August Round Up: Worth a Read, Worth a Look, & Worth a Listen
Top posts, important links, media recommendations, and assorted nonsense.
Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone! Here’s the August roundup, complete with recommendations on what to read, watch, and listen to, as well as updates from JoeWrote and some assorted nonsense. Enjoy!
Welcome New Readers!
Readership grew by about 6% in August, putting us just over 900 members. I’m noticing a snowball effect of accelerated growth as we approach the 1,000 subscriber mark, which I attribute to the willingness of everyone to help JoeWrote grow by sharing these posts and engaging with the content. Thank you all for your support!
Paid subscriptions rose by 14% as well. As the number of full readers increase, I’m able to justify putting more time into content that stays behind the paywall (such as the “History of Science Fiction” series that launched on Friday). If you’d like to access everything JoeWrote has to offer, you can upgrade to a full membership for just $15 a year.
Top Posts from August
Far and away the most-read post from last month was my exploration of Utah’s anti-homeless policies. It’s free for all, so feel free to share it.
Worth a Look
I’ve been binging The Shield for the past month, and I have to say it’s one of the best shows I’ve seen in a while. I’m going to do a full write-up once I complete the series, but the TLDR is it’s a more realistic, gritty depiction of the police, as opposed to the sanitized depiction of cops we see in Law & Order and numerous other cop shows.
Worth a Read
My friend Jared Holst wrote this piece for Insider on Hollywood’s recent interest in corporate brands. Check it out, and I also suggest subscribing to Jared’s Substack, Brands Mean a Lot .
Worth a Listen
I plug the 5-4 podcast a lot, and for good reason. This episode details the case of Harisiades v. Shaughnessy, in which American residents were deported due to membership in communist parties and organizations. At a time when many are quick to claim any criticism of their political beliefs as a “free speech violation,” it serves us well to remember that there are very real instances in which the government did violate the principle of free speech and association, almost exclusively against leftists.
From the Archives
Recently UAW President Shawn Fain expressed support for a 4-day workweek, a belief I strongly share. Check out the case for a 4-day workweek below, which I’ve unlocked for all readers.
Badass of the Month
A big shoutout to the Inter Miami soccer team which stood with striking LA hotel workers by moving to a different hotel rather than cross a picket line. The MLS Players Association released the below statement in support of both the players and the workers.
The MLSPA is proud to stand with the striking workers at the Fairmont Miramar and other LA area hotels, and we applaud the decision by MLS and Inter Miami to change hotels this weekend. We urge all of the hotels to reach fair contracts with their workers as soon as possible.
Assorted Nonsense
After temporarily being taken down for “inciting harrasmant,” my very-dumb yet very-popular TikTok video is back up and closing in on 60k likes.
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Quote of the Month
Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."— Abraham Lincoln
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Podcast link was super interesting. Also hadn't heard of Amazon's wage theft til you pointed this out.
The Shield is a killer show! Like 24, it defines what it culturally felt like to live through the War On Terror.