"What You Might Need To Be Relentless"

The most popular link last time was the endless comedy of stick figures, with this list of tips second.

1. I need this short story to become a novel so I can find out whether the narrator and Nate end up going the distance!
2. Too much of what I know about US history comes from Hamilton. It's good to cross-check that with sources that don't rhyme sometimes.
3. Ruby Tandoh's Grub Street Diary. I too have a local Wimpy and love it dearly.
4. The Rise and Fall of Music Ringtones (with graphs).
5. The summer 2025 trend recap. There was no "drug of the summer", but there was at least one of everything else.
6. A guide to help Wikipedia editors to spot AI writing, but useful for everyone. Look out for the overuse of certain conjunctions, a tendency to needlessly editorialise, and an undue emphasis on symbolism.
7. The Serial-style narrative podcast series is already almost extinct, because they don't make as much money as regularly publishing celebrity interview shows. An interesting analysis.
8. For some reason, I've been convinced from the start that there was something odd going on with Selena Gomez's mental health startup, "Wondermind". Turns out I was right!
9. This is a thought-provoking look at the gendered nature of the literary feud. I did also like the author's all-caps disclaimer addressed to those who found the piece on Bluesky.
10. Are you following the Elizabeth Gilbert discourse? I can't help myself. Here's an extract from the book to get you started.
11. Some sensible answers to FAQs about writing and publishing a book.
12. What it was like to work at a fashionable restaurant in New York in 2006. (Awful, it was awful.)
13. Thoughts on the question "How Can I Write At A Time Like This?". "Maybe one answer to how to write now is to teach yourself what you might need to be relentless. To ask yourself how do I tell the truth while I’m alive, and how do I keep telling the truth after I die?"