John Kenyon
@jpkenyon.bsky.social
Likes: Iowa, books, music and decent people. Dislikes: Fascists, book banners, and the willfully ill-informed. Opinions are my own. he/him. https://linktr.ee/johnkenyon
I write each week about five things that caught my attention. This one might be the best, exploring intriguing music on “The Lowdown, “ looking for Joe Brainard, and reading Jack Gilbert and Brian Eno. Take five minutes on this Sunday for a peek. open.substack.com/pub/jpkenyon...
Take Five: A rich, sustained discord
Some investigation around the soundtrack to 'The Lowdown' dominates, while Joe Brainard, Jack Gilbert, P.S. Eliot (by way of Snocaps), and Cornelius Cardew (by way of Brian Eno) also pop up
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:49 PM
I write each week about five things that caught my attention. This one might be the best, exploring intriguing music on “The Lowdown, “ looking for Joe Brainard, and reading Jack Gilbert and Brian Eno. Take five minutes on this Sunday for a peek. open.substack.com/pub/jpkenyon...
Highly recommended.
You can now watch Oscar Award winning documentary No Other Land in the United States of America.
Link below.
Link below.
No Other Land Film - Support Masafer Yatta - Watch No Other Land
supportmasaferyatta.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Highly recommended.
Reposted by John Kenyon
🧵 In 2025, book censorship in the United States is rampant and common. Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country.
October 2, 2025 at 4:18 PM
🧵 In 2025, book censorship in the United States is rampant and common. Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country.
Can't wait to hear Lockwood talk about this at the Iowa City Book Festival on Oct. 11! www.iowacitybookfestival.org.
“At the beginning of each little chapter you walk through a doorway. There is the detail of a coffee cup, a mirror, a pear. You must raise the hand to hold, the face to look, the mouth to drink.” Read from Patricia Lockwood’s new novel, Will There Ever Be Another You.
Will There Ever Be Another You
At the beginning of each little chapter you walk through a doorway. There is the detail of a coffee cup, a mirror, a pear. You must raise the hand to hold, the face to look, the mouth to drink. You…
buff.ly
September 23, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Can't wait to hear Lockwood talk about this at the Iowa City Book Festival on Oct. 11! www.iowacitybookfestival.org.
Does this mean we don't need to die just yet?
*got my races swapped in an earlier tweet. Deleted and reposted with correction.
August 29, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Does this mean we don't need to die just yet?
I listen to a LOT of solo guitar music, and I'll be damned if Cyrus Pireh's latest isn't blowing my mind a bit. He calls it "transcendental shred electric guitar music," and I can't think of a better description.
youtu.be/2JXbVRELjPE
youtu.be/2JXbVRELjPE
Thank You, Guitar
YouTube video by Cyrus Pireh - Topic
youtu.be
August 18, 2025 at 12:50 AM
I listen to a LOT of solo guitar music, and I'll be damned if Cyrus Pireh's latest isn't blowing my mind a bit. He calls it "transcendental shred electric guitar music," and I can't think of a better description.
youtu.be/2JXbVRELjPE
youtu.be/2JXbVRELjPE
Happy to be hosting you on Oct. 11 at the Iowa City Book Festival!
In EXACTLY ONE MONTH my new novel, The Shattering Peace, comes out, and I'm on tour for two weeks, with additional appearances through the year. I'm all over the US; please come see me! Tour locations with links to dates/venues are up at my site. See you soon!
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/08/16/t...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/08/16/t...
The Shattering Peace Tour Dates + Other Remaining 2025 Appearances Now Live
I have a new book out in exactly one month(!!!), and as I usually do, I will celebrate the release by hurling myself around the country with a book tour for a couple of weeks (September 15-25), fol…
whatever.scalzi.com
August 16, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Happy to be hosting you on Oct. 11 at the Iowa City Book Festival!
Letter to the editor: The decision to close SHSI Iowa City should alarm anyone interested in Iowa and Midwest history littlevillagemag.com/letter-to-th...
Letter to the editor: The decision to close SHSI Iowa City should alarm anyone interested in Iowa and Midwest history - Little Village
Some 40 years ago, my mother donated a 1915 landscape plan to the State Historical Society of Iowa’s library in Iowa City. The plan, a rare surviving hand-painted sketch by […]
littlevillagemag.com
August 1, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Letter to the editor: The decision to close SHSI Iowa City should alarm anyone interested in Iowa and Midwest history littlevillagemag.com/letter-to-th...
I’ve been writing the Take Five feature on my Substack for a year, highlighting more than 250 songs, books, movies,poems, paintings, albums, artists and more. This week, a few favorites offered in celebration. Thanks for reading. Please continue… I will!
