Drew Broussard
@drewsof.bsky.social
he/him
writer
bookstore manager, Rough Draft Bar & Books
podcasts editor at Literary Hub & host of The Lit Hub Podcast
"His manners are as bad as his grasp of the issue involved" — some rando in the LH comments section
writer
bookstore manager, Rough Draft Bar & Books
podcasts editor at Literary Hub & host of The Lit Hub Podcast
"His manners are as bad as his grasp of the issue involved" — some rando in the LH comments section
Pinned
In an attempt to combat all the feelings of dread about ~whatever~ is coming this year (and I *do* feel like whatever's coming, is coming this year), I am trying to forefront excitement about the good things coming this year too. I'm gonna thread 'em when I remember them, so I can return to this.
Reposted by Drew Broussard
As an established writer, I'm not really worried by AI, because AI can't do what I do. It can only pretend. And I've cultivated the kind of audience that can spot the difference.
BUT... that word "established" is load bearing. The opportunity to LEARN to do what I do is what AI is taking away.
BUT... that word "established" is load bearing. The opportunity to LEARN to do what I do is what AI is taking away.
February 11, 2026 at 6:30 PM
As an established writer, I'm not really worried by AI, because AI can't do what I do. It can only pretend. And I've cultivated the kind of audience that can spot the difference.
BUT... that word "established" is load bearing. The opportunity to LEARN to do what I do is what AI is taking away.
BUT... that word "established" is load bearing. The opportunity to LEARN to do what I do is what AI is taking away.
I think the thing that's getting to me (and the thing that the person who sent this to me knows, because they are participating) is that enough people are very willing to buy, my friend.
February 11, 2026 at 3:46 PM
I think the thing that's getting to me (and the thing that the person who sent this to me knows, because they are participating) is that enough people are very willing to buy, my friend.
But he *is* wrong that we, as a society, need to embrace this. The Butlerian jihad is coming, one way or another. It always always always will. Now is the right time to dig in against the machine, while there's still a human experience worth fighting for.
February 11, 2026 at 3:36 PM
But he *is* wrong that we, as a society, need to embrace this. The Butlerian jihad is coming, one way or another. It always always always will. Now is the right time to dig in against the machine, while there's still a human experience worth fighting for.
The piece, if you're interested, is this one: shumer.dev/something-bi...
And for all that I still think the advances in the tech are overblown, this guy isn't wrong that it keeps getting better. He's not wrong that we're likely on the cusp (whether it's this year or in the next few) of something.
And for all that I still think the advances in the tech are overblown, this guy isn't wrong that it keeps getting better. He's not wrong that we're likely on the cusp (whether it's this year or in the next few) of something.
Something Big Is Happening
A personal note for non-tech friends and family on what AI is starting to change.
shumer.dev
February 11, 2026 at 3:36 PM
The piece, if you're interested, is this one: shumer.dev/something-bi...
And for all that I still think the advances in the tech are overblown, this guy isn't wrong that it keeps getting better. He's not wrong that we're likely on the cusp (whether it's this year or in the next few) of something.
And for all that I still think the advances in the tech are overblown, this guy isn't wrong that it keeps getting better. He's not wrong that we're likely on the cusp (whether it's this year or in the next few) of something.
Somebody sent me a frightening piece about how close we likely are to an AI leap and what that might mean for society — except that it suggests now is the time to go all in, to be one of the ones who can help shepherd in the new era, and I can't help thinking AGAIN that none of this NEEDS to happen.
February 11, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Somebody sent me a frightening piece about how close we likely are to an AI leap and what that might mean for society — except that it suggests now is the time to go all in, to be one of the ones who can help shepherd in the new era, and I can't help thinking AGAIN that none of this NEEDS to happen.
