REREADING BOB DYLAN’S ‘Chronicles (volume one)’ after 25+ years, I noticed this comment about the Beatles:

…The radio was on from beyond a wall and the sound was coming through in static. The Beatles were singing, "Do You Want to Know a Secret." They were so easy to accept, so solid. I remembered when they first came out. They offered intimacy and companionship like no other group. Their songs would create an empire. It seemed like a long time ago.

"Do You Want to Know a Secret." A perfect '50s sappy love ballad and nobody but them could do it. Somehow there was nothing wussy about it…

‘I dread to think what they’d make of it on Dragons’ Den’: how poetry journals survive

Butcher’s Dog magazine was set to close this year, but readers have rallied to fund a year’s reprieve. It’s one of many to get by with few resources but love (from ‘The Guardian’):

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jun/20/how-poetry-journals-survive

 

INSIDE FRANK BASCOMBE’S HEAD, AGAIN

Richard Ford’s hero is back. (in ‘The Atlantic’):

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/07/frank-bascombe-richard-ford-be-mine-book-review/674175/

Daniel Ellsberg’s Life Beyond the Pentagon Papers

After revealing the government’s lies about Vietnam, Ellsberg spent six decades as an anti-nuclear activist, getting arrested as many as ninety times in civil-disobedience protests. (from The New Yorker):

https://www.newyorker.com/news/postscript/daniel-ellsbergs-life-beyond-the-pentagon-papers

LESSON LEARNED: Mississippi’s Surprising Success in Public Education (Literacy). (PBS Q&A)

https://youtu.be/V8DdW4fysYk

 

The New Yorker Interview

A. G. Sulzberger on the Battles Within and Against the New York Times

The paper’s publisher discusses bias in reporting, the Times’ financial comeback, and criticisms of its coverage of Trump, trans issues, and the war in Ukraine.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/a-g-sulzberger-on-the-battles-within-and-against-the-new-york-times

 

Ocean Vuong: ‘I don’t believe a writer should just keep writing as long as they’re alive’

The award-winning poet and author on bringing his career to a meaningful end, processing the death of his mother via verse, and his love of mixed martial arts

https://apple.news/A-QUx7brzRLe-CPvOVj6_WQ