Now there's an app for this
A new way to read The Writing Shed, plus links of the week: an epic Twitter thread, a tuneful new song from a Bama punk rocker, and much more
A bit of news for your reading pleasure: Substack has a new app for the iPhone.
Here’s what it looks like on my phone:
If you look at The Writing Shed via the emails I sent out, or if you read it on the Web, don’t worry — all that is staying exactly the same. The app just gives you a different option. If you subscribe to other Substacks, they’ll be collected there, too.
The app is free — here’s a link if you want to give it a try:
If you don’t have an Apple device, you can join the Android waitlist here.
The bottom line: How you read The Writing Shed is totally up to you. If you use the app, if you scan the emails, if you print out the whole thing and read it in the bathroom: Fine. Beautiful. Whatever works. I’m just grateful for the time we spend together.
10 things I wanted to share this week:
My earlier post this week was a confessional: I’ve never seen THE GODFATHER. The comments on this one are especially good.
My weekly for WFAE was about our new Race & Equity team, and why that work matters.
This Twitter thread from writer Michael Harriot is not just a vital history lesson … it has one hell of a kicker.
RIP Bobbie Nelson, Willie’s sister and longtime bandmate. Her piano was such a big part of his live shows.
DOG NEWS: As I work on my book about the Westminster Dog Show and the bond between dogs and their people, I’m using this slot every week for dog-related material. This week: Just how does a dog win a dog show, anyway?
Preorder now: My friend Ernie Suggs’ new book THE MANY LIVES OF ANDREW YOUNG, with hundreds of photos and a foreword by Jimmy Carter.
Just finished reading Julia Ray Jonas’ VLADIMIR, which tackles big issues (female desire, the limits of transgression) while still being mysterious and compelling and hot.
So much music writing this week! First up is Pitchfork magazine’s Sunday Review, a weekly long look at one great album. I’ve been browsing through the list and really enjoyed the review of Boz Scaggs’ SILK DEGREES, a record I’ve loved for so long I once had it on 8-track.
I’m also digging Tom Breihan’s project THE NUMBER ONES, an ongoing and exhaustive set of essays on every song that topped the Billboard pop chart. The latest piece, on Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love To You,” is fantastic.
Lee Bains and the Glory Fires have spent years making furious punk rock grounded in blue-collar values and Bains’ Alabama roots, while always aiming at a better and more just future. Lee’s new song “God’s a-Working, Man” has the same spirit, slowed down and toned down just enough for us to absorb the words and maybe sing along. It’s great stuff.