The Outline
Leah Finnegan
The Saddening
I recently discovered two things: a term from fabric dyeing about how to drain things of their vibrancy, and an old family letter. They are somewhat related.
We should all read more Jenny Diski
The late British writer was a master of precision and not overthinking things.
There are too many Joan Didions
Goodbye to all that (needless comparing to other, vaguely similar writers).
Emotionally stunted stunting
There’s a very simple reason why millennials are so lonely: Social media mimics community even though it pushes us further away from each other.
I’m Upset: I hate when New York Magazine’s Grub Street Diet talks about L.A.
Do not say to me the word Sqirl.
Being normal
A theory that helps my depression isn’t from psychiatry — it’s from crisis management.
Will our next president be Bill de Blasioon?
Remembering a special moment in history.
I’m Upset: “Garlicky” is a terrible word
Welcome to a new column about being upset about things.
A letter from the editor
The Outline has been sold to Bustle Digital Group. What does this mean?
What is up with A-Rod’s weird face in his engagement pics
When Facetune goes too far...
“Be yourself” is terrible advice
Take a better lesson from philosophy and me, a reformed loudmouth
How to kill your envy
Some insights that may or may not be helpful.
Our most-read stories of 2018
From searing Apple criticism to a controversial take on skincare.
Can you be a good person if you don’t read the news?
Ethics in news consumption.
It’s time to talk about “It’s”
It’s overused. It’s lazy. It’s something that should be stopped.
Look who’s still talking, too
An ongoing series encouraging a select few to practice silence.
Dean Winters is the only celebrity for me
Many famous people insist on being bad or conspicuously visible. Winters, thankfully, is just there.
Bring back irony
It’s the only antidote to our all-too-earnest age.
I would follow Martha Stewart to hell
Her Instagram is the only good thing on a horrible internet
The Bari Weiss problem
When are free-speech crusaders simply being crybabies?
Honestly, fuck Harper’s
Hiring Katie Roiphe to write about modern-day sexual harassment was a bad idea to begin with.
If women are not safe, a nation is not safe
How a country treats its women foretells its future.
You don’t have to talk
Try saying nothing, for a change.
When men fear women
It’s good to make men feel fear, and this is something women absolutely have the power to do.
No justice for bad men
Why the Harvey Weinstein story took so long to come out.
Opinion: Trolling is not opinion
Controversial pieces run under the auspices of fomenting ‘conversation’ are done so disingenuously.
The fake trauma of being online
Retweeting someone else’s pain doesn’t make it your own.
The internet is making me sick
The web has turned into a clusterfuck of moral performativity.
The ‘Spotlight’ problem
Things about journalists are mainly for journalists.
Who are your problematic faves?
We all have one.
Just say no to media coverage of drugs
Journalists pick and choose who gets to be portrayed as human.
Living with ennui in Trump’s America
What to do when everything is annoying and nothing is interesting.
Alex Jones is a piece of shit, and interviewing him is idiotic
There’s no need to ‘interrogate’ a willful liar.
Leaked: James Comey’s high school yearbook photo
The former F.B.I. director said he wanted to be a rutabaga farmer.
Access journalism is not for you or me
It too often reports bullshit without identifying the source of the bullshit. And that's bullshit.
Mark Zuckerberg will be our downfall
Also his product sucks
‘New Yorker’ covers? Watercolor me unimpressed
They’re not good.
The insidious rise of the microcelebrity
The quest for fame will destroy us
Who goes Nazi? Media edition
It’s a great game to play with people
Political diversity is a cop-out for overpaid media men
Can the New York Times hire a black woman opinion columnist already?
The New York Times’ public editor is bad at her job
Liz Spayd’s advice for the paper is uneven and absurd.
Eat, pray, hate
Touring a divisive land.
Music criticism, take a look at yourself
You’re a lot like you always have been: bad.
With a soul this ugly, who cares about her looks?
Feminist defenses of Kellyanne Conway's appearance are beside the point.
Former Intercept reporter arrested for making bomb threats
Calls to Jewish Community Centers and the ADL were driven by a desire to harass an ex-girlfriend, says the DOJ.
Silicon Valley’s future looks exactly like the past
Given a chance to do better, a young industry has failed miserably.
Nevertheless, she bought a shirt
The future of feminism is futile.
Live, from New York, it’s futile satire!
TV is made in vain.
Lady Gaga’s political message: drink Pepsi Zero Sugar
Celebrities are tools of capitalism.
What is going on?
Abandon your cynicism.
The fake threat of “upside-down” media
Fake news is not ruining America.
Let’s shame the president
More powerful than punching nazis: making them look like the idiots they are
Please do not make women into statues
Ugly statues disrespect women.
Everything old is new again
Politicians just want to be loved.
Everyone is mad over BuzzFeed’s Trump docu-drop
The media may never recover.
Is Meryl Streep good? Is Donald Trump bad?
What do good and bad even mean anymore?
The hawks of war have come out to play
They’re so excited about the prospect of a war.
How Dallas birthed leading racist Richard Spencer
The city excels in producing "quiet racists."
The professor who wouldn’t leave
A Sarah Lawrence professor rented a house from a Berkeley professor. But then he refused to move out.
Donald Trump is scrambling to find a Hispanic ally
He needs one for his cabinet.
19 states passed abortion restrictions this year
For a total of 60 new anti-abortion measures.
The New York Times followed 2 patients who had bariatric surgery for one year
Both lost a great deal of weight but found change in their lives to be gradual.
Our wars are fueled by drugs
Stimulants have a rich and sordid history of use by troops.
When shooting survivors met with gun-rights advocates
Could they find empathy for each other?
The worst things that happened in the media this year
Very bad things
The White House will adjust to the Trumps
Their plans for the residence are not that unusual
How widespread drug addiction may have led to Trump
He played on the desperation of the depressed.
Ethics in stunt journalism
The truth cannot be created.
Michelle Obama reveals what she did on election night
"I went to bed."
Trevor Noah isn’t the real news either
Fake news isn't just for the alt-right.
Mariah Carey's wacky diet
The singer only eats two foods, one of which is not really a food.
Leah Letter® oppressive regime reading list
Disclosure: None of these things are affiliate links.
Everyone is talking about fascism
We can’t stop!
The men are at it again
They're mad about stuff online, but the problem is them, not the stuff.
Facebook is killing the media
And it also can't do math.
Alive
It's still the end of the world.
Are we fucked?
Donald Trump is president. We might be fucked.
Vote or die
You can vote for anyone. You don't have to talk about it.
Too many dicks
We are a nation owned by wangs.
Power: not cool
People who want it and like it are not to be trusted.
Men are bad at talking about women
It's funny to watch them try, though.
Don't follow Lo Bosworth's vagina-cleansing advice
Her new line of products might scortch you... down there.
My neck, my back, my news balance
Objectivity does not exist.
The bizarro world of double standards
How the media portrays women differently than men.
Welcome to Leah Letter
The media is bad. Read all about it here.
