Jessica Goldstein
@jessicagolds.bsky.social
Reporter, recapper, novelist.
Debut novel RETRO to be published by Ballantine 💫 6.23.26 💫 Preorder at: jessicamgoldstein.com/retro
Read me in/on: The New York Times, Vulture, McSweeney's, Marie Claire & more.
Debut novel RETRO to be published by Ballantine 💫 6.23.26 💫 Preorder at: jessicamgoldstein.com/retro
Read me in/on: The New York Times, Vulture, McSweeney's, Marie Claire & more.
Pinned
Retro by Jessica M. Goldstein: 9798217091362 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
An out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company—only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present—in this sharp, speculative debut novel....
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
My debut novel is available for preorder!!!!
In RETRO, an out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company—only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present.
Get your ticket to ride: June 23, 2026 💫
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/788779...
In RETRO, an out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company—only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present.
Get your ticket to ride: June 23, 2026 💫
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/788779...
“This is just what the world sounds like now. This is how everything has chosen to speak. Mixed metaphors and empty sincerity. Impersonal and overwrought. We are unearthing the echo of loneliness… We are saying the words that mean meaning.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...
Why Does A.I. Write Like … That?
www.nytimes.com
December 6, 2025 at 9:20 PM
“This is just what the world sounds like now. This is how everything has chosen to speak. Mixed metaphors and empty sincerity. Impersonal and overwrought. We are unearthing the echo of loneliness… We are saying the words that mean meaning.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...
This week on THE RETRO REPORT: it’s all about the power of GOSSIP 💋!
retroreport.substack.com/p/gossip-is-...
retroreport.substack.com/p/gossip-is-...
Gossip is the monoculture: The Retro Report, vol. 8
RETRO RECS FOR APPRECIATING THE POWER OF GOSSIP OVER OUR LIVES
retroreport.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:45 PM
This week on THE RETRO REPORT: it’s all about the power of GOSSIP 💋!
retroreport.substack.com/p/gossip-is-...
retroreport.substack.com/p/gossip-is-...
Reposted by Jessica Goldstein
"I recently spoke with Santa Claus, who is currently coordinating his staff of immortal blue-collar elves, about the morality of children and his friendship with a creature whom many carolers consider a war criminal: Krampus."
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...
The New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner Interviews Santa Claus
For several centuries, Santa Claus has been one of the most prolific mythical gift-givers in the world. Formerly known as Saint Nicholas of Myra, a...
www.mcsweeneys.net
December 4, 2025 at 7:29 PM
"I recently spoke with Santa Claus, who is currently coordinating his staff of immortal blue-collar elves, about the morality of children and his friendship with a creature whom many carolers consider a war criminal: Krampus."
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...
"...how simple the culture has made it for someone with nothing but themselves on their mind to hurt someone they think they might benefit from hurting"
defector.com/the-conserva...
defector.com/the-conserva...
The Conservative Grievance Business Is Always Hiring | Defector
Given his age when he first came to the world’s attention and assuming continued good health in the intervening decade and change, Marine Todd would be in his late 30s today. That would be if he was a...
defector.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:46 PM
"...how simple the culture has made it for someone with nothing but themselves on their mind to hurt someone they think they might benefit from hurting"
defector.com/the-conserva...
defector.com/the-conserva...
My debut novel is available for preorder!!!!
In RETRO, an out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company—only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present.
Get your ticket to ride: June 23, 2026 💫
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/788779...
In RETRO, an out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company—only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present.
Get your ticket to ride: June 23, 2026 💫
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/788779...
Retro by Jessica M. Goldstein: 9798217091362 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
An out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company—only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present—in this sharp, speculative debut novel....
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM
My debut novel is available for preorder!!!!
In RETRO, an out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company—only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present.
Get your ticket to ride: June 23, 2026 💫
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/788779...
In RETRO, an out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company—only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present.
Get your ticket to ride: June 23, 2026 💫
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/788779...
Industry Season 4 | Official Teaser | HBO Max
YouTube video by HBO Max
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 7:14 PM
“Bobby probably doesn’t remember the millions of people who were paralyzed or killed by polio before the vaccine was available. My dad… does remember. Recently, I asked him what it was like when he got the vaccine. He said that it felt like freedom.”
