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 understand that there are very good statistical arguments for not giving the MVP to the giant-assed catcher who hit 60 dingers, but also: come on.
November 14, 2025 at 5:05 AM
I understand that there are very good statistical arguments for not giving the MVP to the giant-assed catcher who hit 60 dingers, but also: come on.
Hoo, your boy went through it a couple-three times in the dark semi-solitude of the theater during Train Dreams.
November 14, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Hoo, your boy went through it a couple-three times in the dark semi-solitude of the theater during Train Dreams.
Call me a tedious moralist, but I draw the line at "being cool with kid-fucking."
November 12, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Call me a tedious moralist, but I draw the line at "being cool with kid-fucking."
For the morning crowd: I published some new fiction over at Flaming Hydra. flaminghydra.com/the-paramete...
The Parameters
On the bed in the evening, when the air is cool, I read excellent and important books while she watches movies on her iPad. I hate the iPad. The moving images in my peripheral vision distract me from ...
flaminghydra.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:38 PM
For the morning crowd: I published some new fiction over at Flaming Hydra. flaminghydra.com/the-paramete...
It’s a restrained work, I hope, but I have put my whole self into this. flaminghydra.com/the-paramete...
The Parameters
On the bed in the evening, when the air is cool, I read excellent and important books while she watches movies on her iPad. I hate the iPad. The moving images in my peripheral vision distract me from ...
flaminghydra.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:30 AM
It’s a restrained work, I hope, but I have put my whole self into this. flaminghydra.com/the-paramete...
I know I pushed this last week, but really, if you want feel like a human being, read this Saward piece about Caravaggio. It's profound. flaminghydra.com/caravaggio-s...
Caravaggio, Sam Altman, and Me
I was wandering around a humid church in Rome, vibrating on no sleep, and there was a murder going down on the wall. It can feel sometimes in these kind of places like you are hallucinating, the smell...
flaminghydra.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:54 AM
I know I pushed this last week, but really, if you want feel like a human being, read this Saward piece about Caravaggio. It's profound. flaminghydra.com/caravaggio-s...
All I ask for is new dumb assholes in charge of the Democratic Party. I get that they're never going to do anything good, but I just shouldn't have to look at Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin anymore.
November 10, 2025 at 1:07 AM
All I ask for is new dumb assholes in charge of the Democratic Party. I get that they're never going to do anything good, but I just shouldn't have to look at Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin anymore.
Reposted by Colin McGowan
Flaming Hydra is a coop. All you can do with your share is sell it back to the coop (for $1), and nobody can have more than one.
You have to be ready for growth to take a long time. Journalism is a public trust that should be accountable to readers alone, and that means readers alone pay for it.
You have to be ready for growth to take a long time. Journalism is a public trust that should be accountable to readers alone, and that means readers alone pay for it.
How does one invest in left-wing media without a far-right billionaire coming along in a few years, buying said media, and remodeling it in his own image?
That seems to be a recurring problem.
That seems to be a recurring problem.
November 7, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Flaming Hydra is a coop. All you can do with your share is sell it back to the coop (for $1), and nobody can have more than one.
You have to be ready for growth to take a long time. Journalism is a public trust that should be accountable to readers alone, and that means readers alone pay for it.
You have to be ready for growth to take a long time. Journalism is a public trust that should be accountable to readers alone, and that means readers alone pay for it.
You know the fancy colby jack? The kind with the spicy peppers? That's free for poor people now. Meanwhile the property taxes on my apartment full of cars are gonna skyrocket.
November 5, 2025 at 4:30 AM
You know the fancy colby jack? The kind with the spicy peppers? That's free for poor people now. Meanwhile the property taxes on my apartment full of cars are gonna skyrocket.
I like how Charlie Rose would always thank his guests for joining him at "this table." That's humility. He knew the show was bigger than him. It was about the table.
November 5, 2025 at 12:48 AM
I like how Charlie Rose would always thank his guests for joining him at "this table." That's humility. He knew the show was bigger than him. It was about the table.
This makes it sound like scientists have been studying Lobster Newberg since The Enlightenment, and only recently discovered that there's cayenne pepper in it.
November 4, 2025 at 11:09 PM
This makes it sound like scientists have been studying Lobster Newberg since The Enlightenment, and only recently discovered that there's cayenne pepper in it.
