Katy Waldman
@xwaldie.bsky.social
Reposted by Katy Waldman
Most stories in the time-loop genre build to a moment of escape. “On the Calculation of Volume” imagines a woman making a life inside an infinitely repeating November 18th. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/11/17/on-the-calculation-of-volume-solvej-balle-book-review
Solvej Balle’s Novels Rewire the Time Loop
Most stories in the genre build to a moment of escape. “On the Calculation of Volume” imagines a woman making a life inside an infinitely repeating November 18th.
www.newyorker.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Most stories in the time-loop genre build to a moment of escape. “On the Calculation of Volume” imagines a woman making a life inside an infinitely repeating November 18th. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/11/17/on-the-calculation-of-volume-solvej-balle-book-review
Is something going on with lettuce in NY being rotten?
November 1, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Is something going on with lettuce in NY being rotten?
Reposted by Katy Waldman
“According to the spokespeople of grind culture, the choice is clear: your individuality can make money for you or it can make money for somebody else,” Katy Waldman writes.
How Corporate Feminism Went from “Love Me” to “Buy Me”
A decade ago, Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” aimed to tear down the obstacles that kept women from reaching the top. Now her successors want to tear down everything.
www.newyorker.com
October 26, 2025 at 8:13 PM
“According to the spokespeople of grind culture, the choice is clear: your individuality can make money for you or it can make money for somebody else,” Katy Waldman writes.
Reposted by Katy Waldman
Today’s self-help books for working women abandon the pretense that they have anything to do with feminism, or even work. Instead, everything is content. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/27/how-corporate-feminism-went-from-love-me-to-buy-me
October 22, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Today’s self-help books for working women abandon the pretense that they have anything to do with feminism, or even work. Instead, everything is content. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/27/how-corporate-feminism-went-from-love-me-to-buy-me
Wrote about the state of corporate feminist self-help! www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
How Corporate Feminism Went from “Love Me” to “Buy Me”
A decade ago, Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” aimed to tear down the obstacles that kept women from reaching the top. Now her successors want to tear down everything.
www.newyorker.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Wrote about the state of corporate feminist self-help! www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
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An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.
October 9, 2025 at 2:05 PM
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For the fall books issue of @newyorker.com, I reviewed Ian McEwan's excellent new novel, which features city-drowning floods, "the famous group Radiohead," and a metric ton of adultery. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Ian McEwan Casts the Climate Crisis as a Story of Adultery
His new novel, “What We Can Know,” imagines the historians of the twenty-second century, who long for the world that they’ve missed out on.
www.newyorker.com
September 24, 2025 at 9:57 PM
For the fall books issue of @newyorker.com, I reviewed Ian McEwan's excellent new novel, which features city-drowning floods, "the famous group Radiohead," and a metric ton of adultery. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Katy Waldman
“What We Can Know,” Ian McEwan’s 18th novel, takes place in the 22nd century, after a nuclear disaster. “Much of the novel’s charm lies in its re-creation of our era as seen from the future,” Katy Waldman writes.
Ian McEwan Casts the Climate Crisis as a Story of Adultery
His new novel, “What We Can Know,” imagines the historians of the twenty-second century, who long for the world that they’ve missed out on.
www.newyorker.com
September 24, 2025 at 3:36 PM
“What We Can Know,” Ian McEwan’s 18th novel, takes place in the 22nd century, after a nuclear disaster. “Much of the novel’s charm lies in its re-creation of our era as seen from the future,” Katy Waldman writes.
Reposted by Katy Waldman
Seeing ice cream cones during their spawning runs really takes your breath away. They’ll only do this once in their entire lives.
September 24, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Seeing ice cream cones during their spawning runs really takes your breath away. They’ll only do this once in their entire lives.
Monday version of me here to re-up this post for all of your Monday selves!
I reviewed Helen Oyeyemi’s new new novel, in which a character divides herself by seven — one identity for each day of the week (Should we all try this?) www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Helen Oyeyemi’s Novel of Cognitive Dissonance
Kinga, the protagonist of “A New New Me,” has an odd affliction: there are seven of her.
www.newyorker.com
September 1, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Monday version of me here to re-up this post for all of your Monday selves!
