Katherine

Review: What We Can Know is brilliant! My new fave McEwan (after Atonement of course). A lovely page turning story brimming with insight that captures the just-get-through-it myopic essence of today and our urgent desire for a better tomorrow. I loved McEwan's dystopian vision. I missed the narrative closeness of Atonement, but OMG I highlighted so many passages. This is a must read if you're a fan of literature from any era. Vivien is spellbinding. Thomas and Rose were wonderful stand-ins for McEwan as was Percy imo. The story is so compelling, even if its shape feels familiar.

Posted a review on What We Can Know by Ian McEwan on GR.

Chefs kiss

I love McSweeney’s

It was as if a surplus of something so overflowed her being that it expressed itself beyond her will, now in the brightness of her glance, now in her smile...Leo Tolstoy Quote from Anna Karenina

Vronsky meets Anna

They trust him and Bessent to bail them out. They’re playing with house money.

Lol

Jinx lol

bsky.app/profile/kath...

I’d never dunk on real writers, so here’s some shit writing 101 from an upward-failing editor in chief.

Non sequitur baby: BW’s legacy is watching news shows on Sunday in her den???

What is “it?” What sends her back?

So much it. Looking forward to it.

Must read! Brandon is on fire. The new novel is sublime reading.

awwww wonderful

This website is free

also, I have often thought that BW could be a character straight out of IJ.

IOW her rise marks the the end of the beginning of the end of media

We’re in this country’s Ocean’s Eleven era. It’s a Heist.

Yrs ago, CEIP published a study arguing when the public doesn’t understand a policy that’s beneficial to them, it’s up to the leaders to educate them. Unless we can reach enough people with a cogent message that US GDP has been hijacked by the .01% at our expense we probably end up where Coates is.

Klein is a policy wonk, clinging to a rose-colored, privileged pre-insurrection era of compromise. He’s the Peter Principle

Coates is a reflective, cultural historian who understands we cannot negotiate with criminals who seek to subvert the Constitution. It’s existential. He can grasp rebuilding.

I don’t think anyone in the journalisms these days has read a history book. We live in the era of vibes media.

Neville Chamberlain, drinking the kool aid, et tu Brute?

When was last time a major news org referenced Anschluss?

Paris before and after street transformation

New urban forest planted in front of Paris City Hall

A Paris “School Street” where cars are removed and people space/tree planting are added

According to the City of Paris, in the last 10 years 150K trees have been planted & 45ha of parks created in the already hot city, all intended to not only improve quality-of-life today, but also help the city adapt to & manage summer heatwaves of 50℃ (122F) by 2050.

Just the start.

Common sense.

At a writing retreat this year, an accomplished screenwriter lectured us about using chatGPT for all his research: “there’s simply no other way to get it done” when I suggested humans have been, I was shushed by a majority.

—people are red pilling themselves. Makes no sense

They are called writers

NYTimes headline: it’s just a virus the ER told him. Days later he was dead.

NYTimes headline: your wealthiest friend has a private concierge. “A common luxury”

What are we even doing? @nytimes.com runs a well-researched story about a young man’s death within 48 hours of two ER visits, implicating under training, staff shortages and protocol glitches, at the same time Deal Book touts that all your rich friends have private concierges. “A common luxury” 😱

OMG same read it as fast as I could. It’s a wonderful story. Floved floved Ivan’s half. Peter was okay. But Ivan’s is my fave modern love story. The best.

I had issues with *Sylvia spoilers* like how can “something” create a decade of issues but it’s okay to never explain it to the reader?

Hilariously good news were it true

Elvira is worth celebrating :)

Stephen Colbert said something similar. I also recall him saying that grief will leave too. I think of that when grief arrives, if I can just endure the visit, it will depart for a bit. Knowing that makes the bottoms softer.

Good to read.

Two sea otters floating in a bed of kelp

But the deeper layer is: Taylor’s nod to the Aquarium’s Sea Otter Program isn’t just cute—it’s conservation-coded. 🦦💙 Since the ’80s, we have rescued, raised, and released over 1,000 sea otters—helping restore California’s kelp forests and showing the smallest creatures can make the biggest ripple.

A truly marvelous essay. I love all the author’s choices.

The media owns substantial blame. Instead of following money or truth—course-correcting in real time, doing journalism—they’re on vibes-based reactionary twitter and slack, degrading themselves to high school newspaper reporters. The media quit being the media. FFS they have their own amendment.

This is a great story. I couldn’t put it down. Love this clever insight :)