Harper’s Magazine
@harpers.bsky.social
Since 1850. “America’s most interesting magazine” —New York Times
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In our November issue: a Harper’s Forum on media’s crisis of trust, Rowan Jacobsen on a good night’s sleep, Daniel Kolitz on porn’s new frontier, Joy Williams on Gene Hackman’s last days, Nick Pinkerton on Abel Ferrara and a new story by David Wingrave.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
harpers.org/archive/2025...
“When it comes to breaking news, AI companies desperately need news outlets that provide accurate, vetted information.”
@maxwelltani in a forum on the media’s credibility crisis.
@maxwelltani in a forum on the media’s credibility crisis.
Why Doesn’t Anyone Trust the Media?, by Jelani Cobb, Taylor Lorenz, Jack Shafer, Max Tani
Anatomy of a credibility crisis
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November 10, 2025 at 11:01 PM
“When it comes to breaking news, AI companies desperately need news outlets that provide accurate, vetted information.”
@maxwelltani in a forum on the media’s credibility crisis.
@maxwelltani in a forum on the media’s credibility crisis.
“Ferrara, now a sober, penitent seventy-three-year-old, reiterates his regrets throughout Scene, but a note of nostalgia for the bad old days nevertheless sneaks through.”
Nick Pinkerton on Abel Ferrara’s memoir, Scene.
Nick Pinkerton on Abel Ferrara’s memoir, Scene.
A Rake’s Progress, by Nick Pinkerton
Abel Ferrara’s addiction to filmmaking
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November 10, 2025 at 9:01 PM
“Ferrara, now a sober, penitent seventy-three-year-old, reiterates his regrets throughout Scene, but a note of nostalgia for the bad old days nevertheless sneaks through.”
Nick Pinkerton on Abel Ferrara’s memoir, Scene.
Nick Pinkerton on Abel Ferrara’s memoir, Scene.
“The production of such cliché-riddled tomes became a multimillion-dollar industry, some of whose early players—Jostens, Balfour—are still in the ‘commemorative product’ game today.” —Dan Piepenbring
New Books, by Dan Piepenbring
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November 10, 2025 at 5:31 PM
“The production of such cliché-riddled tomes became a multimillion-dollar industry, some of whose early players—Jostens, Balfour—are still in the ‘commemorative product’ game today.” —Dan Piepenbring
Jeff Kisseloff responds to a Washington Examiner review of his book, Rewriting Hisstory: A Fifty-Year Journey to Uncover the Truth About Alger Hiss, which was published in April by the University Press of Kansas, and appeared in Readings.
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On Alger Hiss, Whittaker Chambers, and Unanswered Letters, by Jeff Kisseloff
In the September 2025 issue of Harper’s Magazine, a selection from Jeff Kisseloff’s book Rewriting Hisstory: A Fifty-Year Journey to Uncover the Truth
harpers.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Jeff Kisseloff responds to a Washington Examiner review of his book, Rewriting Hisstory: A Fifty-Year Journey to Uncover the Truth About Alger Hiss, which was published in April by the University Press of Kansas, and appeared in Readings.
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buff.ly/bHWQ2D6
“Horror seems cathartic, or psychically protective—a safe ritual that admits the reality of violence and cruelty while also warding it off, like a ceremonial demon mask.”
Mary Gaitskill in an essay that appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of @thepointmag.bsky.social.
Mary Gaitskill in an essay that appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of @thepointmag.bsky.social.
Harm’s Way, by Mary Gaitskill
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November 10, 2025 at 5:03 PM
“Horror seems cathartic, or psychically protective—a safe ritual that admits the reality of violence and cruelty while also warding it off, like a ceremonial demon mask.”
Mary Gaitskill in an essay that appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of @thepointmag.bsky.social.
Mary Gaitskill in an essay that appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of @thepointmag.bsky.social.
“This is what I emerged from, Dani says, looking with disgust at the drainage ditches that line the road. Low horizons. In more ways than one.”
Olivia Laing from The Silver Book, which will be published this November by @fsgbooks.bsky.social.
Olivia Laing from The Silver Book, which will be published this November by @fsgbooks.bsky.social.