Reposted by Drew Broussard
hello this is the official petition to bring back mass market paperbacks!! mmpbs are good actually and everyone should do them!! i think esp romantasy readers would really love that shit! and you can still spray those edges!!! bring back mass market paperbacks thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 10, 2026 at 8:02 PM
hello this is the official petition to bring back mass market paperbacks!! mmpbs are good actually and everyone should do them!! i think esp romantasy readers would really love that shit! and you can still spray those edges!!! bring back mass market paperbacks thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reposted by Drew Broussard
Becca Rothfeld's piece on what we lose when we lose book coverage in newspapers is so, so good www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
The End of Books Coverage at the Washington Post
Becca Rothfeld, a former critic at the Washington Post, on the death of the paper’s books section.
www.newyorker.com
February 10, 2026 at 9:11 PM
Becca Rothfeld's piece on what we lose when we lose book coverage in newspapers is so, so good www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
it's far and away my favorite of his stuff, but I think that might largely be due to Hamish Linklater's performance, which is so unbelievably good
February 10, 2026 at 9:18 PM
it's far and away my favorite of his stuff, but I think that might largely be due to Hamish Linklater's performance, which is so unbelievably good
Reposted by Drew Broussard
Cannot believe that I got to profile an extraordinary filmmaker, who happens to be the mother of NYC’s new mayor, and think about intersections of art and politics, and how familial love might produce a buffer against the corrosive politics and cynicism of our time. My story about Mira Nair:
What Mira Nair Taught Zohran Mamdani
The mayor’s famous filmmaker mother reveals the origins of his ferocious ambition.
www.vulture.com
February 10, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Cannot believe that I got to profile an extraordinary filmmaker, who happens to be the mother of NYC’s new mayor, and think about intersections of art and politics, and how familial love might produce a buffer against the corrosive politics and cynicism of our time. My story about Mira Nair:
I have a lot of feelings about Mike Flanagan and absolutely none of them are positive. But every generation gets the hacks that they deserve.
Mike Flanagan will write and direct a new film adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘The Mist’ for Warner Bros
It follows a group of people locked in a grocery store after a mysterious fog emerges that hides deadly creatures
It follows a group of people locked in a grocery store after a mysterious fog emerges that hides deadly creatures
February 10, 2026 at 7:35 PM
I have a lot of feelings about Mike Flanagan and absolutely none of them are positive. But every generation gets the hacks that they deserve.
Reposted by Drew Broussard
I can avoid rising healthcare costs by curling up under a porch to die instead of risking a slop-addled surgeon and their robot sidekick that has the medical expertise of a roomba
February 10, 2026 at 12:26 PM
I can avoid rising healthcare costs by curling up under a porch to die instead of risking a slop-addled surgeon and their robot sidekick that has the medical expertise of a roomba
Hari Seldon's age of darkness is upon us and all that now remains is to see how short we can possibly make it. Perhaps it will only be a few short years! We must endeavor to make it so, knowing that it may last much, much longer than that.
February 10, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Hari Seldon's age of darkness is upon us and all that now remains is to see how short we can possibly make it. Perhaps it will only be a few short years! We must endeavor to make it so, knowing that it may last much, much longer than that.
Like no joke, how am I supposed to trust that if I'm rushed to the hospital for some grievous harm that I'm being handed to a doctor who is actually willing to do the work themselves instead of turning it over (or even having been forced to turn over!) to an idiot machine based on idiot unknowledge?
February 10, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Like no joke, how am I supposed to trust that if I'm rushed to the hospital for some grievous harm that I'm being handed to a doctor who is actually willing to do the work themselves instead of turning it over (or even having been forced to turn over!) to an idiot machine based on idiot unknowledge?
The last victory of the crusade against knowledge and expertise. Now, everyone will fear (or, at best, distrust) even those experts who've perhaps always been human and fallible but could, before, have been trusted to have studied and practiced etc. The end of trust, the end of the social contract.
