Explore all emails from Laura Olin

https://buttondown-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/2cab92ee-36de-428c-9ec3-b9f058af1daa.png <figure><img alt="A rectangle of a deep shade of pink" draggable="false" src="https://assets.buttondown.email/images/44dc9c60-fa26-4406-991d-e37e324a6a42.jpg?w=960&amp;fit=max" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px;" width="600"/><figcaption>Yves Klein, Untitled Pink Monochrome, 1955</figcaption></figure> [Hello there](https://www.tumblr.com/lucybellwood/155725416179/good-morning-remember-that-the-ocean-is-still-out?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped), I try not to talk directly about the current president of the U.S. all that much here. But I had the thought recently that he might end up becoming America’s foremost climate-action president because his idiotic and illegal war on Iran is leading millions of Americans to [finally realize](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-03-26/war-oil-price-shock-sparks-new-interest-in-green-tech-around-the-world?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3NDUzMzY5MywiZXhwIjoxNzc1MTM4NDkzLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUQ0hONDdLR0NURlkwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIyMjc1RTYyODc5NjY0NjIyOUExMkRCMjU1OEYzNjQ2QiJ9._XQIjpjIFKfiSg5BKIl_W_dqcGmWpZ7Dh1Ibf2K8JJI&leadSource=uverify+wall&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped) that clean energy is better, cheaper, and not as prone to supply shocks as fossil fuels. Thanks, Worst Person Alive! Here’s some art, ideas, and internet for you: <ol>1. “When I searched my phone for texts I’d sent with ‘lol’ in them, there were thousands. Most of them were just ‘lol’ by itself, or ‘lol ok’, ‘lol no’ or ‘lol hahaha’, and very few of these messages had anything to do with laughter or jokes. ‘For like two years at uni I wrote one shite poem per week lol.’ ‘I’m genuinely so sorry lol I shouldn’t have said anything.’ ‘Lol I was mega lonely hahahaha.’ I realised that I had sent a lot of messages like these [while actively crying](https://granta.com/lol-im-trying-to-tell-you-how-it-feels-for-me/?utm_campaign=a-big-yikes&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=gloria.beehiiv.com).” 2. [Some basic rules for AI-use etiquette](https://stopsloppypasta.ai/en/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped#rules). 3. This month’s Science (!!!!!) Corner: [A new mouth-swab test](https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2026/03/23/whos-new-npoc-tb-test-could-transform-global-diagnosis-efforts/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped) will get us closer to eradicating TB; we finally have an effective treatment for [sickle-cell anemia](https://people.com/woman-diagnosed-with-sickle-cell-disease-at-2-months-old-wakes-up-with-no-pain-for-the-first-time-in-her-life-after-new-treatment-11931453?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped), thanks to gene therapy; scientists are using the blood of pediatricians to [develop treatments for RSV](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2516079-paediatricians-blood-used-to-make-new-treatments-for-rsv-and-colds/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped) because their antibodies are up to 25 times better at blocking RSV. 4. Ryan Coogler on how he thinks of his films [like croissants](https://bsky.app/profile/tnwhiskeywoman.bsky.social/post/3mh6xulbwvc2w?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped): He bakes in intricate sets of layers for those who will appreciate them—but the thing will taste good whether you register the layers or not. 5. [New Tana French](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/238227104-the-keeper?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped) (the third and final book in her Cal Hooper series); [new Zach Galifianakis show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=32kQ9Niy7EA&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped) that really could have been called “Among Many More Ferns.” 6. [Show us your cats](https://bsky.app/profile/contemprainn.bsky.social/post/3mih7f62q3k2z?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped), a Minneapolis tradition. Can we get a Brooklyn version of this? 7. [Six go-to phrases for disengaging from barn gossip](https://www.tumblr.com/lilyblisslys/812089752872452096/friend-of-mine-posted-this-in-our-discord-and-now?source=share&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped) (works for other kinds of gossip too). 