0:10
Mistral in the Maquis
A wind‑swept forest of creaking pines frames a restless sea where the water burns white against a sky that races overhead. The landscape shifts between gloom and light, painted with emerald streaks and silver blotches as the wind colors the purple horizon.
In a hollow dune the scene pauses, where a honey‑orchid tends a bee, while startled boats with golden keels beat against palpitating sails. Above, the forest lifts its many throats in a choral hymn that rides the gale, echoing the movement of the rigging and the drifting vessels.
Beneath the canopy the air feels temple‑like, hushed as if a sacred rite has just been lifted. The last boat drifts toward port, its flanks bare, leaving only the lost wind to mourn across darkening seas and furling sails.
The poem ends on a note of lingering beauty and loss, a long light that fades as veils fall, leaving the sea and sky to carry the grief of the wind and the memory of the vanished light.
1:06
Shapes and Signs
The poem opens with a cascade of dark, mythic images—black dragons soaring, the earth yawning beneath the speaker’s feet—setting a tone of overwhelming, otherworldly forces. The narrator feels a restless, poisonous presence within, likened to an asp or worm that cannot rest or die, hinting at an inner torment that persists despite any attempts at peace.
A storm of hoarse voices carries the speaker’s name on the wind, delivering ominous and monstrous signs that stir guilt and fear. This relentless barrage of foreboding sounds amplifies the narrator’s sense of being haunted by unseen, threatening forces, deepening the feeling of psychological confinement.
In a brief, intense hour of exultation, the speaker describes a red cup that drowns and revives memories, transforming them into a fiercer, more haunting guise. This fleeting triumph is followed by visions of golden crowns and brilliant hues that momentarily lift the soul, offering a fleeting glimpse of joy and creative brilliance.
The poem ends as the speaker awakens from this vivid reverie, only to be swept again by the dark, lava‑like fires of madness that churn through the mind. The closing image underscores a cyclical struggle between fleeting moments of illumination and the persistent, consuming darkness that dominates the inner landscape.
2:21
Last Call to Join "From Journal to Memoir"
A quick reminder that a live chat about green burials will take place today at 1 pm ET on Narratively.com, where the host will discuss the topic and answer questions.
The main focus of the announcement is a new session of the popular class “From Journal to Memoir.” The course begins Sunday, June 7, and a few spots remain open for anyone who has accumulated journals, digital notes, or scattered writings and wants to shape them into a larger project.
The class is taught by a seasoned memoirist, essayist, and poet who will guide participants through finding a unifying thread in their material, building a compelling memoir structure, and turning fragmented entries into a cohesive, book‑length narrative.
It’s marketed as a hands‑on workshop for writers at any stage, promising practical tools to move from private diary pages to publishable memoir stories, with the next cohort starting soon.
3:15
I Wrote About Religious Trauma Before I Knew What That Was. Here’s What I’ve Learned.
Sara Moslener didn’t set out to study religious trauma; she arrived there by asking questions about gender, sexuality, and the faith she grew up in. After interviewing dozens of people from evangelical purity cultures and teaching the topic for years, she realized that academic analysis alone can’t capture the depth of harm that high‑control religious environments inflict. She now turns to creative writing to surface memories and emotions that academic work often overlooks.
Writing about religious trauma is a conversation with your hidden self, demanding self‑compassion and bravery. Moslener warns that trauma study is still messy and unsettled— even landmark texts like *The Body Keeps the Score* have sparked controversy. When you dig into trauma, memories can surface and your body may react with fatigue, depression, confusion, or rage. Recognizing that trauma isn’t a single event but a nervous‑system response to repeated adverse experiences helps frame the work you’ll do.
Complex trauma, which arises from ongoing oppression or enforced norms, fits the pattern of high‑control religious communities. Because trauma disrupts memory and trust, writers can feel like unreliable narrators, a vulnerability that can be weaponized. Naming the hurt and the perpetrators, and piecing together a coherent story, allows survivors to reclaim their experiences and their place in the world.
Moslener’s six‑week workshop at Narratively Academy guides writers through this process. Participants will learn emerging terminology, read examples of trauma writing, and shape their own narratives with group discussion, workshop feedback, and instructor support. The goal is to produce work that is both truthful and compassionate, using creative engagement to fill the gaps left by academic analysis.
5:00
Confessions of a Fair-Weather Knicks Fan
The problem with sports is that sports either: 1) functions as an allegorical enclosure inside which everything else (world, self) can be glimpsed and potentially even briefly made to reveal itself, or 2) is delightful precisely because it excludes everything else and offers a brief zone of perfect respite from the crushing truths of our petty sufferations.