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
Take Five: Shrine to the Dynamic Year
Taking a look back on 12 months worth of 'Take Fives' with a sort of best-of that showcases the jazz, poetry, rock, writing, and pop philosophy I have shared each week
jpkenyon.substack.com
August 1, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I’ve been writing the Take Five feature on my Substack for a year, highlighting more than 250 songs, books, movies,poems, paintings, albums, artists and more. This week, a few favorites offered in celebration. Thanks for reading. Please continue… I will!
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
Love seeing the act of reading celebrated. Who knew we list-making book nerds were newsworthy. I’m at 2,430 and counting over the last 33 years, with a few decades (health willing) before I reach age 92 like Dan. More stories to experience, more worlds to explore.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/b...
He Read (at Least) 3,599 Books in His Lifetime. Now Anyone Can See His List.
www.nytimes.com
July 26, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Love seeing the act of reading celebrated. Who knew we list-making book nerds were newsworthy. I’m at 2,430 and counting over the last 33 years, with a few decades (health willing) before I reach age 92 like Dan. More stories to experience, more worlds to explore.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/b...
Sometimes you need refined art, sometimes you need some Ozzy, and sometimes you need both and everything in between. It was a week full of art ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
Take Five: Going off the rails
We are on a Crazy Train of sorts, but we can view some beautiful art by Kandinsky, learn from PBS, explore wonderful poetry with Fanny Howe, laugh at a comic, and crank some Ozzy (or The Bad Plus).
jpkenyon.substack.com
July 25, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Sometimes you need refined art, sometimes you need some Ozzy, and sometimes you need both and everything in between. It was a week full of art ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
Four years after the release of one of Bob Dylan's least spontaneous projects, "Shadow Kingdom," I watched again and found an interesting video that doesn't bear many repeat viewings, and a batch of songs that will continue to earn more spins. jpkenyon.substack.com/p/what-was-i...
What was it you wanted?
There was someone there in the shadows on July 18, 2021, and it was Bob Dylan with one of the least spontaneous (but one of the most satisfying) productions of his career, 'Shadow Kingdom'
jpkenyon.substack.com
July 22, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Four years after the release of one of Bob Dylan's least spontaneous projects, "Shadow Kingdom," I watched again and found an interesting video that doesn't bear many repeat viewings, and a batch of songs that will continue to earn more spins. jpkenyon.substack.com/p/what-was-i...
Focusing on positives is difficult these days, but I spent time with paintings, and jazz, and ambient music, and protest songs and it helped to get me through.
July 18, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Focusing on positives is difficult these days, but I spent time with paintings, and jazz, and ambient music, and protest songs and it helped to get me through.
In 2010, Richard Hell revisited his 1982 album, "Destiny Street." In 2025, I revisit my 2010 interview with Hell about the project, once again thinking about the question: "When is a work of art truly finished?" jpkenyon.substack.com/p/richard-he...
Richard Hell: Revisiting, repairing, and remixing Destiny Street
After last week's 'Take Five' stop with Hell's book, 'What Just Happened,' I dug up this interview with Hell from 2010 where we discussed his project to 'repair' his flawed yet wonderful sophomore LP
jpkenyon.substack.com
July 15, 2025 at 3:49 PM
In 2010, Richard Hell revisited his 1982 album, "Destiny Street." In 2025, I revisit my 2010 interview with Hell about the project, once again thinking about the question: "When is a work of art truly finished?" jpkenyon.substack.com/p/richard-he...
40 years ago today I was in the basement of our house in Des Moines watching Live Aid. With the help of YouTube, I spent the last week reliving some of the highlights and catching up with things I missed as I watched through the lens of a 15-year-old pop fan. jpkenyon.substack.com/p/40-years-l...
40 years later: Revisiting Live Aid
Four decades ago today, some of the biggest names in rock joined to raise money to combat famine in Africa. Here is a look back at some sets that blew my teenaged mind, and a few I missed
jpkenyon.substack.com
July 13, 2025 at 2:32 PM
40 years ago today I was in the basement of our house in Des Moines watching Live Aid. With the help of YouTube, I spent the last week reliving some of the highlights and catching up with things I missed as I watched through the lens of a 15-year-old pop fan. jpkenyon.substack.com/p/40-years-l...
A succinct summary of our times from my morning reading. From Bill Knott's "I Am Flying Into Myself: Selected Poems, 1960-2014".
July 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
A succinct summary of our times from my morning reading. From Bill Knott's "I Am Flying Into Myself: Selected Poems, 1960-2014".
It's sad that Democrats are reduced to feats of endurance to protect millions of Americans from the Republicans, but here we are.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l-X...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l-X...
LIVE: Hakeem Jeffries & House Democrats Fighting to Save American Lives on the House Floor
YouTube video by Adam Parkhomenko
www.youtube.com
July 3, 2025 at 5:09 PM
It's sad that Democrats are reduced to feats of endurance to protect millions of Americans from the Republicans, but here we are.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l-X...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l-X...
