Colin Dickey
LightNews LightNews
banner
colindickey.com
Colin Dickey
@colindickey.com
16K followers 1.6K following 5.8K posts
Writer of books, most recently Under the Eye of Power: How Fear of Secret Societies Shapes American Democracy. Also Ghostland, The Unidentified, Afterlives of the Saints, Cranioklepty. Opinions mine, not my employer’s. He/him.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
colindickey.com
Colin Dickey @colindickey.com · Oct 20
Hello new followers it’s Spooky Season and also Election Time so perhaps I can interest you in some books on ghosts, UFOs & monsters, or our long history of conspiratorial politics?
Three books by Colin Dickey: Ghostland, The Unidentified, and Under the Eye of Power
colindickey.com
Happy Friday, here's a 1680 frontispiece for the book The School of Venus, in which some very nice looking ladies are picking out some dildos.
1680 frontispiece to The School of Venus. On the left is a merchant of dildos. She has a table filled with dildos, and then a rack with even more dildos hanging from it. All the dildos look like dicks and balls, so it appears as though maybe she's castrated a bunch of dudes, but that's not the case. Anyway, on the right are three ladies having a ball perusing the items; on the far right is a woman holding her braids in sheer delight at the options here.
December 5, 2025 at 6:34 PM
colindickey.com
Irrationally angry at how bad GdT’s Frankenstein was
December 5, 2025 at 5:19 PM
colindickey.com
co-signing all of Wyatt's picks here, get in on this
wbonikowski.bsky.social Wyatt Bonikowski @wbonikowski.bsky.social · 1d
Some of my favorites: Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns, Creature and A Horse at Night by Amina Cain, The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington, The Taiga Syndrome by Cristina Rivera Garza, Revenge of the Scapegoat by Caren Beilin, and Suite for Barbara Loden by Nathalie Léger.
dorothyproject.bsky.social Dorothy, a publishing project @dorothyproject.bsky.social · 1d
All the Dorothies are on sale during @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social's sitewide sale for the next (checks watch) 36 hours! 📚🎁

Go: www.nyrb.com/collections/...
December 4, 2025 at 6:16 PM
colindickey.com
At long last we have created the Gattaca from classic sci-fi film Don’t Do the Gattaca Thing
jawnthedon.bsky.social Chaotic Neutral @jawnthedon.bsky.social · 1d
I saw this ad on the train and I’m curious how yall feel about it… I’m very much in the center, but slightly more towards than against…
December 4, 2025 at 5:32 PM
colindickey.com
Patrick Flanagan’s Question 7 was the book that completely floored me, which I have not stopped thinking about since, utterly unlike anything I’d ever read before
hypervisible.blacksky.app Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 1d
Please post about your book that I *should* read. I’m so tired of the weird Nazi affair shit on my timeline.
December 3, 2025 at 11:54 PM
colindickey.com
I don’t even know who this person is but it’s remarkable to see yet another Substack grifter promising some salacious reveal behind a paywall.