8. [What fighting cancer can teach us about fighting authoritarianism](https://inthesetimes.com/article/fighting-cancer-anti-fascist-fight-against-trump-the-right-lessons-strategy?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped); I thought [Amanda Peet’s essay](https://archive.is/NjVuD?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped) about being diagnosed with breast cancer as both her parents were in hospice was incredibly good. 9. Looking forward to: this summer’s [woke Supergirl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1-pfiVMKAs&t=2s&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped), though they really have to stop imperiling that dog; an upcoming [documentary about Mary Oliver](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ZJMd3u741pA&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped). 10. [Watch MTV](https://wantmymtv.vercel.app/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped). 11. An interview about [mutual aid as organizing](https://newrepublic.com/article/208099/kat-abughazaleh-mutual-aid-future?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped) in a recent Illinois congressional primary. This follows, of course, a long tradition that includes the Black Panthers’ free breakfast and other community survival programs of the 1960s. 12. My household is really enjoying [Shoresy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pwmaSac1HE&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped), which is basically if the Paul Newman movie Slap Shot was Canadian and a lot dirtier. It’s largely directed by Jacob Tierney, the “Heated Rivalry” creator. No, Jared Keeso’s voice [doesn’t actually sound like that](https://youtu.be/z8eiHKEClD4?t=618&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped). Find it on Hulu. 13. In the Union Square subway station nearly fifteenyears ago now, the L train came clanking bywhere someone had fat-Sharpied a black hearton the yellow pillar you leaned on during a bleak day(brittle and no notes from anyone you crushed upon).Above ground, the spring was the saddest one(doing work, but also none). What were you wearing?Something hopeful to show the world you hoped?A tall man was learning from a vendor how to pronounce*churro*. High in the sticky clouds of time, he keptrepeating churro while eating a churro. How to saythis made you want to live? No hand to holdstill there it was: someone giving someone comfortand someone memorizing hard how to ask for it again.—”While Everything Else Was Falling Apart,” Ada Limón </ol> [Bye](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTk6R5Cgf/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped), Laura *> If you were forwarded this email and want to subscribe yourself,* [*sign up here*](https://buttondown.com/lauraolin)*.* *<* –––  Laura Olin You can [subscribe](https://buttondown.com/lauraolin), [unsubscribe](https://buttondown.com/unsubscribe/c32d9099-dc54-4bd6-9a3c-a478c9137b47?email=990e0139-1f6f-4ae5-b5a8-9fd1feecf8c6), or [view this email online](https://buttondown.com/lauraolin/archive/205-something-hopeful-to-show-the-world-you-hoped/).

https://buttondown-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/2cab92ee-36de-428c-9ec3-b9f058af1daa.png <figure><a href="https://www.tumblr.com/angelicdewdrop/807395499159224320?source=share&amp;utm_source=lauraolin&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img alt="A Miffy-like white bunny floating in a clear blue sky" draggable="false" src="https://assets.buttondown.email/images/c7c72f02-c82f-4bac-af6b-741099367fb0.jpg?w=960&amp;fit=max"/></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure> [Hi hi](https://www.tumblr.com/elodieunderglass/809021712969711616?source=share&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl), Here’s some art, ideas, and internet for you: <ol>1. Why is social change so hard? Part of it is [system justification](https://www.volts.wtf/p/why-social-change-is-so-excruciatingly?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl), or “people's inclinations to tell stories and believe things that justify the larger systems of which they are a part.” 2. [List animals until failure](https://rose.systems/animalist/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl); a collection of [pulpits designed to look like fish](https://www.worldofinteriors.com/story/sea-pulpits-central-europe?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl). 