Hello new subscribers and old pals! I’m taking a much-needed break this week after a month of book events and lots of writing — and general pandemic fatigue. And yes, I’m taking a break to do more writing, especially on my next novel for Tor called The Terraformers, which I’m pushing to finish in spring so we can have it out in 2022.
Don’t worry -- I’ll be back soon, and I have big plans for upcoming newsletters. I’m working on ideas about anthropocene ruin porn (yes, it’s a thing), what happened to California during the Civil War, and what it means to pass through a political singularity. So stay tuned!
In the meantime, I have an op-ed in today’s New York Times about how the ancient Romans managed disaster relief in the wake of Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 CE -- and what it tells us about long-term effects of relief programs like Biden’s American Rescue Plan. And I have a lot of detailed thoughts about the history of kaiju movies and nationalism on the most recent episode of Our Opinions Are Correct.
Let me know in comments if there are topics you’d like to see me tackle in upcoming newsletters!
My new book is Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age. You can find information and ordering links for it and my other books on my website, helpfully organized into science fiction and journalism. You can also follow me on Twitter or Instagram — or listen to Our Opinions Are Correct, the fortnightly podcast I co-host with Charlie Jane Anders. If someone forwarded this email to you, you can subscribe to it here.