Essays

There and Back Again

A word on a detransition.

Dec 3, 2025 • pris86

The Steepness of the Slope

Complexity, like a lattice under pressure, explodes.

Oct 22, 2025 • Stephen Pimentel

Hitchhiking, killing, and grasping for a grand theory of America.

Oct 16, 2025 • Willem Doherty

The Free Speech Inversion

A baffling arc for Pam Bondi and Donald Trump seems to reboot a tired old argument in reverse.

Sep 18, 2025 • Cairo Smith

IG Girls for Years of Lead

On your median friend from school wanting terror attacks.

Sep 11, 2025 • Cairo Smith

I Am the Character

What's in a name, a stage name, and a public-private divide?

Sep 3, 2025 • Cairo Smith

The Full-Stack Writer

Taking stock of everything an indie author needs to succeed.

Aug 27, 2025 • Cairo Smith

The Last Good Man

Watching an old friend strive for goodness in a difficult world.

Aug 6, 2025 • Mushkelji

The Assassination of Literature by the Coward Max Lawton

An analysis of an up-and-coming translator and his work.

Jul 23, 2025 • Admiral Fell Promises

Lovebombed by the Magi

The internet as a fae realm and the arrival of AI.

Jul 16, 2025 • Cairo Smith

The Priest on the Wall

A liberal response to Jordan S. Carroll’s survey of right-wing sci-fi.

Jul 9, 2025 • Cairo Smith

M3GAN 2.0 Tries to Fake a Cult Classic

What doesn't work about the film, and if cult classics can be constructed at all.

Jul 2, 2025 • Aaron Sunshine

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