Dear INTEROPERABLE reader,
It’s your thrice-day-delayed onset muscle soreness here, a dull reminder as you reach for the peanut butter that you’re trying to stick to that New Year’s resolution to take better care of yourself—and it might just be working. Keep up the good work.
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For millennia, we’ve dyed and stitched together banners to rally around. My grandfather was born under a flag with forty-eight stars; two more were added the year my father was born. That flag with fifty stars was flown to the moon, a mission in peace for the betterment of all mankind. It has been on the shoulders of the vile and the heroic, from the Olympic Games to Abu Ghraib. It has been draped on countless caskets. This flag stands behind our leaders, whether they are protecting the needy or lying through their teeth. It is carefully folded into a triangle and handed to grieving mothers and widows alike.
Like Julia Child, Stanley Kubrick, or the Enola Gay, Americans might become themselves, complete their masterworks, or perpetrate unspeakable destruction abroad. As a member of the far-flung American club, I keep wondering if we will continue on in our imperfections as we always have—or fold into something else entirely.
Like heaps of laundry spilling from hampers and hanging from chair backs, each day presents us with new piles we need to sort through. Socks to pair, underwear to untangle and press into drawers. Over the last decade, we’ve more often than not had a giant orange diarrhoea stain inserting itself into our lives. We’re having to strip the bed constantly, reeling from today’s new horrendous smear.
The stain demands our attention, and that’s one of the many reasons why I am grateful for yours. Pulling threads in this silly newsletter is one of my ways of working through the anxiety of the constant folding. I get the satisfaction of putting some positivity in the world, and hopefully, you take away some new ideas to add to your pile of laundry. Thank you.
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LISTENING
Heavyweight: Minneapolis
‘In part one, Jonathan and his wife, Emily, check in. In part two, the story of a family forced into hiding after an ICE shooting.’
This is the best on-the-ground reporting I’ve heard from Minnesota. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube
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The Interview: Michael Pollan (New York Times Article)
Author Michael Pollan of classics like The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006), about why we eat the way we do, and How to Change Your Mind (2018), about the science and uses of psychedelic drugs, speaks with The New York Times’ David Marchese about Pollan’s forthcoming book A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness (Penguin Random House)
It’s your thrice-day-delayed onset muscle soreness here, a dull reminder as you reach for the peanut butter that you’re trying to stick to that New Year’s resolution to take better care of yourself—and it might just be working. Keep up the good work.
✷
For millennia, we’ve dyed and stitched together banners to rally around. My grandfather was born under a flag with forty-eight stars; two more were added the year my father was born. That flag with fifty stars was flown to the moon, a mission in peace for the betterment of all mankind. It has been on the shoulders of the vile and the heroic, from the Olympic Games to Abu Ghraib. It has been draped on countless caskets. This flag stands behind our leaders, whether they are protecting the needy or lying through their teeth. It is carefully folded into a triangle and handed to grieving mothers and widows alike.
Like Julia Child, Stanley Kubrick, or the Enola Gay, Americans might become themselves, complete their masterworks, or perpetrate unspeakable destruction abroad. As a member of the far-flung American club, I keep wondering if we will continue on in our imperfections as we always have—or fold into something else entirely.
Like heaps of laundry spilling from hampers and hanging from chair backs, each day presents us with new piles we need to sort through. Socks to pair, underwear to untangle and press into drawers. Over the last decade, we’ve more often than not had a giant orange diarrhoea stain inserting itself into our lives. We’re having to strip the bed constantly, reeling from today’s new horrendous smear.
The stain demands our attention, and that’s one of the many reasons why I am grateful for yours. Pulling threads in this silly newsletter is one of my ways of working through the anxiety of the constant folding. I get the satisfaction of putting some positivity in the world, and hopefully, you take away some new ideas to add to your pile of laundry. Thank you.
---
LISTENING
Heavyweight: Minneapolis
‘In part one, Jonathan and his wife, Emily, check in. In part two, the story of a family forced into hiding after an ICE shooting.’
This is the best on-the-ground reporting I’ve heard from Minnesota. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube
---
The Interview: Michael Pollan (New York Times Article)
Author Michael Pollan of classics like The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006), about why we eat the way we do, and How to Change Your Mind (2018), about the science and uses of psychedelic drugs, speaks with The New York Times’ David Marchese about Pollan’s forthcoming book A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness (Penguin Random House)
‘a panoptic exploration of consciousness—what it is, who has it, and why—and a meditation on the essence of our humanity.’
A fascinating discussion covering everything from consciousness to AI to RFK Jr and the MAHA movement. Pollan’s work has always been as insightful as it is humanistic. Another book to add to the ‘to-read’ pile.
The Interview podcast on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube
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## LOOKING
The Quilters (Netflix)
‘In this award-winning short documentary, men in a Missouri maximum-security prison design and sew beautiful, personalised quilts for foster children.’
I simply loved this.
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Hank Green’s conversation with Virginia Postrel, author of The Fabric of Civilization
Science communicator and all-around good guy Hank Green follows up with author Virginia Postrel on the fascinating topic of fabrics—their development and history, which I didn’t know much about until listening in on this conversation. I definitely plan on picking up Postrel’s book for this year’s reading list.
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FILMS
I finally got around to watching the brilliant First Reformed (2017), which is probably Ethan Hawke’s best role of the last decade. A lovely, spooky film.
It also reminded me that I needed to catch up on 2025’s horror titans:
Sinners and Weapons —both of which did not disappoint. I’d say Sinners is in a class of its own as far as character, world-building, and overall spook factor go. I’m looking forward to it taking home a good portion of the Oscars it’s nominated for.
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I'm Tyler Dickey, and this is my newsletter, INTEROPERABLE. Here, I celebrate my never-ending love for reliable, available, and maintainable systems like RSS and telephony. I write about topics that interest me: art, reading, making things, and technology. Please consider subscribing or following me elsewhere on the internet:
All of the links: tylerdickey.mmm.page
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- always be free of charge.
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¹Slop describes AI-generated content that is both unrequested and unreviewed. (Source)