The internet is a big, glittering drawer of human creativity, and every so often something inside it catches a little light. This series is a small dispatch from that drawer — things we’ve read, watched, or wandered into that made us feel more awake, more amused, more curious. Projects or thoughts worth pausing over: the kind you bookmark not because you “should” read them, but because they give you that little electric nudge that reminds you why making things matters in the first place.

Haley Nahman’s writer’s block chart‍

Culture editor Haley Nahman’s (formerly of Man Repeller) advice column, Maybe Baby, is something to behold. Spanning topics from philosophical debates about the nature of life, to parenthood, to fashion, she shares her wisdom in a strikingly down-to-earth way. She’s also recently started releasing collections of her work (something we’re fond of at Zander), most recently everything she’s written about… writing. This piece offers a practical detour around the swamp of writer’s block, anchored by a flowchart dedicated to helping you find clarity of thought around your chosen topic. It’s the rare “creative advice” artifact that doesn’t scold or mystify the process, just quietly sorts the mental knots you didn’t realize were strung together.‍

Culture Study talks about what it’s really like to run a creative small business‍

Anne Helen Petersen and her guest, Printmaker and textile artist Jen Hewett, walk through the lived texture of running a small creative business—the exhilaration, the precarity, the strange mix of freedom and constraint that comes from turning creative labor into a livelihood. It’s candid, granular, and refreshingly un-romanticized, the kind of conversation that reminds you how much of “creative work” is actually operations, boundaries, and learning to survive your own ambition.‍

Can I Come In? Episode 2 with TikTok star Yesly Dimate‍

In Sarah Bahbah’s cinematic interview series, she builds bespoke visual worlds for her guests to tell the truth inside of – lush, surreal spaces that act like emotional safekeeping. Episode 2 follows TikTok creator Yesly Dimate as she opens up with unusual clarity: the episode is raw, intimate, and beautifully staged without losing its nerve. Bahbah’s approach flips traditional interviewing on its head; instead of extracting confession, she constructs a sanctuary for it.‍

New Artist Guidelines for Grant Funding from McSweeney’s‍

“Artist must question the fabric of reality regularly, interjecting phrases like ‘Can you believe this?’ or ‘What the hell is going on??’ or ‘Not today, Satan.’” Click only if you can laugh at yourself.

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