A rant and a video (podcast)
What the fork is happening at the NYT
Hello friend,
This letter contains: First, some material concerns. Then, a rant against The New York Times. Finally, a video (podcast)
As social media infrastructure crumbles - or is nationalized by Donald Trump - I think an ability to share information freely matters more and more. I am working to continue to make this a space where that happens. (More on this in Tuesday's upcoming letter.)
Today, I am sharing my first very earnest attempt at actual video podcasting. It's a narration of my last essay - My Kid is Afraid We are in a Simulation. I was shocked by the response to the piece. Apparently A LOT of you are grappling with this very same issue with your kids. I can see where this video podcast needs improvement - everywhere! But I am also very oddly pleased with it. It's a start.
Remember my cold windowless office? That's where I write and that's where I recorded this video. The office is taking shape. I need to unpack the rest of my books. Hang my pictures. Get my microphone off boxes. Figure out how to make a basement storage room turned office podcast acoustics friendly. Clean that mirror.
Sharing information freely has a cost. Thousands of dollars to keep this website online each year. The time it takes for me to research, think, record. But also all the stuff I need to record my work.
My very old computer broke down last November. I couldn't even type three paragraphs on it without it crashing. A reader donation helped me buy a Mac Mini 4. I've been writing with that computer since late-December. I was able to record audio and video because of that computer. I want to dedicate a wing of Pocket Observatory to that reader, but also don't want to rob them of their anonymity. Thanks, friend.
Pocket Observatory members helped fund the lighting and the year of rss hosting I had to buy upfront. Next week, I hope to have installed a few acoustic panels to help with the sound - those will also be purchased with dollars sent to me by Pocket Observatory members. Thank you.
Before we get to my first attempt at video podcasting. Can I rage against The New York Times for moment?
The New York Times just published an interview with Curtis Yarvin (gift link!) that seems eager to make him seem like both more and less than he is. I usually hate when big publications plagiarize my work, but this time I wish the Times had ripped me off.
The Times interview failed to contextualize Yarvin's work - the interviewer did not mention Thomas Carlyle, or the fact that Yarvin believes society should be organized through slavery and other absolute master/subject relationships. If you are going to platform one of the most sinister men in America, you better forking get it right. I want to know how I am still taking more risks in this little space than The New York Forking Times.
If you want to know what Curtis Yarvin is actually doing - please consider reading my work on him.
Today, we’re going to talk about Curtis Yarvin, a man held in high regard by JD Vance, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen and the rest of the coalition of the creepy. Which is too bad, because Yarvin's main thing is that he really, really wants you to know that slavery is good, actually. - The New Right Wants to Scale Slavery
The portraits The New York Times chose to publish of Yarvin are....telling.
Yarvin in 2023. Yarvin photographed by the Times. What are they doing here, folks?
The first photo is Yarvin in 2023. This is how he's looked in every single photo I've ever seen of him. The second photo is one of many glowed up images from the Times photoshoot. Why are they helping him find his angles? I mean that literally and metaphorically.
Okay, here is my first try with the video podcast.
If you'd just like to listen to the audio, you can do that on Spotify! You can also listen right on this site, if you'd prefer. I'm including both versions of the audio only narrations below.
I keep wanting to end this quick note with a promise that it will get better. I think I am talking about my recording skills. But I also think I am talking about everything else. And I know I can't really promise anything will get better? But the promise still seems important. If only because it means I'll keep working to make it true - when it comes to recording and everything else.
Till next time,
Meg
