This will be a shorter post because the last couple of weeks have been a little busy with vacations and presidents threatening nuclear holocausts and other fun distractions. I’ve Been Writing Did you know that you can get from downtown Seattle to Poulsbo on just two seats of public transit, in less than an hour […]

Let’s open with a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Tomorrow is April Fools’ Day, so expect some people to lie on the internet tomorrow in the name of “pranks.” Before you share anything you see or read online for the next couple of days, please double-check to make sure it’s from a reputable source. That’s always good policy […]

Welp, we’re bombing Iran. This is a unique problem for Donald Trump because his signature move when he gets in over his head is to declare victory and move on to the next big attention-grabby thing as quickly as possible. But you can’t just wave away a war with some sleight of hand.  One nation […]

For a few months, arts media has been reporting that the mass-market paperback has finally gone extinct. It’s been a long time coming. Even at the end of my bookselling career in 2008, publishers were phasing out the form factor and shoppers simply didn’t seem to care one way or the other. On the one hand, […]

2026 has been a great year for conspiracy nuts. The latest Epstein Files dump proved every paranoid stoner to be correct. Yes, Epstein was involved in a plot to turn global politics sharply to the right. Yes, he helped create cryptocurrency, which made political corruption much more prevalent. He tried to get involved with the Gawker lawsuit, which eventually undid […]

Hi! Everything I said in the last issue is still true: The emotionally scarred people in the White House are deeply frightened, and they’re acting out of fear. They don’t know what to do, but they understand that what they’re doing isn’t working.  Now that ICE is executing people in the streets, the only sensible political response […]

Hi!  The news is all bad. This year started off badly and it quickly got much worse. I expect there’s more awfulness to come. I don’t have much to say about any of this except one thing: It’s important to remember that the Trump administration isn’t doing all of this—the kidnapping of other nations’ leaders, […]

Hi! Like many people, I like to reflect on the art and culture that most made an impact on me over the year. Because I take in so much art in the course of an average year, I don’t think in terms of “favorites.” (One of my crankiest opinions is that nobody over the age […]