Marla Lepore
@marlaink.bsky.social
Nashville-based writer/compulsive editor. I write the Muck Rack Daily newsletter. Essays in North American Review, Hippocampus, Points in Case, Sky Island Journal, plus others. Usually covered in dog and/or cat hair.
Pinned
Marla Lepore
@marlaink.bsky.social
· Oct 4
Our newest issue is out now!! Find it online here: northamericanreview.org/magazine
Thrilled to have my essay published in the fall issue of North American Review! "Real People" is an ode to inventing yourself and realizing the power of not "fitting in," featuring Fiorucci, Klaus Nomi, Richard Hell, David Bowie, the new wave, and seventh grade villains and allies.
handy round-up of journalism job openings shared on the other place
open.substack.com/pub/deezlink...
open.substack.com/pub/deezlink...
a list of journalism job openings for Posties & anyone looking
Turns out that Twitter is still good for something...
open.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 9:54 PM
handy round-up of journalism job openings shared on the other place
open.substack.com/pub/deezlink...
open.substack.com/pub/deezlink...
"Home said Davis’s description of limestone’s properties and the challenge of tunneling through rock of varying hardness was divorced from reality. Boring’s public assertions about how tunneling machines work in conditions like Nashville’s are 'definitely not true,' he said." ah details
Elon Musk’s Nashville Tunneling Venture Has the Mayor Hoping No One Dies
The Boring Co. is about to embark on its most ambitious tunneling project yet, but critics worry the company is woefully underprepared.
www.bloomberg.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:47 PM
"Home said Davis’s description of limestone’s properties and the challenge of tunneling through rock of varying hardness was divorced from reality. Boring’s public assertions about how tunneling machines work in conditions like Nashville’s are 'definitely not true,' he said." ah details
"cowardly, plain and simple."
"I want country music to stop being a punchline, to be better understood and to be worth understanding — that's a big reason why we have this newsletter."
@natalieweiner.bsky.social killed it this week on, yes, Jelly Roll
www.dontrocktheinbox.com/im-a-dumb-re...
@natalieweiner.bsky.social killed it this week on, yes, Jelly Roll
www.dontrocktheinbox.com/im-a-dumb-re...
"I'm A Dumb Redneck": Jelly Roll's Cop Out and Nashville's Imagined Norm
Imagine if we could go two weeks in this newsletter without having to reckon with some country/politics foolishness. Imagine if people like Jelly Roll and Kid Rock would just shut up and sing!! I jest...
www.dontrocktheinbox.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:41 PM
"cowardly, plain and simple."
Five classes you took in college
Early Modern Family in Europe
Shakespeare's Histories and Comedies
Introduction to Opera
Introduction to Astronomy (barely went, regretted that later!)
English Lit Seminar - Icelandic sagas!
Early Modern Family in Europe
Shakespeare's Histories and Comedies
Introduction to Opera
Introduction to Astronomy (barely went, regretted that later!)
English Lit Seminar - Icelandic sagas!
Five classes you took in college
The Supreme Court and Religious Issues
History and Philosophy of Photography
Seminar on John dos Passos USA Trilogy
20th Century Modernist Poetry
Literatures of Utopia
The Supreme Court and Religious Issues
History and Philosophy of Photography
Seminar on John dos Passos USA Trilogy
20th Century Modernist Poetry
Literatures of Utopia
History of Judaic Thought
Ultimate Questions
Intro to Photography
Toni Morrison Seminar
Words
Ultimate Questions
Intro to Photography
Toni Morrison Seminar
Words
January 31, 2026 at 12:50 AM
Five classes you took in college
Early Modern Family in Europe
Shakespeare's Histories and Comedies
Introduction to Opera
Introduction to Astronomy (barely went, regretted that later!)
English Lit Seminar - Icelandic sagas!
Early Modern Family in Europe
Shakespeare's Histories and Comedies
Introduction to Opera
Introduction to Astronomy (barely went, regretted that later!)
English Lit Seminar - Icelandic sagas!
I found some weird hope in this realization, too (re: the Sy Hersh Netflix doc): "we are not some perfect country that has recently fallen from grace ... forever, certain people have been trying to drag the whole shebang into the light. That—those people, with a hope of something better—is real."
The Two-Sentence Outline that Defines the Form: An Interview with George Saunders - The Rumpus
“Usually, I try to make things as brief as I can (my model is one of those wind-up toys and I wind it up and drop it on the floor and it races right under the couch. The end). But with this, and with ...
therumpus.net
January 28, 2026 at 5:52 PM
I found some weird hope in this realization, too (re: the Sy Hersh Netflix doc): "we are not some perfect country that has recently fallen from grace ... forever, certain people have been trying to drag the whole shebang into the light. That—those people, with a hope of something better—is real."
Reposted by Marla Lepore
UPDATE: Nashville adds transportation service to reach warming centers.
wpln.org/post/where-t...
wpln.org/post/where-t...
Where to find warming locations in Nashville
In a rare move signaling the major impact of the winter storm, Metro has opened cold weather warming locations across Nashville. The Nashville Fire
wpln.org
January 26, 2026 at 11:32 PM
UPDATE: Nashville adds transportation service to reach warming centers.
wpln.org/post/where-t...
wpln.org/post/where-t...