Just grinding up the corpse of her career for whatever sausage they can make and resell
Substack heading: Olivia Nuzzi's Resurgence: It's Complicated JESSICA REED KRAUS DEC 03, 2025 • PAID
December 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
colindickey.com
If the NYT and WaPo reviews were murders, @scaachi.bsky.social’s Slate piece is straight out of the Saw franchise.
Olivia Nuzzi’s Much-Hyped Book Was Always Going to Be Self-Serving. It’s So Much Worse Than That.
God, everyone sucks so much in American Canto.
slate.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Reposted by Colin Dickey
cadaverformosus.bsky.social
when your book rollout goes awry
A screenshot of a text: I went into Skylight to see if they had the Nuzzi book and they said, politely: lol Imao rotflol (three laugh cry emojis) (three tilted laugh cry emojis)
December 3, 2025 at 1:00 AM
colindickey.com
Why it matters
A quote from an Axios story about a raccoon that got trashed at a North Carolina store that reads: "Why it matters: The intoxicated suspect was a raccoon."
December 2, 2025 at 11:20 PM
colindickey.com
Bluesky let’s do this
lydiakiesling.bsky.social Lydia Kiesling @lydiakiesling.bsky.social · 2d
A mom in Portland has been separated from her child since June bc ICE kidnapped her. The only thing standing between her & her baby right now is a $7,500 bond. There's 5k to go. PLEASE let's do this. Many hands make light work. This is literally the reason for the gd mfing season gofund.me/3e980d9d3
Donate to Help us get an asylum seeker released from ICE detention, organized by CLEAR Clinic
Our client Lorena (pseudonym) is a single-parent asylum-seeker w… CLEAR Clinic needs your support for Help us get an asylum seeker released from ICE detention
gofund.me
December 2, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by Colin Dickey
lonestartallboi.bsky.social
The subtext here is, once again, we are ruled by people who have driven themselves mad via groupchat
marisakabas.bsky.social Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 2d
A piece Olivia Nuzzi published yesterday (as part of a Substack Q+A) called "Signs Your Book Rollout Has Gone Awry":
Signs Your Book Rollout Has Gone Awry By Olivia Nuzzi Your agent texts you, unprompted and with no elaboration, “I love you.” Monica Lewinsky reaches out to check on your mental health. Frank Rich encourages you to send your book to Fran Lebowitz because “she is not online.” The woman who realigns your chakras in Santa Monica sends word from her Scotland retreat that she is available for an emergency remote chakra realignment session anytime. An architect of the Iraq War says he’s “been through several things like this but “nothing quite as bad as this.” Your other agent calls to tell you she’s lost three clients “over this.” It seems a positive development when Tina Brown describes your “pretentious” book as “Ezra Pound meets Barbie.” Your colorist who maintains the Barbie aspect refuses to charge you because you “seem so scared” when you arrive to see her in Beverly Hills. A paparazzo attempting once again to convince you that your privacy depe somehow on allowing him to violate your privacy adds an ominous kicker this overture: “This never ends.” 87 percent of respondents to a survey say they believe you are a CIA operative Wistfully, you recall kinder public outrages in which there were what seem retrospect merely halfhearted threats of rape or calls to hang you for sedition Monica Lewinsky checks in again. The crisis PR experts are in crisis. You consider falsifying email correspondence between yourself and Jeffrey Epstein in order to improve your press coverage. You spend several hours reading about plummeting literacy rates and this soothes you. You spend several more hours thinking about Monica Lewinsky and her irrepressible kindness and grace. You find inventive ways to work the plummeting literacy rates into conversation. When a turtle arrives in your driveway in the afternoon you imbue his visit with meaning. You forget what day your book is being released. Sally Quinn tells you to take Ambien. Danielle Frum tells you to take Valium. Mitchell Jackson tells you to check into rehab. Caitlin Flanagan tells you to remember God loves you. Maureen Dowd tells you, “At least you’re still young and beautiful!” A famous self help author tells you to perform an act of witchcraft. You feed the turtle papaya from Erewhon. Many people use the phrase “self care” when addressing you. Multiple people suggest you “pivot to screenwriting.” Various people volunteer various actresses who should play you in a movie. Someone cautions that the demographics of the crowd at the New Beverly to see Goodfellas on 35mm may conflict with your efforts to lay low. You are making efforts to lay low. You remember the Paparazzo’s warning, “This never ends,” and decide he perhaps meant it wryly. You are surprised to realize your book is being released today. Monica Lewinsky checks in again.
December 2, 2025 at 8:47 PM
colindickey.com
Here’s some great books you can buy from Sarabande:

simplebooklet.com/sarabandeboo...
December 2, 2025 at 8:59 PM
colindickey.com
The name dropping.

The utterly bottomless self pity.

The name dropping.

The shameless grifting of the Shaka realignment con artist.

