The Year So Far in Listening

My playlists, collected, with the July edition.

I’m launching a new series with The Newsletter Workshop, a two-hour live class via Zoom, this fall.

Here’s the information:

I will discuss my experience building my newsletter, From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy, over four years and using it to solidify my niche as a food and culture writer; provide examples of newsletters that do different things well; provide questions and exercises that will help you figure out how to better approach your own newsletter; and lead a question and answer section.

We will go over the options for platforms you can use to write your newsletter, how to develop a consistent posting schedule, and how your own reading behaviors can help you figure out your newsletter voice. I’ll be providing a PDF of my presentation beforehand that will include a worksheet with the essential questions to ask yourself about what you want your newsletter to achieve. This will provide you with insight as well as guardrails that will ensure you maintain consistency and inspiration.

WHEN
Tuesday, September 10; Tuesday, October 8; Tuesday, November 12
Session No. 1: 11 AM to 1 PM EST
Session No. 2: 7 PM to 9 PM EST

HOW MUCH
$100 for non-paid subscribers; $75 for paid subscribers (the discount code is in the newsletter chat, or I will send it to you personally)

In 2024, without resolving to do it, I got back into playlist-making. I’m old enough to have made mixtapes, then mix CDs, and now streaming playlists. This practice has been great, forcing me into a long-lost mind-set of musical curation—once upon a time… I would DJ… and if you click that link, you’ll see that Brooklyn Paper did send a photographer to Bushwick in 2015 to shoot me holding up vinyl (I did not and could not DJ with vinyl) and looking sad… and I got a bit mention in Time Out!

2015 in Time Out New York!

Anyway, my taste skews in very specific yet eclectic directions, always with a look toward the international, but I’ll admit to my interests leaning toward ’90s power pop, modern French power pop, Latin American rock, and synthy stuff of any origin and time. Below, the playlists of the year thus far, chronicling forever favorites and new hits. (I’m moving to Apple Music, so it’s also the end of an era.)

For paid subscribers who pay attention, the July edition is a bonus because I’m not writing a Recommends… this month! (This really just means the September editions of Recommends… and Monthly Menu will be… giant.)

I’ll be back to regular posting after Labor Day. To catch up, read The Year So Far in Essays; The Year So Far in Reading; and The Year So Far in Eating & Cooking.