Film Rites, by Olivia Laing
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November 7, 2025 at 11:00 PM
“This is what I emerged from, Dani says, looking with disgust at the drainage ditches that line the road. Low horizons. In more ways than one.”
Olivia Laing from The Silver Book, which will be published this November by @fsgbooks.bsky.social.
Olivia Laing from The Silver Book, which will be published this November by @fsgbooks.bsky.social.
“Picture this: you work for a masturbation factory in hell. You log on to your scheduled workplace Zoom call. What do you see? You see what I saw in the GoonVerse.”
@danielkolitz.bsky.social on loneliness, porn’s next frontier, and the dream of endless masturbation.
@danielkolitz.bsky.social on loneliness, porn’s next frontier, and the dream of endless masturbation.
The Goon Squad, by Daniel Kolitz
Loneliness, porn’s next frontier, and the dream of endless masturbation
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November 7, 2025 at 10:01 PM
“Picture this: you work for a masturbation factory in hell. You log on to your scheduled workplace Zoom call. What do you see? You see what I saw in the GoonVerse.”
@danielkolitz.bsky.social on loneliness, porn’s next frontier, and the dream of endless masturbation.
@danielkolitz.bsky.social on loneliness, porn’s next frontier, and the dream of endless masturbation.
November 7, 2025 at 6:02 PM
“In other words, although Curtis Sliwa is an incredibly charismatic man, he is a man of greater enterprise than discretion.”
Kent Russell goes on patrol with the Guardian Angels, from the April 2025 issue.
Kent Russell goes on patrol with the Guardian Angels, from the April 2025 issue.
The Last Detail, by Kent Russell
On patrol with the Guardian Angels
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November 7, 2025 at 5:00 PM
“In other words, although Curtis Sliwa is an incredibly charismatic man, he is a man of greater enterprise than discretion.”
Kent Russell goes on patrol with the Guardian Angels, from the April 2025 issue.
Kent Russell goes on patrol with the Guardian Angels, from the April 2025 issue.
“White houses, green- and blue-shuttered windows, geraniums sprouting from rusted tins: I was lost. The lira my father had given me were sweaty in my hand.”
A new story from David Wingrave.
harpers.org/archive/2025/11/aytac-david-wingrave-cyprus-friendship/
A new story from David Wingrave.
harpers.org/archive/2025/11/aytac-david-wingrave-cyprus-friendship/
Aytaç, by David Wingrave
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harpers.org
November 7, 2025 at 4:02 PM
“White houses, green- and blue-shuttered windows, geraniums sprouting from rusted tins: I was lost. The lira my father had given me were sweaty in my hand.”
A new story from David Wingrave.
harpers.org/archive/2025/11/aytac-david-wingrave-cyprus-friendship/
A new story from David Wingrave.
harpers.org/archive/2025/11/aytac-david-wingrave-cyprus-friendship/
“Anyone paying attention to online porn’s evolution over the preceding twenty years could sense, in its brain-melting variety and abundance, the blueprint for a new kind of person, a new relationship to human sexuality.” —@danielkolitz.bsky.social
The Goon Squad, by Daniel Kolitz
Loneliness, porn’s next frontier, and the dream of endless masturbation
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November 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
“Anyone paying attention to online porn’s evolution over the preceding twenty years could sense, in its brain-melting variety and abundance, the blueprint for a new kind of person, a new relationship to human sexuality.” —@danielkolitz.bsky.social
“‘To grieve in peace’ is a common phrase but it’s a peculiar one, is it not? A contradiction, a demanding, even unachievable stasis state.”
Joy Williams on Gene Hackman’s last days.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
Joy Williams on Gene Hackman’s last days.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
One Four Two Five Old Sunset Trail, by Joy Williams
On the last days of Gene Hackman
harpers.org
November 6, 2025 at 11:01 PM
“‘To grieve in peace’ is a common phrase but it’s a peculiar one, is it not? A contradiction, a demanding, even unachievable stasis state.”
