The Believer
@thebeliever.net
A quarterly literature, arts, and culture magazine.
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Our first-ever Sports Issue is coming soon! Featuring
@minakimes.bsky.social, Kiese Laymon, Jenny Odell, @lauravandenberg.bsky.social, a custom Believer-branded swim cap, and much more.
Subscribe now and get 15% off: store.mcsweeneys.net/products/the...
@minakimes.bsky.social, Kiese Laymon, Jenny Odell, @lauravandenberg.bsky.social, a custom Believer-branded swim cap, and much more.
Subscribe now and get 15% off: store.mcsweeneys.net/products/the...
"While members implicitly commit to bringing home an income well below the poverty line by joining East Wind, they appear to be making a trade in favor of an all-natural idyll."
—Rafael Frumkin on the East Wind Community and their signature peanut butter
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...
—Rafael Frumkin on the East Wind Community and their signature peanut butter
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...
High-Control Goods: East Wind Peanut Butter - Believer Magazine
Let me begin by saying that the peanut butter made by the East Wind Community—an intentional community on 1,145 acres of land in the rural Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri—is probably the best pea...
www.thebeliever.net
November 26, 2025 at 4:58 PM
"While members implicitly commit to bringing home an income well below the poverty line by joining East Wind, they appear to be making a trade in favor of an all-natural idyll."
—Rafael Frumkin on the East Wind Community and their signature peanut butter
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...
—Rafael Frumkin on the East Wind Community and their signature peanut butter
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...
"I’ve seen, time and time again, the way that the process of trying to say something that matters dignifies and improves a person."
—George Saunders on writing
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—George Saunders on writing
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
An Interview with George Saunders - Believer Magazine
He was born George Saunders and has kept the same name his entire life. Sometimes he moves through the streets beneath a great coat designed to keep himself from being killed. Otherwise he is fearless...
www.thebeliever.net
November 26, 2025 at 3:42 PM
"I’ve seen, time and time again, the way that the process of trying to say something that matters dignifies and improves a person."
—George Saunders on writing
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—George Saunders on writing
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
"I make no distinction between what pleases me and what might please a reader."
—George Saunders, interviewed by Ben Marcus
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—George Saunders, interviewed by Ben Marcus
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
An Interview with George Saunders - Believer Magazine
He was born George Saunders and has kept the same name his entire life. Sometimes he moves through the streets beneath a great coat designed to keep himself from being killed. Otherwise he is fearless...
www.thebeliever.net
November 24, 2025 at 9:31 PM
"I make no distinction between what pleases me and what might please a reader."
—George Saunders, interviewed by Ben Marcus
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—George Saunders, interviewed by Ben Marcus
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
"Drums are an essential part to hip-hop. It’s an essential part to all music. The first instrument. It’s the communicator."
—Q-Tip, interviewed by Touré
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—Q-Tip, interviewed by Touré
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
An Interview with Q-Tip - Believer Magazine
Q-Tip was born Jonathan Davis and even though he’ll let you call him Q-Tip, most of his closest friends now use his Muslim name, Kamaal Fareed. He began his musical career in the late eighties as a te...
www.thebeliever.net
November 24, 2025 at 5:07 PM
"Drums are an essential part to hip-hop. It’s an essential part to all music. The first instrument. It’s the communicator."
—Q-Tip, interviewed by Touré
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—Q-Tip, interviewed by Touré
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
"A lot of thought is tone. Tone is where a symptom occurs, you know? So if your symptom is anger or reactivity, or defensiveness, or repression, that will come out in the tone."
—Maggie Nelson, interviewed by Ross Simonini
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—Maggie Nelson, interviewed by Ross Simonini
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
An Interview with Maggie Nelson - Believer Magazine
Over the last decade, Maggie Nelson’s writing has become one of the guiding intellectual lights for artists of all disciplines. Her books on aesthetics, gender, violence, and, most recently, freedom, ...
www.thebeliever.net
November 24, 2025 at 2:58 PM
"A lot of thought is tone. Tone is where a symptom occurs, you know? So if your symptom is anger or reactivity, or defensiveness, or repression, that will come out in the tone."
—Maggie Nelson, interviewed by Ross Simonini
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—Maggie Nelson, interviewed by Ross Simonini
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
"It is no small matter, I soon realize, the process of choosing books for this child I loved long before his arrival in the material world."
—from "How to Build a Book Collection" by Joshua Bennett
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-build...
—from "How to Build a Book Collection" by Joshua Bennett
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-build...