I reviewed Helen Oyeyemi’s new new novel, in which a character divides herself by seven — one identity for each day of the week (Should we all try this?) www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Helen Oyeyemi’s Novel of Cognitive Dissonance
Kinga, the protagonist of “A New New Me,” has an odd affliction: there are seven of her.
www.newyorker.com
August 25, 2025 at 2:49 PM
I reviewed Helen Oyeyemi’s new new novel, in which a character divides herself by seven — one identity for each day of the week (Should we all try this?) www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
While I’m self-promoting, this piece is in dialogue with an earlier piece about MAGA aesthetics and how Trump is a LLM regurgitating signifiers without understanding them www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
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August 11, 2025 at 5:02 PM
While I’m self-promoting, this piece is in dialogue with an earlier piece about MAGA aesthetics and how Trump is a LLM regurgitating signifiers without understanding them www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
bsky.app/profile/xwal...
bsky.app/profile/xwal...
Reposted by Katy Waldman
With media such as “28 Years Later” and “The Last of Us,” 2025 has been a bacchanalia of zombies. Katy Waldman writes about our cultural fixation on the walking dead.
Our Age of Zombie Culture
Zombies are the least eloquent monster. But they have a lot to say about us.
www.newyorker.com
August 9, 2025 at 10:02 PM
With media such as “28 Years Later” and “The Last of Us,” 2025 has been a bacchanalia of zombies. Katy Waldman writes about our cultural fixation on the walking dead.
Zombies are reactionary babies, tell your friends www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
Our Age of Zombie Culture
Zombies are the least eloquent monster. But they have a lot to say about us.
www.newyorker.com
August 9, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Zombies are reactionary babies, tell your friends www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
Really enjoyed spending time with the film Sorry Baby and with its singular creator and star Eva Victor www.newyorker.com/culture/pers...
How Eva Victor Reimagined the Trauma Plot
In her new film, the actor, writer, and director charts the nonlinear course of a young woman’s recovery from assault.
www.newyorker.com
July 7, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Really enjoyed spending time with the film Sorry Baby and with its singular creator and star Eva Victor www.newyorker.com/culture/pers...
I snuck a few of my "Anora" gripes into a piece about "Materialists" and the rise of the anti-Cinderella story
www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
June 24, 2025 at 8:40 PM
I snuck a few of my "Anora" gripes into a piece about "Materialists" and the rise of the anti-Cinderella story
www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
Reposted by Katy Waldman
Does Prince Charming still exist? A spate of media scrutinizing the one-percent—including “Materialists” and “Anora”—attests to the difficulty of romanticizing wealth and love.
The Rise of the Anti-Cinderella Story
A pair of recent films, Celine Song’s “Materialists” and Sean Baker’s “Anora,” turn the fairy tale on its head, with mixed results.
www.newyorker.com
June 21, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Does Prince Charming still exist? A spate of media scrutinizing the one-percent—including “Materialists” and “Anora”—attests to the difficulty of romanticizing wealth and love.
Subbing in for the inimitable Naomi Fry on this week’s critics column, I wrote about Hollywood’s new anti-Cinderella plot www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
The Rise of the Anti-Cinderella Story
A pair of recent films, Celine Song’s “Materialists” and Sean Baker’s “Anora,” turn the fairy tale on its head, with mixed results.
www.newyorker.com
June 21, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Subbing in for the inimitable Naomi Fry on this week’s critics column, I wrote about Hollywood’s new anti-Cinderella plot www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
Reposted by Katy Waldman
“I have wrestled with a Frey-like dread through the writing of this review—I’m afraid that I’ll describe his book and no one will believe me.” Read @xwaldie.bsky.social’s review of the cancelled author’s attempt to rebrand.
