Colin McGowan
@csmcgowan.bsky.social
Used to write for lots of places. Now mostly at Flaming Hydra, a co-op newsletter: https://flaminghydra.com/contributor/colin-mcgowan/
DMs are fine // colinsilasmcgowan at gmail
DMs are fine // colinsilasmcgowan at gmail
I like the Winter Olympics but it's also a kind of fraud designed to give Greenwich, CT residents the same award Usain Bolt and Katie Ledecky win.
February 7, 2026 at 12:45 AM
I like the Winter Olympics but it's also a kind of fraud designed to give Greenwich, CT residents the same award Usain Bolt and Katie Ledecky win.
I actually think it's somewhat helpful and instructive how crude Trump is. We're bullying Venezuela for oil, he thinks the black ex-president is a monkey, etc. But also jesus fucking christ it's bleak.
February 6, 2026 at 10:11 PM
I actually think it's somewhat helpful and instructive how crude Trump is. We're bullying Venezuela for oil, he thinks the black ex-president is a monkey, etc. But also jesus fucking christ it's bleak.
Horrified the antique store lady by showing up with a dinky little wagon and telling her "this'll take four or five trips." People always assume you have a car. Nope, I've got a flask and too much free time. Which is basically just as good.
February 6, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Horrified the antique store lady by showing up with a dinky little wagon and telling her "this'll take four or five trips." People always assume you have a car. Nope, I've got a flask and too much free time. Which is basically just as good.
You get out onto a main avenue in Chicago in mid-January, you're yelling "FUCk!!!" as the wind shakes your bones. These are just facts.
February 6, 2026 at 4:43 AM
You get out onto a main avenue in Chicago in mid-January, you're yelling "FUCk!!!" as the wind shakes your bones. These are just facts.
Independent media, which is hard as hell to get off the ground and maintain, is the only thing worth doing.
February 4, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Independent media, which is hard as hell to get off the ground and maintain, is the only thing worth doing.
The thing about Woj, who sucked, is that he had a little bit of a personality because he came up writing columns. The thing about Shams, who some familiar with experts say is on a suck-ward trajectory, is that he came into the game a pure scoop artist and is basically illiterate.
February 4, 2026 at 1:05 AM
The thing about Woj, who sucked, is that he had a little bit of a personality because he came up writing columns. The thing about Shams, who some familiar with experts say is on a suck-ward trajectory, is that he came into the game a pure scoop artist and is basically illiterate.
I braised some lamb loin chops with white wine, garlic, leeks, and carrot. Then I whipped up a very basic risotto. Married with some parsley and a glug of good olive oil. And holy fucking shit, this is the best dish I've made in months.
February 3, 2026 at 12:42 AM
I braised some lamb loin chops with white wine, garlic, leeks, and carrot. Then I whipped up a very basic risotto. Married with some parsley and a glug of good olive oil. And holy fucking shit, this is the best dish I've made in months.
Reading up on disastrous early aughts sitcoms, as one does. I have zero memory of Geena Davis's eponymous project.
February 2, 2026 at 5:21 AM
Reading up on disastrous early aughts sitcoms, as one does. I have zero memory of Geena Davis's eponymous project.
Reposted by Colin McGowan
It's belated on my end but @flaminghydra.com celebrated its second birthday yesterday and I'm really proud of and happy about what a cool and scrappy thing it has become. There's some free blogs in here, but it remains one of the great deals in the Reading Stuff space: flaminghydra.com/issue-492/
And now we are two
Celebrating Flaming Hydra’s second birthday
flaminghydra.com
January 31, 2026 at 6:54 PM
It's belated on my end but @flaminghydra.com celebrated its second birthday yesterday and I'm really proud of and happy about what a cool and scrappy thing it has become. There's some free blogs in here, but it remains one of the great deals in the Reading Stuff space: flaminghydra.com/issue-492/
Lots of writers are bastards and I can't say I'd be all that saddened to hear of their passing beyond the fact they wouldn't produce any more excellent work. Dan McQuade isn't like that. He radiated generosity and positive vibes. For that reason his death is very sad. RIP to a good one.
January 29, 2026 at 3:03 AM
Lots of writers are bastards and I can't say I'd be all that saddened to hear of their passing beyond the fact they wouldn't produce any more excellent work. Dan McQuade isn't like that. He radiated generosity and positive vibes. For that reason his death is very sad. RIP to a good one.
Reposted by Colin McGowan
Cool auction going live tomorrow.
