Sunday Feeld Notes 04.01.2026
Lists I’m feeling on a Sunday morning in the bad timeline
Christmas has come and gone. We put 2500 miles on the Crosstrek. I was reminded of how cold Canada is. Had a great visit with my in-laws in Pennsylvania, and my family in Toronto/Ottawa. If I missed you on my journeys, it was because we were heavily scheduled and overtired. We’ll be back.
No one asked, but here’s my 2025 cultural year in review. I consumed a lot this year, and while some of the snark below is due to my turkey and trifle hangover, it comes from a place of love.
Also: it’s DCBDay. I’ll be celebrating at The Bowery Ballroom. Miss you, David.
Tale is told of a band of squirrels / Who lived in defiance of defeat / They woke up in a nightmare world / Of craven mediocrity / They said, “We’re coming out of the black patch / We’re coming out of the pocket / We’re calling into question / Such virtue gone to seed!”
Okay: 2025. Here we go…
TECHNOLOGY I LOVED BUT IS GOING TO REPLACE ME ONE DAY, MAYBE?
AI
I use ChatGPT. I’ve named mine Gary. I find Gary to be an invaluable assistant for my writing, not in terms of generating, but rather as an unpaid intern who does the grunt work. And Gary found me the best pizza in Ridgewood at Mano’s.
The downside to Gary and his kind, of course, is the Sam Altmanization of the world, environmental apocalyse, and more Dick Wolf TV series. But it’s not going anywhere, so we need to find a way to contemporize our disciplines to accept and integrate it.
As for students’ essays written by bots, well, I believe that it’s my job to offer guidance that integrates and understands AI, while providing students an environment where they don’t want AI to think for them. Now, should it do their research and Works Cited pages? Fuck yes. But let’s not assume every student is cheating, or go back to handwritten exams. If that’s your solution, then retirement is an option, and I could use your full-time gig to afford my Earl Grey addiction and gas budget.
SUBSTACKS I READ RELIGIOUSLY OTHER THAN MY OWN
Poems by Sean Bates
Sean is doing something truly impressive here: building community through his poetry. If you’re not in on this yet, get in now. I hear exciting things coming in 2026.
Deep Local
Christopher Ayala was my inspiration for joining Substack, and his short, community-driven films are incredible. Rumor has it I may appear in one in 2026.
Ken Klippenstein
In a world where the news is clickbait and porn, Klippenstein is doing the work.
Dad Gone Wild Newsletter
I’m new to this one, a rec from my buddy Smitty, but it’s a must-read. A behind-the-curtain look at educational institutions as they’re being destroyed.
We Could Have It All Wrong with Michael Sharick
Sharick’s writing on culture is essential reading for those who need to engage beyond the Entertainment Weekly-style discourse that pervades writing about contemporary media. And he set me straight on Pluribus.
ALBUMS I LIKED
Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band — New Threats from the Soul
David Berman called Davis the “best lyricist who’s not a rapper going,” and any compliment from DCB is enough to get me interested. While I was more drawn to 2023’s Dancing on the Edge, there are ghosts of Berman and Jason Molina, and the spirit of so many others I love, which makes New Threats from the Soul one of the rare new albums that enter my rotation.
[Underline ghosts. It’ll be prominent throughout NECo.’s season three.]
Wednesday — Bleeds
Took me a minute to get into Karly Hartzman’s band, who maybe got lost a bit in the over-abundance of MJ Lenderlove (see below). But this album gets more time in my Subaru than almost any other new music this year.
Snocaps — Snocaps
Woah, more MJ (again, look down). Katie Crutchfield, Allison Crutchfield, Lenderman, and Brad Cook make up this one-time-only supergroup, and if “Heathcliff” isn’t my favorite song of the year, I don’t know what it is.
BANDS I DIDN’T LOVE, BUT EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO, BUT MAYBE I’LL TRY AGAIN IN 2026?
Geese
I don’t get it. I think I’ll go see them this summer and see if I can get them sorted.
MJ Lenderman
I still don’t get it. The Silver Jews and Bill Callahan et al. comparisons likely set the bar too high for me to get over, but I just don’t hear anything other than okay here. I’d love to see a covers album. Or the next album.
