Hello and welcome to Substack Reads—your weekly digest of essays, ideas, podcasts, and poetry, designed to inspire, enlighten, and engross your creative synapses over the weekend
The 90s was the most fascinating time. I personally met so many interesting people with completely different life stories, I think about them still nowadays. For some, these were very happy and carefree times, many things in fact were not out in the open , and if anything occurred, it was always kept on the low. For someone they were stressful and difficult, the crisis and loss of all property were devastating and many couldn’t surpass that period. But the time we’re living in now is special no less and I believe that it’s vital to not concentrate on the negative aspects of life and just live on, try to think less about covid and any other problems and circumstances that are taking place in the world and just live. Many of my friends spend their days addicted over the news and fresh gossip regarding recent years all over the world (all this is accompanied by worries and other negative emotions). Focus on spending time with your family, loved ones, or friends. Discover something new! My advice to you is to take things with a piece of cake. Don’t dive into bottomless negativity with your head! Good luck everyone and have a great weekend! Take care of yourself!
I'm the same age as Freddie (the author the 90s piece) and it's so good to see a member of my generation do exactly what writers who grew up in the 60s did in the 90s
Josh, I’m four years older than you and Freddie, and holy hell I so appreciate your comment. The boomer nostalgia for the 60s was so dominate in the mainstream culture of the 90s.
If you haven’t seen the documentary about Woodstock 99, you should check it out. Very good exploration of 60s nostalgia grafted onto 90s youth culture with disastrous results.
The 90s were relative to where we each were “at”(so far as stage in life) so for me, whippersnapper acid-freak , James Douglas Morrison enthusiast, 16 year old dishwasher who regularly slammed the quarter-empty wine glasses that’d come back with the waitstaff for bussing, and within a short time we got ALL OUR friends jobs there. When the boss would leave we
Would get into beer, play chicken with Very Well Tuned and Fast Golf carts and we’re
Otherwise working full time jobs at 16 , none of us in school, four were
In a band , myself playing guitars and occasionally drum kits... and the metal music coming out was still great, and alternative music, grunge, “Seattle happened “, you’d almost say
It was definitely a good time to be young and hedonistic, especially if you liked guitar music. I'd love to reexperience the 90s as I lived them, although I've learned over the years that they weren't the same for everyone. Interesting to think about what we got right and got wrong. Which is precisely what I think about each week in my Substack newsletter</hustle>
Yeah, ain’t it the truth I’m Also always looking back (&Trying to redirect self into this moment)& asking the Adam of today how I’d handle a situation now versus my 30s….20s!???
Great piece with a strong voice and interesting points. The 90s _were_ better in terms of the lack of social media and other tech innovations that negatively impacted how we relate to one another. 100000000% better. Damn. There was a ton of optimism and the way you could experience music in the 90s was so fucking much better.
The author misses a crucial point that sadly just comes with being a white dude for whom most things were and are still built.
I was in my teens and 20s in the 90s and it could be straight up scary being a girl. The was an aggressiveness and entitlement to white guys that turned me off to going to mainstream clubs which sucked because I loved going to clubs. The aggressiveness and entitlement of white guys is still here obviously but at least today it's (starting to be) called out. Concerts in the 90s could be creepy grope-fests for women, too. If I wanted to go out and have fun, I just never really felt safe. It's hard to explain - maybe I'll write about it. Also, being gay and not white in the 90s I imagine wasn't great. And as far as missing tits in movies: I mean, I guess? But now that we know all of the nasty shit that was happening to actresses behind the scenes a la Harvey Weinstein et al, I can't see anything erotic there anymore. I just see unfair contracts and sexual assault and ... trauma. And years of therapy. Eesh.
Lots of hits and misses in this writing, but overall a fun read with good points. Thanks.
In no way were the 90s a great decade. Gay kids were being shunted off to be tortured in re-education camps, the feminist "backlash" made the 90s a horrible time for women, conservatives were spoon-feeding lies to gullible Americans via the Drudge Report, the Moral Majority was birthed ... literally every horrible thing we are experiencing now was born in the 90s. Take it from someone who has been around the block a few times: the 90s SUCKED.
