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The Story of Writing

@sownow.bsky.social

1.1K followers 1.6K following 2.6K posts

A daily podcast about writing and writers that changed things, like minds, the world, etc. https://storyofwriting.com

storyofwriting.com

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · May 15

The Story of Writing podcast rules:

-Talk about writers and writing that made the world better
-Every episode should include women and people of color
-Feminism is equality for all
-Stay woke
-Encourage reading
-Respect short attention spans
-Find joy and share it
#BookSky #History #OTD #Authors

Story of Writing

storyofwriting.com

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1h

Horrifically true. Our species is violent and predatory.

I wonder if we'll ever find a way past it.

Reposted by The Story of Writing

Real Blue Patriot @realbluepatriot.bsky.social · 12h

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 3h

Writing about scenes of devastation during World War One, a war correspondent sees the peaceful before times in the rubble:

As I looked from the train windows, I soon discovered that I had entered now into the very heart of German ruin and pillage and destructiveness. Pangs of horror attacked me at the sight of those blackened roofless houses, standing lonely and deserted among green, thriving fields. I saw one little farm after another reduced to a heap of blackened ashes, with some lonely animals gazing terrified into space. Sometimes just one wall would be standing of what was once a home, sometimes only the front of the house had been blown out by shells, and you could see right inside,—see the rooms spread out before you like a panorama, see the children's toys and frocks lying about, and the pots and pans, even the remains of dinner still on the table, and all the homely little things that made you feel so intensely the difference between this chill, deathly desolation and the happy domestic life that had gone on in such peaceful streams before the Huns set their faces toward Belgium.

–Louise Mack, A Woman's Experiences in the Great War, 1915

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 3h

It's the birthday of the musician who sang,
“There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes. Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose.”

Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and part bard, part jester for the confused and dispossessed everyguy, John Prine was born on this day in 1946.
#MusicSky #BOTD

A black-and-white photo portrait of John Prine, 1975.
Photo credit: Tom Hill | WireImage
Image source: Pitchfork

The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 3h

It is the birthday of the novelist who wrote,
“Surprising yourself is a big thing for me—to go somewhere that I don’t even know I’m going.”

Lily Tuck was born on this day in 1938. Her book "The News from Paraguay" won the 2004 National Book Award for Fiction.
#WriterSky #BookSky #BOTD

A b/w photo portrait of Lily Tuck, dressed in floral-printed robes and sitting on a chair.
Photo credit: Marion Ettlinger
Image source: Getty Images

The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 3h

It is the birthday of the dramatist who wrote,
“It’s very difficult to feel contempt for others when you see yourself in the mirror.”
English playwright and Nobel laureate Harold Pinter was born on this day in 1930.
#WriterSky #BookSky #Drama #History #BOTD

He was awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature for his work that, in the words of the Nobel committee, “uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms.”

The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 3h

It is the birthday in 1870 of Australian journalist and poet Louise Mack. She wrote novels, poetry, and was one of the first women war reporters. Mack sent dispatches to Australian newspapers from the front lines of World War One.
#WriterSky #BookSky #Journalist #History #BOTD

A b/w photo portrait of Louis Mack, circa 1890

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Reposted by The Story of Writing

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 5h

Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - her incredible optimism has already changed her country. I spoke to her, and wrote about her, at the beginning of this year:
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The ‘Anthropological Change’ Happening in Venezuela

Maduro is still in place, but a pro-democracy movement is transforming the beleaguered country.

www.theatlantic.com

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 4h

On this day in 1973, Spiro Agnew resigned as U.S. vice president. An investigation found evidence that he took bribes and kickbacks while working in Maryland state government, during his term as Governor, and when he was Vice President of the U.S. under Richard Nixon.
#History #OTD #Corruption

Soon after Agnew’s resignation, he was disbarred as an attorney and became a business consultant to clients including the murderous dictators Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Nicolae Ceaușescu of Romania. In 1980, Agnew turned to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia for financial support. In exchange for Saudi money, Agnew promised to launch a fact-free, antiSemitic campaign against Jewish people.
Around this time, Maryland called on Agnew to repay the state more than $250,000 for the bribes he took as a public employee. Agnew appealed the ruling, twice, before finally paying back the state in 1983. A few years later, Agnew asked if his repayment of the bribes could be treated as tax-deductible. That request was denied.

Spiro Agnew was, “a flat-out, knee-crawling thug with the morals of a weasel on speed.”

–Hunter S. Thompson

A drawn comic of Apiro Agnew
Source: Cartoon Stock

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 18h

Want.

