On AOC’s Endorsement of Mamdani, and Hope.”
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ELSEWHERE ON THE WEB!
“Abolitionist Lessons from the Prison Belts” is an announcement of a six-part series on prison abolition by Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, Judah Schept, Craig Gilmore, and Ruth Wilson Gilmore. The first two parts are out, and you can sign up to get notifications of the rest.
Here’s Nathan J. Robinson on the “Rise of the Idiot Interviewer.”
In Truthout, Eleanor J. Bader writes that “Hunger Threatens to Plague ‘Golden Years’ of Older Americans Due to Trump’s Cuts.”
Sandra Bland died a decade ago: “What Happened to Sandra Bland, by the inimitable Debbie Nathan in The Nation, is from 2016 and worth a read.
A frightening report from Propublica: “He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared.”
“What Happens When a Brown Chef Cooks White Food?” This is from 2017, and I only just discovered it (you should be able to access it for free at least once.) I think the issues discussed here — of non-white chefs compelled to always “stay in their lanes” of ethnicity and race — are relevant to several fields, including publishing at large. Writers of colour, and especially women, are constantly asked to parade their racialised narratives and trauma in order to authenticate themselves.
Here are some suggestions on how to survive in the art world, by Cem A., and they are also relevant to writers, “The Art World Is Oversaturated. Here are 5 Ways to Rethink What Matters.” As my friend G. points out, some of this requires a degree of economic stability, but it’s a helpful blueprint.
Alex Skopic writes, in Current Affairs, that “Animals Shouldn’t Be Weapons for the Police.”
Dead Can Dance, with “I Am Stretched on Your Grave”: “But with you in your cold grave/I cannot sleep warm.” Because sometimes you have to let the sadness overwhelm you, just to survive.
Be this bear, jumping on a trampoline. This turns out to have been AI, sigh (edited July 28, 2025).
Stay well, all. Do what you must to survive these hard times: jump on a trampoline, sing in a meadow, or just take a lot of naps. I will see you next week.
If you like this, please support my work.
Image: Katsushika Hokusai, Deer, c. 1840