Rachel Frankel
@rachelfrankel.bsky.social
Professional yearner, award-winning art director and brand designer, musical noisemaker and producer, and sometimes writer. Author of She Can Really Lay It Down and 1/2 of Phosphene.
Sometimes you get carried away writing arrangements for your band’s next record and then half of them go bye-bye during the last stage of mixing. All part of the deal, but my packrat composer self is currently harrumphing about it and will harrumph some more until I’m satisfied.
July 2, 2025 at 5:13 AM
Sometimes you get carried away writing arrangements for your band’s next record and then half of them go bye-bye during the last stage of mixing. All part of the deal, but my packrat composer self is currently harrumphing about it and will harrumph some more until I’m satisfied.
It’s not “more nice billionaires plz 🥺” it’s no more billionaires at all.
June 30, 2025 at 3:41 PM
It’s not “more nice billionaires plz 🥺” it’s no more billionaires at all.
This week on Mutable: the next installment of really, really great music videos from my adolescence and beyond, featuring The White Stripes, Lady Gaga and the one and only Beyoncé! 25 years of being in the Beyhive and 15 years of being a Little Monster prepared me for this moment. 🐝🧟♀️✏️ #musicvideos
Really, really great music videos from my adolescence and beyond: Part II
Featuring the few degrees of separation between Meg White and Beyoncé
open.substack.com
June 28, 2025 at 3:58 AM
This week on Mutable: the next installment of really, really great music videos from my adolescence and beyond, featuring The White Stripes, Lady Gaga and the one and only Beyoncé! 25 years of being in the Beyhive and 15 years of being a Little Monster prepared me for this moment. 🐝🧟♀️✏️ #musicvideos
Reposted by Rachel Frankel
Here's your periodic reminder that political centrism is nonsense. There is no middle ground between democracy and oligarchy.
June 25, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Here's your periodic reminder that political centrism is nonsense. There is no middle ground between democracy and oligarchy.
This week on Mutable: I wrote about the threat ICE is posing against innocent immigrants, as well as two Latina women who not only helped raise me, but transformed my worldview as a child. 🇲🇽🇬🇹♥️ substack.com/home/post/p-...
Como la flor, con tanto amor
Why immigrants are unequivocally the best of us
substack.com
June 11, 2025 at 9:15 PM
This week on Mutable: I wrote about the threat ICE is posing against innocent immigrants, as well as two Latina women who not only helped raise me, but transformed my worldview as a child. 🇲🇽🇬🇹♥️ substack.com/home/post/p-...
Reposted by Rachel Frankel
thank you @counciloravalos.bsky.social !!
June 10, 2025 at 2:53 AM
thank you @counciloravalos.bsky.social !!
Reposted by Rachel Frankel
I’ve talked about this ad nauseam but yeah it’s a consequence of 1) the psychologicalization of our language (everything is about Self) 2) the affect of algo driven social media and now even legacy media 3) no one made these people read Amelia Bedelia 4) the way we teach reading flattens meaning
One thing social media has taught me (though I have definitely experienced it in other media too): a lot of people, even quite smart people, are worryingly bad at reading comprehension. For instance: many have trouble distinguishing between someone *describing* a thing and *advocating* that thing.
June 10, 2025 at 2:21 PM
I’ve talked about this ad nauseam but yeah it’s a consequence of 1) the psychologicalization of our language (everything is about Self) 2) the affect of algo driven social media and now even legacy media 3) no one made these people read Amelia Bedelia 4) the way we teach reading flattens meaning
This week on Mutable: I wrote about friendship, ascension through repeatedly witnessing the same bands in concert, and the difference between earnestness and millennial "cringe." Shoutout to the recent Bustle article that spurred some feelings, to Stevie Nicks' lyricism, and my childhood buds.
Friendship, concerts and the "cringe" of being earnest
Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides?
shespeakseasy.substack.com
June 5, 2025 at 4:48 PM
This week on Mutable: I wrote about friendship, ascension through repeatedly witnessing the same bands in concert, and the difference between earnestness and millennial "cringe." Shoutout to the recent Bustle article that spurred some feelings, to Stevie Nicks' lyricism, and my childhood buds.
Reposted by Rachel Frankel
Fiction. Art. More fiction. A dash of poetry.
the number one challenge for left media in the US isn’t “how do you get americans to listen to left ideas” but “how do you get americans to understand & accept that they’re part of society and responsible for how they treat other human beings” and I have absolutely no idea how to address that
June 2, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Fiction. Art. More fiction. A dash of poetry.
Today on Mutable: I wrote about the millennial public school experience, my changing perspective on Judaism and Israel, and the Big Thing that’s been happening in the Middle East for the last couple years.
On millennials, justice, and religion
And that long, bendy moral arc
open.substack.com
May 28, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Today on Mutable: I wrote about the millennial public school experience, my changing perspective on Judaism and Israel, and the Big Thing that’s been happening in the Middle East for the last couple years.
In my crunchy Northwest bisexual gardener era. I haven’t been depressed for nearly 3 full months, my creative block is gone, and I’m talking to both of my parents again instead of just one of them. Some things can never be sure, but it feels good to trust the universe again. Even in these times.
May 26, 2025 at 4:51 AM
In my crunchy Northwest bisexual gardener era. I haven’t been depressed for nearly 3 full months, my creative block is gone, and I’m talking to both of my parents again instead of just one of them. Some things can never be sure, but it feels good to trust the universe again. Even in these times.
Reposted by Rachel Frankel
George Floyd was murdered on this day five years ago.
Despite massive protests over racial injustice, police killings are sadly on the rise.
