Audio newsletters for subscribers. Listen to my voice notes about how to prioritize the writing life when it all feels on spec.
katexmachina.substack.com (https://katexmachina.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)
All year, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the return of the Burbank Book Festival (https://www.burbankbookfestival.com/), held at my local library branch and celebrating its third year this Saturday, October 3. There are authors of all genres (and for all age groups) doing signings, great programming for writers, and—of course—food trucks. And it’s all put on in partnership with my best friend, the Burbank Public Library.
I got to interview Emily Barth Isler who, along with Erin La Rosa (https://substack.com/profile/14272-erin-la-rosa), started the festival to bring together local authors and foster a joy of reading in our community. We both have a lot of thoughts about being more involved in our neighborhoods, so there’s a lot of Burbank boosting in this convo. But also, Emily shares her perspectives on demystifying writing as a career, intentionality when programming literary events, and how letting things happen organically led to this festival’s success.
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12 Sept 2026
History of the Present
This week, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I listened to Madeleine Brand’s interview with UC Berkeley professor Michael Mark Cohen. He talked about his “History of the Present” course, teaching college students about the events that shaped the world they grew up in. For most of them, it’s just something that happened before they were born, like any other chapter in their textbooks. A meme (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-9-11-became-a-meme/id1346207297?i=1000789082061). He tries to contextualize the way media, surveillance, fear, and war are now, and how they were different in the minds of Americans a quarter-century ago.
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11 Aug 2026
Back to School
Earlier this week, I asked my Instagram friends for a newsletter prompt, like I’m some kind of manic pixie improv girl, and not someone whose list of potential topics suddenly felt like a betrayal. One suggested theme was this one: back to school.
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