PicoBlog

My husband spends a lot of time pooping. Like probably an hour each time he goes into the bathroom, and usually three hours a day. When I first noticed this, I was enraged, but then people started telling me this is a common issue and that maybe men are just wired this way. What fresh hell is this? Does having a prostate means it takes him longer to take a shit than it took me to push out our babies?

In March, I interviewed Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska at her home in Mexico City for the Library of Congress. The interview was published today with dreamy photos by Mexican photographer Jacky Muniello. We discussed Poniatowska’s commitment to writing about women's lives and her experiences conducting interviews in prison (some famous men had one room in prison for conjugal visits and another next door for girlfriends). How did I meet Poniatowska? In 2017, I was in Mexico City on International Women’s Day.

Greetings from Read Max HQ, directly beneath the dreaded Heat Dome. This week’s edition is a guest post about spooky Kindle A.I. slop from Leah Beckmann, an L.A.-based screenwriter and journalist and Chief Kindle Bullshit Correspondent for Read Max. But first, some self-promotion I was on TrueAnon again this week, “chopping it up” on the subjects of Leopold Aschenbrenner, A.I., and my time as a “CTY” camper at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Penn.

Welcome to In the Flash, a weekly, behind-the-lens dialogue on photography. To join the conversation This weekend, I learned with great sadness that photographer Larry Fink passed away. He was 82 years old. Just a few weeks ago, I interviewed Larry over the phone, intending to publish the conversation over the holidays. The interview was edited and ready to go, and I was looking forward to sending Larry the published article.

Good morning sports fans! I think the Olympic spirit has overtaken me because this week’s bonus post is going out to everybody on the list, not just paying subscribers. If you find yourself in a similarly generous state of mind, might I suggest you direct it towards a subscription? Here is where you do that, and big thanks to those of you already supporting the operation… Now for that lasagna! I know when you think Super Bowl, lasagna does not come to mind as readily as, say, chili, baked beans, wings, or my friend Heidi’s Super Bowl Sammies might.

I had a convo with a mutual on Twitter asking who would be the film criticism equivalent to Ibram X Kendi and Robin DiAngelo. For those who don’t know, Ibram X Kendi and Robin DiAngelo are critical race theory gurus whose ideas and their respective books How To Be An Anti-Racist and White Fragility made them authoritative voices in how America should really think about race. Adding to the significance of their contributions is DiAngelo appearing on Jimmy Fallon, while Kendi received a ten million-dollar donation from Jack Dorsey.

Last Monday, I got a private message in my Twitter DMs that was allegedly from Tim Pool's staff. Here is the message: April 12th, The Culture War is having Corey DeAngelis come on to talk about school choice. Any chance you would be interested in joining him? We film live from Tim's Knoxville MD studio from 10am-12pm and would arrange your travel. Please let me know if you are interested.

My next book is PLAY NICE: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, coming October 8 to bookstores everywhere. You can preorder it right here. (Allow me to recommend you do so at your local indie bookstore!) Blizzard Entertainment is the video game company behind StarCraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft. Any company would kill to have just one of those franchises — Blizzard developed five. For many years, it was one of the most beloved video game companies on the planet.

This is Clusterhuck, my newsletter about faith, culture and a flourishing future for all! I’m glad you’re here. I can only do this through the support of my readers, and I’m grateful for every one I’ve got. If you’d like to join, just click here. You’ll get a free seven-day trial, including access to all the archives. As a longtime fan of Christopher Nolan, I was looking forward to his latest blockbuster.