Rose McMackin

we about to enter a copy-editing crisis over whether to keep the quotation marks around the title of Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights

Water Shapes Everything: A Conversation on Western Rivers - Terrain.org Zac Podmore, Rose McMackin, and Becca Lawton, who carry Western rivers in their blood, talk about their boating lives, creative bents, and views of moving water.

New in @terrainorg.bsky.social, a conversation about western rivers by three writers who know what it's like to raft, explore, study, and love them. @rosemcmackin.bsky.social www.terrain.org/2025/intervi...

truck songs | Rose McMackin | Substack music for highways & dirt roads. Click to read truck songs, by Rose McMackin, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

did you know i write a newsletter about the symbolism in country music?

if you've ever wondered what Roland Barthes might have said about Blake Shelton... or even if you just secretly like the song Post Malone did with Morgan Wallen...

then you might dig it: trucksongs.substack.com

By @rosemcmackin.bsky.social: “AI startups… are booming w speculative venture funding, focused more on value extraction than sustainable economic growth. Austin’s rapidly expanding tech sector doesn’t necessarily translate into lucrative or stable job creation.”
www.austinmonthly.com/ai-companies...

my latest for The Barbed Wire

In an Era of Fake Alpha Males, Cowboys Are Sexier Than Ever The cowboy fantasy isn't just about romance. When men in power like Elon Musk are unserious and unworthy, deadbeat dads with inflated egos, there’s nothing hotter than a symbol of quiet strength, reli...

Fake alpha males move around now.

When men in power are unserious and unworthy, deadbeat dads with inflated egos, there’s nothing hotter than a symbol of quiet strength, reliability, and competence. Enter: The 🔥 cowboy.

it's glambot season, bitches

once at a party I asked if the corn side dish was “garmonbozia” and everyone looked at me like this

this meeting could have been a tweet

Suppressing content makes you look like the bad guy no matter how good your moral justification is — so now, instead of fixing anything, you've just added a branding problem to your list of worries.

Trying to use content moderation as a tactic for combating disinformation was always way too far downstream of the real problem.

The Chicks Are Everywhere in Country Music. Except Its Hall of Fame. - The Barbed Wire The main character of “Wild Is Her Favorite Color,” the opening track on Jenna Paulette’s 2024 country album Horseback, is a familiar figure. She likes to drink tequila. She has an open heart like a d...

For decades, to cover or reference The Chicks was to make a quasi-political statement. Not anymore. Superstars like Lainey Wilson, Megan Maroney, and Lauren Alaina are reclaiming them — even if Nashville won’t.

thebarbedwire.com/2025/01/06/t...

Even with Grammy wins, critical acclaim, and millions of streams, The Chicks’ place in country music institutions, including the Country Music Hall of Fame, remains uncertain.

But the proof of their impact is evident.

The Chicks Are Everywhere in Country Music. Except Its Hall of Fame. - The Barbed Wire The main character of “Wild Is Her Favorite Color,” the opening track on Jenna Paulette’s 2024 country album Horseback, is a familiar figure. She likes to drink tequila. She has an open heart like a d...

Should The Chicks be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame?

"The more powerful canonization may be the one happening within country songs themselves," writes
@rosemcmackin.bsky.social.

#countrymusic