#84: Take It or Leave It
A monthly drop of things I love
Welcome to the new Take It or Leave It. Every month, sometimes a few times a month, Paid subscribers will receive a quick hit of things I’m loving.
Most of my writing is long-form and requires time for research between essays. Hopefully, this helps fill in the gaps for you with new finds (or things you want to revisit).
If not, all good. Take it or leave it ✌️
Me and Jessica Jackson were grabbing coffee the other day, and she asked me how I was doing. I try to avoid “busy” as the default answer, but a generous reframing is that my life is very full. I told Jessica how I have a few key commitments, but they are things I care about deeply. I enjoy putting time and energy into them and try to keep them as sacred as I can.
I feel committed to art at this time. Our practice of it. Our participation in it. Our gathering around it. Lucille Clifton said she thinks that “most artists create in order to explore, not to give the answers.” She continued, “Poetry and art are not about answers to me; they are about questions.”
As the United States and Israel continue their imperial war on the world, including all of us, I look to art as a way to better understand myself and the people around me. I look to art as a way to question what I’ve been handed and explore possibilities beyond it. I look to art, as Ross Gay does, as the “process by which we imagine the lives that we want.”
In Columbus, there’s been an ongoing push to maximize capital at the expense of art. Scott Woods recognizes that “Columbus isn’t special in this respect.” He adds, “America as a whole spends very little on the art that it generates.”
As artists, we find a way to keep showing up for ourselves and each other even when our city officials don’t. I get to see it in big and small ways nearly every day. Art remains because we remain, and I hope we can fight to make our remaining easier in the days and months and weeks ahead.
In case you missed it, my latest newsletter essay dives into Justin Bieber’s career and examines his 2026 Grammys performance as a response to it all. This is now one of my top-10 most popular essays, and it’s received endorsements like this one from Rachel Min:
“I love how you’re always able to weave the personal into culture and make it relatable to us all! Your writing is a gift, I loved reading every word of this.”
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💿 Everywhere Isn’t Texas by August Ponthier
I’m back on my bullshit (aka trying to thoughtfully listen to as much new music as I can). My recent favorite that I’ve been recommending to anyone who might entertain it is August Ponthier’s new album, Everywhere Isn’t Texas. I didn’t realize when I first listened, but Ponthier is featured on one of my favorite songs from last year: “Jesus and John Wayne” with Joy Oladokun & googly eyes.
The country-pop artist, who came out as non-binary before finishing the album, explores themes of home and belonging that fit right in with songs from Oladokun and Hayley Williams that I highlighted in this essay. On the surface, there are glimpses of other twangy pop stars, such as Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter. But Ponthier’s superpower is their relatability.
On “Ribbons + Taxes,” the young adult anthem, Ponthier sings, “Right now, my mom would be a wife, but I’d feel like a child bride.” So many of us are trying to make sense of our place in a world that, as Ponthier notes, feels like it’s ending. This album, at least, provides us with a soundtrack to see it through.
🏀 Bam Adebayo’s 83-Point Game
I didn’t watch the game, but I felt it. The push notifications on my phone felt like the sizzle, then just like that chef used to say: “BAM!” The record books were cooked. Whenever a player starts inching toward Kobe’s 81-point milestone, there’s always this question of “what if they do it?” But everyone has fallen short—that is, until A’ja Wilson’s boyfriend caught a vibe and made it everyone else’s problem (mainly the Washington Wizards).
