Friends

A blogroll, in the old sense. I built this list by counting which newsletters actually show up in my inbox; that turns out to be a decent proxy for whose thinking I keep choosing. Some of these people I know, and the rest have no idea who I am. Inspired by slashfriends.org.

• Rick WilsonAgainst All Enemies

  He made Republican campaign ads for a living. He now writes daily politics against that party.

• Matt KiserWhat The Fuck Just Happened Today?

  One post a day, seven numbered items, every one sourced. He has done it since 2017. I still find that hard to believe.

• Kylie BodiyaThe Quirky Mouse

  Her Disney shirts and art prints go for deep cuts rather than character faces, and she writes about running the business as openly as she designs for it.

• Casey NewtonPlatformer

  He left a big publication to report on AI and the social platforms independently.

• Matthew HaugheyA Whole Lotta Nothing

  He built MetaFilter and has been posting here since 1999. Projects, places, and useful obsessions: woodworking, bikes, home automation.

• Mike MonteiroMike Monteiro's Good News

  A designer with strong opinions about what designers owe people. He answers one reader question a week, and only when he thinks he can answer it well.

• Joanna SternThe New Things

  Foldables, doorbell cameras, whatever Apple just shipped, and she is funny about all of it.

• Julia Evansjvns.ca

  Explains how computer things work: DNS, git, the shell. She never assumes you already knew. Her Wizard Zines are the illustrated version.

  Also: Wizard Zines

• Josh Barro and Ken WhiteSerious Trouble

  An irreverent podcast about the law, in which a defense lawyer explains why the case you read about is not the case you think it is.

• Cassidy Williamscassidoo.co

  Developer advocacy at GitHub, plus a weekly newsletter with an interview question in it. A lot of the memes in my feed start here.

• Georgia DunnBreaking Cat News

  Her actual cats, reimagined as a news crew reporting on their own house. The strip is syndicated.

• Hollie SickFueledbyLOLZ

  She has run and laughed through the Golden State since 2010. Over 150 pairs of running shoes reviewed, a book about how to pick them, and the rest is race recaps and diner reviews.

• Dan HonThings That Caught My Attention

  Technology, government, and design, tangled up with ADHD and fatherhood and being an immigrant here. He started in 2014 and is past a million words.

• j.b. crawfordcomputers are bad

  He writes the history of the computer and telecom industry to explain why computers are the way they are, and he is fond of its stranger bit players.

• Ana Marie Coxanamariecox.com

  Founded Wonkette, spent two decades in political media, and now writes about craft and runs workshops on it.

• Patrick WardleObjective-See

  Free, open-source Mac security tools, plus malware analysis written up in detail. If you run a Mac, install a few of these.

• Amelia Booneameliabooneracing.com

  Obstacle racing champion, ultrarunner, attorney. She writes about injury, recovery, and getting older with more candor than the genre usually allows. Night Owl Studio built this site.

• Patrick McKenzieBits about Money

  Monthly essays on how financial infrastructure works underneath the app: card networks, fraud, the plumbing nobody explains.