RIP to one of the worst to ever do it. Satan's lawyer, a howling void in a gray suit. Dick Cheney set out each day to make the world a more miserable place and typically succeeded. A healthy society would run his corpse over with a parade float.
November 4, 2025 at 2:31 PM
RIP to one of the worst to ever do it. Satan's lawyer, a howling void in a gray suit. Dick Cheney set out each day to make the world a more miserable place and typically succeeded. A healthy society would run his corpse over with a parade float.
Brandon Johnson, the left-ish mayor of the big city I live in, is largely ineffectual. I wonder if he believes in all the shit he ran on, but I also know that a mayor is not a god-king and give him grace. Zohran will probably be similar. But Christ, you gotta try. What else is there to do?
November 4, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Brandon Johnson, the left-ish mayor of the big city I live in, is largely ineffectual. I wonder if he believes in all the shit he ran on, but I also know that a mayor is not a god-king and give him grace. Zohran will probably be similar. But Christ, you gotta try. What else is there to do?
It sounds like an exaggeration that I read most things John publishes immediately and say to myself "yet another banger," but that is what I actually do. You too can live in this glorious reality. Subscribe to Flaming Hydra.
Wrote about Italy, Caravaggio and man against the machine flaminghydra.com/caravaggio-s...
Caravaggio, Sam Altman, and Me
I was wandering around a humid church in Rome, vibrating on no sleep, and there was a murder going down on the wall. It can feel sometimes in these kind of places like you are hallucinating, the smell...
flaminghydra.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:04 AM
It sounds like an exaggeration that I read most things John publishes immediately and say to myself "yet another banger," but that is what I actually do. You too can live in this glorious reality. Subscribe to Flaming Hydra.
Writing a Hemingway-esque short story about stalking and killing the Buffalo Wild Wings mascot.
November 2, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Writing a Hemingway-esque short story about stalking and killing the Buffalo Wild Wings mascot.
SEND IN KERSHAW YOU COWARDS.
November 2, 2025 at 4:09 AM
SEND IN KERSHAW YOU COWARDS.
I'd write random bible verses on my hat to gain a competitive advantage. I want the hitter thinking "why does he care so much about the proscription of shellfish?"
November 2, 2025 at 2:16 AM
I'd write random bible verses on my hat to gain a competitive advantage. I want the hitter thinking "why does he care so much about the proscription of shellfish?"
Everybody in attendance at this game and most of the people playing in it look like they're gonna be sick. That's Peak Sports.
November 2, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Everybody in attendance at this game and most of the people playing in it look like they're gonna be sick. That's Peak Sports.
I will not be at this. (Selling point or not, you decide.) But if you're around, you should swing by.
TODAY: we are having a party tonight in New York City, please come hang out!!! luma.com/i5q45r3h
Flaming Hangout · Luma
FRIENDS OF FLAMING HYDRA!!! Will you be in New York City on November 1st??!
Please join us to Support Our Serpent at 12 Saint Marks Place from 7 to 10pm. We'll…
luma.com
November 1, 2025 at 8:23 PM
I will not be at this. (Selling point or not, you decide.) But if you're around, you should swing by.
After failing to put my finger on it for a couple days, I finally identified the energy Karine Jean-Pierre was bringing to that Chotiner interview.
October 30, 2025 at 3:56 PM
After failing to put my finger on it for a couple days, I finally identified the energy Karine Jean-Pierre was bringing to that Chotiner interview.
Reposted by Colin McGowan
Pynchon retiring his career-long no interviews policy to sit down with Isaac Chotiner. His sixth answer begins "Now hold on a second..." and it does not get better from there.
October 28, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Pynchon retiring his career-long no interviews policy to sit down with Isaac Chotiner. His sixth answer begins "Now hold on a second..." and it does not get better from there.
A man used to be able to set up camp in a motel bathtub and get a good weekend-long drunk on but you can't do that anymore, because of woke.
October 27, 2025 at 11:25 PM
A man used to be able to set up camp in a motel bathtub and get a good weekend-long drunk on but you can't do that anymore, because of woke.
The formation of a more perfect VerhoevenWorld continues apace.
October 25, 2025 at 3:20 AM
The formation of a more perfect VerhoevenWorld continues apace.