Hey all, happy Thursday. I’m putting together questions for the second installment of the Dispatches Mailbag. The first installment was a good time that touched on climate change, wealth taxes, how I keep place in my books, and featured an exclusive look at the first eight pages of a novel I’m writing.
I just heard on your podcast that you got your vaccine. Congrats! I just got my first one. This might be a cliché question, but do you have any reflections yet on how the pandemic and the shut-down has changed your reporting, writing, or social media usage? Will you keep doing Bourbon Talks? Will you do more YouTube lectures? I think it's too soon for me to reflect on the past year+ because it still seems kind of unreal when I think about it. Cases are still going up; it's not over yet.
I may not be remembering this correctly, but I think I remember you writing about trying to run away when you were very young and packing a backpack full of books. Believe it or not, I did the same thing. I packed as many volumes of an encyclopedia I could fit, along with my copy of The Boxcar Children and a sandwich. Do you remember what books you packed? If this wasn't your story, what books would you pack now if you were to escape to a deserted island?
I was going to solicit your thoughts on the article about "elite" schools in the current issue of the Atlantic and other fun higher ed stuff but it's Friday and my brain is mush, so here's something from the lighter side. If memory serves, I *think* I saw the Steely Dan/Raymond Pettibon t-shirt in an early "Bourbon Talk." (The artwork is more commonly associated with Sonic Youth's cover for "Goo.") Jerry Saltz, art critic for New York magazine, has called Steely Dan "the worst band ever." Thoughts on this?
I am curious about your research and creative process. Whenever I had to write paper, I loved the research part and got lost in it, but the writing part not so much. A few months ago I heard you say on a bourbon talk that you had a stack of about 200 library books waiting for your attention. How do you even begin to go through those books?
1. Do you read all those books from cover to cover?
2. Are you able to quickly discern which books will not be beneficial to your research and argument?
3. Are there some books you read cover to cover knowing that most of the material will not be helpful, but you strongly suspect that somewhere in that book is a gem of sentence, a paragraph, or a few pages that will spark a creative thought or connection to another thought related to your project?
4. Do you return your library books on time?
5. Do you have more creative ideas for projects than you could possibly physically accomplish in a lifetime or two? If so do you ever find that frustrating?
This question might be a little too personal but I’m really curious what your perspective on this is due to your apparent skill at self reflection w a book like “The Man They Wanted Me To Be”. It appears your star is currently continuously ascendant, and I’m curious how you might have prepared yourself for the impact of the glory of fame. You’ve touched upon fan mail and the caustic environment w trolls etc on Twitter, but I’m wondering about how you’re processing the positive aspects as well.
What do you make of people like Charlie Sykes and the Bulwark, who seem to honestly believe in what have been described as "conservative principles" and feel isolated from what the Republican Party has become? Are they rubes for believing it was an honestly held belief of the party in the first place?
A friend recently asked if I had ancestors who were slavers, because “if you do, they’re coming to take your land away for those respirations.” (He meant reparations, of course). I’ve been hearing this kind of chatter amongst the rural population more frequently. What’s your take on the reparations issue and where it’s going?
Out of all the issues we face as societies and a species, what issue do you feel most urgent in the next few months? (For example, for me climate change and environmental degradation are the most pressing issues, but the best short-term use of energy for that might be protecting voting rights and forwarding voting access.)
I just heard on your podcast that you got your vaccine. Congrats! I just got my first one. This might be a cliché question, but do you have any reflections yet on how the pandemic and the shut-down has changed your reporting, writing, or social media usage? Will you keep doing Bourbon Talks? Will you do more YouTube lectures? I think it's too soon for me to reflect on the past year+ because it still seems kind of unreal when I think about it. Cases are still going up; it's not over yet.
I may not be remembering this correctly, but I think I remember you writing about trying to run away when you were very young and packing a backpack full of books. Believe it or not, I did the same thing. I packed as many volumes of an encyclopedia I could fit, along with my copy of The Boxcar Children and a sandwich. Do you remember what books you packed? If this wasn't your story, what books would you pack now if you were to escape to a deserted island?
I was going to solicit your thoughts on the article about "elite" schools in the current issue of the Atlantic and other fun higher ed stuff but it's Friday and my brain is mush, so here's something from the lighter side. If memory serves, I *think* I saw the Steely Dan/Raymond Pettibon t-shirt in an early "Bourbon Talk." (The artwork is more commonly associated with Sonic Youth's cover for "Goo.") Jerry Saltz, art critic for New York magazine, has called Steely Dan "the worst band ever." Thoughts on this?
I am curious about your research and creative process. Whenever I had to write paper, I loved the research part and got lost in it, but the writing part not so much. A few months ago I heard you say on a bourbon talk that you had a stack of about 200 library books waiting for your attention. How do you even begin to go through those books?
1. Do you read all those books from cover to cover?
2. Are you able to quickly discern which books will not be beneficial to your research and argument?
3. Are there some books you read cover to cover knowing that most of the material will not be helpful, but you strongly suspect that somewhere in that book is a gem of sentence, a paragraph, or a few pages that will spark a creative thought or connection to another thought related to your project?
4. Do you return your library books on time?
5. Do you have more creative ideas for projects than you could possibly physically accomplish in a lifetime or two? If so do you ever find that frustrating?
This question might be a little too personal but I’m really curious what your perspective on this is due to your apparent skill at self reflection w a book like “The Man They Wanted Me To Be”. It appears your star is currently continuously ascendant, and I’m curious how you might have prepared yourself for the impact of the glory of fame. You’ve touched upon fan mail and the caustic environment w trolls etc on Twitter, but I’m wondering about how you’re processing the positive aspects as well.
What do you make of people like Charlie Sykes and the Bulwark, who seem to honestly believe in what have been described as "conservative principles" and feel isolated from what the Republican Party has become? Are they rubes for believing it was an honestly held belief of the party in the first place?
Oh I forgot. Do you have sticky research notes all over your walls and do you use a creative flow chart to organize your ideas?
A friend recently asked if I had ancestors who were slavers, because “if you do, they’re coming to take your land away for those respirations.” (He meant reparations, of course). I’ve been hearing this kind of chatter amongst the rural population more frequently. What’s your take on the reparations issue and where it’s going?
Out of all the issues we face as societies and a species, what issue do you feel most urgent in the next few months? (For example, for me climate change and environmental degradation are the most pressing issues, but the best short-term use of energy for that might be protecting voting rights and forwarding voting access.)
Any favorite escapist books you've read recently?
What was the first movie you bought on dvd?
To Jared and all the writers here: Is there a famous or not so famous quote on the writing process that sums up your writing experience?