Okay, So

What I Read, April and May 2025

A lot of televised, intergalactic death, two King classics (but not both under his name), and Butler's short stories.

Jun 5 • 

Pete Forester

2

April 2025

Sinners Demands We Face What We’ve Surrendered

The villain of Coogler’s blockbuster is an uncomfortable portrayal of Irish Americanism and an unexpected example of Paulo Freire’s warning against bad…

Apr 21 • 

Pete Forester

1

What I Read, March 2025

March was all about Hunger (Games and for flesh), plus two Butler short stories that were published posthumously.

Apr 4 • 

Pete Forester

1

March 2025

Anticipating Shame Is Stopping Us From Enjoying Things (and Making Us Stupider)

People are misunderstanding The White Lotus again in hopes they won't be implicated. But we are implicated.

Mar 25 • 

Pete Forester

3

From a plastic chair on a hillside

I wrote this in September of 2024.

Mar 3 • 

Pete Forester

What I Read, February 2025

More Butler (her best?), some vampires, a lot of aliens, plus an American Civil War (fiction) and American imperialism (non-fiction) by the same writer.

Mar 1 • 

Pete Forester

1

February 2025

When Artful Violence Is Necessary and a Warning Is Welcome

Blinking at the sight of depicted trauma can sometimes save us. (A defense of a trigger warning.)

Feb 28 • 

Pete Forester

1

How Doechii Can Teach You To Be Better at Everything

Choosing quantity over quality guarantees quality. Choosing quality over quantity risks condemning you to neither.

Feb 26 • 

Pete Forester

2

There Are Black People in the Future: Why I'm Reading Octavia E Butler This Year

Reading the mother of Afrofuturism might help us respond to the question: “Why does your fantasy exclude Black people?”

Feb 20 • 

Pete Forester

1

The One Question That Can Predict a Successful Artist

Over 1,000 interviews with hundreds of artists I learned that this simple question can reveal whether an artist will have a meaningful career or burn…

Feb 18 • 

Pete Forester

1

Kendrick Lamar and the Value of Platforming Your Critics

Your job is not to satisfy those who are committed to dissatisfaction.

Feb 10 • 

Pete Forester

1

I Don’t Want To Watch Rich People Unbox Free Shoes

Bred 1s are coming back so DJ Khaled showed them off on Instagram. It made him look like a loser and made Jordan Brand look like it hates you.

Feb 8 • 

Pete Forester

2