Shows
Article Club#506: Transitional PeriodHi there, Loyal Readers. Before launching into today’s issue, I’ve got three updates:* A big welcome to all the new subscribers from The Electric Typewriter. Thank you for trying out Article Club! I’ve been following TEW for 10+ years. It’s a great curated resource of outstanding articles. * This week on the podcast, Melinda and I chat about her foster puppy, Melinda’s Grief Corner, and our first impressions of this month’s article of the month, “They Burn Books to Burn Us Too,” by Saint Trey W. Hope you take a listen.* Speaking...2025-08-0719 min
Article Club#501: The End of ChildrenDear Article Clubbers,Thank you for the kind birthday wishes last week. It’s true that our reading community is 10 years old. And we’re just getting started!Just like that, we’re in July, which means this week’s issue is dedicated to featuring the article of the month and encouraging you to join our discussion.I’m happy to announce that this month, we’re going to be diving into “The End of Children,” by Gideon Lewis-Kraus. Published in February in The New Yorker, the article explores the imminent stark drop in population ar...2025-07-0324 min
Article ClubGrief Terrible TwosHi everyone! It’s Melinda. Welcome to Melinda’s Grief Corner! MGC comes out twice a month on Sundays. If this is your first time here, be sure to check out past posts to learn more about the inspiration behind this new Article Club feature and read about other grief-y topics I’ve covered with resources I’ve shared! Glad to have you here!I was told by some that the first year of grief was hard because getting through each milestone would be awful. And that was definitely true. There’s an unknown to the first year of lo...2025-05-0405 min
Article ClubBut why am I SO exhausted?Hi everyone! It’s Melinda. Welcome to Melinda’s Grief Corner! If this is your first time here, be sure to check out past posts to learn more about the inspiration behind this new Article Club feature and read about other grief-y topics I’ve covered with resources I’ve shared! Glad to have you here!The emotional part of grief is something you can kind of understand before you’re ever on a grief journey. We see it in movies, read about it in books, we listen to grief-y lyrics in songs - longing, sadness, pain, heartache...2025-04-2003 min
Article Club#490: “It Is An Opportunity That Comes With Risks”Hi Loyal Readers. I have two pieces of good news to begin this week’s newsletter:* Many of you reached out after last week’s issue to say kind things. Thank you.* Several of you signed up for our discussion of “The Egg” on April 27That’s what Article Club is all about. We’re a kind, thoughtful community that likes to read and discuss the best articles on race, education, and culture. Whether you’re a new or not-so-new subscriber, thank you for being here.Over the last 5 ½ years, one consistent feat...2025-04-1721 min
Article ClubGuarding Our GriefHi everyone! It’s Melinda. Welcome to Melinda’s Grief Corner! If this is your first time here, be sure to check out my intro post to learn more about the inspiration behind this new Article Club feature and what to expect from this series! Glad to have you here!Right after my dad died, I couldn’t stop talking about it. I’m a verbal processor (how predictable, I know!) and all I wanted to do was to work this out with the people in my life. I almost needed to talk about it, like if I didn’t...2025-04-0602 min
Article ClubGrief, Growth, and GoogleHi everyone! It’s Melinda. Welcome to Melinda’s Grief Corner! If this is your first time here, be sure to check out my intro post to learn more about the inspiration behind this new Article Club feature and what to expect from this series! Glad to have you here!In the early days (I guess it’s still early days? Time is stupid) after my dad’s death, I kept thinking that grief was the only thing I could feel. That my body had absolutely no capacity for anything that wasn’t the smorgasbord of grief-y feelings.2025-03-2302 min
Article ClubMelinda’s Grief CornerHi, Mark here! In case you missed Thursday’s issue, I’m very excited to announce a new feature at Article Club. It’s called Melinda’s Grief Corner. As some of you know, Melinda and I co-host a podcast in which we preview the article of the month. Now she will be sharing her reflections on grief, as well as a resource, for everyone who is interested. I’m looking forward to it, and I’m confident you’ll find the corner illuminating and supportive. The first installment is here below. Take it away, Melinda!One year ago, on M...2025-03-0903 min