The problem with writing about sports, then, is that you either: 1) embrace the first premise and guarantee sounding like some kind of idiot of projection, idealization, and Pathetic Fallacy, or 2) fall silent, as one might while beholding an eclipse or the Rothko Chapel or a livestream of a mother owl caring for its owlets. That’s to say, if sports is one of those transcendent things meant to humble and unite us in breathless regard for what can happen entirely outside ourselves, why deface it with the graffiti of individual response? (The great exception proving this rule is Annie Dillard’s essay about seeing an eclipse, “Total Eclipse.”) For this reason, I think, I’ve (mostly) sworn never to write about sports.
But wait, I’m already committing romantic nonsense to the page. The difference between a championship run and a total eclipse or the Rothko Chapel is that the eclipse and the Chapel aren’t accompanied by twenty-nine embarrassingly failed eclipses or Chapels. (There are thirty teams in the NBA, and for one of them to win the rest all have, eventually, to lose.) Nor are they accompanied by years, even decades, of failed eclipses or Chapels, all of them shrouded in excuses, recriminations, and equivocating statements like “We gave it our best” or “Nobody expected us even to get this far.” Sports is a vast sinkhole of failure, of abjection, of human error and inconstancy, all of which is only survived by those who produce it and those who devote themselves to it through gigantic engines of denial.
What’s more, it isn’t really possible to protect sports from an “outside” world of money, corruption, commercialization, gambling, politics, and celebrity worship; the beauties of sports are hedged at all sides by the sporting world’s propensity to generate these things from within its boundary. The moments we cherish are like splendid flowers sprouting atop a mountain of shit. It’s best not to place one’s nose right up against the flowers. Sometimes they are flecked with the shit, or reek from their symbiotic relationship with the mountain. Your childhood hero may not have been Pete Rose, or Wayne Gretzky, or Tiger Woods. You may have gotten luckier than that. Still, best not press in too closely.
Anyway, sports is constituted not of silence, but of language—of chatter, trash talk, statistics, listicles, broadcasts, post- and pre-game pressers, pleading calls to bookies, fickle avowals and disavowals of loyalty, bogus authoritativeness, fansplaining. The talk vastly outweighs the playing. So why not add a little more? I’ve agreed to blog the NBA Finals—destination, this year, of the possibly transcendent New York Knicks, who’ll face the San Antonio Spurs. A rare destination for the Knicks; they’ve not gone since 1999, and not since 1973 have they gone and won. It is this which has united the city in distraction, adoration, anticipation, and—of course—the unspeakable dread of having to tuck in at the meal of disappointment that is a true sports fan’s regular banquet.
Read the first installment of Lethem’s blog on the Review’s website here.
8:14
Against AI
The piece opens with a confession that writing about AI now feels forced to be self‑aware, as if a hidden algorithm watches every pause. The author resists the lure of tools that promise to “help me write,” fearing they will rob the writer of the pleasure of making original connections, and wonders what exactly is being surrendered to the machine.
The essay then turns to the gender dynamics of the AI field, noting its roughly 70 percent male makeup and the tendency for both men and women to describe their creations in parental terms. It cites Fei‑Fei Li’s 2015 talk, where she likened early visual learning in AI to how children learn to see, reinforcing the idea that researchers often see their models as offspring rather than mere products.
A separate segment reflects on the United Kingdom’s political landscape after the 2024 election. Labour secured a massive parliamentary majority with only about a third of the popular vote, and turnout fell below 60 percent. Yet polls over the past year show support slipping below 25 percent, a trend confirmed by the May 7 local elections where Labour lost thousands of council seats and fell to 17 percent of the vote, matching the Conservatives.
The final part presents a bizarre historical digression: seventeenth‑century scholars in Italy, France, and the Netherlands debated the nature of original sin, reducing the biblical story to graphic sexual metaphors about Adam and Eve. The article concludes with a rapid list of cultural reviews and essays ranging from literary criticism to music and history, underscoring the eclectic breadth of the publication.
9:46
news · the day's top 10 · june 4th
The storyflo daily brief for June 4th. Here are today's top 10 news stories.
First, from The Huckabee Post. Todd Blanche makes news this week, likely nominee for permanent AG.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former Trump lawyer, is being positioned as the likely permanent head of the Justice Department. Since taking the acting role, he has overseen a series of fraud busts through the federal anti‑fraud task force and pushed several policy initiatives, signaling a proactive start to his tenure.
