Sweater Weather

And links and recs

Welcome to Mess & Noise. Last week, I wrote about about meaning, suffering, and small boobs. Next week, I’m dropping a minibook about disagreement at work. With a paid subscription you’ll receive all my books, some swag, and dual class shareholder status whenever I post a reader poll.

Happy Friday! I skipped newslettering last week since school was out for a big chunk of it. We spent a few days on the North Fork instead of the city, which isn’t quite a vacation, it’s more like a change of scenery for the same old grind. It was so pretty in early October, and there was less aggressive driving from the Ford F-150 set than during peak season. A respite indeed!

It was interesting to see as many Harris-Walz yard signs as Trump-Vance, at least in this part of Suffolk County. I didn’t count but it felt like an even split.

Otherwise I’ve been head-down on Pushing Back with Tact, my new minibook about managing conflict at work. It’s something I’ve been thinking about and researching for two years and I’m finally getting it on paper. A book from me about successful negotiation at work is like Lindsay Lohan writing a how-to on sobriety. Maybe that’s why it’s short!

My hypothesis: Those of us who spend our school years painting or writing or emoting in drama club, then major in humanities, then get hired as creatives, often struggle with the politicking and personality management required in a work environment. So if you didn’t grow up learning “teamwork” and kicking soccer opponents in the shins, maybe a book like this is for you. It will be ready next week.

I’m also banging out a non-fiction proposal about the untenable relationship between capitalism and feminism, and how the former needs to be reimagined in order to work for women. (Not that its current iteration is working for most men, either.)

This has been a long-winded way of saying I don’t have an essay for you this week, but here’s a little list of recommendations:

• This bootleg haunted house in Queens that was dubbed a “death trap” and shut down by the FDNY. I’m not recommending the house, I’m recommending reading the bonkers details. It had a homespun escape room and overnight accommodations. Personal nightmare!

• Eric Adams says mass exodus is normal behavior. I haven’t had a chance to read NY Mag’s current cover story on the mayor’s legal saga but it’s a big part of my weekend plans.

• Also dying to see The Apprentice, the origin story of Donald Trump and his early mentor Roy Cohn. No, I don’t need any more Trump content in my life, but I’m fascinated by how warped people become warped, and what drives someone like Trump, especially so late in life when he could just do standup at his failing casinos instead of trying to lead the free world. Equally obsessed with Jeremy Strong as a serious acting person.

• Tangentially related to Jeremy Strong, this observation from Pat Finnerty seems like it’s about Billy Joel but there’s a delightful twist near the end. Worth five minutes if you nerd on music and you’re a Succession fan.

• Another Oscar-worthy performance: This is downright Shakespearian.

• In corporate Shakespearian dramas, the Hulu miniseries about what’s going on at 23andMe is going to be epic. No, it’s not in the works (that I know), but this mess could join the canon of great startup shows like SuperPumped, The Dropout, and WeCrashed.

• Similar vein, we all know apps and platforms dodge regulation and exploit their own users, but no one has articulated this better than Cory Doctorow at this year’s Defcon. Cory coined the concept of the “enshittification” of the internet. He’s an important voice who doesn’t get a big enough platform because, well, fuck these platforms. (Shout out to reader/cousin M. for sending me this!)

That’s it for this one, folks! In addition to Pushing Back coming up soon, I’m interviewing Megan Hellerer about her new book — a real book — called Aligned Living, so keep an eye out for that. I know coaches get a bad rap, but how many of them can call Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez a client? Megan is a brilliant thought partner and I can’t wait to share my conversation with her.

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