Sitting on the bench

A list of links and a couple of announcements

Gorgeous light on the library, courtesy of Yorkshire in March.

No essay this week. I often have periods where I feel things growing, shifting, and changing (often uncomfortably so) and I just need to shut up for a bit. I need to walk in the woods near my house, and sit on the bench in the sun with my cat. I’m currently in one of those moments.

This kind of restraint is a big part of putting good writing out into the world, at least for me, but it’s not often encouraged or modeled. I’m grateful to this space and audience for allowing me to put myself on the bench for a bit. I’ll get back in the game soon, hopefully weirder and wiser as a result.

That said, there is a healthy list of links below, and a few other announcements that might be of interest to you. I haven’t sent a proper list of links since late last year (!) so there’s a lot going on down there. Tell me what you enjoy in the comments.

Creative consulting sessions

In my private consulting practice, I help brands, small business, and entrepreneurs not only figure out their story — but also why anyone should care about it. I want to bring a similar, yet more accessible offering to individual creatives and writers who read this newsletter.

So I’m offering 60 minute creative mentoring sessions for this audience. We can discuss a project/idea/pitch, a piece of writing, your newsletter, or sharpening your point of view as a writer. This is less me telling you how to grow your Substack (though, sure, that could be a byproduct), and more me helping you shift the energy around your creative work or writing practice. I bring a 10+ year background as a journalist and reporter for publications across the US and UK, as well as eight years experience building this newsletter audience, which has 13,500 subscribers and gets 50,000 average views per month.

The cost for these sessions is $125 (or £100). This rate is only available to individual creatives, not brands or companies. However, I also offer deeper engagements, which include prep and follow-up support (see my website). If you’re interested, please hit reply or email me: rosiespinks@gmail.com.

Live with the Auntie Bulletin

In two weeks, I am showing my face in this newsletter for the very first time by going Live with

Lisa Sibbett

of the Auntie Bulletin, a newsletter about kinship and community for people who choose to help raise other people’s kids

We’re going to be talking about kinship and community-building in a time of collapse: What it looks like, who can do it (everyone!), and how it might also be kind of fun? I’ve linked to Lisa’s writing before in this newsletter, and I think her voice is such a gift. (Her advice about how to decide if you want to have a child is hands-down, the smartest and simplest thing I’ve ever read on the matter.) Had I never had a child — a very real option for me — I really hope I would have found her writing and outlook. Parents, non-parents, aunties, elders, and kids need one another more than ever, so we’re going to talk about it.

It’s happening on Thursday, April 10 at 12pm PST // 3pm EST // 8pm UK time. To tune in, you’ll need to use the Substack app, and I’ll send out a reminder in the app & Chat a few days before. I’ll also send the video link of our conversation out in my newsletter the next day, so you won’t miss it if you can’t attend. If you have questions for me and Lisa, let us know in the comments or reply to this email.

Things I’ve enjoyed reading

(Longreads with an audio listening option are marked with 🎧.)

• Meet the order of nuns in Texas who formed a highly unlikely kinship with a group of women sitting on death row. This is one of the most extraordinary things I’ve read in a long time. 🎧 [New Yorker]

• “I actually feel more secure than I did when I was earning money because all through human history, true security has always come from living in community and I have time now to build that ‘social currency’.” [The Guardian]

• Of all the things to be horrified by, Bezos’ — and by extension, the Washington Post’s — turn under Trump II is high on the list for me. [The New Yorker]

• I recently discovered Tangle, a newsletter which painstakingly tries to bridge the gap between the left and right realities online. (It was featured on This American Life.) A lot of news outfits have tried to do this, but I’m impressed by this one’s approach and transparency. Their coverage of the chilling arrest of Mahmoud Khalil is a representative example. [Tangle]

• “How I learned that the problem in my marriage was me.” I absolutely loved this essay and exploration into what it takes to stay married: relentlessly, endlessly, and tediously owning your own shit. 🎧 [NYT gift link]

• If you’re a parent freaking out after watching Netflix’s Adolescence, please read my author friend

  Jenny Anderson
  ’s take on what we can learn from it. Sane, wise, and practical. [How To Be Brave]

• “You were put on this Earth to experience a wide range of mad and horrifying and romantic events.”

  Heather Havrilesky
  has been on an absolute tear of good writing recently. [Ask Polly]

• On the existential struggle of what to make for dinner, every single night. I’m so glad it’s not just me. 🎧 [The Atlantic]

• Haley Nahman
  on the “purity vortex” around high-stakes lifestyle decisions: sleep training your baby, becoming sober, quitting your job etc. [Maybe Baby]

Things I’ve enjoyed listening to

• All of a sudden, a bunch of emotionally stunted male billionaires rule the world. So what drives them? What do they want? What are they afraid of? This was really eye-opening. [Question Everything]

• “I do think given this world of abundance, that we have to now intentionally seek out things that are hard. Because our lives have become so easy, so convenient, so sedentary, the default is a state of consumption that’s ultimately not good for our bodies or our minds.” On our perma-addicted era. [The Interview]

• Five years ago the world locked down, causing all kinds of trauma and unintended consequences. And our leaders literally never talk about whether that actually was worth it, or what it achieved. I find this fact completely extraordinary. [The Daily]

• I became aware of the allegations against the writer Neil Gaiman from this NY Mag investigation. But this six-part podcast from Tortoise came out before, and I found the hyper-cautious approach it took to telling the story much thornier and, ultimately, impactful. If you’re a student of storytelling, it’s a worth comparing the two (however be aware that it’s very dark subject matter). [Tortoise]

Word Soup

“The times are urgent, let us slow down.” —Bayo Akomolafe

“You can store meat in your own pantry or in the belly of your brother. Both have the result of keeping hunger at bay but with very different consequences for the people and the land which provided that sustenance.” —Robin Wall Kimmerer

Thanks for reading. If you enjoy this newsletter, it helps a surprising amount if you hit ❤️ or leave a comment below — or forward it to a friend. If you’d like to support me further, you can update your subscription to paid here. All content is free for all subs, but paying subscribers allow me the time and space (aka childcare!) to explore these themes. It means a lot.