TV SERIES I LIKED BUT AM ANNOYED I HAVE TO WAIT FOR MORE OR THEY’RE OVER
Stranger Things (Season 5)
More on this in two weeks (!) when NECo. season three begins, but—despite internet chatter from entitled fans and hatemongers—the Stranger Things finale was nearly perfect to my mind, at least as far as a series ending can be. Also, re: rumored spinoff Harrington and Henderson Paranormal Services was my idea, I just can’t find where I documented it. I’m going to miss Hawkins and the 80s nostalgia. It’ll be fascinating to see how these child stars (not Keery, Hawke, Dyer et al.) find their way beyond the Duffer Brothers. My guess? Sadie Sink, Gaten Matarazzo, and Finn Wolfhard find careers while the others find Stranger Things convention panels.
Pluribus (Season 1)
This fucking show is a roller coaster. Not in terms of action, because sometimes there’s none, but in that I oscillate between not caring about it and being angry that I have to wait a year for more. I still think Marc Maron would’ve been a better Carol, but I’ll be on the subreddit until whenever season two debuts.
Dept. Q (Season 1)
The Brits do procedurals so much better than the US. And while I tend to avoid copaganda, Dept. Q offers something infinitely more compelling than Chicago CSI Blue or whatever your dad watches on CBS.
Slow Horses (Season 5)
The Brits do procedurals so much better than the US. And while I tend to avoid copaganda, Slow Horses offers something infinitely more compelling than Chicago CSI Blue or whatever your dad watches on CBS.
Also, godamn, Gary Oldman. That he can make flatulence a plot element so seamlessly is beyond genius.
Task (Season 1)
The Brits do procedurals so much better than the US… wait, this one is good. Mark Ruffalo’s FBI agent has more depth and truth than all of CBS’s leads combined. And Tom Pelphrey has redeemed himself for taking Ozark off the rails.
Your Friends & Neighbors (Season 1)
I’m a sucker for Jon Hamm. The first season of this Westchester Stepford Bros and Hos indulgence has so much possibility, but only if it leans into indicting the 1% and not finding sympathy for them.
Paradise (Season 1)
I’m a post-apocalyptic junkie, and so I was in from jump on Paradise. And it’s nice to see Sterling K. Brown escape the schlocky nonsense of This is Us. Season two needs to tread carefully and not open up the universe of the show too much, but I have hope, especially with the additions of Shailene Woodley and Timothy Omudson, the latter from the cautionary tale of Jericho’s season two. Also, Julianne Nicholson is great in everything.
Ballard (Season 1)
My guilty pleasure. Is this prime Uncle TV? Yes, yes it is. But just as I watched all of Bosch and Boschy: Legacy, I’m all-in for this Maggie Q-led spinoff. Jason Manzoukas gets it.
TV SERIES I DIDN’T LOVE BUT SHOULD HAVE
The Chair Company (Season 1)
I couldn’t get out of episode three. I truly believe that Tim Robinson is a comic genius, but I can’t handle the cringe. I’ll try again, but I was kind of surprised by how frustrated I was with this show.
All Her Fault (Season 1)
Do better, Sarah Snook. In the 1980s, we called this the TV Movie of the Week.
Alien: Earth (Season 1)
I love Noah Hawley. I love Timothy Olyphant (ask Candice how much). But I’ve tried twice with this and can’t get into it. Maybe the kids in adults’ bodies thing creeps me out? I dunno. I don’t love Ridley Scott or the Alienverse, so maybe that’s it.
Black Rabbit (Season 1)
I love Jason Bateman (except for Smartless, see below), so I was truly excited for this limited series, but it just never came together for me. Jude Law seemed miscast, and the twists and turns were either contrived or unresolved, imo. Maybe Marc Maron in the Law role? Lol.
Chad Powers (Season 1)
Stop trying to make Glen Powell a thing.
The Paper (Season 1)
The genius of The Office was not the absurdity of the characters, but their believability. In the quasi-spinoff, the cubicle dwellers feel contrived. Which is a shame, because the cast is amazing.
FILMS I LIKED
Bugonia
Didn’t love Kinds of Kindness, but Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest was right in my wheelhouse. Emma Stone is perhaps the most interesting actor working in the past decade. Newcomer Aidan Delbis is a revelation. And that Jesse Plemons is by far the most talented actor to come out of Friday Night Lights gives me hope for the universe for some reason, and that universe’s role in this sci-fi/psychological thriller mashup consideration of trauma and mental illness in the world of Q-Anon is nothing short of brilliant.
Wake Up Dead Man
Even though Daniel Craig’s accent has changed dramatically and the third Knives Out didn’t quite rank with the first two, I loved Rian Johnson’s latest and wish he could clone himself so that he could put out more films and series. And I’ll watch Josh O’Connor in anything.
