First Word #26
someone tell me I fell off, ooh, I needed that And they want to see me pick back up, well, where'd I leave it at?
I had started this draft of first words back in Aug/Sept and very quickly the experience the “academic calendar” overtook me! But in three weeks I’ll be done with my master’s degree in “journalism” and really excited to get back on the horse (do people ever say that in a positive way?)
The review of going to grad school — as I’ll tell anyone — is do it only if its free. I took my own advice and amazingly CUNY is making their MA in journalism free for everyone over the next year or so. A little known fact for transplants: CUNY also used be free for everyone until 1976. After the fiscal crisis and austerity of the 70’s, NYC clawed back its social services, education being one of them. Though my program was paid for by the philanthropy Mr. Craig of Craigslist (really), I can’t help but think about the exciting municipal and statewide social service changes — and the challenges —- that will come in the next year under a new administration. I’m excited to report on them in 2026.
One outlet I’ll likely be doing that in is The New York Review of Finance. ICYMI, I also spent the past three months editing 12-15 pieces for a print-only semi-anonymous publication. I’ve been telling people we want to make a place where individuals from inside and outside of institutions can contribute to before everything collapses in on itself. Upon reading his copy, I had non-media friend joke that if founders can pontificate with “unearned confidence” in blog posts about everything under the sun such as religion and philosophy, it only makes sense for those who majored in philosophy in college to give the reverse a shot.
Right now the first issue is sold out but we’ll be putting out issue 2 before the AI bubble bursts, don’t worry. Again that’s print only, no by-line, and not on Substack… email [newyorkreviewoffinance@gmail.com] if you need something.
Anyways… onto what we are all here for…
It’s easier than ever to kill someone in America and get away with it.
Six Words Every Killer Should Know: ‘I Feared for My Life, Officer’ // Mark Maremont and Paul Overberg // WSJ
What has happened to the literary woman? She used to slouch listlessly towards Bethlehem. Now she is eating people.
It-girl literary heroines are all cannibals now // Ella Dorn // The New Statesman
“OH, MY GOD,” said Taylor Thomson, clapping her eyes on Ashley Richardson for the first time. “You have those fabulous heroin-chic arms.” It was 2009.
A Billionaire, a Psychic and a Bad Investment: The Friendship Breakup From Hell // Corinne Ramey // WSJ
Does your house have a gooncave? That you know of? It might be in your basement.
The next status symbol is an offline childhood // Róisín Lanigan // The Observer
My obsession with horseshoe crabs started small. D. and I went to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on a bird walk. The two women next to us turned out to work at an independent competitor to the massive plushie company Squishmallow, and I listened to them talk about the qualities of superior felt as D. watched an egret scarf down an eel across the marsh.
Horseshoe Crab Diary // Grace Byron // Paris Review
I was a cat for Halloween when I was three, four, five, and six.
Nini // Tao Lin // Harpers
Like the celluloid reels which predated the ever-briefer bites of video that now share the same name, the modern phenomena of “scrolling” has its linguistic origin in the long, thin strips of fabric that were once used to record and pass on information.
The Practice of Nadia Tahoun // Francess Archer Dunbar // Burnaway Magazine
Collecting milk from a nursing seal is no easy task.
Seal Milk Is the Cream of the Molecular Crop // Kate Golembiewski // The New York Times
Elizabeth Gilbert’s Latest Epiphanies // Jia Tolentino // The New Yorker
In the winter of 2005, just after their wedding at Elmwood — the Harvard president’s official residence — Lawrence H. Summers and his wife, Elisa F. New, traded Cambridge’s cold for a warmer escape.
Summers Visited Epstein’s Island During 2005 Honeymoon // Crimson Staff Writers // Harvard Crimson
ANOTHER ONE!
As Summers Sought Clandestine Relationship With Woman He Called a Mentee, Epstein Was His ‘Wing Man’ // Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava // Harvard Crimson
The Crescent Park neighborhood of Palo Alto, California, has some of the best real estate in the country, with a charming hodgepodge of homes ranging in style from Tudor revival to modern farmhouse and contemporary Mediterranean.
Mark Zuckerberg Opened an Illegal School at His Palo Alto Compound. His Neighbors Revolted // Caroline Haskins // WIRED
To paraphrase the late, great Prodigy, there are wars going on outside no one is safe from.
‘One Battle After Another’ Isn’t Up For The Fight // Jason England // Defector