THOUGHT ROT
Newsletter (Digital)
THOUGHT ROT features insiders, outsiders, and rogues.
I’m interested in speaking to people who work in the shadows of media production, an industry d/evolving ever quicker by cultural demand. I’m also interested in speaking to people who work in the shadows of the great American experiment: barflies, beauticians, gas station attendants, phone sex operators, underground artists, and the like. Citizens of a glittering empire in glaring decline.
In short, THOUGHT ROT will showcase both the minds behind the media and the minds behind the masses. Ideally, it will reveal where they intersect and where they diverge. Ideally, it will reveal both thought and rot. Source
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| Scope | National |
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| Language | English |
| Country | N/A |
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Recent Articles
Search ArticlesMINDS BEHIND THE MEDIA: ON THE RAG’S SAMMY LOREN (PART ONE)
I’ve been avoiding writing. I’ve been avoiding myself. On a Sunday in late August I meet up with an artist, someone I’ve known intimately in brief, seizing moments doomed to flash and fade. He’s telling me about his last artist residency, a bucolic French hamlet populated by druglords, technocrats, and men of mysterious origins. It’s a dark series of events, but we laugh anyway. It’s all so absurd. “You seem down,” he frowns, studying me. Damn. You can tell?
THE ROT REPORT: WHAAM!'s "Don't Stop" feat. Richard Kern and Aurel Schmidt, "limerence and lust"
WHO: SOFI CISNEROS. WHAT: “DON’T STOP” GROUP EXHIBITION OPENING AND AFTERPARTY. WHERE: WHAAM!. NEW YORK, NY. WHEN: FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2026. “Naming an art gallery after an onomatopoeia is soooooo genius,” I tell my sister as we trudge down Canal Street. We pass by Women’s History Museum Vintage, where I bought the tape measure-adorned flats that are compressing my toes like Chinese foot binds. I feel blisters forming and something is starting to ooze into my right sole.
MINDS BEHIND THE MEDIA: LANGUAGE ARTS' SOPHIA JUNE & LAYLA HALABIAN (PART II)
WHO: Language Arts founders Sophia June and Layla Halabian WHERE: Cellar 36 in NYC’s Chinatown SIPPING: A carafe of chilled white, followed by a carafe of chilled red For those who missed last week’s post, here’s a brief recap: Sophia June and Layla Halabian are the powerhouse duo behind the literary newsletter Language Arts, which recently celebrated two years on Substack.
MINDS BEHIND THE MEDIA: LANGUAGE ARTS' SOPHIA JUNE & LAYLA HALABIAN (PART I)
“There’s a real Betty-Veronica thing going on,” photographer and VICE journalist Nick Dove texts me. Nick is referring to his photos of Sophia June and Layla Halabian, the powerhouse duo behind the literary newsletter Language Arts, which recently celebrated two years on Substack. And it’s true; the team is one part blonde and one part brunette, but rather than knocking elbows for the affections of some fickle ginger, these two have a greater calling.
THE ROT REPORT: A Knicks Watch Party in Bushwick.
Photo by Izzy Capulong, courtesy Izzy Capulong. WHO: IZZY CAPULONG. WHAT: 2026 NBA FINALS, GAME 4. KNICKS VS SPURS. WHERE: AN UNSPECIFIED BAR IN BUSHWICK. WHEN: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2026. i went into game 4 a larper and left as someone who’s actually About That Life. at the start of the finals, i identified as “less of a knicks fan and more of a new york fan,” but i get a kick out of knowing the players’ names. it gives me something to talk about with my single-father coworkers.
THE ROT CREDO
God bless the herd, for they will always rush the front door. Naturally, this entrance gets a bit jammed. You rear forward and backward, at the mercy of the jostling masses. You take an elbow to the nose, or else find your face firmly wedged in soured armpit. The heat of the swarm triggers primal anxiety, a pervading sense of claustrophobia. You inevitably stumble back into the cortisol-bloated belly of another sorry chump who will blame you for the inconvenience.
MINDS BEHIND THE MEDIA: TRAVIS DIEHL (PART I)
I NEVER FUCKED WAYNE, I NEVER FUCKED DRAKE. Nicki’s in my ear and I couldn’t be more relieved. Brooklyn’s All Night Skate has a zero tolerance policy for neuroses. It’s not so much a command as it is a kiss. Like relax, bitch. When you’re here, you’re family. After briefly entertaining “Poppin’ Off” (feat. mezcal, strawberry syrup, Triple Sec, and a Pop Rock-chili salt rim), I opt for a watermelon sour, giddily recommended by my strapping bartender.
MINDS BEHIND THE MEDIA: FILTHY DREAMS' EMILY COLUCCI (PART II)
As promised, THOUGHT ROT aims to probe the slippery state of the media world. What lies beyond the paywall is the real dirt: Plagiarists, propagandists, porn-baiting, and an unsettling question about this very platform. My guest is Emily Colucci.
MINDS BEHIND THE MEDIA: BRITTANY SPANOS (PART II)
WHO: Brittany Spanos WHERE: Peg’s Cavalier in Queens, NY SIPPING: A Manhattan (Spanos) and mezcal (me) For those who missed last week’s post, here’s a brief recap: When I read Brittany Spanos’ announcement that she had been laid off from Rolling Stone after a decade of tireless, impassioned dedication to the magazine, old feelings of mourning flared.
MINDS BEHIND THE MEDIA: BRITTANY SPANOS (PART I)
It was a cold Monday night in Queens, and I was cursing my boots. The ice-laden sprawl of Myrtle Avenue was no place for a cunty little heel, and I feared it was only a matter of time before ass met pavement. When I finally slid into Peg’s Cavalier, its buttery warmth, holiday lighting, and general air of merriment felt like another realm entirely. The owners were expecting me, but I felt suddenly shy, a wind-whipped outsider disoriented by the inviting intimacy of the bar.