3. One thing that really delighted me recently is a lady named Michelle who went on Jeopardy wearing a beautiful sweater that looked, somehow, familiar. She revealed during the interview segment of the show that [she’d knitted it](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1585503592447657&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl), and it may set off your recognition bells because it’s designed to mimic the colors and patterns of a pigeon. Now, she’s [made the knitting pattern public](https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-pigeon-sweater?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl) and is doing a “[pigeon sweater knit-a-long](https://www.patreon.com/cw/MichelleLikesKnit?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl)” that gets into techniques for beginning knitters. (It started on March 1 but you can obviously pick up the project at any time on your own schedule.) 4. The Dark Sky guys have a [new weather app](https://acmeweather.com/blog/introducing-acme-weather?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl) (h/t: Ezra). 5. A site that collects all the images Wikipedia uses across its language versions to illustrate concepts. This is weirdly affecting: the threads of universality yet cultural specificity of human experience, etc. etc. Here’s [crying in every language](https://walzr.com/in-every-language/crying?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl), [pottery in every language](https://walzr.com/in-every-language/pottery?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl), [novel in every language](https://walzr.com/in-every-language/novel?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl), [death in every language](https://walzr.com/in-every-language/death?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl), [happiness in every language](https://walzr.com/in-every-language/happiness?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl). Also: [Riley, Indiana](https://walzr.com/in-every-language/Riley?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl). 6. [How far back in time can you understand English](https://www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-far-back-in-time-understand-english?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl)? 7. [Bad Bunny 101](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1aiVamDoMZBFwYfRZfxQdp4bHzbKzvVcF7ZYBaG-qyWk/htmlview?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl#gid=837779945). 8. I appreciated this Culture Study episode about being a “[childless freak](https://overcast.fm/+ABFUlKvz28U?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl).” For those still in undecided land, The Cut also has a good and thoughtful [series](https://www.thecut.com/tags/oh-baby/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl) this week about deciding whether to have kids. 9. I am really enjoying the latest season of [Shrinking](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/shrinking/umc.cmc.apzybj6eqf6pzccd97kev7bs?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl). My household laughs out loud at this show often. Watching an episode feels like getting to hang out with all your favorite character actors in one place because that’s essentially what it is. Jessica Williams’ [outfits](https://www.instagram.com/allysonfanger/p/DVfHqn1ESDc/?img_index=1&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl) are [also](https://www.instagram.com/allysonfanger/p/DVFMDrEie-G/?img_index=1&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl) [so good](https://www.instagram.com/allysonfanger/p/DGyunpESxeB/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl). 10. In Sitka, because they are fond of them,People have named the seals. Every sealis named Earl because they are killed oneafter another by the orca, the killerwhale; seal bodies tossed left and rightinto the air. “At least he didn’t getEarl,” someone says. And sure enough,after a time, that same friendly,bewhiskered face bobs to the surface.It’s Earl again. Well, how else are youto live except by denial, by somepalatable fiction, some little song tosing while the inevitable, the black andwhite blindsiding fact, comes hurtlingtoward you out of the deep?—”Earl,” Louis Jenkins </ol> [Laters](https://www.instagram.com/p/DVcYpBTjA8x/?igsh=MWx2cThidDVobDdmcw%3D%3D&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl), Laura *> If you were forwarded this email and want to subscribe yourself,* [*sign up here*](https://buttondown.com/lauraolin)*.* *<* –––  Laura Olin You can [subscribe](https://buttondown.com/lauraolin), [unsubscribe](https://buttondown.com/unsubscribe/c32d9099-dc54-4bd6-9a3c-a478c9137b47?email=a8d40f22-843b-496f-9e90-9b07fd519f89), or [view this email online](https://buttondown.com/lauraolin/archive/204-at-least-he-didnt-get-earl/).