Photo of a man wearing a t-shirt that reads:
I was going to be a trump voter for halloween but my head wouldn't fit up my ass

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 19h

I love this!
And I love the Cornish way of working and having tea.
Though I suggest you increase tea time and work much less.

The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 19h

New York is doing its fall thing again.

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

Happy Birthday!

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

I know.
The world is devastating right now.
But so is this, and it's art.
I love both.
(Maybe we can still love the devastated - even as we resist devastation?)

“She said she knew we were safe with you, and always would be, because once, when she asked you to, you'd given up the thing you most wanted.”

Archer received this strange communication in silence. His eyes remained unseeingly fixed on the thronged sunlit square below the window.

At length he said in a low voice: “She never asked me.”

–Edith Wharton, "The Age of Innocence," 1920

The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

It is the birthday of the musician who sang, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you will join us. And the world will live as one.” English singer-songwriter and guitarist John Lennon was born on this day in 1940.
#MusicSky #WriterSky #Beatles #BOTD

He was a co-founder of The Beatles and helped shape the band as one of the most successful and influential groups in the history of pop music.

A color photo of John Lennon. He's wearing a jacket that has a sign on it which reads, "People for Peace.
Source: Biography

The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

On this day in 2012, members of the Taliban in Pakistan tried to assassinate Malala Yousafzai. They were enraged that a 15-year-old schoolgirl would speak out for the right of girls to receive an education.
#History #OTD #NobelPrize #Activism #Education

The Taliban’s murder plot failed, though Yousafzai was wounded. She became internationally famous. After recuperating, Yousafzai spoke more forcefully in support of girls’ schooling. She raised money to further the cause and at 17 she became the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

A color photo of Malala Yousafzai, with partially shaved head and bandage, after the Taliban tried to assassinate her. Circa 2012

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

On October 9th, 1986, "The Phantom of the Opera" opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London. It became the city’s second-longest-running musical. Only "Les Misérables" has run longer.
#MusicSky #MusicalTheater #History #OTD

A color photo of a man taking a picture of a poster for "The Phantom of the Opera" outside the theater.

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

$40, for a piece of steak about the size of a man's hand?
Opportunities are dwindling for trump voters to "get their good teeth in" for a steak dinner.

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

On this day in 1981, French President Francois Mitterrand abolished capital punishment in his country.
#History #OTD

The idea had been part of his campaign platform and, after being elected to office, Mitterrand introduced legislation to stop state executions. After it was approved by French lawmakers, France became the last nation in Western Europe to abolish the death penalty.

A political cartoon from France, circa 1981, depicts Francois Mitterrand putting the guillotine in a larger guillotine. The guillotine is a symbol of state-ordered executions, which Mitterrand banned.
Artist and source are unknown

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

On this day in 1635, members of the General Court in Boston, banished Roger Williams from Massachusetts Bay Colony by citing what they called his “erroneous and dangerous positions.”
#History #OTD #17thCentury #HumanRights

Those positions were:
-Religious freedom
-Separation of church and state, and
-Negotiating with indigenous people for their land, instead of seizing it through combat or decree
After a brutal winter trying to find a permanent home, Williams negotiated with Narragansett Indians for the land that became Providence Plantations. Repeatedly, Williams kept his word to the Narragansett. Twice, he volunteered to be the tribe’s hostage enabling tribal members to negotiate the release of their leaders.
In 1647, Williams convinced settlers to agree on becoming The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The colony’s charter proclaimed freedom of conscience making it a safe place to live for Baptists, Quakers, Jews, and others who were persecuted for their beliefs in other colonies.
Williams’ positions influenced the United States’ founding fathers, who included some of his ideas in the Constitution.

A b/w drawing of a party of Naragansett tribal members talking with and directing Roger Williams
Image source: New York Public Library

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

Your father's quite good.
You can almost hear George breathe and purr through the painting.
It's rare for a painting to convey that. It almost never happens with a photograph.

The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

Spy magazine in 1991:
“A mobster who knew Trump socially said of him once, ‘He’d lie to you about what time of day it is - just for the practice.’”

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The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

The defenestration of Pravda

The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

I can see it now:
“The Pretentious Kitchen” from Chef Gloat Smugly

The Story of Writing @sownow.bsky.social · 1d

This says it pretty clearly:

The Case for the Forever Shutdown

Senate Democrats actually allowing the GOP to stop funding the government is only the first step. Now they have to make the case that Trump’s government is illegitimate.

newrepublic.com