Instead of pouring more funds into our brutal system of policing, let's invest in communities. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/u...
Despite massive protests over racial injustice, police killings are sadly on the rise.
Instead of pouring more funds into our brutal system of policing, let's invest in communities. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/u...
Since George Floyd’s Murder, Police Killings Keep Rising, Not Falling
www.nytimes.com
May 25, 2025 at 3:11 PM
George Floyd was murdered on this day five years ago.
Despite massive protests over racial injustice, police killings are sadly on the rise.
Instead of pouring more funds into our brutal system of policing, let's invest in communities. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/u...
Despite massive protests over racial injustice, police killings are sadly on the rise.
Instead of pouring more funds into our brutal system of policing, let's invest in communities. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/u...
Reposted by Rachel Frankel
This is one of the most profound essays I’ve read in years. You don’t need me to tell you that Hanif Abdurraqib is one of the finest writers of our time, but this essay in particular is a hard-won offering. Please read it and share with people you love.
In Defense of Despair
The feeling is most commonly framed as an end point, a level of despondency that cannot be overcome. But it doesn’t have to be so.
www.newyorker.com
May 21, 2025 at 9:58 PM
This is one of the most profound essays I’ve read in years. You don’t need me to tell you that Hanif Abdurraqib is one of the finest writers of our time, but this essay in particular is a hard-won offering. Please read it and share with people you love.
Today on Mutable: 3 good things, including @minjinlee.bsky.social’s Pachinko.
3 good things
Slightly Portland-centric
open.substack.com
May 21, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Today on Mutable: 3 good things, including @minjinlee.bsky.social’s Pachinko.
First time at Canard and first time eating the babiest and most delicious burgers of all time thanks to a gift cert from my in-laws. V satisfied customers.
May 18, 2025 at 4:19 AM
First time at Canard and first time eating the babiest and most delicious burgers of all time thanks to a gift cert from my in-laws. V satisfied customers.
I’ll never forget being at an onsite, working on a brand refresh and shocking the room when we discussed analogies for positioning against the company’s competition. Someone said “we’re the Beyoncé,” and I naturally came in with “and they’re the Michelle” and heard someone choke on their LaCroix
May 17, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I’ll never forget being at an onsite, working on a brand refresh and shocking the room when we discussed analogies for positioning against the company’s competition. Someone said “we’re the Beyoncé,” and I naturally came in with “and they’re the Michelle” and heard someone choke on their LaCroix
Today on Mutable: my early predilection for Disney allegories, Elliott Smith’s Figure 8, and the continued unearthing of ghosts long locked away. 👻❤️🩹
open.substack.com/pub/shespeak...
open.substack.com/pub/shespeak...
May 14, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Today on Mutable: my early predilection for Disney allegories, Elliott Smith’s Figure 8, and the continued unearthing of ghosts long locked away. 👻❤️🩹
open.substack.com/pub/shespeak...
open.substack.com/pub/shespeak...
This is just a note to say that confronting friends about hurt feelings as an adult can be really fucking scary, but is often super worth it in the sense that doing so often reveals exactly who that person chooses to be in a mode of discomfort. Grateful for those who can sit in it with me.
May 11, 2025 at 3:50 AM
This is just a note to say that confronting friends about hurt feelings as an adult can be really fucking scary, but is often super worth it in the sense that doing so often reveals exactly who that person chooses to be in a mode of discomfort. Grateful for those who can sit in it with me.
Reposted by Rachel Frankel
I sincerely pray that the weight of your mediocrity and cowardice weighs on your ballsack every night heavier than lead.
Mayor Ras Baraka has been released, but he should never have been arrested by Trump to begin with.
May 10, 2025 at 3:00 AM
I sincerely pray that the weight of your mediocrity and cowardice weighs on your ballsack every night heavier than lead.
Today on Mutable: some S-tier music videos from my No Doubt-obsessed youth, and beyond! Shouts to the Little Monsters, Wall Street disruptions and Michael Moore included.
Really, really great music videos from my adolescence and beyond: Part I
You are entering a judgment-free zone. Act accordingly.
open.substack.com
May 7, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Today on Mutable: some S-tier music videos from my No Doubt-obsessed youth, and beyond! Shouts to the Little Monsters, Wall Street disruptions and Michael Moore included.
Dear Portland food-oriented entrepreneurs: we are at critical mass on focaccia-centric establishments. Focaccia is great, but it's everywhere now, and I'm officially burnt out. Please consider exploring alternative forms of glutinous carbs. Love, Rachel
May 5, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Dear Portland food-oriented entrepreneurs: we are at critical mass on focaccia-centric establishments. Focaccia is great, but it's everywhere now, and I'm officially burnt out. Please consider exploring alternative forms of glutinous carbs. Love, Rachel
Reposted by Rachel Frankel
ALL FLEETWOOD MAC SONGS THAT DO NOT FEATURE A STEVIE NICKS LEAD VOCAL ARE NOW TARIFFED AT 250%
May 5, 2025 at 12:03 AM
ALL FLEETWOOD MAC SONGS THAT DO NOT FEATURE A STEVIE NICKS LEAD VOCAL ARE NOW TARIFFED AT 250%
Man I need to rewatch this IMMEDIATELY, thank you @sheaserrano.bsky.social
Whiplash
A dazzling new director turns jazz into a combat sport
open.substack.com
May 3, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Man I need to rewatch this IMMEDIATELY, thank you @sheaserrano.bsky.social
A PSA from my tortie daughter. shespeakseasy.substack.com
May 1, 2025 at 8:07 PM
A PSA from my tortie daughter. shespeakseasy.substack.com