Robbie Maakestad

Thanks for listening! Glad you enjoyed it. Wish I'd have gone deeper on it tho because it's a great essay - I'd planned to talk about a different essay, and then something @jawicks75.bsky.social said made me pivot to yours mid-recording

Will do! It’s such a good plan tbh.

My four-year-old suggested we "just buy a house for $1" so lmk if anyone here in San Diego is selling!

M.A. Writing Student Anna Wang Takes Second Place in Prestigious William Faulkner Literary Competition M.A. Writing Student Anna Wang Takes Second Place in Prestigious William Faulkner Literary Competition

Really proud of @annawangyuan.bsky.social!!!

www.pointloma.edu/news/ma-writ...

What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now? Regarded as perhaps the finest piece of sportswriting on record, Richard Ben Cramer's furious saga of Teddy Ballgame is an unmatchable remembrance for an American icon.

www.esquire.com/sports/a5379...

River's Edge (1986) ⭐ 6.9 | Crime, Drama 1h 39m | R

www.imdb.com/title/tt0091...

Check out Episode 31: 1986 where @jawicks75.bsky.social and I look at music, films, and an essay from 1986.

Featuring:
- Music by Prince and The Cure
- Tim Hunter's RIVER'S EDGE
- Richard Ben Cramer's "What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now?"

robbieandjamestalkmusic.podbean.com

YouTube video by vegetative streaming 🇵🇸 1. Shifty: The Land of Make Believe Adam Curtis 2025

I'm loving Adam Curtis's SHIFTY. A found footage BBC documentary about Britain and Thatcherism. Well worth a watch as it informs today's U.S. political landscape in grim ways.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qtI...

Not only was I not in Paris this weekend, but I also don't know how to ride a motorcycle or operate an angle grinder. PLEASE STOP SAYING THAT I RAIDED THE LOUVRE.

Listen to Episode 30: Melancholy Songs if u like:
- Sad music
- @angermonsoon.bsky.social's essays
- Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car"
- Up-and-coming Irish bands (DUG)
- @thomyorke.wastehq.social defending sad songs
- @jawicks75.bsky.social
- the word "fluorescence"
robbieandjamestalkmusic.podbean.com

Okay, if nobody else wants to be the Duke of York, I can be the Duke of York.

@lizcharlottegrant.bsky.social will be here for in-person/live-streamed events, leading a workshop and discussing her book "Knock at the Sky" on October 29th! Purchase your tickets here! plnu.universitytickets.com

Last night in class we looked at structure and transitions in @lizcharlottegrant.bsky.social‘s KNOCK AT THE SKY. Excited to have Liz out to @plnu.bsky.social for the @plnuwritingma.bsky.social Visiting Writers series!!! In-person and streaming tickets here plnu.universitytickets.com

Robbie & James Talk Music: Episode 29 - On Rotation.
robbieandjamestalkmusic.podbean.com
In which @jawicks75.bsky.social and I discuss:
-Amelia Earhart,
-Margaret Thatcher,
-"Shifty" by Adam Curtis,
-The purpose of art,
-Rick Rubin,
-Music by Public Service Broadcasting,
-Music by Spoon.

The Rumpus Submission Manager We have paused submissions for fiction and poetry, so we can catch up. We'll re-open for these categories on 10/15/2025.The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, e...

At @therumpus.net, we pay $100 for prose. Send us your best essay! We're excited to read it.
therumpus.submittable.com/submit

Here's a thread of the nine #RumpusEssays that we published at @therumpus.net across the summer: bsky.app/profile/robb...

Here's a thread of the 10 #RumpusEssays that we published at @therumpus.net in September:
bsky.app/profile/robb...

The Rumpus Submission Manager We have paused submissions for fiction and poetry, so we can catch up. We'll re-open for these categories on 10/15/2025.The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, e...