One of his more high‑profile proposals, the $1.8 billion “Anti‑Weaponization Fund” intended to compensate individuals caught up in the January 6 prosecutions, stalled in Congress. A Virginia judge temporarily blocked the fund, and GOP legislators expressed opposition, leaving its future uncertain despite Trump’s ambiguous comments about its status.
Blanche also used a recent House Appropriations subcommittee hearing to explain why the fund was not moving forward, while reiterating his view that former President Trump avoided prison only because of his re‑election. He characterized the 34 felony counts against Trump in New York as a “travesty,” arguing that the alleged payments to Stormy Daniels occurred after the 2016 election and that the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity forced special counsel Jack Smith to drop the cases.
Beyond the fund, Blanche discussed the discovery of FBI “burn bags” that were left in an unusual location, suggesting they may have been intentionally placed to avoid destruction. He linked the episode to broader claims that the Crossfire Hurricane investigation was flawed. The article also notes a wave of departures from the Justice Department, with roughly 10,000 lawyers leaving since Trump’s second term began, a trend the author frames as a positive reduction in “lawfare.”
Second, from Chop Wood, Carry Water. Chop Wood, Carry Water 6/4.
The Senate is in the middle of a “vote‑a‑rama” on the reconciliation bill. Democrats are pushing a series of amendments aimed at stopping the Trump‑related weaponization fund, blocking an IRS loophole that would protect Trump’s finances, and eliminating a $1 billion allocation for a Trump‑funded ballroom. Activists are urged to flood Republican offices with calls urging senators to reject the clean bill and support those amendments.
A separate effort targets a War Powers Resolution introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib to halt U.S. attacks on Lebanon. With only a few dozen co‑sponsors so far, organizers are asking constituents to call their House representatives and push for additional co‑sponsors, framing the measure as a way to pressure the administration to end the bombing campaign.
The upcoming FISA re‑authorization is another focal point. After Trump appointed Bill Pulte as Director of National Intelligence, Democrats are threatening to block the bill unless stronger privacy safeguards are added. Pressure is being concentrated on Rep. Jim Himes and Sen. Mark Warner, who are seen as key votes for a clean re‑authorization. Callers are instructed to challenge any claims that Section 702 must be renewed by June 12 to avoid a surveillance gap, pointing out that surveillance could continue until 2027 without congressional action.
14:16
Liu Shijin Makes a Forceful Case for Raising Rural Pensions
Liu Shijin, a former vice president of the Development Research Centre under the State Council, argues that raising the meagre pensions paid to rural residents is the most direct way to boost final demand and address China’s persistent consumption weakness. He frames the issue as a structural imbalance: strong supply but weak demand, which cannot be solved by ever‑larger macro‑economic stimulus alone.
The first quarter of this year showed a headline GDP growth of 5 percent, an improvement over the previous quarter, but Liu stresses that the underlying problem remains. He warns that relying on investment‑led stimulus is a misunderstanding of policy limits; if loosening macro policy were enough to restore growth, the problem would be trivial. Instead, he insists that resources must be concentrated on expanding final demand, the ultimate driver of economic activity.
Liu defines final demand as the sum of household consumption of goods and services plus consumption‑oriented investment, excluding productive investment that merely cycles back into production. He sees insufficient final demand as the root cause of secondary issues such as weak price growth, overcapacity, rising debt burdens, and the recent slowdown in real estate and infrastructure spending. Strengthening the income of middle‑ and low‑income groups, especially in rural areas, is therefore both a social policy and a macroeconomic imperative.
China’s basic old‑age insurance scheme now covers about 550
15:43
What A Day: Secret (Real Estate) Agent
Donald Trump tapped one of his most controversial attack dogs to lead America’s spy community, raising concerns that U.S. intelligence will be used to target political enemies.
President Donald Trump prizes one thing above all else in his top aides: total loyalty. And few have proven their allegiance to the president more than Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Bill Pulte, who is best-known for helping to launch dubious fraud investigations against his boss’s political enemies. (He’s also the dude who, apparently, introduced Trump to that controversial AI-generated Jesus meme a few months back.)
While the Pulte-inspired political persecutions have flopped, Trump appears undeterred. Pulte’s getting a humongous promotion: He’s Trump’s new pick to become the acting director of national intelligence, which oversees 18 agencies including the CIA and FBI. He’ll replace Tulsi Gabbard, who recently resigned.