Joy Williams on Gene Hackman’s last days.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
Joy Williams on Gene Hackman’s last days.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
“More than 80 percent of the world’s population is exposed to light pollution, and with each passing year, fewer and fewer of us have ever known anything else. In abolishing the terror of night, we may have flattened the beauty of day.” —Rowan Jacobsen
Chasing Photons, by Rowan Jacobsen
In pursuit of a good night’s sleep
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November 6, 2025 at 10:00 PM
“More than 80 percent of the world’s population is exposed to light pollution, and with each passing year, fewer and fewer of us have ever known anything else. In abolishing the terror of night, we may have flattened the beauty of day.” —Rowan Jacobsen
“Something has gone awry when a paid propagandist, working on behalf of a corporation or a trade union, earns more than the man whose job it is to tell the truth.”
David Boroff on the state of media in “What Ails the Journalism Schools,” from 1965.
David Boroff on the state of media in “What Ails the Journalism Schools,” from 1965.
Press Release, by David Boroff
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November 6, 2025 at 4:02 PM
“Something has gone awry when a paid propagandist, working on behalf of a corporation or a trade union, earns more than the man whose job it is to tell the truth.”
David Boroff on the state of media in “What Ails the Journalism Schools,” from 1965.
David Boroff on the state of media in “What Ails the Journalism Schools,” from 1965.
“The simple reality is that legacy media organizations are struggling, and they want readership, especially when they’re looking at younger journalists. They want people who can bring in younger audiences.” — @taylorlorenz.bsky.social
Why Doesn’t Anyone Trust the Media?, by Jelani Cobb, Taylor Lorenz, Jack Shafer, Max Tani
Anatomy of a credibility crisis
buff.ly
November 6, 2025 at 2:02 PM
“The simple reality is that legacy media organizations are struggling, and they want readership, especially when they’re looking at younger journalists. They want people who can bring in younger audiences.” — @taylorlorenz.bsky.social
“Sometimes, I think, it’s to assuage existential terror. Because if you’re doing the violence, at that moment anyway, it’s not being done to you.” —Mary Gaitskill
harpers.org/archive/2025...
harpers.org/archive/2025...
Harm’s Way, by Mary Gaitskill
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harpers.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:00 PM
“Sometimes, I think, it’s to assuage existential terror. Because if you’re doing the violence, at that moment anyway, it’s not being done to you.” —Mary Gaitskill
harpers.org/archive/2025...
harpers.org/archive/2025...
“We have to meet people where they are, which is on social media and on video, and try our best to get good at communicating with people in the spaces where they are engaged.”
@maxtani.bsky.social in a forum on the media’s credibility crisis.
@maxtani.bsky.social in a forum on the media’s credibility crisis.
Why Doesn’t Anyone Trust the Media?, by Jelani Cobb, Taylor Lorenz, Jack Shafer, Max Tani
Anatomy of a credibility crisis
buff.ly
November 5, 2025 at 10:00 PM
“We have to meet people where they are, which is on social media and on video, and try our best to get good at communicating with people in the spaces where they are engaged.”
@maxtani.bsky.social in a forum on the media’s credibility crisis.
@maxtani.bsky.social in a forum on the media’s credibility crisis.
“The 80.55 million pounds of gunpowder exported by the British in the eighteenth century to Africa, Asia, and the Americas was enough charge for 1.3 to 4.6 billion shots.”
Clifton Crais in The Killing Age, which will be published this month by @uchicagopress.bsky.social.
Clifton Crais in The Killing Age, which will be published this month by @uchicagopress.bsky.social.
Boom Times, by Clifton Crais
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November 5, 2025 at 5:01 PM
“The 80.55 million pounds of gunpowder exported by the British in the eighteenth century to Africa, Asia, and the Americas was enough charge for 1.3 to 4.6 billion shots.”
Clifton Crais in The Killing Age, which will be published this month by @uchicagopress.bsky.social.
Clifton Crais in The Killing Age, which will be published this month by @uchicagopress.bsky.social.
“These experiments, led most often by women in their own homes, revealed the domestic as a laboratory for testing enchantment.”
Anna Della Subin in a talk delivered at the conference Enchanting Wor(l)ds.
Anna Della Subin in a talk delivered at the conference Enchanting Wor(l)ds.
Phantom Threads, by Anna Della Subin
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November 5, 2025 at 3:01 PM
“These experiments, led most often by women in their own homes, revealed the domestic as a laboratory for testing enchantment.”
