Ruby Rosenthal

Read my review! :)

Elmo wrote my Subst*ck this week! Check it out here.
52badessays.substack.com/p/elmos-stat...

I am an Alligator and I Love the Idea of Alligator Alcatraz Maybe if there were, say, three thousand humans locked up nearby—although I always thought the human preference was “cage-free”—I’d finally have someone new to grumble with.

Wondering what an alligator thinks of this week’s news of Alligator Alcatraz? Well I sat down with one yesterday and got the exclusive scoop!
52badessays.substack.com/p/i-am-an-al...

Hiding in Plain Sight There is so much more to be said about this, but I’ve decided to start here

I wrote about the big A-word... Could it be Assholes? Could it be Ackamarackus? Could it be Annoying Apples? Maybe you should find out...
52badessays.substack.com/p/hiding-in-...

Bye, Twitter! - Chicago Review of Books The Chicago Review of Books is saying goodbye to Twitter/X for reasons you’ve probably already guessed, because why be part of a crypto-neo-Nazi-hellsphere when we could, just, well, not.  This, by th...

With @storystudiochicago.bsky.social, literary journal Arcturus, and @chicagowriterspod.bsky.social we've decided to leave X. Our social media editor @rubyprosenthal.bsky.social writes why:
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/05/21/b...

Rebecca Makkai Talks StoryStudio's Writers on Writing Series at the Newberry Writers on Writing returns on May 22 with featured writer Carmen Maria Machado in conversation with Chicago nonfiction writer Megan Stielstra. Ahead of the event, Ruby Rosenthal spoke to Rebecca…

Huge thanks to Newcity Lit and @rubyprosenthal.bsky.social for this terrific piece on our Writers on Writing series, curated by @rebeccamakkai.bsky.social:

Sure Protein is Important, But is it Really THAT Important? In which I give advice I am not qualified to give and also talk about leggings a couple different times

So check it out!
52badessays.substack.com/p/sure-prote...

Well guess what...I wrote about that!
And some other stuff!
Including leggings!
And it includes a brand new word..."shmorganic"!
I know you're intrigued now...

Okay Bluesky followers...raise your hand if you remember the Jamie Lee Curtis Activia commercials...

Something Serious: I'd be Nowhere Without Arts Funding What this week's NEA cuts mean to me

Plenty to be angry about with this administration, but I wrote about what this week's NEA cuts mean to me. Spoiler alert: a LOT.
open.substack.com/pub/52badess...

12 Must-Read Books of May 2025 - Chicago Review of Books Well, it certainly showered in April. With any luck, the May flowers are on their way! May is often the start of summertime reading, a time to get outside and enjoy some fresh air and an even fresher…

Get your spring reading sorted! The @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social has your 12 must-read books for May!

Read Your Resistance: Book Bans and Bravery: A Conversation with Samira Ahmed - Chicago Review of Books The science is certain: Reading engenders empathy. If it’s true that books bring about compassion and a curiosity about the world, ideas, and people different from oneself, then it’s also true that ba...

"Books and art allow us to be fully realized. Authoritarians want to oppress us. They want us to feel downtrodden. But art gives us hope."

@gregzimmerman.bsky.social's interview with @samiraahmed.bsky.social is out now.
chireviewofbooks.com/2025/05/01/r...

This one's about democracy! In a disguise! 🥸 🇺🇸

So forget you read that! And pretend it's about food! Because a lot of food is mentioned here!
52badessays.substack.com/p/dear-america

Yoooohoooo! 📣

Internet people! 🌎 (<--- this is what Bluesky recommends as an emoji when I searched "internet")

I've got a newsletter! 🗞️

And a new one just came out yessssterday!

And you can check it out here!

52badessays.substack.com/p/dear-america

In God’s Imagination He felt just like a human. In an environment where he was supposed to be enjoying himself, he focused instead on what was next, or what was currently going wrong.

Ah yes, the moment we've all been waiting for: I wrote about God. But not in any real religious way. You can check it out below!
52badessays.substack.com/p/in-gods-im...

Larry David writing a NYT guest essay as a man having dinner with Hitler, just to roast Bill Maher as a smug, self-important clown, is the stuff of comedy legend.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...

Unfortunately, sometimes the algorithm really gets it right.

Dybbuk Americana Check out Dybbuk Americana - <p><b>Inventive poetry explores Jewish identity in America</b><br /><br />"How can I teach a prayer / I only know how to recite?" "America, whose death / didn't you come f...

And you can buy the book here!
bookshop.org/p/books/dybb...

Dybbuk Americana Google “dybbuk” and you'll keep returning to the same image: a naked man with desolation in his eyes carrying a skeleton on his back.

Very grateful for the opportunity to review Joshua Gottlieb-Miller's latest poetry collection for @jewishbookcouncil.bsky.social! You can check out the review below:
www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/dybbuk-...

Anywho: read it! And subscribe! Here:
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Okay this week I was dealing with some stress so I decided to bring something out from the archives because I'm a LIAR, but no one's read it except me before Tuesday so maybe it counts? This one is about Going Against The Grain and I knoooow you're intrigued, so...

Hiding in my room to work on my substack for this week is like

We’ve got something special for you today!! Our EIC @mbwwelch.bsky.social sat down to show us what’s on his to-read list, and, we’re telling you, these books look 🔥🔥🔥Get excited for these (and so many other) great books coming out later this year!!

The Horrors persist but so do you what more is there to say

Come and join me over on Substack where I wrote about...well...see if you can figure it out!
open.substack.com/pub/52badess...

me: he didn't use exclamation points in his email, he /clearly/ hates me

also me: uses an ostentatious amount of exclamation points in my next email to make it clear that /i/ do not hate /him/

people love to connect with you on linkedin but they hate to follow you back on IG

32% of being a girl is wanting to buy a striped shirt and then having your friends gently remind you that you have approximately 600 striped shirts already

everyone after the events of "liberation day" be like

I think if all else fails, I'll just be a copywriter for Trader Joe's