It’s become nearly impossible to learn real history on the internet because hugely popular slop accounts and AI are spreading misinformation about the past to millions of people. Don’t trust anything you see on instagram or tiktok. If you really want to learn, you have to read.

Very unpopular opinion but I think in a healthier world our schools would teach the so-called “useless things”: Latin, old poetry, classic cinema, how to read and enjoy challenging novels. Studying these things won’t make you a better person. But they will give you a better life.

June wrapup!!! THEE most productive reading month so far 🥺

I hear this all the time. “Why are you reading on the subway? You should be scrolling like the rest of us!” There’s no such thing as performative reading. It’s good to read in public, good to read books you enjoy. Don’t let anyone shame you for seeking to broaden your mind.

People who think reading in public is performative are basically telling on themselves. It's clear they think reading is extremely hard and not enjoyable, so the only possible reason to do it is to show off.

So much of our current societal dysfunction is driven by the loss of third spaces for teens. We've taken away their parks, their rec centers, de-funded their libraries. It isn't healthy for them to be indoors all day on their phones. They need play. They need community.

“I asked Grok.” “I asked Chat.” I didn’t ask anyone because I grew up without screens and reading encyclopedias was our sole source of entertainment. Now I’m a living compendium of useless knowledge and for the next twenty minutes we are going on an adventure of learning, Brian.

Kurt Vonnegut; the country that we love still exists at the public library

In George Orwell's 1984, all human art has been abolished but machines churn out automated novels and pop music. Big Brother keeps the population in check by preventing potentially dangerous creative expression. Boycott AI music. Support human artists.

One of the many reasons I hate self-help books is because they encourage this hustle culture where reading is all about scrolling through bullet points on a list. There's none of the imagination, empathy, or sense of immersion that comes from reading fiction. You gain nothing.

I wrote an essay reviewing and ranking my eighty-five FAVORITE books from thirty years of reading - the plays, poems, mysteries, fantasies, diaries that have shaped me. Please tell me in the comments which books I missed. (link below)

I'm begging everyone who hasn't yet to read this book. The premise, about a man living in an infinite house, is terrifically inventive, and it goes in a direction you don't expect. No other living author writes with such a keen sense of horror & beauty. The book of the decade.

it feels so good to give a piece of clothing a longer life by repairing the holes, the tears & imperfections (below: my little embroidery practice on a friend's broken waistband)