I sometimes offer a review by saying, "I listened so you don't need to," but if you're at all a fan of Springsteen, you should read this and then listen, for while there obviously is some chaff among these 7 albums, there is a lot of goodness as well.
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/a-perfect-...
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/a-perfect-...
A perfect world or one false move?
Bruce Springsteen just released, 'Tracks II,' a box set with 7 unreleased albums. As you would expect, there is some sublime music and some forgettable tunes, and I'm here to weigh in on all of it.
jpkenyon.substack.com
July 3, 2025 at 4:56 PM
I sometimes offer a review by saying, "I listened so you don't need to," but if you're at all a fan of Springsteen, you should read this and then listen, for while there obviously is some chaff among these 7 albums, there is a lot of goodness as well.
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/a-perfect-...
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/a-perfect-...
Where else will you read about jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard, muralist Diego Rivera, and Mott the Hoople all in one place? Give me 5 minutes, and I’ll take you on a journey through my cultural week. jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
Take Five: Creativity, elegy and industry
Curiosity and connections led me to Terence Blanchard, Danny Gatton, Mick Ralphs' work with Mott the Hoople, the murals of Diego Rivera, and, yes, yet another Beach Boys tune
jpkenyon.substack.com
June 27, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Where else will you read about jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard, muralist Diego Rivera, and Mott the Hoople all in one place? Give me 5 minutes, and I’ll take you on a journey through my cultural week. jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
Reposted by John Kenyon
People in wheelchairs are getting arrested right now in the Russell Senate Office Building in DC. They showed up to tell Congress not to cut their Medicaid, because they cant afford health care without it. If you look closely you can see the zip ties on their hands. #WeWontGetOverLosingMedicaid
June 25, 2025 at 6:26 PM
People in wheelchairs are getting arrested right now in the Russell Senate Office Building in DC. They showed up to tell Congress not to cut their Medicaid, because they cant afford health care without it. If you look closely you can see the zip ties on their hands. #WeWontGetOverLosingMedicaid
I found solace this week in discovering a few things I had missed the first time around, and for a few moments, it took my mind off the raging dumpster fire that roils our country. Perhaps my recounting of this little journey can do the same for you.
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
Take Five: Bright stars in a dark age
Another week of connections: Alice Notley to Ted Berrigan to Joe Brainard, Charles Mingus to Jeff Beck, and Four Tet to Mazzy Star
jpkenyon.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 4:25 PM
I found solace this week in discovering a few things I had missed the first time around, and for a few moments, it took my mind off the raging dumpster fire that roils our country. Perhaps my recounting of this little journey can do the same for you.
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
Maybe Joni was more prescient than we knew with that “We’re all going to die” comment.
BARTIROMO: How would you like to see the US respond to Iran?
JONI ERNST: Well, this will be entirely up to the president ... whatever that call is that is made by President Donald Trump, I will be supportive of
JONI ERNST: Well, this will be entirely up to the president ... whatever that call is that is made by President Donald Trump, I will be supportive of
June 19, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Maybe Joni was more prescient than we knew with that “We’re all going to die” comment.
My cultural consumption was all over the place this week, with a visit by the King, the reluctant folk-pop of Bill Fox, some Sylvia Plath by way of Joe Pernice, an unexpected jaunt with Neil Finn & Jimmy Barnes, and some wonderful fiction with Torrey Peters. jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
Take Five: Trying to get to you
The King ushers in a week of surprises with a Bill Fox interview, a Sylvia Plath-Joe Pernice connection, an '80s slow dance with Jimmy Barnes and Neil Finn, and flirty lumberjacks with Torrey Peters
jpkenyon.substack.com
May 30, 2025 at 5:23 PM
My cultural consumption was all over the place this week, with a visit by the King, the reluctant folk-pop of Bill Fox, some Sylvia Plath by way of Joe Pernice, an unexpected jaunt with Neil Finn & Jimmy Barnes, and some wonderful fiction with Torrey Peters. jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
I very much want a booster.
FDA Commissioner Makary: "By the way, America doesn't want covid boosters."
May 23, 2025 at 4:13 AM
I very much want a booster.
I spent a lot of time this week listening to music that meant a lot to me when I was younger, music that I better understand because I've been reading about it, and music I missed the first time and am glad to catch up. Relive all the excitement! jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...
Take Five: The past is never dead
Take it from good old Bill Faulkner: Thanks to YouTube, the past isn't even past. You can relive my past with Robyn Hitchcock, INXS, Passengers, Peach & Lee, and the Ponys
jpkenyon.substack.com
May 16, 2025 at 5:14 PM
I spent a lot of time this week listening to music that meant a lot to me when I was younger, music that I better understand because I've been reading about it, and music I missed the first time and am glad to catch up. Relive all the excitement! jpkenyon.substack.com/p/take-five-...