How to Build a Book Collection - Believer Magazine
It is not the black child’s language that is in question, it is not his language that is despised: it is his experience. A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him, and a child cannot afford ...
www.thebeliever.net
November 21, 2025 at 5:35 PM
"It is no small matter, I soon realize, the process of choosing books for this child I loved long before his arrival in the material world."
—from "How to Build a Book Collection" by Joshua Bennett
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-build...
—from "How to Build a Book Collection" by Joshua Bennett
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-build...
Reposted by The Believer
Today's excerpt from our pals at @thebeliever.net is the latest installment of Nick Hornby's much-loved "Stuff I've Been Reading" column.
Excerpts from The Believer: Stuff I’ve Been Reading: Fall 2025
A quarterly column, steady as ever. - - -Books read: Love’s Labour: How We Break and Make the Bonds of Love—Stephen Grosz Affairs: True Stories of...
buff.ly
November 21, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Today's excerpt from our pals at @thebeliever.net is the latest installment of Nick Hornby's much-loved "Stuff I've Been Reading" column.
"I just went out to Tower Records and bought some records."
Revisit the Golden Age of indie with this archival conversation between Karen O and Carrie Brownstein. Can you still name the hit tracks of the artists they reference?
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
Revisit the Golden Age of indie with this archival conversation between Karen O and Carrie Brownstein. Can you still name the hit tracks of the artists they reference?
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
An Interview with Karen O - Believer Magazine
I have seen Karen O and her band, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, perform to sold-out crowds in New York City, Oslo, and Melbourne. And then I have seen her play to a half-full venue in my hometown of Portland, ...
www.thebeliever.net
November 20, 2025 at 6:04 PM
"I just went out to Tower Records and bought some records."
Revisit the Golden Age of indie with this archival conversation between Karen O and Carrie Brownstein. Can you still name the hit tracks of the artists they reference?
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
Revisit the Golden Age of indie with this archival conversation between Karen O and Carrie Brownstein. Can you still name the hit tracks of the artists they reference?
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
"All my fear turned to wonder. The bear grew still, no longer chewing, blue flowers dripping from her mouth."
—from "How to Talk to Bears," a Department essay by Tennessee Jones
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-talk-...
—from "How to Talk to Bears," a Department essay by Tennessee Jones
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-talk-...
How to Talk to Bears - Believer Magazine
“Rare predatory black bear” is the phrase July and I repeated most often to one another, laughing, during our nine-hundred-mile bike tour across Alaska and Canada. It had come from the mouth of an Ala...
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November 20, 2025 at 4:57 PM
"All my fear turned to wonder. The bear grew still, no longer chewing, blue flowers dripping from her mouth."
—from "How to Talk to Bears," a Department essay by Tennessee Jones
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-talk-...
—from "How to Talk to Bears," a Department essay by Tennessee Jones
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-talk-...
"In almost any situation, I’m invariably interested in the people that nobody pays much attention to."
—Paul Giamatti, interviewed by Eric Spitznagel
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—Paul Giamatti, interviewed by Eric Spitznagel
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
An Interview with Paul Giamatti - Believer Magazine
When Paul Giamatti talks about books—particularly the pulp fiction of his youth—his entire personality changes. He’s no longer the shy character actor soberly discussing his craft. He becomes a bundle...
www.thebeliever.net
November 19, 2025 at 9:08 PM
"In almost any situation, I’m invariably interested in the people that nobody pays much attention to."
—Paul Giamatti, interviewed by Eric Spitznagel
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—Paul Giamatti, interviewed by Eric Spitznagel
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
Tomorrow night, catch Kevin Moffett at this SF event discussing his National Book Award–nominated novel Only Son.
November 19, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Tomorrow night, catch Kevin Moffett at this SF event discussing his National Book Award–nominated novel Only Son.
Congratulations to Souvankham Thammavongsa on winning this year’s Giller Prize! Catch up on her recent column for The Believer in which she documents her search for a new friend.
www.thebeliever.net/bff-introduc...
www.thebeliever.net/bff-introduc...
1. Introduction - Believer Magazine
I wake up in the morning and look up at the ceiling. There’s a light fixture there that I want to replace, but I haven’t got around to doing that. My dad worries about me. Every time we get on the pho...
www.thebeliever.net
November 19, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Congratulations to Souvankham Thammavongsa on winning this year’s Giller Prize! Catch up on her recent column for The Believer in which she documents her search for a new friend.
www.thebeliever.net/bff-introduc...
www.thebeliever.net/bff-introduc...
"No one (but you) cares that much if you stay or if you go. You’ve already made eye contact; that’s the important thing."
