Note
The app for independent voices
Zelenskyy is a better representative of the values that America stands for than America itself under its current regime.
Must-read from
I could never post this one enough.
God has no hands but ours.
We are here for a reason. Not by accident. Not by mistake. We chose this time, this place, this life.
But what will we do with it?
The world is loud, full of fear and division. It wants to pull us into its drama, make us forget why we’re here. But we are not here to fight battles that were never ours. We are not h…
You made it, you own it
You always own your intellectual property, mailing list, and subscriber payments. With full editorial control and no gatekeepers, you can do the work you most believe in.
My dad called me this afternoon to tell me that the field between our houses was covered with robins, that it wasn’t just one robin that arrived as a sign of spring but a whole field full.
What he didn’t say was that birds were my mom’s thing. She would have been the one to notice. He did in her stead and made sure to bring them to my notice, too.
Great discussions
Join the most interesting and insightful discussions.
I love talking Vulture's annual stunt awards with Brandon Struessnig. Lots of fun stuff this year about FURIOSA, THE FALL GUY, those ads during the Oscars that featured stunt performers, and more.
taps microphone “is this thing on?”
Hello Substack, I’m an acquisitions editor at Baker Books and would love to connect on here. Feel free to shoot me an invite and send me a pitch any time.
Grow your publication on Substack
With recommendations, referrals, and a powerful growth network, Substack creators spend less time on marketing and more time on their craft.
You really can’t understand our current moment without understanding the history of the American South.
Because you better believe that the bad guys understand it.
Do not miss this piece.
You made it, you own it
You always own your intellectual property, mailing list, and subscriber payments. With full editorial control and no gatekeepers, you can do the work you most believe in.
This is the best short speech about Trump's desecration of our democracy since he's re-entered office.
Read it, absorb it, but most of all, share it.
World-class writing
The best stories, ideas, and culture right at your fingertips.
Put a chick in it and make it gay!
When it’s cold enough to see the melody
Grow your publication on Substack
With recommendations, referrals, and a powerful growth network, Substack creators spend less time on marketing and more time on their craft.
Not sure if I’m supposed to say this here, but here goes:
Lamenting the loss of what once was on another site, I love “following” people here simply because I cannot get emails on the regular from all the ones whose wonderful work I want to see.
I also love that there is no follower/following count here (at least that I can see—I’m inept at such things). Who cares?
I also noticed recently that I can’t see how many likes, etc. there are on a note without a further step.
I know this place is for lo…
MICKEY 17 is, sadly, not very good. It's neither funny nor fun nor exciting, the central metaphor is unbearably belabored, and the movie jettisons all the interesting ideas from the book in favor of tedious timeliness.
Grow Your Audience
Marketing isn’t all on your shoulders. More than 50% of all new free subscriptions and 25% of paid subscriptions come from within our network.
A reminder: Vladimir Putin could end the war in Ukraine right now, just by ordering his soldiers to go home. No need for treaties or negotiations.
You made it, you own it
You always own your intellectual property, mailing list, and subscriber payments. With full editorial control and no gatekeepers, you can do the work you most believe in.
Norway has just decided to increase its support to Ukraine for 2025 from 35 to 85 billion Norwegian kroner ($7,81 billion). Compared to the size of the population, the Norwegian aid equals $483 billion from the USA.
Tusen takk, Norge!
It wasn’t a special day and yet it was.
I got the call yesterday. (3/4/25)
My grandmother has entered hospice.
She’s barely awake now, her body and soul deciding how and when to let go. And yet, all I can think about is one day.
The last time I visited, the dementia was already there—most days, it stole her recognition, blurred the lines between past and present. But that day?
That day, she knew me.
Her eyes lit up the second I walked into the room. “Beckett,” she said, reaching out for me. A real hug. A real moment. A glimpse of the woman I’ve always known.
I didn’t know then that it would be the last time she’d say my name.
I didn’t know it would be a goodbye disguised as a regular day.
We spent the whole afternoon together.
We laughed, we talked, we walked down to the cafeteria like we had before.
We shared a slice of Buffalo pizza, split a Loganberry, and even had ice cream for dessert. For one whole day, time folded in on itself, and I got my grandma back.
As we made our way back to her room, I gently put my arm around her waist—the same way she had done for me a thousand times when I was younger.
It wasn’t just a visit. It was a day.
A full, beautiful, ordinary day.
Now, she’s slipping away.
And my heart? It doesn’t know what to do with this.
Grief is never just sadness. It’s a mix of things you can’t untangle.
It’s love with nowhere to go.
It’s memories pressing against the moment, trying to keep someone here.
It’s the quiet realization that the world is about to feel a little less like home.
I want more time. Of course, I do. But I also know this: I was lucky to have her at all.
She’s part of me. Not just in the past, but in every moment moving forward.
And somehow, that softens the ache.
Here’s the thing:
Love doesn’t vanish when someone leaves. It just changes form.
It weaves itself into the quiet moments—the way you still hear their voice in your head, the way their favorite song suddenly plays when you need it most.
It lingers in the ordinary days that turned out to be the most sacred.
And maybe, just maybe, the ones we love never really leave.
They just become part of the air we breathe. ❤️
In service of the journey, always—Unworthy Illuminator – Beckett