Publishing for Minnesota
Silent auction 'Publishing for Minnesota' hosted online at 32auctions.
www.32auctions.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Cool auction going live tomorrow.
Double dry-hopped integrated solutions, cloud-based luxury performance vehicle, etc.
January 27, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Double dry-hopped integrated solutions, cloud-based luxury performance vehicle, etc.
David Ellison will get the end product he's looking for, because lying is easy and bootlickers are in abundant supply, but it is funny that he thought a grievance-peddling blogger would have any idea how to run a massive broadcast news operation.
January 27, 2026 at 5:27 PM
David Ellison will get the end product he's looking for, because lying is easy and bootlickers are in abundant supply, but it is funny that he thought a grievance-peddling blogger would have any idea how to run a massive broadcast news operation.
I'm the guy who cuts the trailers for Super Bowl commercials. I keep dissociating, breaking down in tears. I ask my superiors "what is my purpose? have I already died and this is 'living' through death?" They respond only in garbled Black Lodge-speak and quotes from Iraq War era comedies.
January 26, 2026 at 12:27 AM
I'm the guy who cuts the trailers for Super Bowl commercials. I keep dissociating, breaking down in tears. I ask my superiors "what is my purpose? have I already died and this is 'living' through death?" They respond only in garbled Black Lodge-speak and quotes from Iraq War era comedies.
Running anywhere to the right of French Revolution x Sewer Socialism is now unacceptable.
January 24, 2026 at 11:04 PM
Running anywhere to the right of French Revolution x Sewer Socialism is now unacceptable.
FDR fought fucking World War II while also addressing "kitchen table issues."
January 22, 2026 at 3:27 AM
FDR fought fucking World War II while also addressing "kitchen table issues."
Again, we're all kidding, but it would just take one patriotic pilot who maybe his wife left him recently.
January 21, 2026 at 4:56 AM
Again, we're all kidding, but it would just take one patriotic pilot who maybe his wife left him recently.
Hey babe, I made lamb meatballs. Gonna watch Sorcerer. You can come over if you want.
January 21, 2026 at 12:28 AM
Hey babe, I made lamb meatballs. Gonna watch Sorcerer. You can come over if you want.
I have no particular rooting interest in this one but those early aughts Canes, swaggering and rapid, like a Three 6 Mafia single made flesh, are the coolest teams I've ever seen.
January 20, 2026 at 1:44 AM
I have no particular rooting interest in this one but those early aughts Canes, swaggering and rapid, like a Three 6 Mafia single made flesh, are the coolest teams I've ever seen.
I wanna hear who Puka Nacua thinks is responsible for credit scores.
January 19, 2026 at 12:49 AM
I wanna hear who Puka Nacua thinks is responsible for credit scores.
I've spent most of the runtime of Rio Bravo (1959) trying to figure out who's prettier: Angie Dickinson or Dean Martin.
January 14, 2026 at 1:44 AM
I've spent most of the runtime of Rio Bravo (1959) trying to figure out who's prettier: Angie Dickinson or Dean Martin.
At the front of our apartment there's a half-space where I do all my writing and most of my reading. For Christmas, Morgan got me a lamp for it and the light is—you know when you see a kid's bedroom in a movie and wish it was yours? It is like that. I can't photograph it, but it's perfect.
January 12, 2026 at 11:31 PM
At the front of our apartment there's a half-space where I do all my writing and most of my reading. For Christmas, Morgan got me a lamp for it and the light is—you know when you see a kid's bedroom in a movie and wish it was yours? It is like that. I can't photograph it, but it's perfect.
It's impressive, in a way, that we've achieved this perfect synthesis of Nixon's criminality and Reagan's dumb-as-shit nihilism.
January 12, 2026 at 9:44 PM
It's impressive, in a way, that we've achieved this perfect synthesis of Nixon's criminality and Reagan's dumb-as-shit nihilism.
Always read Craggs when he's diagnosing shit. defector.com/bari-weiss-i...
Bari Weiss Is The Symptom | Defector
Who says Bari Weiss doesn’t know how to run a newsroom? “My general view here,” the CBS News editor-in-chief wrote in a memo before shelving the now-infamous 60 Minutes report on El Salvador’s CECOT c...
defector.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Always read Craggs when he's diagnosing shit. defector.com/bari-weiss-i...
I thought Trevor Lawrence had "Romans 2:28" written on his wristband. Then I looked it up and was like okay, maybe not.
January 11, 2026 at 6:37 PM
I thought Trevor Lawrence had "Romans 2:28" written on his wristband. Then I looked it up and was like okay, maybe not.