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In Tokugawa Japan (1608-1868), the capital city of Edo had only one licensed pleasure district, Yoshiwara 吉原. The centerpiece of Japan’s “floating world,” Yoshiwara evolved into a purveyor of refined hedonism. Today, this reputation lives on, inspiring everything from exhibits at major cultural institutions to story arcs in hit anime series. One of the things that characterized the floating world was both its accessibility and its separateness from the capital—although not far from Edo, the district was kept at a physical remove from the rest of the city.

Welcome to Memoir Land—a newsletter edited by , now featuring three verticals:Memoir Monday, a weekly curation of the best personal essays from around the web brought to you by Narratively, The Rumpus,  Granta, Guernica, Oldster Magazine, Literary Hub, Orion Magazine, The Walrus, and Electric Literature. Below is this week’s curation. First Person Singular, featuring original personal essays. Recently I published “On Silence (or, Speak Again)” by . A new essay is coming soon.*Submissions are currently paused for First Person Singular.

Alright, I’ve already given my fight picks for UFC 300 over on the MMA Draw Substack and on the MMA Vivisection. But here are my thoughts about the other notable MMA events going down this week. Neither Kasanganay nor Polizzi is a true light heavyweight. Hell, ba… ncG1vNJzZmiykaOytLXMqKVnq6WXwLWtwqRlnKedZL1wssign61loJ6wrL%2BMqZ2lZWJirq%2BwjJydn5tdZoByi9StpJirn6q%2FpLGcqamonpmhsmfB06aWpp2UnsKuidGemJ2domc%3D

Brian Steel, attorney for Young Thug, posed a question to Trontavious “Tick” Stephens, a confessed co-founder of the YSL street gang, about his youth on the streets of Cleveland Avenue as teenagers together. “Have you ever seen someone work harder to become something?” Steel asked. “I’d never seen anyone try to become anything before,” Tick replied. After spending the last three days in court somehow tap dancing and sitting still at the same time, it was a moment of clarity.

Here it is - the recipe so many of you wanted! A warming, nourishing soup inspired by the bowls of my childhood. Typically this soup uses leftover shredded chicken but I also love it with shiitake mushrooms for a veggie version so I’ve given both options below. Don’t skimp on the toppings, they really make it. Feeds 4; takes 15 minutes to prep, 35 minutes to cook For the soup

Vanessa Vaio is a fabulous “heritage interpreter” from Como in Northern Italy. And we met on stage at a wine tourism conference in Moldova. I listen to Vanessa as she gives her speech on the heritage of the Bialetti “Moka”; the iconic, octagonal, Italian stove-top coffee maker. It’s a fascinating lecture about the importance that seemingly mundane, everyday objects and daily rituals can have on us. Between sessions we talk about Italy.

Share Dark Apocrypha Presents In a sea of horror movies, few manage to captivate audiences with a truly unique and mind-bending experience. "Possessor," Brandon Cronenberg’s 2020 Sophomore film, stands out as a remarkable modern horror masterpiece that pushes the boundaries of the genre. This science fiction horror masterpiece weaves together an intriguing concept, powerful performances, and striking visuals to create an unforgettable cinematic experience. Let's delve into why "Possessor" is one of my favorite modern horror movies and why it deserves a place on every horror enthusiast's watchlist.

Track 29: Directed by Nicolas Roeg. Starring Theresa Russell, Gary Oldman, Christopher Lloyd, Sandra Bernhard. Currently streaming on the Criterion Channel. (HUDSON, N.Y., January 10, 2024) - Track 29, the 1988 psychological thriller combined with black comedy, is a kind of modern-day retelling of the Oedipus myth. The movie was produced by HandMade Films at the apex of its 15-year existence, after a decade-long series of mostly offbeat English films that anticipated the explosion of the indie cinema movement in America in the 1990s.

Andrew Bujalski is a Massachusetts-born, Austin-based filmmaker largely credited for starting the so-called mumblecore movement with his debut feature Funny Ha Ha (2002). His early works were viewed as part of an era of low-budget, American indie films heavy on dialogue and centered around life as a young adult. In 2013 he released his fourth feature film Computer Chess, an idiosyncratic comedy about chess software programmers that was shot on Sony AVC-3260 video cameras.