Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
@vmspod.bsky.social
I make a weekly podcast feat. talks w/writers, artists, cartoonists & other culture-making people, at https://chimeraobscura.com/vm
Also: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-virtual-memories-show/id531173075
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VMSpod
Also: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-virtual-memories-show/id531173075
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VMSpod
Finished a 5-day workout cycle. It's evening, lamps don't give good lighting for a post-weights pic, and I suspect my iPhone is using Popeye Effect or something, but I'm starting to get back into shape, even if I'm ~10 lbs. over where I'd like to be.
#ClickAtYourOwnRisk #shirtless #workout
#ClickAtYourOwnRisk #shirtless #workout
December 7, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Finished a 5-day workout cycle. It's evening, lamps don't give good lighting for a post-weights pic, and I suspect my iPhone is using Popeye Effect or something, but I'm starting to get back into shape, even if I'm ~10 lbs. over where I'd like to be.
#ClickAtYourOwnRisk #shirtless #workout
#ClickAtYourOwnRisk #shirtless #workout
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
Field Notes from November in the East Austin edgelands, with frisky deer, late bloomers, cold moons, riverine fog, and the passing of a legend: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/spirits-of...
Spirits of the Rutting Moon
No. 188
fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Field Notes from November in the East Austin edgelands, with frisky deer, late bloomers, cold moons, riverine fog, and the passing of a legend: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/spirits-of...
Follow the tracks to my latest linky-newsletter!
buttondown.com/vmspod/archi...
buttondown.com/vmspod/archi...
Hitting The Links: 12/7/25
A whole lot of links, + thoughts on literary canons, my book-buying addiction, BIRDY! in Sphinx-pose, some workout craziness, and the loveliness of wings
buttondown.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Follow the tracks to my latest linky-newsletter!
buttondown.com/vmspod/archi...
buttondown.com/vmspod/archi...
Perry Cox killed like 3 people with this in an episode of SCRUBS
A Michigan man died of rabies after getting a kidney transplant from another man who died of the virus, only the fourth instance in nearly 50 years in which an organ donor passed the virus to a recipient, federal officials said.
Kidney Recipient Dies After Transplant From Organ Donor Who Had Rabies
Only four donors have transmitted rabies to organ transplant recipients since 1978, according to federal officials.
nyti.ms
December 6, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Perry Cox killed like 3 people with this in an episode of SCRUBS
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
In this issue of my newsletter, I present gift ideas (and alternates!) for your:
•Mom, who loves a weirdo
•Friend with whom you’re in a 2-person book club
•Friend who loves I Capture the Castle
•Friend who has read all of Barbara Pym, Anita Brookner, and Elizabeth Taylor
And many other people!
•Mom, who loves a weirdo
•Friend with whom you’re in a 2-person book club
•Friend who loves I Capture the Castle
•Friend who has read all of Barbara Pym, Anita Brookner, and Elizabeth Taylor
And many other people!
Issue 8 is out: The Extremely Specific This, Not That Gift Guide!
Looking for a book for
•Your weirdest friend?
•Your friend whose every 3rd text is gossip?
•Your friend you call when the heist goes sour?
•Your friend who won’t stop talking about Moby-Dick?
I’ve got you for those & many more!
Looking for a book for
•Your weirdest friend?
•Your friend whose every 3rd text is gossip?
•Your friend you call when the heist goes sour?
•Your friend who won’t stop talking about Moby-Dick?
I’ve got you for those & many more!
Issue 8: The Extremely Specific This, Not That Gift Guide
Having spent time the past few weeks thinking about your friends and family, every person on your holiday gift list, I present the following, ready to clip and take with you to the shops this weekend....
this-not-that.ghost.io
December 6, 2025 at 6:23 PM
In this issue of my newsletter, I present gift ideas (and alternates!) for your:
•Mom, who loves a weirdo
•Friend with whom you’re in a 2-person book club
•Friend who loves I Capture the Castle
•Friend who has read all of Barbara Pym, Anita Brookner, and Elizabeth Taylor
And many other people!
•Mom, who loves a weirdo
•Friend with whom you’re in a 2-person book club
•Friend who loves I Capture the Castle
•Friend who has read all of Barbara Pym, Anita Brookner, and Elizabeth Taylor
And many other people!
(this'll be in tomorrow's linky-newsletter: SUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM, folks!)
NEW — I put together a list of independent journalism subscriptions that would make great holiday gifts. From music to politics, astronomy to alcohol, tech to social justice, there’s something for [almost] everyone. Support indie media *and* surprise and delight your loved ones!
My guide:
My guide:
Giving the gift of independent journalism: a guide
The Handbasket has subscription suggestions for almost everyone on your list.
www.thehandbasket.co
December 6, 2025 at 6:08 PM
(this'll be in tomorrow's linky-newsletter: SUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM, folks!)