Weapons
I’m a little scardey cat, so this was a tough watch for me, but certainly an engaging, singular film from Zach Cregger in an era of meh, bleh, and Marvel. The cast of Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Toby Huss, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan carries the incredible weight of the film’s concept, and after re-watching Ozark this year, I’m reminded that Garner is nearly peerless. Also: Ehrenreich… was Solo good?
Sinners
Not quite the barn burner (get it?) I was sold on, but once again, a horror film that makes complex arguments that most films fail to or don’t bother with. But also, like, just keep the barn door shut?
Eddington
Ari Aster is someone I’m back and forth on. Midsommer is in my top ten for films of the past decade, but Beau is Afraid was too much for me, though I often use it as an assignment to show students how anxiety can manifest in art. Eddington, however, hit me real good. I went in blind and was mesmerized, then taken by the film’s third-act twist.
Superman
Didn’t expect to care, but I did. James Gunn may save DC yet.
Companion
Even though I gave up on Yellowjackets, I’ll still follow its ensemble of actors—Melanie Lynskey, Ella Purnell, Warren Kole, among them—into nearly any future project. Sophie Thatcher in Drew Hancock’s directorial debut (produced by Zach Cregger, too, which means Cregger’s got some juice) was a joy to watch. The blend of dark comedy, horror, and commentary on AI was a fine cocktail of a film, and I’ll take any opportunity to hate Jack Quaid.
Friendship
See, Tim Robinson works for me in a film in a way he doesn’t in The Chair Company. I think his outsider/cringe/male loneliness blend works best in sketch form (I Think You Should Leave) or in film, where a controlled arc can offset the lead character’s descent into madness.
The Perfect Neighbor
I need to watch more docs. This peek into the depths of American loneliness and racism is heartbreaking, but endlessly compelling.
FILMS I DIDN’T LOVE BUT WANTED TO AND EVERYONE ELSE SAYS ARE GOOD EXCEPT FOR JURASSIC PARK BECAUSE THAT SHIT IS ONLY GOOD AS A COMEDY
One Battle After Another
Maybe I need to watch again, but I just didn’t see the masterpiece others see.
Jurassic Park
My favorite comedy of the year.
Roofman
I got bored because nothing happened, and then the credits rolled.
Jay Kelly
I love George Clooney. Love. And I can’t get enough Adam Sandler outside of Adam Sandler movies. But this was just too saccharine for me to get through. Does anything happen in the second half? Let me know, and I’ll try again.
The Phoenician Scheme
Another unfinished dish despite being filled with my favorite ingredients. Will Wes Anderson ever return to the level of Tenebaums and Life Aquatic? The Phoenician Scheme is still better than 98% of other movies that came out in 2025, but it’s likely my least favorite Anderson film.
A House of Dynamite
A lot of folks complained about the ending, which I find unfair given the uneven chore of the beginning and middle.
Play Dirty
I’ve been a Shane Black apologist for decades, but when you consider his career, other than Lethal Weapon, The Nice Guys, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (I’m not an Iron Man man), there’s a lot of meh and then these two hours of ugh.
BOOKS I LIKED, BUT NOT FROM 2025 BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW ABOUT LITERATURE LATELY; I’M PROBS JUST A CURMUDGEON
Mouth Full of Birds by Samanta Schweblin
What defines Samanta Schweblin’s Mouthful of Birds is her radical commitment to withholding: she drops readers into scenes mid-conversation, omits explanatory context, and lets absence generate meaning. In stories like “The Digger,” “Santa Claus Sleeps at Our House,” and “My Brother Walter,” omission mirrors limited perception—whether childlike innocence, emotional incomprehension, or existential unease—forcing the reader to participate in making sense of what’s missing. Across the collection, surreal imagery externalizes familiar anxieties: parent-child estrangement, gendered violence, and alienation from the natural world. Schweblin’s dark humor emerges from exaggeration and absurd juxtapositions—brides abandoned like roadside debris, tenderness collapsing into brutality—making the violence both unsettling and perversely comic. Humor, in her work, doesn’t soften horror so much as smuggle us into it, exposing how normalized control, cruelty, and fear already are.