Good selections! I really enjoyed the essay about the 90s and just signed up for Freddie’s newsletter. His piece is a nice companion to Chuck Klosterman’s most recent book about the 90s. Also, as someone who went to college in the same small Connecticut town where Freddie grew up and where most of the scenes in his essay took place, I got a real kick out of hearing his recollections of the record store, head shop, and nearby mall where we killed time in those days.
Sometimes it seems like these roundups are too heavily tilted toward elites and their echo-chamber publishing/entertainment cadres, reflecting mainly neoliberal urban interests and values, leaving me to feel very “meh” as a potential reader.
Maybe Substack Reads could consider covering Film and/or TV Newsletters in addition to the ones above? Like, "Film and TV" is a pretty big category really but doesn't show up on Substack proper.
I wouldn't mind a heads up for my site. I don't have a lot of followers (109), but I have a high open rate. (40-50%). I don't know if that's good, average, or Wow! But take a look anyway, if you like reading fiction. https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
We’re currently holding a giveaway for a paperback book and featuring a guest homestead author. I @-tagged Substack about this on Twitter and got no response, not even a like.
Good afternoon!
The 90s was the most fascinating time. I personally met so many interesting people with completely different life stories, I think about them still nowadays. For some, these were very happy and carefree times, many things in fact were not out in the open , and if anything occurred, it was always kept on the low. For someone they were stressful and difficult, the crisis and loss of all property were devastating and many couldn’t surpass that period. But the time we’re living in now is special no less and I believe that it’s vital to not concentrate on the negative aspects of life and just live on, try to think less about covid and any other problems and circumstances that are taking place in the world and just live. Many of my friends spend their days addicted over the news and fresh gossip regarding recent years all over the world (all this is accompanied by worries and other negative emotions). Focus on spending time with your family, loved ones, or friends. Discover something new! My advice to you is to take things with a piece of cake. Don’t dive into bottomless negativity with your head! Good luck everyone and have a great weekend! Take care of yourself!
Were the 90s better or were we just less informed of the world’s ills? (This is absolutely a plug for my Substack, thisweekinthe90s.com )
I'm the same age as Freddie (the author the 90s piece) and it's so good to see a member of my generation do exactly what writers who grew up in the 60s did in the 90s
Josh, I’m four years older than you and Freddie, and holy hell I so appreciate your comment. The boomer nostalgia for the 60s was so dominate in the mainstream culture of the 90s.
Beatles! Woodstock! Stuff I'm forgetting!
If you haven’t seen the documentary about Woodstock 99, you should check it out. Very good exploration of 60s nostalgia grafted onto 90s youth culture with disastrous results.
I think I saw the documentary & listened to the podcast https://luminarypodcasts.com/listen/the-ringer/break-stuff-the-story-of-woodstock-99/708febba-17a8-4f4b-a81f-63b1a53e7135?country=US
But did you buy the t-shirt and mortgage your future for bottled water?
Being less informed made the nineties better.
The 90s were relative to where we each were “at”(so far as stage in life) so for me, whippersnapper acid-freak , James Douglas Morrison enthusiast, 16 year old dishwasher who regularly slammed the quarter-empty wine glasses that’d come back with the waitstaff for bussing, and within a short time we got ALL OUR friends jobs there. When the boss would leave we
Would get into beer, play chicken with Very Well Tuned and Fast Golf carts and we’re
Otherwise working full time jobs at 16 , none of us in school, four were
In a band , myself playing guitars and occasionally drum kits... and the metal music coming out was still great, and alternative music, grunge, “Seattle happened “, you’d almost say
It was definitely a good time to be young and hedonistic, especially if you liked guitar music. I'd love to reexperience the 90s as I lived them, although I've learned over the years that they weren't the same for everyone. Interesting to think about what we got right and got wrong. Which is precisely what I think about each week in my Substack newsletter</hustle>
Yeah, ain’t it the truth I’m Also always looking back (&Trying to redirect self into this moment)& asking the Adam of today how I’d handle a situation now versus my 30s….20s!???
Р
Feel dirty now but you gotta hustle
You guys!!! I had no idea how delightful Substack is!!. I just followed for one author, but there’s so much Wonderfulness in here!! yay!!
