crazy how america is adopting the worst measures of what we always decry in countries like china (censorship, attacks on political freedom), with literally none of the good things (public safety, no gun violence, renewable energy, mass poverty reduction efforts). flop era is real
“Surprise: Chinese people aren’t a monolith, and they aren’t all driven by a red-tinted bloodlust for national dominance.”
great piece @jennygzhang.bsky.social
the chinese blockbuster ne zha 2, the english dub of which opens in theaters today, is an interesting case study in how western media still regards anything chinese with suspicion. wrote about this phenomenon, and the movie itself, for @slate.com slate.com/culture/2025...
one of the best film reviews I've read in a while, I miss when more places published work like this.
“It may shock some Americans to learn that many Chinese people, on many days, don’t even have the thought of America cross their minds,” @jennygzhang.bsky.social writes slate.com/culture/2025...
thank you!
has your big brain ever considered the possibility that a publication worsening in quality is the direct result of shitty owners cutting that publication's resources in half and decimating headcount, freelancer budgets, and all the myriad things that go into creating something "reliably good"
sort of at peace knowing that my sydney sweeney piece has ticked off both libs declaring that a denim brand is a nazi and small business owners named dale who insist i'm jealous of sydney and racist toward white people. that's how you know you've hit the perfect equilibrium
on sydney sweeney and celebrity as a sales mechanism slate.com/life/2025/07...
wrote about the sydney sweeney inflection point and how celebrity can cheapen and tarnish slate.com/life/2025/07...
wrote about really ruined love island usa this year: the specter of "america," which haunted nearly every decision and dynamic inside that villa
slate.com/culture/2025...
the state of reality TV and fervent fandom slate.com/culture/2025...
how about you read and find out
wrote about the biggest news cycle of this day and age... love island usa and the sheer ugly wreckage of what is happening with reality tv and the internet slate.com/culture/2025...
i know you'll never do this to me
getting a million writer pitches now that are all basically "i asked AI to ___." i'm telling you this for your own good: ENOUGH
Our grand Andor mini-series is finally complete! Shoutout to @jennygzhang.bsky.social, @pauladlerstein.bsky.social, @davidaustinwalsh.bsky.social, @davidklion.bsky.social, and Matt Duss for helping us explore every political nook and cranny of the Andor universe www.bangbangpod.com/p/the-comple...
reason no. 983 to abolish comedians: this email blast promoting a podcast and standup show from some guy who indiscriminately added every single person whose contact info wasn't properly bcc'd on a writers guild event notification
the girls are fightinggg
someone should invent a way for it to be vacation every day
fair and honorable
what it's like on the factory line, by Franklin Schneider, genuinely (probably) one of the best writers to ever do it slate.com/life/2025/05...
speaking of diaspora lit, reviewed a book about fruit / asian identity for @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
excited to be one of the few remaining humans with a functioning brain and critical thinking skills in 20 years nymag.com/intelligence...
"Perfectly aligned with Valnet's long-term growth strategy, Polygon will now integrate Valnet's Gaming Portfolio, which includes industry- leading publications such as Game Rant, TheGamer, Fextralife, OpenCritic, DualShockers, and HardcoreGamer," the company said in a press release. "This addition follows Valnet's recent acquisition of FextraLife earlier this year, further strengthening its position in the gaming media landscape. With Valnet's proven operational excellence, Polygon is poised to reach new editorial heights through focused investment and innovation."
Wow sounds awesome! Definitely gotta check that out, especially since they are apparently firing everybody who made Polygon good
www.theverge.com/news/659575/...
went on bang-bang pod to talk about andor (again!)
I had a long chat with Jenny about SEE FRIENDSHIP and the process of writing it while working in journalism — sorry to quote myself but here's a bit I will emphasize over and over:
should i write a book? should you? should anyone? i asked Real Novelist @jeremygordon.bsky.social, who said that, realistically, the world doesn’t need any more novels, but there are still reasons to do so if you so choose jennygzhang.substack.com/p/should-i-w...