The News Is Bad but Also the News the News Is on Is Bad www.indignity.net/mr-wrong-thats-the-way-it-is/
MR WRONG: That's the way it is.
Indignity Vol. 6, No. 4
www.indignity.net
January 16, 2026 at 4:54 AM
The News Is Bad but Also the News the News Is on Is Bad www.indignity.net/mr-wrong-thats-the-way-it-is/
Reposted by Marla Lepore
Fame, the hunger for knowledge, the desire to shape history, to see the truth and to tell the truth: the dimensions of ambition are vast and contradictory
If you're a journalist and/or read journalism: @katz.theracket.news at @flaminghydra.com. So good.
Free to read:
flaminghydra.com/issue-481/
If you're a journalist and/or read journalism: @katz.theracket.news at @flaminghydra.com. So good.
Free to read:
flaminghydra.com/issue-481/
Fortunate man / Despairing diversion
Jonathan M. Katz on journalistic ambition, and meme master Tom Tomorrow
flaminghydra.com
January 15, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Fame, the hunger for knowledge, the desire to shape history, to see the truth and to tell the truth: the dimensions of ambition are vast and contradictory
If you're a journalist and/or read journalism: @katz.theracket.news at @flaminghydra.com. So good.
Free to read:
flaminghydra.com/issue-481/
If you're a journalist and/or read journalism: @katz.theracket.news at @flaminghydra.com. So good.
Free to read:
flaminghydra.com/issue-481/
Reposted by Marla Lepore
#MusicChallenge
#70sTop30
13. Eventually more of a novelist/poet/essayist than a musician, but gave us some classics, none more so than this.
youtu.be/v9FkQLjOSZ8?...
#70sTop30
13. Eventually more of a novelist/poet/essayist than a musician, but gave us some classics, none more so than this.
youtu.be/v9FkQLjOSZ8?...
Blank Generation (2017 Remaster Audio) (Remastered)
YouTube video by Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Topic
youtu.be
January 13, 2026 at 3:52 PM
#MusicChallenge
#70sTop30
13. Eventually more of a novelist/poet/essayist than a musician, but gave us some classics, none more so than this.
youtu.be/v9FkQLjOSZ8?...
#70sTop30
13. Eventually more of a novelist/poet/essayist than a musician, but gave us some classics, none more so than this.
youtu.be/v9FkQLjOSZ8?...
"David [Bowie]'s friendship was the light of my life. I never met such a brilliant person. He was the best there is.” 🖤
faroutmagazine.co.uk/musician-igg...?
faroutmagazine.co.uk/musician-igg...?
The one musician Iggy Pop called "the light of my life"
Iggy Pop was operating on his own frequency throughout the 1970s. That was until he met one musician who became somewhat of a brother.
faroutmagazine.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 8:14 PM
"David [Bowie]'s friendship was the light of my life. I never met such a brilliant person. He was the best there is.” 🖤
faroutmagazine.co.uk/musician-igg...?
faroutmagazine.co.uk/musician-igg...?
Reposted by Marla Lepore
I’m ringing in the new year at @theatlantic.com with a big essay on the value of a challenging book, my yearly reading resolutions, and Helen Dewitt’s long-awaited Your Name Here www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
The Benefits of Reading a ‘Hard’ Book
The true pleasure of literature can be found in bizarre, demanding works such as Your Name Here, by Helen DeWitt and Ilya Gridneff.
www.theatlantic.com
January 1, 2026 at 4:28 PM
I’m ringing in the new year at @theatlantic.com with a big essay on the value of a challenging book, my yearly reading resolutions, and Helen Dewitt’s long-awaited Your Name Here www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
“You should know that there is little you can seek in this world, that there is no need for you to be so greedy, in the end all you can achieve are memories, hazy, intangible, dreamlike memories which are impossible to articulate...” - Nobel prize winner Gao Xingjian, born on this day
January 5, 2026 at 2:04 AM
“You should know that there is little you can seek in this world, that there is no need for you to be so greedy, in the end all you can achieve are memories, hazy, intangible, dreamlike memories which are impossible to articulate...” - Nobel prize winner Gao Xingjian, born on this day
Blackeyed peas and greens. If nothing else, 2026 started off with good eatin'
January 1, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Blackeyed peas and greens. If nothing else, 2026 started off with good eatin'
Reposted by Marla Lepore
Will be interesting to see who lionizes the five times convicted for inciting racial hatred Bardot. But hey, she loved animals.
www.lemonde.fr/en/obituarie...
www.lemonde.fr/en/obituarie...
Brigitte Bardot's 30 years of sympathy for the far right
Convicted five times for racist remarks, the actress – whose foundation announced her death on Sunday, December 28 – remained one of the only French celebrities to openly embrace far-right views.
www.lemonde.fr
December 28, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Will be interesting to see who lionizes the five times convicted for inciting racial hatred Bardot. But hey, she loved animals.
www.lemonde.fr/en/obituarie...
www.lemonde.fr/en/obituarie...