Thanks for including my piece on India and how they're about to take the sports world by storm!
More at (petcashpost.substack.com) 🥂
The '90s really were better, though! The world (and adulthood) just feels so... unexpectedly chaotic these days.
Great piece with a strong voice and interesting points. The 90s _were_ better in terms of the lack of social media and other tech innovations that negatively impacted how we relate to one another. 100000000% better. Damn. There was a ton of optimism and the way you could experience music in the 90s was so fucking much better.
The author misses a crucial point that sadly just comes with being a white dude for whom most things were and are still built.
I was in my teens and 20s in the 90s and it could be straight up scary being a girl. The was an aggressiveness and entitlement to white guys that turned me off to going to mainstream clubs which sucked because I loved going to clubs. The aggressiveness and entitlement of white guys is still here obviously but at least today it's (starting to be) called out. Concerts in the 90s could be creepy grope-fests for women, too. If I wanted to go out and have fun, I just never really felt safe. It's hard to explain - maybe I'll write about it. Also, being gay and not white in the 90s I imagine wasn't great. And as far as missing tits in movies: I mean, I guess? But now that we know all of the nasty shit that was happening to actresses behind the scenes a la Harvey Weinstein et al, I can't see anything erotic there anymore. I just see unfair contracts and sexual assault and ... trauma. And years of therapy. Eesh.
Lots of hits and misses in this writing, but overall a fun read with good points. Thanks.
In no way were the 90s a great decade. Gay kids were being shunted off to be tortured in re-education camps, the feminist "backlash" made the 90s a horrible time for women, conservatives were spoon-feeding lies to gullible Americans via the Drudge Report, the Moral Majority was birthed ... literally every horrible thing we are experiencing now was born in the 90s. Take it from someone who has been around the block a few times: the 90s SUCKED.
Good selections! I really enjoyed the essay about the 90s and just signed up for Freddie’s newsletter. His piece is a nice companion to Chuck Klosterman’s most recent book about the 90s. Also, as someone who went to college in the same small Connecticut town where Freddie grew up and where most of the scenes in his essay took place, I got a real kick out of hearing his recollections of the record store, head shop, and nearby mall where we killed time in those days.
Such good stuff here!
How about looking at the rest of the world instead of being 95% US authors?
Woah--I didn't know Colin Meloy had a Substack! I absolutely adore The Decemberists 😬
Sometimes it seems like these roundups are too heavily tilted toward elites and their echo-chamber publishing/entertainment cadres, reflecting mainly neoliberal urban interests and values, leaving me to feel very “meh” as a potential reader.
Sadly, I think you are right. But the quality of writing here when it’s not dealing with politics or being woke is actually really fun to read.
That’s why my library list is long.
I hope I'm on it!
Please share posts with us that you'd like to see featured. We are always keen to hear reader & writer recommendations.
Maybe Substack Reads could consider covering Film and/or TV Newsletters in addition to the ones above? Like, "Film and TV" is a pretty big category really but doesn't show up on Substack proper.
Heck, I've even made a catalog of Film/TV Substacks here: https://textualvariations.substack.com/p/filmtv-catalogs
I wouldn't mind a heads up for my site. I don't have a lot of followers (109), but I have a high open rate. (40-50%). I don't know if that's good, average, or Wow! But take a look anyway, if you like reading fiction. https://benwoestenburg.substack.com
We’re also putting out some great content at Brunette Gardens and struggling with discoverability.
Turtle Paradise’s latest post, “Getting and spending,” is a great read.
Great post. I just subscribed.
You might also like Brunette Gardens.
We’re currently holding a giveaway for a paperback book and featuring a guest homestead author. I @-tagged Substack about this on Twitter and got no response, not even a like.
Do you consider blogs that are elsewhere on the web? If so, I follow J. Michael Rios at Mustard Seed Faith.
As long as they align with your world view. What a lie.
We need philosophy psychedelia! 🍭
What's wrong with Acid flashbacks?
How does one get on these weekly list?
https://open.substack.com/pub/handsomelouiithepoet/p/after-school
😉👍Check out some of my Articles and Poetry💯✌️📝