Jeremy Gordon

The other day I discovered a sealed bag of penne under our kitchen hutch. Neither my wife or I recall buying it; it's from a Turkish brand we aren't familiar with; we don't get our groceries delivered; it was packaged this year, and nobody has stayed in our place. Mystery pasta—kind of spooky...

Just digging through old emails on a regular Wednesday morning

Trump pushes an end to medical care for transgender youth nationally The White House plans to bar hospitals that treat transgender children and youth from getting any Medicare and Medicaid payments. The move would affect trans youth who have private insurance, too.

The White House plans to bar hospitals that treat transgender children and youth from getting any Medicare and Medicaid payments. The move would affect trans youth who have private insurance, too. n.pr/4qFa1mY

Traditional Criticism Is in Trouble. Here’s What’s Replacing It. Demand for cultural commentary is higher than it’s ever been—but now that commentary is coming from unconventional new sources.

Don't let anyone tell you cultural criticism is dead. But someone does have to pay for it.

I toured through the commentary circuit on TikTok, Letterboxd, and other places where the rules of criticism are changing in inspiring ... and depressing ... ways— www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

“The problem the profession faces is material, not spiritual. Culture still craves good criticism—someone just has to pay for it.”

Traditional Criticism Is in Trouble. Here’s What’s Replacing It. Demand for cultural commentary is higher than it’s ever been—but now that commentary is coming from unconventional new sources.

Like everything else, professional arts criticism has been under attack this year, and Spencer Kornhaber reported a really great piece on what might be taking its place: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

‘Warrior Culture’ Offers a Lot, but Not Everything A growing appreciation for hand-to-hand combat has permeated nearly all levels of American life. What does that mean?

Here is a wonderful essay from @danbrooks.bsky.social on the encroachment of MMA culture into all walks of American life, and what you yourself can—and can't—learn from fighting www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated' The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

My god.

“Watson said she saw agents dragging residents, including kids, out of the building without any clothes on and into U-Haul vans. Kids were separated from their mothers…’It was heartbreaking to watch…seeing kids coming out buck naked and taken from their mothers, it was horrible.’”

The shamelessness coursing through modern society is nothing new, but more and more I think it's the defining tension of the 21st century — attempting to live a meaningful life, characterized by meaningful beliefs, can feel so silly when measured against such rife shamelessness. (At least for me...)

This is Sunday — it's going to be really good

The Fiction Impulse in Nonfiction Criticism - Brooklyn Book Festival Three literary critics consider the boundary between fiction and nonfiction, literature and criticism. While Sarah Chihaya (Bibliophobia), Andrea Long Chu (Authority), and Jeremy Gordon (See Friendshi...

This Sunday, come to the Brooklyn Book Fest and watch me bother @andrealongchu.bsky.social, @jeremygordon.bsky.social, and Sarah Chihaya about criticism

I'm doing a panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 21 with Andrea Long Chu, Sarah Chihaya, and Daniel Drake — no spoilers, but we're solving books. Come through if you can make it, event info here: brooklynbookfestival.org/event/the-fi...

A Complex Portrait of a Contrarian Crank An alienated professor takes up weight lifting and ranting in Jordan Castro’s perceptive new novel, Muscle Man.

In “Muscle Man,” a new novel about a socially awkward, contrarian professor, Jordan Castro shows how private grievances can blossom into grand obsessions, @jeremygordon.bsky.social writes:

I wrote about the jacked, radicalized minds of Jordan Castro's new novel MUSCLE MAN

I wrote about the jacked, radicalized minds of Jordan Castro's new novel MUSCLE MAN

I was on the New Books Network podcast talking SEE FRIENDSHIP and many assorted topics newbooksnetwork.com/see-friendship

Instead of speed reading 17 pages over 6 train stops I am listening to Pitbull and “liking” one billion posts

Bobby Hill’s Very Millennial Sorta-Adulthood The sensitive tween of “King of the Hill” has now grown up—and captures the anxieties of a generation.

Bobby Hill, the sensitive tween of “King of the Hill,” is now an adult—with extremely Millennial anxieties, writes @jeremygordon.bsky.social:

The Tragedy Of “Stomp Clap Hey” | Defector In 1971, the great rock critic Lester Bangs tried to imagine a time when the music of the recent past would seem alien. Projecting himself into the old age he would never reach, he pictured his future...

love this from @mitchtherieau.bsky.social on the difficulty we have historicizing Obama-era musical trends and how folk-rock in particular was “about the capture of social life”

Multiple journalists killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza hospital A hospital strike in southern Gaza has killed at least eight people, including four journalists. The attack happened on Monday.

Four journalists were killed by an Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital today, including Mariam Dagga, a freelancer with the @apnews.com. She has a 12-year-old son, who was evacuated from Gaza earlier in the war.

She was a true hero, like all of our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza.
tinyurl.com/3cn5c9vb

Bobby Hill Has Finally Grown Up. Kinda. The sensitive tween of “King of the Hill” is now an adult—with extremely Millennial anxieties.

I wrote about Bobby Hill, my favorite millennial www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

It's true

Bobby Hill Has Finally Grown Up. Kinda. The sensitive tween of “King of the Hill” is now an adult—with extremely Millennial anxieties.

I wrote about Bobby Hill, my favorite millennial www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

The first of these is tonight — they're saying an evening of readings has never been so anticipated

Last book completed: @jeremygordon.bsky.social's See Friendship

Currently reading: @jaysongreene.bsky.social's UnWorld

Both highly recommended!

Chicago — I'm in town for two novel-related readings. The first is on August 22 at Pilsen Community Books at 7 p.m.; the second is on August 23 at Bookends and Beginnings in Evanston at 2 p.m. I'll be reading with some great people, so come through if you're around

I lived across from Bill Pulte during my sophomore year of college. Life is so very strange and long, you know?

Top stories of my People magazine weekend roundup:

1. Dad of 4 Attacked by Crocodile in Front of Screaming Onlookers. His Remains Were Later Found About a Mile Away

2. Kate Middleton and Prince William Relocating Family After 3 Years Living in Adelaide Cottage

My new bit is meticulously researching something and then saying "Grok told me"—everyone loves it