Goodtime Jesus
Jesus got up one day a little later than usual.
poets.org
December 25, 2025 at 1:30 AM
For the past several weeks, every time I've taken Lucy for a walk, we've had to pass this unsettling doll leg.
Also, Unsettling Doll Leg is the name of my new band
Also, Unsettling Doll Leg is the name of my new band
December 19, 2025 at 10:13 PM
For the past several weeks, every time I've taken Lucy for a walk, we've had to pass this unsettling doll leg.
Also, Unsettling Doll Leg is the name of my new band
Also, Unsettling Doll Leg is the name of my new band
A terrific essay. I still don't think I'm ready for Proust, but it's inspired me to put down the phone in the morning and pick back up where I left off in Anthony Powell's monumental "A Dance to the Music of Time."
This life gives you nothing
Your attention is all you have. Wasting it is annihilating. Blackbird Spyplane saves literacy in a monumental Year-End Essay.
open.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 8:25 PM
A terrific essay. I still don't think I'm ready for Proust, but it's inspired me to put down the phone in the morning and pick back up where I left off in Anthony Powell's monumental "A Dance to the Music of Time."
Once again appreciating People's refusal to sugarcoat things: “The Kennedy Center, a living memorial for murdered President John F. Kennedy ... opened as an interactive memorial for the late president, per Public Law 88-260, which explains why no other memorials are permitted within the center.”
The Kennedy Center, a Living Memorial to JFK, Is Renamed After Donald Trump
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the Kennedy Center board had unanimously voted to rename the living memorial for President John F. Kennedy after sitting President Donald Trump
people.com
December 18, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Once again appreciating People's refusal to sugarcoat things: “The Kennedy Center, a living memorial for murdered President John F. Kennedy ... opened as an interactive memorial for the late president, per Public Law 88-260, which explains why no other memorials are permitted within the center.”
Reposted by Marla Lepore
For over a year I’ve been gathering documents from the Washington state department of archaeology, trying to understand why it’s so hard for tribal nations to protect their cultural heritage, even when the state archaeologist is trying to help. Here's what I found.
www.hcn.org/articles/was...
www.hcn.org/articles/was...
Washington approves over 99% of archaeological permits, records show - High Country News
As tribes struggle to protect their heritage, the nation’s leading state archaeologist says she lacks the authority to to stop development projects.
www.hcn.org
December 16, 2025 at 5:21 PM
For over a year I’ve been gathering documents from the Washington state department of archaeology, trying to understand why it’s so hard for tribal nations to protect their cultural heritage, even when the state archaeologist is trying to help. Here's what I found.
www.hcn.org/articles/was...
www.hcn.org/articles/was...
"It’s not just that he made so many great films; it’s that, in multiple genres, he made the film, the standard of its type against which others will forever be compared ... Reiner basically remade the romantic comedy in his own laughing, neurotic, incomparably Jewish image."
Love story / Green day
Rax King remembers Rob Reiner; the metamorphosis of Amy Chu
flaminghydra.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:26 AM
"It’s not just that he made so many great films; it’s that, in multiple genres, he made the film, the standard of its type against which others will forever be compared ... Reiner basically remade the romantic comedy in his own laughing, neurotic, incomparably Jewish image."
Reposted by Marla Lepore
The overuse of delve (until recently one of my favorite words) by AI is likely because it was disproportionately trained on Nigerian English.
One of the very many great nuggets in this piece:
Why Does AI Write Like... That
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...
One of the very many great nuggets in this piece:
Why Does AI Write Like... That
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...
December 3, 2025 at 8:52 PM
The overuse of delve (until recently one of my favorite words) by AI is likely because it was disproportionately trained on Nigerian English.
One of the very many great nuggets in this piece:
Why Does AI Write Like... That
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...
One of the very many great nuggets in this piece:
Why Does AI Write Like... That
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...
Reposted by Marla Lepore
you know a lot of very dumb people like to point at weird-shaped districts (like IL's 'earmuffs' VRA district) and yell 'gerrymandering' but TN-07 is a perfect example of what to actually look for when you see its relationship to Nashville
December 3, 2025 at 12:53 AM
you know a lot of very dumb people like to point at weird-shaped districts (like IL's 'earmuffs' VRA district) and yell 'gerrymandering' but TN-07 is a perfect example of what to actually look for when you see its relationship to Nashville
It's always a good day to shop indie, and it's always a good day to buy some books (or a gift card for a book!). If you need some recommendations beyond the same old-same old, check out my store on @bookshop.org. I promise there will be at least one you've never heard of!
bookshop.org/shop/marlaink
bookshop.org/shop/marlaink
Marla Ink Bookshop
Marla Lepore (aka Marla Ink) is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tenn. She writes the Muck Rack Daily newsletter, a digest of media news, longreads, and trending stories, and previously wrote for WNYC...
bookshop.org
December 1, 2025 at 5:43 PM
It's always a good day to shop indie, and it's always a good day to buy some books (or a gift card for a book!). If you need some recommendations beyond the same old-same old, check out my store on @bookshop.org. I promise there will be at least one you've never heard of!
bookshop.org/shop/marlaink
bookshop.org/shop/marlaink