One writer sat silently on stage for an hour at the Hay Festival because lawyers admonished her not to speak.
Sarah Wynn-Williams's silence echoes a larger threat: a Trump administration proposal that could impose years-long gag orders on federal employees. roncharles.substack.com/p/keep-your-...
Ben Fountain has written a satire so absurd it keeps bumping into America's bonkers political reality.
My review of “Rasputin Swims the Potomac”: roncharles.substack.com/p/ben-founta...
Maggie O’Farrell’s “Land” opens in Ireland in 1865, in the stunned silence after the Great Hunger.
It’s a rich, uncanny novel about grief, memory, and the mysteries buried in the soil.
My review: roncharles.substack.com/p/in-maggie-...
Ann Patchett's "Whistler" is a story of reconciliation, old affections renewed, and a family's circumference enlarged.
My review: roncharles.substack.com/p/ann-patche...
Had a great time this morning on @the1a.org talking about new books for summer: the1a.org/segments/ron...
Corporations perfected the art of silencing critics. Now the White House wants in.
roncharles.substack.com
A hypnotic wrestler joins forces with the president in “Rasputin Swims the Potomac”
roncharles.substack.com
Set after the Great Hunger, “Land” follows one Irish family through grief, migration, and mysteries buried beneath the soil.
Scams are as old as time.
AI is about to make them terrifyingly good.
Today’s newsletter:
roncharles.substack.com/p/of-course-...
Not the Onion!
“Does Florida Have an Affordability Problem? We Asked Sen. Rick Scott”
www.wsj.com/us-news/does...
American leaders are growing increasingly hostile to dissent — which makes "Protest: Respect It. Defend It. Use It." feel especially urgent.
Today’s newsletter is about the long, vivid history of people who refused to be quiet.
roncharles.substack.com/p/the-right-...
The less evidence there is, the more convincing some people find a conspiracy theory.
Two fascinating new books on belief, evidence, and the strange appeal of certainty.
roncharles.substack.com/p/so-true-it...
