Compost #11

A January 2026 mix of consumption and creation

Nothing that any of us makes or achieves happens without community.
—Maggie Smith, Dear Writer

Hi all. I’m re-booting The Compost newsletters as a monthly mix of what I’m consuming and what I’m creating. I hope they’ll be of interest or use to you.

Consuming

Podcasts & Newsletters

Tressie McMillan Cottom on We Can Do Hard Things. A great, rambling conversation about the power of creativity and intimacy to fight authoritarianism.

George Saunders on The Daily. What a charmer! I loved “Specificity negates judgement”, referring to the work that character detail can do towards producing empathy for an antihero. Also, in response to the question, Are you trying to work through something about death?, “I’m just so happy it’s not going to happen to me.” And, a point he got from Chekhov, “a work of art doesn’t have to solve a problem — it just has to formulate it correctly.”

Capitalism series on Scene on Radio. I am still on episode 5, but have found it hugely informative so far.

Bethann Garramon Merkle on Culture Study. A dynamic, thought-provoking discussion of science writing and science communication. I have a few disagreements with Bethann about the job of scientists in popular scicomm (more on this another time), but this rang devastatingly true: “Telling someone ‘read a few papers and write like that’ is not a viable instructional strategy.”

Liz Neeley’s Meeting the Moment. High-level thinking and contextualization of current conditions for US scientists. Every week I look forward to Liz’s relentlessly honest, thoughtful, ethical and strategic content.

Unbreaking’s This Week at Unbreaking. Updates on the effect of the current administration on a range of issues. Check out our website for carefully referenced explanations and timelines of attacks on medical research funding, medicaid, immigration, and many other topics.

Matt Moberg in Sojourners. An interview with the team chaplain for the Minnesota Wolverines. Check out his Instagram post: “Peace isn’t what you ask for when the boot is already on someone’s neck. Peace is what the powerful ask for when they don’t want to be interrupted.”

WTF does invasive plant even mean? A great discussion of the difficulties in studying a topic that uses human metaphor instead of biological definitions.

Mutating the medium. A story—including wonderful images—about Dr. Nick Desnoyer, a transgenic flower designer I’ve been following ever since he was applying to graduate schools!

Books

Brooklyn & Long Island by Colm Tóibín. At his Literary Arts lecture this month, Tóibín talked about the delicate power of place and home, the rosy glow of hindsight, “the incredible memory you have for the summer in Ireland, even though there’s no evidence of one.”

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino. A fun thriller that really picks up the pace at the end.

Everyday Sisu by Katja Pantzar. A little classist and definitely repetitive, but worth a skim to remind myself about the importance of getting out of my head and into nature or a cold plunge!

Why Christians Should Be Leftists by Phil Christman. Definitely worth checking out if you are interested in the topic. It’s conversational and academic at the same time.

Movies

Sinners, Marty Supreme, Bugonia, and I’d Kick You if I Had Legs were all amazing in their own ways. I loved how many of these movies had ambiguous endings!

Speaking of endings, Come See Me in the Good Light, a documentary about the late poet Andrea Gibson was—as the title promises—an unexpectedly uplifting account of how they responded to terminal cancer. Thank you for the recommendation, JN.

Creating

Reflection

I started 2025 frustrated at the ineptitude and decrepitude of our elected representatives. Since then, the Oregon AG Dan Rayfield and Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have done some solid work. Others, especially in House and Senate leadership, have been supremely disappointing. However, I’ve realized that the way forward at this moment is not to push our reps to get going and start leading us—but for us to lead and to pull them along. The good folks of Minneapolis—and everything I’ve seen so far in Portland— has shown me that we can stand up, protect each other, and our elected “leaders” will either follow or be replaced. No more waiting for others to act, the power is in the people.

Writing

I haven’t had the most productive start to the year, but I did post a few weeks ago (Toward a Language of the Mind). My goal in 2026 is to get more work out of Scrivener and into the world.

Other

We (it took all three of us to get all the timing right) made this cheese souffle recipe for my sister-in-law’s family and I was SO PROUD that it turned out. I really wish I’d taken a photo because you would be impressed.

I am knitting this sweater for the second time. The first one turned out great, but I put it in the dryer to tighten it up a bit after a wash, forgot, and came back to a piece that wouldn’t even fit the cat! Devastating. This time I’m making it in black.

One of my 2026 goals is to take a nature photo every day. I got close in January (see below). Knowing that I needed to get out outside every day made me check out local walking paths and parks while I’m running errands and got me around the block on a few rainy days. I am so lucky to live in Portland.

I’d be so interested to hear what you think of any of this, or if you have any recommendations yourself, so reach out in the discussion or by return email!