The name dropping.
marisakabas.bsky.social Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 2d
A piece Olivia Nuzzi published yesterday (as part of a Substack Q+A) called "Signs Your Book Rollout Has Gone Awry":
Signs Your Book Rollout Has Gone Awry By Olivia Nuzzi Your agent texts you, unprompted and with no elaboration, “I love you.” Monica Lewinsky reaches out to check on your mental health. Frank Rich encourages you to send your book to Fran Lebowitz because “she is not online.” The woman who realigns your chakras in Santa Monica sends word from her Scotland retreat that she is available for an emergency remote chakra realignment session anytime. An architect of the Iraq War says he’s “been through several things like this but “nothing quite as bad as this.” Your other agent calls to tell you she’s lost three clients “over this.” It seems a positive development when Tina Brown describes your “pretentious” book as “Ezra Pound meets Barbie.” Your colorist who maintains the Barbie aspect refuses to charge you because you “seem so scared” when you arrive to see her in Beverly Hills. A paparazzo attempting once again to convince you that your privacy depe somehow on allowing him to violate your privacy adds an ominous kicker this overture: “This never ends.” 87 percent of respondents to a survey say they believe you are a CIA operative Wistfully, you recall kinder public outrages in which there were what seem retrospect merely halfhearted threats of rape or calls to hang you for sedition Monica Lewinsky checks in again. The crisis PR experts are in crisis. You consider falsifying email correspondence between yourself and Jeffrey Epstein in order to improve your press coverage. You spend several hours reading about plummeting literacy rates and this soothes you. You spend several more hours thinking about Monica Lewinsky and her irrepressible kindness and grace. You find inventive ways to work the plummeting literacy rates into conversation. When a turtle arrives in your driveway in the afternoon you imbue his visit with meaning. You forget what day your book is being released. Sally Quinn tells you to take Ambien. Danielle Frum tells you to take Valium. Mitchell Jackson tells you to check into rehab. Caitlin Flanagan tells you to remember God loves you. Maureen Dowd tells you, “At least you’re still young and beautiful!” A famous self help author tells you to perform an act of witchcraft. You feed the turtle papaya from Erewhon. Many people use the phrase “self care” when addressing you. Multiple people suggest you “pivot to screenwriting.” Various people volunteer various actresses who should play you in a movie. Someone cautions that the demographics of the crowd at the New Beverly to see Goodfellas on 35mm may conflict with your efforts to lay low. You are making efforts to lay low. You remember the Paparazzo’s warning, “This never ends,” and decide he perhaps meant it wryly. You are surprised to realize your book is being released today. Monica Lewinsky checks in again.
December 2, 2025 at 8:31 PM
colindickey.com
A few weeks ago, a white, conventionally attractive journalist in her 20s was defending Nuzzi to me (her argument, iirc, was essentially “girl boss”).