Was just told, “You look like a Bond villain.”
December 6, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Was just told, “You look like a Bond villain.”
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
I’m afraid I have to share very sad news about a very nice man: www.caity.info/blog-1-1/38p...
John Weaver: 1944 - 2025 — Caity Weaver
We hate to tell you this: The world’s friendliest man has gone away.
www.caity.info
December 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I’m afraid I have to share very sad news about a very nice man: www.caity.info/blog-1-1/38p...
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
The one true World’s Greatest Comics Magazine returns: Love and Rockets Vol. IV #17 is out 1/21! And you've got two covers to choose from: the standard cover by Jaime Hernandez and the exclusive Fanta variant by Gilbert Hernandez--available for pre-order now! https://ow.ly/9lMP50XE7By
December 5, 2025 at 9:10 PM
The one true World’s Greatest Comics Magazine returns: Love and Rockets Vol. IV #17 is out 1/21! And you've got two covers to choose from: the standard cover by Jaime Hernandez and the exclusive Fanta variant by Gilbert Hernandez--available for pre-order now! https://ow.ly/9lMP50XE7By
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
Issue 8 is out: The Extremely Specific This, Not That Gift Guide!
Looking for a book for
•Your weirdest friend?
•Your friend whose every 3rd text is gossip?
•Your friend you call when the heist goes sour?
•Your friend who won’t stop talking about Moby-Dick?
I’ve got you for those & many more!
Looking for a book for
•Your weirdest friend?
•Your friend whose every 3rd text is gossip?
•Your friend you call when the heist goes sour?
•Your friend who won’t stop talking about Moby-Dick?
I’ve got you for those & many more!
Issue 8: The Extremely Specific This, Not That Gift Guide
Having spent time the past few weeks thinking about your friends and family, every person on your holiday gift list, I present the following, ready to clip and take with you to the shops this weekend....
this-not-that.ghost.io
December 5, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Issue 8 is out: The Extremely Specific This, Not That Gift Guide!
Looking for a book for
•Your weirdest friend?
•Your friend whose every 3rd text is gossip?
•Your friend you call when the heist goes sour?
•Your friend who won’t stop talking about Moby-Dick?
I’ve got you for those & many more!
Looking for a book for
•Your weirdest friend?
•Your friend whose every 3rd text is gossip?
•Your friend you call when the heist goes sour?
•Your friend who won’t stop talking about Moby-Dick?
I’ve got you for those & many more!
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
You’ve got mail, nerds!
December 4, 2025 at 8:32 PM
You’ve got mail, nerds!
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
but it should have been!!! www.avclub.com/tim-meadows-...
Tim Meadows well aware The Ladies Man was not "Night At The Roxbury popular"
Tim Meadows well aware The Ladies Man was not "Night At The Roxbury popular"
www.avclub.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:13 PM
but it should have been!!! www.avclub.com/tim-meadows-...
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
people, you have the chance to put my book ahead of Olivia Nuzzi’s on the bestseller list. put aside all other considerations and think how objectively funny this would be. #1, that Mountain Goats guy. #2, Antivax Man Has My Heart. funniest list of the century. We can do this if we try
December 4, 2025 at 3:47 AM
people, you have the chance to put my book ahead of Olivia Nuzzi’s on the bestseller list. put aside all other considerations and think how objectively funny this would be. #1, that Mountain Goats guy. #2, Antivax Man Has My Heart. funniest list of the century. We can do this if we try
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
12 former commissioners of the FDA came together to write a Perspectives piece for the New England Journal of Medicine; raising our concerns about recent changes to vaccine approval policy at the FDA and its implications for patients and public health.
December 3, 2025 at 10:28 PM
12 former commissioners of the FDA came together to write a Perspectives piece for the New England Journal of Medicine; raising our concerns about recent changes to vaccine approval policy at the FDA and its implications for patients and public health.
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
The last 12 FDA commissioners did not mince their words (to the extent that one can do that in the context of an academic medical journal):
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
A Threat to Evidence-Based Vaccine Policy and Public Health Security at the FDA | NEJM
Twelve former commissioners of the FDA express concern that the agency’s recent moves will undermine a regulatory model designed to ensure vaccine safety, effectiveness, and availability.
www.nejm.org
December 3, 2025 at 10:21 PM
The last 12 FDA commissioners did not mince their words (to the extent that one can do that in the context of an academic medical journal):
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
Here's a link to the full BioSpace post: www.biospace.com/fda/pazdurs-...