—from "how to Make a French Exit" by Eugene Lim
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-make-...
—from "how to Make a French Exit" by Eugene Lim
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-make-...
How to Make a French Exit - Believer Magazine
This is how you leave a party without saying goodbye—also known, with differing connotations, as the Gypsy fade, the Irish leave, or filer à l’anglaise. It’s easy. It’s like Allen Carr’s The Easy Way ...
www.thebeliever.net
November 18, 2025 at 9:18 PM
"No one (but you) cares that much if you stay or if you go. You’ve already made eye contact; that’s the important thing."
—from "how to Make a French Exit" by Eugene Lim
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-make-...
—from "how to Make a French Exit" by Eugene Lim
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-make-...
"Bodegas are cheap, accept EBT cards, and employ polyglot cashiers who can translate a purposeful nod into a chopped cheese."
—from "How to Make a Bodega Sandwich," a Department essay by Zain Khalid
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-make-...
—from "How to Make a Bodega Sandwich," a Department essay by Zain Khalid
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-make-...
How to Make a Bodega Sandwich - Believer Magazine
To properly construct a bodega sandwich, sammich, hoagie, or sub, it is helpful to first consider Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa. Forget for a second that this painting ushered in the daw...
www.thebeliever.net
November 18, 2025 at 6:06 PM
"Bodegas are cheap, accept EBT cards, and employ polyglot cashiers who can translate a purposeful nod into a chopped cheese."
—from "How to Make a Bodega Sandwich," a Department essay by Zain Khalid
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-make-...
—from "How to Make a Bodega Sandwich," a Department essay by Zain Khalid
www.thebeliever.net/how-to-make-...
"I think it helped that my models have been dead for more than a hundred years. They were safe people to imitate."
—John Irving, interviewed by JP O'Malley
www.thebeliever.net/logger/2012-...
—John Irving, interviewed by JP O'Malley
www.thebeliever.net/logger/2012-...
An Interview with John Irving - Believer Magazine
John Irving and I began our interview in a bathroom. It was a humid afternoon last May at a hotel in London. When I arrived, CNN was making a short documentary in Irving’s hotel room, delaying the int...
www.thebeliever.net
November 18, 2025 at 3:19 PM
"I think it helped that my models have been dead for more than a hundred years. They were safe people to imitate."
—John Irving, interviewed by JP O'Malley
www.thebeliever.net/logger/2012-...
—John Irving, interviewed by JP O'Malley
www.thebeliever.net/logger/2012-...
"I think the western as a genre—also in film—exoticizes America for Americans."
—Hernan Diaz, interviewed by @nickhilden.bsky.social
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—Hernan Diaz, interviewed by @nickhilden.bsky.social
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
An Interview with Hernan Diaz - Believer Magazine
Hernan Diaz leaped into our collective literary consciousness with both feet via his 2017 debut, In the Distance, a revisionist western tale of a gentle Swedish emigrant meandering through the hardshi...
www.thebeliever.net
November 17, 2025 at 5:21 PM
"I think the western as a genre—also in film—exoticizes America for Americans."
—Hernan Diaz, interviewed by @nickhilden.bsky.social
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
—Hernan Diaz, interviewed by @nickhilden.bsky.social
www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...
This Thursday in SF, catch Only Son author Kevin Moffett in conversation with Believer Editor Daniel Gumbiner.
November 17, 2025 at 3:19 PM
This Thursday in SF, catch Only Son author Kevin Moffett in conversation with Believer Editor Daniel Gumbiner.
"There’s no law against a sentence existing in two places at once, unlike humans, who are no longer allowed to bilocate because it confuses the cops too much."
—Patricia Lockwood on the question of "tweeting it or saving it for the book"
www.thebeliever.net/logger/2014-...
—Patricia Lockwood on the question of "tweeting it or saving it for the book"
www.thebeliever.net/logger/2014-...
What Would Twitter Do? - Believer Magazine
Welcome to the seventh week of What Would Twitter Do? In this series, I interview some of my favourite people on Twitter about their Twitter habits and philosophies. This week features Patricia Lockwo...
www.thebeliever.net
November 14, 2025 at 7:29 PM
"There’s no law against a sentence existing in two places at once, unlike humans, who are no longer allowed to bilocate because it confuses the cops too much."
—Patricia Lockwood on the question of "tweeting it or saving it for the book"
www.thebeliever.net/logger/2014-...
—Patricia Lockwood on the question of "tweeting it or saving it for the book"
www.thebeliever.net/logger/2014-...