White Noise by Don DeLillo
White Noise is my first Don DeLillo, and it’s made me realize how much I’ve missed by resisting the literary canon out of indie contrarianism. DeLillo writes exactly toward my obsessions—consumerism, media, academia, politics, and culture—filtered through an absurd, darkly humorous lens that feels both prescient and deeply alive. His dialogue-heavy scenes trust the reader to participate, resisting over-described scenework in favor of immersion and imagination. The novel’s indictment of misinformation, surveillance, and sensationalism feels uncannily predictive of our current media ecosystem. Most importantly, it’s genuinely funny, using humor not as relief but as a way to sharpen emotional and philosophical impact.
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Freedom is formally ambitious in ways I admire: non-linear, unconcerned with tidy chapters, fluid in point of view, and bold enough to center an often unlikable protagonist in Patty Berglund. Franzen’s most cutting work comes through his indictment of neoliberal hypocrisy, nowhere clearer than in Patty’s parents, whose passive liberalism and back-room moralizing embody a suburban political class that confuses management with justice. Patty’s arc—from traumatized adolescence through adultery, addiction, and eventual self-recognition—is the novel’s emotional backbone, and by the end, I found her hard-won clarity deeply affecting. Franzen’s use of embedded autobiography feels less like a story-within-a-story than a shifting lens that grants intimacy while preserving distance. For all its indulgences and underwritten characters, Freedom ultimately succeeds as a bleak, funny, and humane dismantling of the American Dream, particularly its suburban variant.
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian is fearless in its style and ambition, pulling the reader in through untagged dialogue, archaic diction, and relentless violence that demands active participation rather than passive consumption. McCarthy trusts—and respects—his audience enough to challenge them linguistically, formally, and morally, refusing to soften either the prose or the brutality it contains. The novel reads as a scathing indictment of American exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny, exposing a nation founded on profit-driven violence, racialized othering, and religious hypocrisy. Characters like the Kid, Glanton, and the Judge function less as fully rendered individuals than as embodiments of corrupted innocence, capitalism, and sanctioned evil. Disturbingly, the world McCarthy depicts feels less historical than prophetic, mapping cleanly onto a contemporary America that continues to outsource violence while insisting on its own righteousness.
BOOKS I TRIED, BUT DIDN’T LOVE, BUT MAYBE THAT WAS PREDICTABLE
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is undeniably beautiful, but for me, its 242 pages of unrelenting sadness become exhausting rather than illuminating. Vuong’s poet’s voice—ornate, breathy, and persistently mournful—overwhelms the novel’s few moments of humor or narrative propulsion, turning beauty into spectacle rather than engagement. I admire the precision of the language and understand why the book has been widely celebrated, but I remain unconvinced by its choice of fiction over memoir or by its narrow emotional register. In the end, I don’t think I’m the audience for a novel so committed to bleakness without playfulness, ambition, or tonal risk.
Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay
I came to Russian Winter with real bias—a story for another day—and the novel never managed to overcome it. I didn’t trust the narrator, didn’t care about the jewelry, and couldn’t believe a media frenzy around a Russian ballerina’s auction, which made the world of the book feel fundamentally implausible to me. While I appreciated the braided structure and occasional shifts away from Nina—especially into Drew’s and Grigori’s sections—the pacing felt indulgent and in need of firmer editorial restraint. The artifacts meant to carry emotional weight were too easily dismissed as symbols of wealth, limiting my ability to form attachment or empathy. I can see how the novel’s meditative slowness and redemptive arcs might work for other readers, but for me, the distance—cultural, emotional, and narrative—never closed.
PODCASTS I LIKED
WTF
I miss Maron terribly. His surprise sunsetting of WTF is a void in my life that will never be filled. That’s not hyperbole. Maron has helped me in ways he’ll never know. We’ll always have the archives.
The Dollop
This has been my WTF replacement. Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds’ hilarious history podcast is more than just laughs and facts; it’s a journey through the downfall of Western civilisation.
HDTGM
I’m the Jason of my group. #teamfred
PODCASTS I DON’T FUCKING CARE FOR EVEN IF I’VE NEVER LISTENED TO SOME OF THEM
Smartless
Dudes are selling smartphone plans. Fuck off.
Joe Rogan
That the fifth lead from News Radio has the ear of incels coast to coast is beyond problematic. Is it a war crime? Someone put Rogan and Maher on a desert island, please.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
I’ve never listened, but do we need this?
Conan
Can’t these rich fucks leave the podcast world to the outsiders as the medium intended?
Everything Barstool
The Maxim magazine of podcasts.
The Ringer
I loved Grantland. What The Ringer has become, a bro clubhouse for Simmonites, is sad.
Okay, let’s go do 2026.