From the Desk Recommends... the Tyranny of Treats
Housekeeping! And then the month in links, listening, and streaming.
THIS SUNDAY at 10 a.m. EST, join me for a conversation with essayist, translator, and poet Carina del Valle Schorske—a New York Times Magazine contributing writer—on her work, the writing life, and language. Sign up here (free for paid subscribers, $10 for others) and you’ll receive a link to the Zoom by email on Sunday. Join us for morning coffee, afternoon tea, or an evening cocktail, depending on your time zone. The discount code is in the header.
The Desk Salon Series conversations are recorded and transcribed for paid subscribers: Here’s Anna Sulan Masing from January and Mayukh Sen from February. Carina’s will be live later in the month.
This month, the Desk Book Club is reading Black Food Geographies by Ashanté M. Reese. We will have the Zoom discussion on Sunday, March 30, at 1 p.m. EST. I will send the link and my reading notes on this Friday, March 21. (The schedule is a bit off because I’ll be in Italy the week before at a conference.) You can buy all the 2025 Desk Book Club picks at this year’s partner bookstore, D.C.’s Bold Fork Books, for 20% off with the code in the header (or email me).
On TUESDAY, March 11, join me for an essay workshop focused on reported, personal, and opinion essays—with discussion of the history of the essay, its contemporary use, and various structures. We’ll discuss pitching, as well. The readings will be mostly about food, but it’s a broadly applicable conversation. Paid subscribers have the discount code in their email header, or can email me.
The Newsletter Workshop is now available for download—video, audio, text, and slides, all in a .zip file.