If You Think Having Uncomfortable Conversations Is Hard - Wait Until You See The Result Of Not Having

What troubles me most is the phenomenon of individuals—many of whom have previously shown no interest in politics—suddenly coming to realize that every aspect of life is inherently political, simply by virtue of being part of a society, the polis. Some are only now engaging because the privileges they once passively enjoyed have eroded, compelling them to confront a reality they could previously afford to ignore.

Yet instead of critically examining the systems that led to this shift, many break from their prior political nihilism or cynicism only to adopt a centrist, “third-way” neoliberal perspective. This stance, typical of post-postmodern white liberalism, reflects a detachment rooted in both ideological comfort and historical disengagement.

It is, at its core, an escapist response—a refusal to confront the consequences of their previous apathy and inaction. They enter the political arena not as informed participants, but as confused actors in a game they never bothered to learn. And when they do engage, they often align with the very forces that perpetuate harm, lacking the critical knowledge necessary to make ethical or informed decisions.

my homegirl wrote a really salient essay on substack about how reliance on algorithms ultimately stifles modern day listener’s curiosity and the livelihood of music artists themselves.

open.substack.com

Your Algorithm Hates the B-Sides

Notes About Streaming from a Music Listener

i def recommend giving it a read and reflecting on your own music listening practices and habits. a favorite paragraph of mine that speaks further to the evidence that we living in a dystopia today:

“Algorithmic curation has consumed every facet of people’s lives —they search for information on AI run search engines, they exclusively buy products on social media platforms that push hundreds of ads based on the posts they engage with, they build virtual communities amongst like-minded, aesthetically aligned and desirable online users. A revival of pre-streaming label street teams and independent CD pushers would fail for many reasons, one being that they’d find the streets desolate and empty.”

Angela Davis, Freedom is a Constant Struggle

…we will have to do something quite extraordinary: We will have to go to great lengths. We cannot go on as usual. We cannot pivot the center. We cannot be moderate. We will have to be willing to stand up and say no with our combined spirits, our collective intellects, and our many bodies.

A damaged lying Buddhist statue is pictured inside a pagoda following an earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, April 3, 2025.

I had all these fears of ai taking over the industry I’m currently studying for… and honestly it’s so great to see how that’s not the case + thank god for unions

Cottongrass at Ercavallo #3 - Tita Secchi Villa , 2011

Italian, b.  ?

Oil on canvas  ,  70 x 90 cm.

Adobe is going to spy on your projects. This is insane.

How do you approach unrequited effort in friendship?

I don’t really measure effort in friendships. There is the connection and there is the life it fits into which is often busy and overwhelming. I don’t befriend people who I feel are subtly mean or have anything but pure love towards me, so with that as the foundation I never think about effort in that way because I trust that the intention is always pure. When the trust cracks, I distance myself, no hard feelings.