Alex Lewis

weekend links t-boy wrestling kiss cams, CJ Jackson's new hairdo, & the f*ggot olympics

Your links for the weekend:

Russell Westbrook has found a gentle landing in his rollercoaster career The NBA is nothing if not chaotic. I often liken it to reality television — where drama reigns supreme, and I can’t help but be drawn to its most outlandish pla…

Read the full essay here:

I dreamed of being on ESPN as a kid. I wanted to be like Stuart Scott n dem. I thought that dream was over. So, seeing an essay I wrote not only on the ESPN app but the top story on the app is surreal to say the least.

Russell Westbrook has found a gentle landing in his rollercoaster career The NBA is nothing if not chaotic. I often liken it to reality television — where drama reigns supreme, and I can’t help but be drawn to its most outlandish pla…

For my Andscape debut, I wrote about nine-time All Star Russell Westbrook teaming up with Nikola Jokic to lead the Denver Nuggets to joy.

I wanna give @lewisalex10.bsky.social his flowers bc I’ve known him from the other app for a while now and he’s admittedly the first Ohioan I ever knew lol and a damn good writer (while the world’s most deserving Nuggets fan) who just had his work push notified from the ESPN app

lfg king!

Damn this is so nice, thank you!! Your support means the world, especially sharing this beautiful state of ours 🫂 (Bucks by a mf billion 😤)

Mac Miller Would Have Loved This The world of Balloonerism is a good excuse to obsess over his work again.

“Since Miller’s death in 2018, mid-Januaries feel a touch chillier.”

— @craigsj.bsky.social

As a man, why are you free? On Black masculinity & defining manhood for yourself

Published this essay one year ago today, and I’m still holding these words close:

We don’t just deserve more; we are more.

We hurt.

We love.

We cry.

We dance.

We are more wide-ranging than the restrictions we’ve been handed.

Saturn is Somewhere On Kacey Musgraves, Turning 30 & Getting Over Myself

For my first newsletter essay of 2025, I wrote about Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Well, turning 30, and learning to get over myself. It includes an audio voiceover, so feel free to read or listen along. Hope you enjoy & share it with someone special.

I need space in my life to make art I’m proud of

ALL Haymarket Books are 40% off through January 3rd!

I’m proud of me. I hope you’re proud of you.

Doechii and Brittany Howard: 'It's a Great Time for Women' in Music Doechii and Brittany Howard met up for a conversation at the Apollo Theater for Rolling Stone's Musicians on Musicians series

Brittany Howard on winning her first Grammy:

“I felt this immense sense that my life was never going to be the same again. And I appreciated that, and it gave me the inspiration to keep making music.”

Drake Could’ve Been Phonte In the aftermath of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef, all I could think of was, “What went wrong” or “What could’ve he [Drake] done to…

“Drake’s career serves as a reminder that true artistry requires more than technical skill and commercial success; it demands vulnerability, evolution, and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths.”

Jerrod On Jerrod Carmichael. And us.

“Once upon a time, they were just boys who really needed someone to hold their hands, but in order to be tricked into believing they were impenetrable, they were damned to fists instead.”

— Robert Jones Jr.

“… sharing what we love is dangerous, it is vulnerable, it is like baring your neck, or your belly, and it reveals that, in some ways, we are all commonly tender.”

— Ross Gay

Online interactions can lead to deeper offline relationships

My grandma loves me, I’m never going to fail

Two Years of Feels Like Home Celebrating my newsletter's second anniversary

Feels Like Home turns two today. When I started this newsletter on a whim at the end of 2022, I had no idea I’d be sitting here today publishing my words to more than 1,300 subscribers.

I know myself enough to know what my best work requires.

I don’t feel the constant need to compare art or artists’ either…

I’m an “and” instead of “or” guy when it comes to that. I do agree that art such as albums, films, or books often boils down to preference and bias more than overall quality and execution.

Everything isn’t for EVERYONE.

“The nature of this art is lonely: the writer puts forth a vision and hopes some other person will carry it forward; yet writers, like all people, need other humans.”

— Nikki Giovanni

I write so that we might see ourselves as part of a collective

I know where I can be, but I’m going to do it on my time in my way.

I’m a sharer of resources and loves. If I think you’d enjoy something or find it helpful, it’s coming your way.

“… noticing what we love in common, and studying that, might help us survive. It’s why I think of joy, which gets us to love, as being a practice of survival.“

— Ross Gay

KMB Wants to Conduct an Orchestra - Columbus Underground Kamron Bender, 28, who produces and deejays under the name KMB, reaches for Jones and said his ultimate goal is to go on a theater tour where, instead of spinning turntables, he conducts an orchestra.

My latest Columbus Underground story profiles KMB, a producer and DJ from the north side of Columbus, Ohio who has been making original songs since he was 10 years old. We discussed how he started making music and the Jaden Smith album that fell through that paved the way for an upcoming project.

Thanks, Holly! Glad you enjoyed!

Everywhere I’ve been prepared me for where I am. Everything I’ve done prepared me for what I’m doing. Nothing is wasted.