albums i listened to all the way through

posted this week and every week (17)

Jun 01, 2025

I got some decidedly not-so-awesome medical news that left me a little scattered. On top of that, I didn’t get to all the albums I’ve been recommended over the last few weeks by all you cool cats. For that, I am sorry. I will try and get to those albums soon.

Also, the AI bros have come for my throat on that viral note in a way I can’t seem to shake or dismiss with a “What a loser.” I know, I know. We all need a thick skin to exist on the World Wide Web. You’d think my past with tumblr fandom from 2012-2014 might have prepared me for the vicious onslaught.

The truth is—I don’t like the idea of blocking people. I’ve only ever blocked one person in my life out of a genuine fear for my personal safety. Otherwise, I think that one Black Mirror episode freaked me out past the point of being able to do it without considering the dire consequences for humanity.

That being said, I’m beginning to see the benefits of blocking after the last few weeks of Substack virality. I went from a small community of about 300 subscribers to now a little over 700. I am grateful for that growth and also completely overwhelmed by it. I am reminded of my teenage self going viral on Twitter and amassing a following of some 1000 followers. That brought with it so much joy—community, belonging, and comfort at a time when my real life was anything but. It also brought death threats, cyberbullying, and grooming from adult predators.

I’m an adult now with some small amount of wisdom. I have learned the hard lesson of what it means to go through puberty in front of millions of strangers. I made so many mistakes online because there was no one to warn me about it. Even the school assemblies we had concerning the dangers of sending nudes with all the “The Internet is Forever” warnings didn’t do much to dissuade me. It was all such a joke. I actually remember all of us laughing at how absurd it was that adults in their 50s were telling us how to exist online when most of them didn’t even know how to use Facebook.

I should be better at handling all of this, no? Well, I’m not. In the words of Pete Davidson, “I’m a-scared!”

I want to end on a positive note though. This larger Substack community has also brought an array of incredible things into my life. People offer to send me their zines now, all of which have exceeded my wildest expectations. Most of the replies and restacks on that viral note were extraordinarily beautiful and deeply comforting. For every AI bro’s jab, there were twenty incredible stories of support from zinesters, professors, undergraduate students, and more.

I feel lucky to be in the continued company of such incredible zinesters and artists like Jen Mayer | Makeist, Dave Conrey, Patrick Barber, Miquela Davis, Abby Kacen, Krys Kinsel, Josh Datko, Liz Mendez, Paul Riddell, and so many more I could and should name here.