Pazdur’s Sudden Exit Leaves Just Three Veterans in FDA’s Senior Ranks
Nearly 90% of senior leaders who were at the FDA a year ago are no longer with the agency, a BioSpace analysis shows. None remain from the Office of the Commissioner.
www.biospace.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Here's a link to the full BioSpace post: www.biospace.com/fda/pazdurs-...
New newsletter about surfacing from depression, being seen by a friend, a new #podcast about Dante & the Commedia, and more, so GO READ: buttondown.com/vmspod/archi...
Surfacing
New podcast with Prue Shaw about Dante & the Commedia, my own journey through a dark wood, the lunchboxes of Yaddo, & more
buttondown.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:37 PM
New newsletter about surfacing from depression, being seen by a friend, a new #podcast about Dante & the Commedia, and more, so GO READ: buttondown.com/vmspod/archi...
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
It’s time for the annual eligibility post! I hope you enjoyed the poetry I made this year. Truly, I feel lucky and proud and joyful. In any case, that’s always a win.
These are eligible to be nominated for the Rhysling, Nebulas, AND Hugo awards. Links to follow!
These are eligible to be nominated for the Rhysling, Nebulas, AND Hugo awards. Links to follow!
December 3, 2025 at 12:40 PM
It’s time for the annual eligibility post! I hope you enjoyed the poetry I made this year. Truly, I feel lucky and proud and joyful. In any case, that’s always a win.
These are eligible to be nominated for the Rhysling, Nebulas, AND Hugo awards. Links to follow!
These are eligible to be nominated for the Rhysling, Nebulas, AND Hugo awards. Links to follow!
New #podcast: #PrueShaw rejoins the show to celebrate her fantastic new book, DANTE: THE ESSENTIAL COMMEDIA! We talk #Dante, #poems, #Inferno, #Purgatorio, #Paradiso, #translation, #CliveJames, & more, so GO LISTEN:
chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-6...
chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-6...
Episode 665 – Prue Shaw
Virtual Memories Show 665: Prue Shaw “I felt again incredulity that one person could have produced this poem.” With her amazing new book, DANTE: THE ESSENTIAL COMMEDIA (Liveright), scho…
chimeraobscura.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:45 AM
New #podcast: #PrueShaw rejoins the show to celebrate her fantastic new book, DANTE: THE ESSENTIAL COMMEDIA! We talk #Dante, #poems, #Inferno, #Purgatorio, #Paradiso, #translation, #CliveJames, & more, so GO LISTEN:
chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-6...
chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-6...
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
This is why I support freedom of expression.
Appropriately, it is the chaos of a system that supports free speech that gives rise to the grand process of democratic self-governance and the ideally upward arc of human progress and flourishing.
Yesterday a Stoppard play, today a tweet.
Appropriately, it is the chaos of a system that supports free speech that gives rise to the grand process of democratic self-governance and the ideally upward arc of human progress and flourishing.
Yesterday a Stoppard play, today a tweet.
December 2, 2025 at 12:48 PM
This is why I support freedom of expression.
Appropriately, it is the chaos of a system that supports free speech that gives rise to the grand process of democratic self-governance and the ideally upward arc of human progress and flourishing.
Yesterday a Stoppard play, today a tweet.
Appropriately, it is the chaos of a system that supports free speech that gives rise to the grand process of democratic self-governance and the ideally upward arc of human progress and flourishing.
Yesterday a Stoppard play, today a tweet.
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
Legendary underground cartoonist Kim Deitch’s magnum opus, a sprawling odyssey of reincarnation, now in a new paperback edition: Reincarnation Stories is out 4/28/26 and it's 20% off today only during our Cyber Monday sale! https://ow.ly/VWh350XAh8i
December 2, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Legendary underground cartoonist Kim Deitch’s magnum opus, a sprawling odyssey of reincarnation, now in a new paperback edition: Reincarnation Stories is out 4/28/26 and it's 20% off today only during our Cyber Monday sale! https://ow.ly/VWh350XAh8i
this world dances for me
December 1, 2025 at 10:01 PM
this world dances for me
Reposted by Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show
It's Cyber Monday? You can't get more cyber than pre-ordering a digital version of my new, one-man comix anthology, ANTIMATTER!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/dea...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/dea...
ANTIMATTER
A One-Man-thology of Dean Haspiel Deep Cuts
www.kickstarter.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:45 PM
It's Cyber Monday? You can't get more cyber than pre-ordering a digital version of my new, one-man comix anthology, ANTIMATTER!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/dea...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/dea...
EEEEEEEE!
Jim Woodring pays homage to the classic Big Little Book format to put his silent signature character through his most transformative adventure ever: Quacky is out 7/14/26 and it's 20% off today only during our Cyber Monday pre-order sale! Head to https://ow.ly/bvLr50XxPMy to stock up 🤑
December 1, 2025 at 5:03 PM
EEEEEEEE!