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Dec 12, 2025
For the last few years, I’ve worried about Silicon Valley taking over Hollywood. But things reached a tipping point back in October.
Apple had just swept the Emmy...
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Nov 28, 2025
A hundred years ago, Broadway impresario Abe Erlanger hired a 12-year-old boy—and consulted him frequently. He said he needed the youngster to make creative decisions about all...
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Nov 18, 2025
Photographer Bob Willoughby captured an amazing moment at an LA concert back in 1951. It’s my all-time favorite music photo.
The image shows saxophonist Big Jay...
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Oct 28, 2025
In 1964, the Beatles were the most popular music act in the world—but who knew how long it would last? Mop-top boy bands from Liverpool might just be a passing fad, like hula...
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Oct 16, 2025
No writer in the long history of Rolling Stone has ever been as famous or fêted or feared as Hunter S. Thompson. The magazine built its own mojo from the Gonzo creed...
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Oct 6, 2025
It’s a familiar story these days. You might even be living inside it. Or, if not, you know somebody who is.
A young man returns from college, but he doesn’t have a job....
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Sep 30, 2025
I never anticipated such a warm response to my essay on David Foster Wallace. Everyone tells me that serious reading is dead, but my article on a very serious author...
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Sep 26, 2025
It’s not every day that I get an email from Apple. But yesterday the Cupertino leviathan reached out to me.
Can you guess why? Do they have some cool new gadget that will make...
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Sep 23, 2025
A few days ago, The Atlantic published an article on esteemed author John Cheever (1912-1982). But the magazine is almost apologetic, and feels compelled to admit...
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Aug 27, 2025
Data centers are in the news nowadays. And not in a good way.
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Jul 28, 2025
A friend who travels regularly on Amtrak trains, told me about the Quiet Car. The rules are simple:
“Guests are asked to limit conversation and speak in subdued...
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Jul 15, 2025
1.When you meet somebody at a party, how do you describe what you do?
I avoid talking about myself in those settings. We invited our neighbor over for dinner last week, and I was...
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Jul 7, 2025
A few months ago, I needed to send an email. But when I opened Microsoft Outlook, something had changed.
Microsoft asked me to use Copilot to write my email. Copilot is my...
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Jun 23, 2025
I don’t have a good track record when dealing with the Pulitzer folks.
I’ve certainly made an effort. Back in 2022, I begged the Pulitzer board to reconsider...
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Jun 11, 2025
I’m always sad to hear about the passing of a music legend. But the death today of Sly Stone hits especially hard.
Like many of his fans, I kept expecting Stone to make a...
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Jun 2, 2025
Everything happens so quickly at Substack. And in just the last few days, something big has changed.
By my measure, we’ve suddenly reached stage four in the evolution...
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May 19, 2025
Back in 2024, I felt an urgent need to challenge the new doctrine of techno-optimism. This ideology told people to shut up and keep scrolling.
Silicon Valley would build utopia for...
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May 8, 2025
Many articles have been written about me over the years. But I’ve never been hit with an opening sentence like the one published on Monday by The Atlantic.
Last...
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Apr 21, 2025
My childhood nostalgia is different from others.
When in sweet silent thought I summon up remembrance of things past, I don’t mull over madeleine cookies or a sled called...
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Apr 15, 2025
Filmmaker Sergio Leone once explained why Clint Eastwood was a perfect actor for his movies. Eastwood’s portrayal of a cowboy, he explained, “only had two expressions:...
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Mar 18, 2025
James Bond has defeated evil villains for more than seventy years. But he may have met his match in Jeff Bezos, who now has total control over the superspy’s fate.
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Mar 11, 2025
They need somebody like Bill Shakespeare in Hollywood today.
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Feb 26, 2025
A century ago, the creative world was buzzing with exciting artistic movements. Everything was fresh, new, and vital:
You could be a Surrealist or a Futurist or a...
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Feb 10, 2025
1.
John Coltrane was a busy man in 1964.
He was a jazz star operating at a frantic pace. But the public had no idea how frantic.
“We couldn’t possibly put out all the...
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Feb 6, 2025
If you want to understand 20th century American music, you really must start with Louis Armstrong.
Armstrong changed the entire pulse of commercial music—inventing rhythmic...
