Rahawa Haile

If a social media platform dominated by elder millennials/Gen X isn't for this purpose, then I have no clue what it's for. One cannot lament the collapse of arts verticals and ignore the arts. Like, I can't stress this enough. Share what matters to you even if the world is burning—especially then.

How It’s Made: A 7,000-Word Story on Coal in Oakland “This is the only time in my entire life, I think, where I wrote long and someone was like, ‘Well, could you make it longer?’”

People said they wanted more culture pieces on Bsky, right? For COYOTE, I interviewed the @oaklandreviewofbooks.org and @meganwachspress.bsky.social for a behind-the-scenes account of how Megan's 7,000-word feature (!) on coal in Oakland came to be—a phenomenal work of longform journalism.

Ethiopia Is Sliding Fast Toward Major War You need to be paying attention to Ethiopia right now.

Was on the Global Dispatches podcast last week with Mark Leon Goldberg, to discuss the complexities of brewing conflict in the Horn, & the vested interest many Gulf powers have.

Recorded just before all hell broke loose in the Middle East.
Will have a follow up addressing more recent developments.

If a social media platform dominated by elder millennials/Gen X isn't for this purpose, then I have no clue what it's for. One cannot lament the collapse of arts verticals and ignore the arts. Like, I can't stress this enough. Share what matters to you even if the world is burning—especially then.

How It’s Made: A 7,000-Word Story on Coal in Oakland “This is the only time in my entire life, I think, where I wrote long and someone was like, ‘Well, could you make it longer?’”

People said they wanted more culture pieces on Bsky, right? For COYOTE, I interviewed the @oaklandreviewofbooks.org and @meganwachspress.bsky.social for a behind-the-scenes account of how Megan's 7,000-word feature (!) on coal in Oakland came to be—a phenomenal work of longform journalism.

If you're in the #tacoma area come out to Lakewood Library this evening. I'll be giving my first Humanities Washington talk of the year: How Women Won The Marathon and Changed Our View of Gender calendar.piercecountylibrary.org/event/15159700

great piece. the erosion of search has made finding old music journalism even more frustrating

I use proquest through a friend's NYPL card to access a lot of mag and newspaper archives, but pdfs aren't as easy to share as links (and what if my friend moves?!?)

For what it’s worth, this is exactly why we launched Scratch. Everyone I know in the arts is exhausted from scrambling for dwindling scraps of attention, only to have that mandated entrepreneurship framed as “freeing” for artists. www.talkscratch.com

Propellant. — ethanmarcotte.com We cannot separate the everyday use of “AI” platforms from their use in death and war.

🦊

We cannot meaningfully separate everyday usage of “AI” from the machine of death and war. If you’re upset by the military-industrial complex? These tools feed it; they *are* it.

ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/propel...

Wait I thought I was the only one. I sent the LP to my 13–year-old niece in Portland last year and nearly added a ~clarifying note~.

For any writers or avid readers who missed this yesterday 👇🏾

The Scratch collective exists because we believe art matters, that artists matter, and that those who would have us believe otherwise—believe in "content" alone—are worth fighting head-on. My thanks to everyone who spread the word or shared kind ones of their own. Much more to come. talkscratch.com

The New Scratch How is anyone who writes making any money right now?

“We are living through a moment where the labor of writers is being exploited to create rapacious technologies that make everything stupider, exponentially hasten the demise of the planet’s ecosystems, and prop up fascists and dictators worldwide.”

Enter SCRATCH www.talkscratch.com/the-new-scra...

The meme of Jason Momoa ("Me") creeping up on Henry Cavill ("Bluesky writers discussing group blogs a few days ago").

This is an incredible team and project and I have never subscribed to anything so fast. Remember a few days ago when everyone was like "support independent media"?? Now is your chance to support and read really thoughtful writing about how culture workers live & make things in this economy.

Scratch A weekly newsletter of interviews, essays, and real conversations about how writers are surviving. Launching March 2026.

Today in good news: Scratch is back!

@manjula.bsky.social's project to map out how writers make a living was a vital resource from 2012-2018. Today it relaunches, now a joint project with Manjula, @rahawahaile.bsky.social, @maggiemertens.bsky.social & @latriagraham.bsky.social.

Subscribe!

Thank you, Joshua! (Answering your question in a future newsletter, but briefly: I am often very tired.)

I appreciate you saying so!

Thank you, Alex!

Scratch A weekly newsletter of interviews, essays, and real conversations about how writers are surviving. Launching March 2026.

As a worker-owned literary collective, we've drawn inspiration from @theflytrapmedia.com, @aftermath.site, @hearingthingsco.bsky.social, @404media.co and other independent publications (*cough* @coyotemedia.org). We hope you'll join us! www.talkscratch.com

The New Scratch How is anyone who writes making any money right now?

Writers of Bsky: Scratch is back! This time as a weekly newsletter/blog about how writers are surviving ~these times~, run by me, @manjula.bsky.social, @maggiemertens.bsky.social, and @latriagraham.bsky.social. You can read more about why/what that means in our announcement post below.

This was great, Julia.

When @soleilho.com invited me to join COYOTE, I asked whether writers would be free to call a genocide a genocide. This article we published by them today does so and then some. It's an outstanding work of cultural reporting that I hope you find time to read. www.coyotemedia.org/pass-the-ric...

I nearly went with 🗣️FADE INTO GOO, but I know the limits of @emmaruthless.bsky.social’s editorial patience.

New from me, at @vqr.bsky.social: a few years ago two people contacted me about a TEDx talk I once gave, “The Art of Haunting.”

When I replied I’d never given a TEDx talk, things just got weirder.

On AI, ghosts, what it means to tell a story, and what Italo Calvino saw coming 60 years ago. Enjoy!

🗣️MELT YOUR LIFE INTO PIECES: Today at COYOTE we're talking death, aquamation, and what it means to dissolve into nothingness. ✍️: @nuala.bsky.social 📸: @amir.photo www.coyotemedia.org/east-bay-wat...

Really looking forward to reading this.

The Battle For Professional Volleyball Has Officially Begun | Defector Megan Courtney-Lush was ready to retire. She played four years of college volleyball at Penn State and then went on to play professionally in Puerto Rico, Poland, Turkey, and Italy. After 10 years, sh...

So the NYT finally covered the women’s pro volleyball situation (which I wrote about last year) and one of the players they interviewed just did a TikTok about how mad they are about their words being taken out of context. Read my story instead: defector.com/the-battle-f...

on top of everything else, the amount of time & energy small publications need to spend on this kind of stuff now really seems unsustainable