https://buttondown-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/2cab92ee-36de-428c-9ec3-b9f058af1daa.png [](https://botfrens.com/collections/61/contents/1212611?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak)René Magritte, _The Banquet_ [Hello](https://www.tiktok.com/@preguntale2017/video/7584299698685791509?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak), Here’s some art, ideas, and internet for you: 1. “The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once.” [Adam Serwer on Minnesota](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/the-neighbors-defending-minnesota-from-ice/685769/?gift=mzSZbpKIJDILy0IX4uykQqGyWT_3f8zrr6sRZvRuNeQ&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=PAdGRleAPmIQ1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAadIs107oBiR6Wbpd5bZesy1SMcMIj48a43VAnAiQmnv3lLRurxI87-ZZfFg3Q_aem_uNkxtwsyINGz4-hUOwpKhA). 2. Take an hour-long training on [how to document and record ICE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=zqka9fUTwdA&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak). Thinking about running for state and local office as a progressive someday? Sign up for Run for Something’s “[Future candidates](https://runforsomething.net/future-candidates-cohort/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak)” four-week training program. Get [trained](https://freedomtrainers.net/trainings/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak) to organize strikes and practice noncooperation. 3. Seeing similarities between [Boston 1770 and Minneapolis 2026](https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/two-cities-under-siege?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak). 4. How to turn off _only_ the cursed [AI summary feature in Gmail](https://support.google.com/mail/thread/402496801/i-want-to-turn-off-only-the-ai-summary-in-gmail?hl=en&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak). 5. The new era of [desocialized media](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/instagram-reels-and-the-new-era-of-desocialized-media.html?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak) and the rise of [slopaganda](https://www.theverge.com/news/869824/right-wing-influencers-nick-shirley-slopaganda?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak). 6. [Draw a horse and watch it run](https://gradient.horse/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak). 7. A [beautiful essay](https://querent.substack.com/p/i-would-start-a-war-in-your-arms?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak) from Alexander Chee about Heated Rivalry = obviously it’s going in the newsletter. 8. [Trak suits](https://www.amtrak.com/trak-suit?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak). 9. [Poms](https://poms.fun/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak)! 10. Looking forward to: New [Patrick Radden Keefe](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/704979/london-falling-by-patrick-radden-keefe/?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak); new [Emma Straub](https://bookshop.org/p/books/american-fantasy-a-novel-emma-straub/63286cea6b6b1faf?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak); new [Robinne Lee](https://bookshop.org/p/books/crash-into-me-a-novel-robinne-lee/55102bfc505d0261?utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak); The Devil Wears Prada II, now with a [trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9HXmMnUEdE&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak). 11. I do kind gestures. Remove my appendix. I put my ear to a flat shell and—nothing. I play the lottery ironically. Get married. Have a smear test. I put my ear to the beak of a dead bird—nothing. I grow wisdom teeth. Jog. I pick up a toddler’s telephone, Hello?—No answer. I change a light bulb on my own. Organize a large party. Hire a clown. Attend a four-day stonewalling course. Have a baby. Stop eating Coco Pops. I put my ear right up to the slack and gaping bonnet of a daffodil—. Get divorced. Floss. Describe a younger person’s music taste as “just noise.” Enjoy perusing a garden center. Sit in a pub without drinking. I stand at the lip of a pouting valley—SPEAK TO ME! My echo plagiarizes. I land a real love plus two real cats. I never meet the talking bird again. Or the yawning hole. The panther of purple wisps who prowls inside the air. I change nappies. Donate my eggs. Learn a profound lesson about sacrifice. Brunch. No singing floorboards. No vents leaking scentless instructions. My mission is over. The world has zipped up her second mouth. —”Sanity,” Caroline Bird [Byeeeeeeee](https://www.tiktok.com/@shopaif/video/7599917524095929631?_r=1&_t=ZT-93SEvK4l7pF&utm_source=lauraolin&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak), Laura _> If you were forwarded this email and want to subscribe yourself,_ [_sign up here_](https://buttondown.com/lauraolin) _._ _<_ –––  Laura Olin You can [subscribe](https://buttondown.com/lauraolin), [unsubscribe](https://buttondown.com/unsubscribe/c32d9099-dc54-4bd6-9a3c-a478c9137b47?email=4344e1c8-6d77-4d13-bc24-912e82d9506c), or [view this email online](https://buttondown.com/lauraolin/archive/203-i-stand-at-the-lip-of-a-pouting-valley-speak/).