-
Jan 13, 2025
Journalism is changing rapidly—faster than at any point in my lifetime.
Outsiders are breaking rules and shaking up the system. And insiders can’t ignore them...
Dec 12, 2025For the last few years, I’ve worried about Silicon Valley taking over Hollywood. But things reached a tipping point back in October. Apple had just swept the Emmy...
Nov 28, 2025A hundred years ago, Broadway impresario Abe Erlanger hired a 12-year-old boy—and consulted him frequently. He said he needed the youngster to make creative decisions about all...
Nov 18, 2025Photographer Bob Willoughby captured an amazing moment at an LA concert back in 1951. It’s my all-time favorite music photo. The image shows saxophonist Big Jay...
Oct 28, 2025In 1964, the Beatles were the most popular music act in the world—but who knew how long it would last? Mop-top boy bands from Liverpool might just be a passing fad, like hula...
Oct 16, 2025No writer in the long history of Rolling Stone has ever been as famous or fêted or feared as Hunter S. Thompson. The magazine built its own mojo from the Gonzo creed...
Oct 6, 2025It’s a familiar story these days. You might even be living inside it. Or, if not, you know somebody who is. A young man returns from college, but he doesn’t have a job....
Sep 30, 2025I never anticipated such a warm response to my essay on David Foster Wallace. Everyone tells me that serious reading is dead, but my article on a very serious author...
Sep 26, 2025It’s not every day that I get an email from Apple. But yesterday the Cupertino leviathan reached out to me. Can you guess why? Do they have some cool new gadget that will make...
Sep 23, 2025A few days ago, The Atlantic published an article on esteemed author John Cheever (1912-1982). But the magazine is almost apologetic, and feels compelled to admit...
Jul 28, 2025A friend who travels regularly on Amtrak trains, told me about the Quiet Car. The rules are simple: “Guests are asked to limit conversation and speak in subdued...
Jul 15, 20251.When you meet somebody at a party, how do you describe what you do? I avoid talking about myself in those settings. We invited our neighbor over for dinner last week, and I was...
Jul 7, 2025A few months ago, I needed to send an email. But when I opened Microsoft Outlook, something had changed. Microsoft asked me to use Copilot to write my email. Copilot is my...
Jun 23, 2025I don’t have a good track record when dealing with the Pulitzer folks. I’ve certainly made an effort. Back in 2022, I begged the Pulitzer board to reconsider...
Jun 11, 2025I’m always sad to hear about the passing of a music legend. But the death today of Sly Stone hits especially hard. Like many of his fans, I kept expecting Stone to make a...
May 19, 2025Back in 2024, I felt an urgent need to challenge the new doctrine of techno-optimism. This ideology told people to shut up and keep scrolling. Silicon Valley would build utopia for...
May 8, 2025Many articles have been written about me over the years. But I’ve never been hit with an opening sentence like the one published on Monday by The Atlantic. Last...
Apr 21, 2025My childhood nostalgia is different from others. When in sweet silent thought I summon up remembrance of things past, I don’t mull over madeleine cookies or a sled called...
Apr 15, 2025Filmmaker Sergio Leone once explained why Clint Eastwood was a perfect actor for his movies. Eastwood’s portrayal of a cowboy, he explained, “only had two expressions:...
Mar 18, 2025James Bond has defeated evil villains for more than seventy years. But he may have met his match in Jeff Bezos, who now has total control over the superspy’s fate. 
Mar 11, 2025They need somebody like Bill Shakespeare in Hollywood today.
Feb 26, 2025A century ago, the creative world was buzzing with exciting artistic movements. Everything was fresh, new, and vital: You could be a Surrealist or a Futurist or a...
Feb 10, 20251. John Coltrane was a busy man in 1964. He was a jazz star operating at a frantic pace. But the public had no idea how frantic. “We couldn’t possibly put out all the...
Feb 6, 2025If you want to understand 20th century American music, you really must start with Louis Armstrong. Armstrong changed the entire pulse of commercial music—inventing rhythmic...
Jan 13, 2025Journalism is changing rapidly—faster than at any point in my lifetime. Outsiders are breaking rules and shaking up the system. And insiders can’t ignore them...