Anna Della Subin in a talk delivered at the conference Enchanting Wor(l)ds.
Anna Della Subin in a talk delivered at the conference Enchanting Wor(l)ds.
“Ferrara’s arrival in New York City and subsequent entry into the movie business is presented as something like a case of recidivism, a dive from suburban gentility into the cauldron of steaming garbage that was Fun City–era Manhattan.” —Nick Pinkerton
A Rake’s Progress, by Nick Pinkerton
Abel Ferrara’s addiction to filmmaking
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November 5, 2025 at 1:00 PM
“Ferrara’s arrival in New York City and subsequent entry into the movie business is presented as something like a case of recidivism, a dive from suburban gentility into the cauldron of steaming garbage that was Fun City–era Manhattan.” —Nick Pinkerton
“‘The universe is made of love,’ Daedone told her employees. ‘Sales is love. Therefore the universe is made of sales.’”
Dan Piepenbring reviews Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult.
Dan Piepenbring reviews Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult.
New Books, by Dan Piepenbring
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November 4, 2025 at 11:00 PM
“‘The universe is made of love,’ Daedone told her employees. ‘Sales is love. Therefore the universe is made of sales.’”
Dan Piepenbring reviews Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult.
Dan Piepenbring reviews Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult.
“I don’t know how my father found out about the trip. We hadn’t spoken in almost a year when he emailed, saying that he’d like to get back to North Cyprus himself.”
A new story from David Wingrave.
harpers.org/archive/2025/11/aytac-david-wingrave-cyprus-friendship/
A new story from David Wingrave.
harpers.org/archive/2025/11/aytac-david-wingrave-cyprus-friendship/
Aytaç, by David Wingrave
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harpers.org
November 4, 2025 at 10:00 PM
“I don’t know how my father found out about the trip. We hadn’t spoken in almost a year when he emailed, saying that he’d like to get back to North Cyprus himself.”
A new story from David Wingrave.
harpers.org/archive/2025/11/aytac-david-wingrave-cyprus-friendship/
A new story from David Wingrave.
harpers.org/archive/2025/11/aytac-david-wingrave-cyprus-friendship/
“He made sixty-six movies, sixty-seven if you count his uncredited voice of God in the forgettable Two of a Kind. (God had nothing meaningful to say.) He didn’t do death in most of them, but in the ones he did, his end was very awful.”
Joy Williams on Gene Hackman.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
Joy Williams on Gene Hackman.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
One Four Two Five Old Sunset Trail, by Joy Williams
On the last days of Gene Hackman
harpers.org
November 4, 2025 at 9:00 PM
“He made sixty-six movies, sixty-seven if you count his uncredited voice of God in the forgettable Two of a Kind. (God had nothing meaningful to say.) He didn’t do death in most of them, but in the ones he did, his end was very awful.”
Joy Williams on Gene Hackman.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
Joy Williams on Gene Hackman.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
“That’s the trouble with dreams of power. It stimulates anxiety about a catastrophe that has yet to happen. ”
@hernyfreebland.bsky.social in a collage essay which was published by @laphamsquarterly.bsky.social.
@hernyfreebland.bsky.social in a collage essay which was published by @laphamsquarterly.bsky.social.
The American Scheme of Things, by Henry Freedland
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November 4, 2025 at 5:30 PM
“That’s the trouble with dreams of power. It stimulates anxiety about a catastrophe that has yet to happen. ”
@hernyfreebland.bsky.social in a collage essay which was published by @laphamsquarterly.bsky.social.
@hernyfreebland.bsky.social in a collage essay which was published by @laphamsquarterly.bsky.social.
“I’m all for getting off without telos, but, as a rule of thumb (or whichever finger[s] you stroke with), anyone who takes a well-known word, capitalizes the first letter, and insists that it’s something new has an axe to grind.” —Dan Piepenbring
New Books, by Dan Piepenbring
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November 3, 2025 at 11:00 PM
“I’m all for getting off without telos, but, as a rule of thumb (or whichever finger[s] you stroke with), anyone who takes a well-known word, capitalizes the first letter, and insists that it’s something new has an axe to grind.” —Dan Piepenbring