Is Pulte qualified for this big new job? Absolutely not. The 38-year-old has no background in either intelligence or law enforcement. He has experience in the home mortgage industry, and targeting people Trump doesn’t like. And yet Trump seems to think this guy is the right pick to become America’s top spy chief, while the country remains at war with Iran.
Under federal law, the director must have “extensive national security expertise.” Trump, however, doesn’t seem to think that matters. “William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets,” Trump wrote in a social media post announcing the news.
Lawmakers expressed alarm. “I was shocked,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) told the What A Day podcast, in an interview set to air tomorrow morning. “The DNI does have a lot of levers he can pull a lot of tools at his disposal to go after the American people.”
Pulte “makes no sense” for the job, Sen. Angus King (I-VT) said. “I’m puzzled by this appointment because … the president has chosen someone with no experience whatsoever in this complex and critically important field.”
The appointment could foreshadow a new era of political weaponization, activists warn.
Even Republican senators seem anxious about this one. “I don’t know any of his background experience on intel,” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said.
“I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job,” Senn. John Cornyn (R-TX) added.
“We don’t need a weaponized” director, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters.
Trump can only fill an acting position for 210 days before the Senate is supposed to weigh in. But lawmakers have no obvious route to challenge the temporary appointment in the meantime, while he grasps hold of the intelligence community’s powers.
“Placing Pulte in this post would position him to use the nation’s massive surveillance apparatus and police capacity to harass, intimidate and threaten the many, many people that Trump considers his enemies,” said Public Citizen Co-President Robert Weissman.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who was targeted by Pulte last year, warned that his appointment will make Americans less safe. “He politicized and weaponized the housing agencies and will do the same in the intelligence community,” he tweeted.
On the other hand, maybe he can help America’s spies negotiate reasonable loans for the 3br/2ba townhomes of their dreams.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed that the Trump administration won’t pursue its $1.8 billion “weaponization” fund to pay Trump’s allies, following intense backlash from Republicans. “We’re not moving forward with the fund. Period,” he told lawmakers during a hearing. Another provision, which prohibits Trump and his family from being audited, still remains in effect, Blanche added.
Russia launched a massive drone attack on Ukraine overnight, killing at least 22 people and injuring more than 100 others. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the United States to replenish his country’s missile defense stockpile.
Iran’s supreme leader is “increasingly engaging at some level” on negotiations with the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers in a hearing today. Trump, meanwhile, blasted reports that Iran had cut off talks: “The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today. Where they lead, one never knows,” he wrote on social media. Very reassuring, thank you Mr. President. Will the talks continue one day from now, two days from now, three days from now? What is this, Sesame Street?
Doctors are increasingly seeing serious cases of whooping cough, pneumonia, meningitis, and other diseases that vaccinations once kept at bay. As vaccination rates plummet, there’s “going to be probably a low uptick” of diseases, one doctor said. “Until it’s very fast.”
Jill Biden thinks that former President Joe Biden would’ve beat Trump if he hadn’t dropped out of the race.
20:17
Trump’s Top Spy Has One Job: Revenge
Trump’s latest move has him dismissing ongoing peace negotiations as a pastime, while his base of right‑wing supporters increasingly looks eastward, praising Moscow’s stance on a range of issues. The president’s boredom with diplomacy is feeding a narrative that any foreign policy effort not aligned with his agenda is irrelevant, a sentiment that’s resonating with a growing segment of his followers.
At the same time, the administration has installed Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence. Pulte’s résumé is unconventional: before taking the top intelligence post he ran an HVAC company, with no prior experience in intelligence analysis, covert operations, or national security strategy. Critics argue that his appointment signals a shift from expertise to loyalty, turning the intelligence community into a political tool rather than an independent watchdog.
The podcast hosts argue that Pulte’s lack of background could have dangerous consequences. Without a solid grasp of how intelligence is gathered and assessed, he may prioritize personal or partisan goals over objective threat assessments. The hosts suggest that this could lead to a “revenge” mindset, where the DNI’s actions are driven by a desire to punish perceived enemies rather than protect the nation.
Overall, the discussion warns that the combination of Trump’s casual approach to foreign policy, the right‑wing’s flirtation with Russia, and a DNI who knows more about heating systems than espionage creates a volatile mix. Listeners are urged to watch for policy decisions that reflect personal vendettas rather than strategic security, and to consider how this reshaping of the intelligence leadership could affect America’s global standing.