Article Club#483: A Regular Guy, RadicalizedWelcome back, loyal readers. First off, we had another strong week, with 18 new subscribers joining, thanks to Sunday, Sarah, Gotelé, Loque, Coree, Claire, Elizabeth, Lauren, Marina, Imma, Patricia, Beth, Mahesh, Olga, Heriberto, Leer, and Melissa. Thank you for trying Article Club, and I hope you like it here.This week’s issue is dedicated to our article of the month. For all of you who are interested, we’ll be reading, annotating, and discussing “Radicalized,” by Cory Doctorow. You’ll learn more about the piece below, but here are a few tidbits:* It’s a fictional nov...2025-02-2730 min
Article Club#480: After All ThisDear Readers,First things first: Let’s welcome our 51 new subscribers Violet, Rae, Olga, Taylor, Joyce, Sogo, Emily, Callie, Angelina, Peter, Tya, Emily, Natalie, Christine, Heather, Mary, Hannah, Marie-Pierre, Kristy, Fernanda, Maurtini, Helen, Angelina, Colette, Ronald, Courtney, Kelley, Jaymi, Katy, Steph, Deborah, Cathy, Christina, Brenna, Megan, Jacki, Alina, Cynthia, Caryn, Brittany, Nimi, Katie, Shell, Jamie, Candice, Samuel, Leslie, and Stephanie. New subscribers, I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. Welcome to Article Club. Make yourself at home. 🏠A big thank you goes to Katy O., who writes The Mindful Libra...2025-02-0614 min
Article ClubReflection and gratitudeDear Loyal Readers,Hope you’re having a relaxing (and reading-heavy) end of the year.I’ll be back next Thursday to reveal our January article of the month. It’s going to be a good one, and I urge you to join our discussion.Until then, I welcome you to listen to Article Club’s first-ever end-of-year podcast reflection episode, in which Melinda and I discuss some highlights from 2023 and what’s coming up in the new year.Among other things, we chat about:* our favorite articles of the year...2023-12-2922 min
Article Club#415: “How do you take in the harm that you‘ve caused?”Welcome, new subscribers, and welcome back, loyal readers! I’m happy you’re here.Today’s issue is dedicated to an interview with Dashka Slater, the author of “The Instagram Account that Shattered a California High School,” October’s article of the month.Originally published in The New York Times Magazine in August, the piece explores a racist social media account created at a Bay Area high school in 2017 and its repercussions on young people and their community. The piece also raises the question: What does accountability really mean?If you haven’t read it yet, I...2023-10-1224 min
Article Club#407: “I Don‘t Find Despair Useful”Welcome, new subscribers, and welcome back, loyal readers! I’m happy you’re here.Today’s issue is dedicated to an interview with Matthew Desmond, the author of “Why Poverty Persists in America,” August’s article of the month.Originally published in The New York Times Magazine in April, the piece is an excerpt from Prof. Desmond’s bestselling book, Poverty, by America. If you haven’t read it yet, I urge you to do so — and join our discussion on August 27, if you’re moved.Fellow Article Clubber Melinda and I got a chance to intervie...2023-08-1722 min
Article Club#391: It’s almost May! This month, let’s read and discuss “Why Is Affirmative Action In Peril?”Happy Thursday and happy almost-May, loyal readers. I’m very happy to announce that this upcoming month, we’ll be reading and discussing “Why Is Affirmative Action In Peril?” by Emily Bazelon. You may know that the Supreme Court will be ruling on two affirmative action cases in June. It’s a big deal, given the current composition of the Court. Unless one of the conservative justices changes their mind, affirmative action might be dead.I deeply appreciated Ms. Bazelon’s article because she offers context for the upcoming decisions. Instead of discussing the current cases in det...2023-04-2726 min
Article ClubAn interview with Article Clubber Melinda on “The Sunset,” this month’s selectionDear Loyal Readers,I’m coming to you on a Monday with a bonus episode of the podcast. This is because many of you said “we want more!” after listening to a conversation I had with fellow Article Clubber Melinda last month.So I asked Melinda, “Want to do it again?” And she generously said yes! ⭐️Melinda’s an activist, lawyer, and cat mom living in Washington, D.C. A lover of many genres, from memoir to fantasy novels, she’s normally reading several things at once and hunting for her next read at her favorite loc...2023-04-1720 min
Article Club#381: An interview with Naomi Gordon-Loebl, author of “Saying Goodbye to My Chest”Happy Thursday, loyal readers. Great to see so many new subscribers here this week. Welcome to our kind and thoughtful reading community. Hope you like it here.This month at Article Club, we’ve been focusing on “Saying Goodbye to my Chest,” by Naomi Gordon-Loebl. If you haven’t read the article yet, I encourage you to do so. In the essay, Gordon-Loebl poignantly and vulnerably discusses her upcoming top surgery. It’s outstanding.Also: I hope you’ll join us to discuss the article on Sunday, February 26, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT on Zoom. There’s still time to...2023-02-1624 min