James Frey’s New Cancelled-Guy Sex Novel Is as Bad as It Sounds
With a status-obsessed comeback book, the author of the fabricated memoir “A Million Little Pieces” attempts to rebrand.
www.newyorker.com
June 17, 2025 at 11:04 PM
“I have wrestled with a Frey-like dread through the writing of this review—I’m afraid that I’ll describe his book and no one will believe me.” Read @xwaldie.bsky.social’s review of the cancelled author’s attempt to rebrand.
Reviewed James Frey’s new book somehow www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
James Frey’s New Cancelled-Guy Sex Novel Is as Bad as It Sounds
With a status-obsessed comeback book, the author of the fabricated memoir “A Million Little Pieces” attempts to rebrand.
www.newyorker.com
June 17, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Reviewed James Frey’s new book somehow www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
Love Marvel, hate Marvel, all I know is that they put the New Yorker in their closing credit sequence alongside a David Brooks joke that deserves its own Oscar www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
Is “Thunderbolts*” Marvel’s Attempt to Salvage the Superhero Genre?
The film succeeds in part by flipping the franchise’s standard script: the main characters aren’t embarrassed because they’re superheroes; they’re embarrassed because they’re not.
www.newyorker.com
May 29, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Love Marvel, hate Marvel, all I know is that they put the New Yorker in their closing credit sequence alongside a David Brooks joke that deserves its own Oscar www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
Reposted by Katy Waldman
“Twist,” by Colum McCann, centers around the cables that relay computer data around the world, and what happens when a cable off the Ghanaian coast is severed. But the book doesn’t establish the human stakes of the repair, Katy Waldman writes.
Colum McCann’s Limp Novel of Digital Life
In “Twist,” the characterization is listless and the internet is just a series of tubes.
www.newyorker.com
May 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
“Twist,” by Colum McCann, centers around the cables that relay computer data around the world, and what happens when a cable off the Ghanaian coast is severed. But the book doesn’t establish the human stakes of the repair, Katy Waldman writes.
Reposted by Katy Waldman
In an interview with Slate's Mary Harris, the New Yorker's Katy Waldman stated that nothing is going well at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since Donald Trump took over the venerable Washington D.C. institution.
'Everything is worse' at Kennedy Center as the 'Trump anti-Midas touch' takes hold: expert
In an interview with Slate's Mary Harris, the New Yorker's Katy Waldman stated that nothing is going well at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since Donald Trump took over the venerable Washington D.C. institution.Following up on earlier reports that crowd-pleasing –– and ticket-selling...
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May 10, 2025 at 6:00 PM
In an interview with Slate's Mary Harris, the New Yorker's Katy Waldman stated that nothing is going well at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since Donald Trump took over the venerable Washington D.C. institution.
Reposted by Katy Waldman
Donald Trump loves posting A.I. images of himself. On a new episode of The Political Scene podcast, the staff writer @xwaldie.bsky.social talks about how she sees these often bizarre representations as the “statements of intent” of a budding authoritarian. Listen here.
Decoding Donald Trump’s Love of A.I. Imagery
The President loves posting A.I. images of himself. The staff writer Katy Waldman sees these often bizarre representations as the “statements of intent” of a budding authoritarian.
www.newyorker.com
May 8, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Donald Trump loves posting A.I. images of himself. On a new episode of The Political Scene podcast, the staff writer @xwaldie.bsky.social talks about how she sees these often bizarre representations as the “statements of intent” of a budding authoritarian. Listen here.
Reposted by Katy Waldman
Donald Trump and A.I.-generated imagery are well matched, Katie Waldman writes. “It makes sense that a man who yearns for a reality untroubled by other humans would be drawn to art that is untouched by anything human.”
Trump Is the Emperor of A.I. Slop
It makes sense that a man who yearns for a reality untroubled by other humans would be drawn to art that is untouched by anything human.
www.newyorker.com
April 26, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Donald Trump and A.I.-generated imagery are well matched, Katie Waldman writes. “It makes sense that a man who yearns for a reality untroubled by other humans would be drawn to art that is untouched by anything human.”