I think eviscerating Nuzzi for her ethical failures is important if for no other reason than the next generation of journalists is watching closely.
December 2, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Colin Dickey
joshlowe.bsky.social
December 2, 2025 at 6:24 AM
colindickey.com
I have *never* seen a Toynbee Tile in LA before
A Toynbee Tile, well embedded in the asphalt near Alamo Drafthouse in DTLA, reading House of Hades / The Resurrection / Of Toynbee’s Ideas / In Society / To Punish [something or other, it’s pretty beat up]
December 1, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by Colin Dickey
samthielman.com
why are all these people fucking each other when they should go fuck themselves
December 1, 2025 at 9:33 PM
colindickey.com
Ryan Lizza not beating the “I am also a piece of shit swamp monster” allegations with this latest drop
December 1, 2025 at 8:45 PM
colindickey.com
[Me, in Stoker's writing group] Bram, maybe re-think this guy's name?
The Wikipedia entry for Bram Stoker's 1895 novel, The Shoulder of Shasta, featuring the character "Grizzly Dick"
November 30, 2025 at 7:08 PM
colindickey.com
Black Friday is ending tonight and also Cyber Monday starts right now, what is time
November 30, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Colin Dickey
raxkingisdead.bsky.social
i’ve been laughing at my own joke for 6 minutes so far
anton chigurrh: if your own petard hoisted you like this, of what use was the petard?
November 30, 2025 at 4:42 PM
colindickey.com
trust me, you are not prepared for any of this
cadaverformosus.bsky.social Elizabeth Harper @cadaverformosus.bsky.social · 5d
A MAGA relative's new get rich quick scheme is becoming an actor at 50 so on Thanksgiving I learned about AI vertical shorts. His "agent" who charges 10k for 6 months of "representation" arranges his "auditions" He always gets the part. For the in-app price of $25/week, you can watch the following:
Three who seem to be cut out of a separate photo with the magic lasso tool are posed in a yellow room. It might be a kitchen? There's a shelf with a white pot and a jar of pasta, but below is perhaps a pot floating in space, perhaps a bidet. There's also a wooden wavy sculpture? Looks like something you might find in a hotel in Tulum. In the foreground is a clean cut man in a wool striped blazer, black dress shirt, and black brocade tie with a very large tie clip. The woman in the center has long blonde hair, with red lipstick and purple nail polish. She's wearing a red satin slipdress and large gold earrings, necklace and a bracelet. On the other side is a younger man with eyeliner, a "skater" haircut from 1997, a black jacket and studded jewelry. The title is "Don't Mess with Dying Me". None of these people seem to by dying but perhaps dying on the inside. A purple and pink haze covering a nude, or at least topless fake Britney Spears embracing a Kirkland brand John Mayer. He's also nude except for a large watch. He has a lip print on his cheek which is far too small to be made by adult lips. Let's assume it's a tattoo. The title is "Obey Me Mr. President's Son" A raggedy edge, hazy sepia photograph of a suburban neighborhood. In the top right a clean cut man in a suit is emerging from the haze, giving a look I would describe as "the old Kash Patel". Below him is a 31 year old with brown smudges on her face looking sad and clutching a large teddy bear. Over her shoulder is what I assume to be the mom? Als 31 with red hair and dirt smudges. The title is "Daddy, Mommy is Waiting for You" Three more people cut out with the lasso tool and placed in front of a yellow background-- a clean cut guy with poofy hair and a black suit with a white shirt and no tie, a woman with the homecoming 1999 hair that's up with 3 curly "face framing tendrils" wearing a blue satin dress with a rhinestone necklace. Behind her is a woman with bitch-face with a similar dress and necklace, her hair is down with "face framing" non-bangs like she's growing them out. The title is "Cut the Act My Faker". There's something about the curly font, only used on "my faker" that looks like "my fucker"
November 29, 2025 at 11:49 PM
colindickey.com
On a flight from Portland to Los Angeles I took these three photos of Cascade mountains—I’m pretty sure the middle one is South Sister, but I’m having trouble IDing the other two. I’m guessing the first is North Sister and the last is Shasta. Can anyone confirm? The first two were close together.
A cascade stratovolcano covered in snow peaking through the clouds, looking gorgeous A cascade stratovolcano covered in snow peaking through the clouds, looking gorgeous A cascade stratovolcano covered in snow peaking through the clouds, looking gorgeous
November 29, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Colin Dickey
marisakabas.bsky.social
NYC: ICE is staging at Centre and Howard St. Get down there if you can.
gwynnefitz.bsky.social Gwynne Hogan @gwynnefitz.bsky.social · 6d
Happening now near Canal Street, federal agents had been staging inside a fed owned parking garage, now being confronted by a group of protesters. masked agents are looking on from above.
November 29, 2025 at 5:08 PM
colindickey.com
A monitor in the airport where I’m at is showing holiday cocktail recipes and the reason I now know “The Grinch” is copyrighted is because they just showed a green drink called “Grunch Games”
November 28, 2025 at 5:55 PM