When AI was added to a tool for sinus surgery: “Cerebrospinal fluid leaked from one patient’s nose. In another… a surgeon mistakenly punctured the base of a patient’s skull. In two other cases, patients suffered strokes after a major artery was accidentally injured”
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts
Medical device makers have been rushing to add AI to their products. While proponents say the new technology will revolutionize medicine, regulators are receiving a rising number of claims of patient ...
www.reuters.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:18 PM
The last victory of the crusade against knowledge and expertise. Now, everyone will fear (or, at best, distrust) even those experts who've perhaps always been human and fallible but could, before, have been trusted to have studied and practiced etc. The end of trust, the end of the social contract.
Reading a recent reissue of a satire from a now-very-famous but also rumored-to-be-pervy author's backlist and struck by how many rumored-to-be-pervy men write incredibly pervy books, not even really trying to hide it, and yet didn't get a second look until *maybe* recently.
February 10, 2026 at 12:26 PM
Reading a recent reissue of a satire from a now-very-famous but also rumored-to-be-pervy author's backlist and struck by how many rumored-to-be-pervy men write incredibly pervy books, not even really trying to hide it, and yet didn't get a second look until *maybe* recently.
Reposted by Drew Broussard
In days of yore when the Earth was young, we used to just block somebody who was posting some garbage opinion. Didn’t matter if they seemed like they were on our side and other things. We just blocked them. It was a simple and a better time here
February 6, 2026 at 6:50 PM
In days of yore when the Earth was young, we used to just block somebody who was posting some garbage opinion. Didn’t matter if they seemed like they were on our side and other things. We just blocked them. It was a simple and a better time here
Reposted by Drew Broussard
what if instead of every writer having an individual premium substack we had lots of writers working together for one publication. you might have editors, too, and designers. and only one regular fee, instead of seventy billion! wonder who will invent that. sounds like it’d be good
February 5, 2026 at 12:15 AM
what if instead of every writer having an individual premium substack we had lots of writers working together for one publication. you might have editors, too, and designers. and only one regular fee, instead of seventy billion! wonder who will invent that. sounds like it’d be good
Reposted by Drew Broussard
Goin down to the ocean!
Gonna get myself a MAN!
Gonna get myself a MAN!
February 4, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Goin down to the ocean!
Gonna get myself a MAN!
Gonna get myself a MAN!
Reposted by Drew Broussard
Absolutely not trying to make the terrible news of the closure of Washington Post's Books coverage about me or anything, but I cannot stress how bad this is for books. The biggest divide between Big 5 and independent/nonprofit press books is not quality--it's the marketing spend.
February 4, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Absolutely not trying to make the terrible news of the closure of Washington Post's Books coverage about me or anything, but I cannot stress how bad this is for books. The biggest divide between Big 5 and independent/nonprofit press books is not quality--it's the marketing spend.
woof, I completely assumed that because of your regularity, there was a more robust infrastructure around you — sad indeed.
February 4, 2026 at 3:02 PM
woof, I completely assumed that because of your regularity, there was a more robust infrastructure around you — sad indeed.
I'm using "industry" as a verrrry broad-brush term to suggest "folks who know about books" — I don't think the average person unaware of genre fiction/Tor/etc is stumbling upon Reactor to read criticism in the same way that they *might* while flipping through the paper and hitting an arts section.
February 4, 2026 at 3:00 PM
I'm using "industry" as a verrrry broad-brush term to suggest "folks who know about books" — I don't think the average person unaware of genre fiction/Tor/etc is stumbling upon Reactor to read criticism in the same way that they *might* while flipping through the paper and hitting an arts section.
Reposted by Drew Broussard
Realizing that there could be a @flaminghydra.com / @hearingthingsco.bsky.social model possible here too. Like maybe in-your-mailbox/on-your-doorstep paper is not worth reviving but the concept, the concept I think could have legs. I am too tired to think about it more but... I'm thinking about it.
February 4, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Realizing that there could be a @flaminghydra.com / @hearingthingsco.bsky.social model possible here too. Like maybe in-your-mailbox/on-your-doorstep paper is not worth reviving but the concept, the concept I think could have legs. I am too tired to think about it more but... I'm thinking about it.