On Moss, Rock, Lichen, and Survival
“Moss. Roots” by Ivan Shishkin Lately, I’ve been looking at the life cycle of moss. I found myself instantly lost in a thicket of botanical terminology—from...
How the Rich Stole Christmas
Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where Talia and I write about what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to—usually for paid...
Notable Sandwiches #119: Mollete
Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, where I, alongside my heroic editor David Swanson, pick our way across the bracken-strewn fields that comprise...
TLDS December Culture Klatsch
A note to readers: Paid subscriptions to this newsletter are both Talia and David's primary income, enabling two independent journalists to read perilous...
Notable Sandwiches #118: Mitraillette
Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where I, alongside my editor David Swanson, dodge and weave our way through the charnel-house that is...
John Brown's Body
A few weeks before the election, in the middle of a hot, bright autumn that never seemed to end, I took a trip to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. Photos from...
Notable Sandwiches #117: Mettbrötchen
Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where I, marching alongside my long-suffering and brilliant editor David Swanson, bring you the ups and downs...
How to Stay Alive and Horny Under Authoritarianism
Sophia Parnok (1885-1933) was born in Taganrog, Russia—Anton Chekhov’s hometown, on the sea of Azov—two decades or so before her country exploded. Born into...
When the Roman Empire is your Roman Empire
Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where Talia and I write about what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to, for paid subscribers. —...
Notable Sandwiches #116: Melt
Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where I, led gently by my brilliant and long-suffering editor David Swanson, wade through the rough waters of...
Women's Freedom Is On The Ballot
Welcome back to Culture Club, the weekly feature where David and I discuss our preoccupations for premium subscribers. Tonight, a slight change of pace:...
Notable Sandwiches #115 (Spooky Edition): Medianoche
Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where I, alongside my editor David Swanson, creep through the haunted garden of Wikipedia’s List of Notable...
Make Way For the Feminist Backlash: A Chat with Moira Donegan
This whole election smacks of gender. It's a referendum on women's humanity and bodily autonomy, up against the crudest misogyny on offer—primarily from the...
TLDS October Culture Klatsch
Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where David and I write about what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to, for paid subscribers....
The Best American Grilled Cheese Sandwich Essay
Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where David and I travel the world on wings made of bread, chronicling Wikipedia’s List of Notable...
Sword & the Sandwich x Know Your Enemy
Welcome back to Culture Club, the weekly feature where Talia and I discuss our preoccupations—what we’ve been thinking about, reading, watching or...
Notable Sandwiches #114: Meatball
By David Swanson Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where Talia and I travel down the trail of Wikipedia’s List of Notable Sandwiches, in...
Wild Faith is Here
Today is a big one for the team here at S&S Industries: at long last, Talia’s new book, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America, is out in...
Roy Cohn: A Deep Dive Into a Piece of Shit
By David Swanson Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where David and I write about what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to, for paid...
Notable Sandwiches #113: Marmite
Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where David and I travel the world on wings made of bread, chronicling Wikipedia’s List of Notable...