"The first thing I wondered while reading Jeff and Shaleia Divine’s Twin Flames: Finding Your Ultimate Lover was what kind of a writer Jim Jones was."
—from Rafael Frumkin's column on products made by cults MLMs, and fringe groups
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...
—from Rafael Frumkin's column on products made by cults MLMs, and fringe groups
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...
High-Control Goods: Twin Flames - Believer Magazine
The first thing I wondered while reading Jeff and Shaleia Divine’s Twin Flames: Finding Your Ultimate Lover was what kind of a writer Jim Jones was. I’m not sure whether he wrote his Peoples Temple se...
www.thebeliever.net
November 14, 2025 at 5:55 PM
"The first thing I wondered while reading Jeff and Shaleia Divine’s Twin Flames: Finding Your Ultimate Lover was what kind of a writer Jim Jones was."
—from Rafael Frumkin's column on products made by cults MLMs, and fringe groups
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...
—from Rafael Frumkin's column on products made by cults MLMs, and fringe groups
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...
Got a question you’d like a clear, candid take on? Carrie Brownstein is providing answers to readers’ everyday dilemmas in her regular advice column. Write to her at advice@thebeliever.net.
November 14, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Got a question you’d like a clear, candid take on? Carrie Brownstein is providing answers to readers’ everyday dilemmas in her regular advice column. Write to her at advice@thebeliever.net.
"The hopeful self-help magnate is a paradoxical breed, at once altruistically believing himself to be invested in society’s greater good while desiring to secure a personal shitload of cash."
—from an essay by Jessica Lamb-Shapiro
www.thebeliever.net/we-need-hear...
—from an essay by Jessica Lamb-Shapiro
www.thebeliever.net/we-need-hear...
We Need Heart-Touching, Soul-Penetrating Stories! - Believer Magazine
If every one would see To his own reformation How very easily You might reform a nation —Nineteenth-century rhyme A BRIEF TIMELINE OF SOME SEMINAL SELF-HELP BOOKS The Bible The Bhagavad-Gita Meditatio...
www.thebeliever.net
November 13, 2025 at 6:49 PM
"The hopeful self-help magnate is a paradoxical breed, at once altruistically believing himself to be invested in society’s greater good while desiring to secure a personal shitload of cash."
—from an essay by Jessica Lamb-Shapiro
www.thebeliever.net/we-need-hear...
—from an essay by Jessica Lamb-Shapiro
www.thebeliever.net/we-need-hear...
"Most coasters rely for their thrill on the specter of danger, the feeling that at any moment the train might derail and careen off the tracks."
Kevin Moffett reports on America's coaster culture for an amusement park magazine.
www.thebeliever.net/funworld/
Kevin Moffett reports on America's coaster culture for an amusement park magazine.
www.thebeliever.net/funworld/
Funworld - Believer Magazine
CLIFF’S AMUSEMENT PARK, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, JUNE Albuquerque is hot and bright and infested with moths. Gary Hays, owner of Cliff’s Amusement Park, the only amusement park in New Mexico, tells me...
www.thebeliever.net
November 13, 2025 at 3:49 PM
"Most coasters rely for their thrill on the specter of danger, the feeling that at any moment the train might derail and careen off the tracks."
Kevin Moffett reports on America's coaster culture for an amusement park magazine.
www.thebeliever.net/funworld/
Kevin Moffett reports on America's coaster culture for an amusement park magazine.
www.thebeliever.net/funworld/
Bay Area friends: Don't miss Believer editor Daniel Gumbiner in conversation with Only Son author Kevin Moffett later this month! The event is free and hosted by the International Library of Young Authors.
November 12, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Bay Area friends: Don't miss Believer editor Daniel Gumbiner in conversation with Only Son author Kevin Moffett later this month! The event is free and hosted by the International Library of Young Authors.
In our new web-exclusive column, Rafael Frumkin explores the dubious organizations behind everyday consumer goods. In this installment, he looks at Yogi Tea's connection to 3HO, aka the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization.
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...
High-Control Goods: Yogi Tea - Believer Magazine
There are very few things about which I claim any kind of gustatory snobbery. I’ll try practically any food once, probably twice if it doesn’t threaten my stomach’s integrity. The reason things like H...
www.thebeliever.net
November 11, 2025 at 8:15 PM
In our new web-exclusive column, Rafael Frumkin explores the dubious organizations behind everyday consumer goods. In this installment, he looks at Yogi Tea's connection to 3HO, aka the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization.
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...
www.thebeliever.net/high-control...