FYI, @therumpus.net is still open for essay submissions! If you want to get an idea of what we publish, check out the #RumpusEssays threads below.
therumpus.submittable.com/submit

Transubstantiations - The Rumpus I study artworks made for the cells and dining spaces in nunneries, paintings whose colors have lost their pigment, faded with age and decay, the gold leaf flecked with brown stains. A problem distrac...

We closed out the month with “Transubstantiations” by Caitlin Hoerr, who writes about Renaissance art and bleeding.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/26/t...

Groomed By the Church: How The Clash Saved My Soul - The Rumpus I didn’t realize it at the time, but the irreverence of The Clash was like a double-dose vaccine of skepticism, inoculating my soul against far more infectious and dangerous forces that flew into our ...

In David Adey’s “Groomed By the Church: How The Clash Saved My Soul,” he examines grooming in the church and how music saved him.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/25/g...

Be Clean, Be Loved  - The Rumpus Recently, I asked my mother what she would purchase with the prize money if she won the lottery: new dishwasher, she said, or facelift. When she reminds me they do not make them the way they used to, ...

Next, we published Yasmine Ameli’s “Be Clean, Be Loved”—an essay about washing dishes and gender.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/25/b...

Mutiny - The Rumpus This is a story about mutiny on the ship that is me. When I drink, different versions of myself storm the deck, determined to take over

In “Mutiny,” Brian Broome shares a gripping rumination on alcoholism and sobriety.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/11/m...

At My House, We Don't Bleach - The Rumpus After my punishment, I dusted my knees, returned to my friends, and continued the crime of noise-making. To make up for lost time, I invented an over-exaggerated story of the drunk bus conductor and o...

Midway through the month, we published Delight Ejiaka’s “At My House, We Don’t Bleach”—a stunningly-good essay about skin bleaching.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/11/a...

Traveling My Way Forward: Carrie R. Moore’s "Make Your Way Home"  - The Rumpus This story made me think of a mystery that shrouds my patriarchal bloodline—a sort of family malediction passed down like a flawed hand of cards in a high-stakes poker game: a mind that plays tricks o...

Next, Teri Elam’s “Traveling My Way Forward: Carrie R. Moore’s ‘Make Your Way Home.’”
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/10/t...

Porcelain - The Rumpus We didn’t know that the Volkswagen belonged to a monk. It just stood out: a powder blue Beetle in a stillness of dead leaves. The northwest quadrant of

We published a brilliant flash essay—“Porcelain” by @alextretbar.bsky.social—about stealing sparkplugs.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/10/p...

Waterline - The Rumpus The water guy here at the Parnall Correctional Facility is Todd. His actual name is Tariq, but everyone calls him Todd. I guess it's easier for the Midwestern tongue to pronounce—and the psyche to han...

Next up, BC Kim’s “Waterline”—an essay about summer conditions in a state prison.
@therumpus.net #RumpusEssays
therumpus.net/2025/09/09/w...

Unwriting the Great American Novel: Helen DeWitt’s "Your Name Here" - The Rumpus The myth of the PDF is this: it is an unpublishable novel, circulated online after DeWitt despaired of getting it out by conventional channels. When I talked to my old coworker, it seemed shrouded in ...

In September 2025, we published 10 siiiiicccck essays at @therumpus.net so here’s a #RumpusEssays thread:

We kicked things off with Celia Bell’s “Unwriting the Great American Novel: Helen DeWitt’s ‘Your Name Here’”—an essay about Helen DeWitt’s novels.
therumpus.net/2025/09/09/u...

We had an amazing @plnuwritingma.bsky.social Visiting Writers Series with @samuelashworth.bsky.social. He ran a masterclass on student drafts, read from THE DEATH AND LIFE OF AUGUST SWEENEY, and delivered a lecture titled “The Art of Telling.” Such a generous, wise human!

Pumped to have @samuelashworth.bsky.social visiting the @plnuwritingma.bsky.social program today to talk about THE DEATH AND LIFE OF AUGUST SWEENEY. In-person and live-stream tickets are still available plnu.universitytickets.com

it's tha 1st of tha month, submissions are open

thanks !