Let's get physical
I don't feel much like writing lengthy intros these days, though maybe at some point that'll change. So, once again, here comes the belly flop:
This week's fascinations
- Every other month for the past few years, some media outlet or another has rejoiced about/eulogized the return/demise of physical media. All I know is, for a long while there (20 years, maybe?), I bought into the notion that owning fewer physical objects was automatically better for the planet, and therefore keeping all my media neatly compacted into a phone or laptop was one of the most virtuous decisions I could make. Buying a book or record felt like a guilty pleasure, as if I were a traitor or luddite* or worse. Now, with a much more nuanced understanding of how tech (more precisely, how like nine out of every ten decisions made by people in charge of tech companies) is fvcking the planet and our future and our brains, I feel pretty okay about owning some vinyl and holding a book in my hand.** Anyway, here's Rolling Stone saying we're back, baby, and here's a sweet place in Austin that's like Blockbuster but better.
- Know who else is back? This lake full of lotus flowers after 33 years of trauma, that's who. Hot damn, I love a second act. Or, in the far more elegant words of environmentalist Meera Sharma: “This is not just the revival of a plant, it’s the resurrection of a cultural ecosystem. When nature heals, it revives everything it once nurtured – livelihoods, traditions, biodiversity.”
- Back to the matter of physical media: Who wants ten points? I do. I do.
- We need another podcast like we need an ingrown toenail, but if you're in the mood to expand your horizons on your daily commute or lunch break or whatever, here's a solid one with ideas re: what the hell we're gonna do about all this damage we've done.
- See also: another newsletter, but you're kindly subscribing to this one, so maybe you've got room for more? If so, and if you love the idea of writers like Ann Friedman and Jade Chang writing about writerly things and generally being awesome, guess what: Ann Friedman and Jade Chang have a newsletter about writerly things, and it's generally awesome. I took a workshop from them this summer and met some fantastic people (Sailboat hello ILY!) and think they're just the bee's knees.
- Yes, shit's worse than ever out there. Yes, more people are doing things about it than posting on the internet about the things they're doing about it, and that's maybe actually good, in my humble opinion. Amid it all, once a day so you don't lose your entire mind, you can dance if you want to, just like this.
- And now, some personal news: I finally watched Paddington 2 last week. If you, too, have somehow managed to go all this time without seeing it either, I gotta say... it's time to change that. Pop some popcorn. Cozy up. Do your heart good. That's an order.
*you know what? turns out the Luddites had a goddamn point.
**and having a (small and decrepit) phone and laptop while opting out as far as I can of features, apps, and brands that give me the ick (:::cough:::Sp0tlfy, M3ta, G0oG1e, all forms of AI)—look, we do what we can, how we can, I guess? :/
"The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you but yourself."
—Rita Mae Brown
12 August 2025
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