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
November 22, 2025 at 9:28 PM
“Bobby probably doesn’t remember the millions of people who were paralyzed or killed by polio before the vaccine was available. My dad… does remember. Recently, I asked him what it was like when he got the vaccine. He said that it felt like freedom.”
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
This week on THE RETRO REPORT: Come reread A Tree Grows in Brooklyn with me during the most poignant time of the year!
retroreport.substack.com/p/looking-at...
retroreport.substack.com/p/looking-at...
Looking at the world once and burning ugliness: The Retro Report, vol. 7
ON REREADING YOUR BELOVED CHILDHOOD CLASSICS DURING THE MOST POIGNANT TIME OF THE YEAR
retroreport.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This week on THE RETRO REPORT: Come reread A Tree Grows in Brooklyn with me during the most poignant time of the year!
retroreport.substack.com/p/looking-at...
retroreport.substack.com/p/looking-at...
Reposted by Jessica Goldstein
"The fact that many men believe they no longer even have to pretend to respect women in order to participate in public life makes it unlikely that anything will change anytime soon. The fish rots from the head. The pig is in the Oval Office." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
President Piggy
This is what consequence-free misogyny looks like.
www.theatlantic.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:36 PM
"The fact that many men believe they no longer even have to pretend to respect women in order to participate in public life makes it unlikely that anything will change anytime soon. The fish rots from the head. The pig is in the Oval Office." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
"It sounds hyperbolic, but it’s true: In a world where shared experiences are becoming rarer and rarer, the cinema — as both a place and a practice — remains one of the last bastions of our common humanity."
www.vulture.com/article/the-...
www.vulture.com/article/the-...
The Pope vs. the Algorithm
In his speech to filmmakers last weekend, Pope Leo XIV showed he’s been paying serious attention to the issues facing cinema as an art form.
www.vulture.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:55 PM
"It sounds hyperbolic, but it’s true: In a world where shared experiences are becoming rarer and rarer, the cinema — as both a place and a practice — remains one of the last bastions of our common humanity."
www.vulture.com/article/the-...
www.vulture.com/article/the-...
This week on THE RETRO REPORT we must ask ourselves: what *do* people do all day? I make the case for offices as the strangest places around, ft. Retro recs to support my theory!
retroreport.substack.com/p/no-place-i...
retroreport.substack.com/p/no-place-i...
November 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
This week on THE RETRO REPORT we must ask ourselves: what *do* people do all day? I make the case for offices as the strangest places around, ft. Retro recs to support my theory!
retroreport.substack.com/p/no-place-i...
retroreport.substack.com/p/no-place-i...
Perfect @winterjessica.bsky.social piece on the “crisis” of modern men, the protagonists of reality apparently!!!
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
What Did Men Do to Deserve This?
Changes in the economy and in the culture seem to have hit them hard. Scott Galloway believes they need an “aspirational vision of masculinity.”
www.newyorker.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Perfect @winterjessica.bsky.social piece on the “crisis” of modern men, the protagonists of reality apparently!!!
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Get over to the Retro Report to talk about EMBARRASSING BOYFRIENDS in literature and in life, ft. My personal nemesis: Nino Sarratore 👿
retroreport.substack.com/p/embarrassi...
retroreport.substack.com/p/embarrassi...
Embarrassing boyfriends in literature and in life: The Retro Report, vol. 5
FINALLY: WE ARE TALKING ABOUT FERRANTE!!!
retroreport.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Get over to the Retro Report to talk about EMBARRASSING BOYFRIENDS in literature and in life, ft. My personal nemesis: Nino Sarratore 👿
retroreport.substack.com/p/embarrassi...
retroreport.substack.com/p/embarrassi...
My newsletter this week is all about what I’m calling the VISION/POWER gap: when an artist has taste but not clout! Come see what all the fuss is about and subscribe to THE RETRO REPORT :)
retroreport.substack.com/p/how-many-a...
retroreport.substack.com/p/how-many-a...
October 31, 2025 at 3:58 PM
My newsletter this week is all about what I’m calling the VISION/POWER gap: when an artist has taste but not clout! Come see what all the fuss is about and subscribe to THE RETRO REPORT :)
retroreport.substack.com/p/how-many-a...
retroreport.substack.com/p/how-many-a...
Reposted by Jessica Goldstein
A scoop that I’m not happy to report:
CBS News has gutted its climate change reporting team, one of the best in the business, and one of the only ones on cable news that consistently called out fossil fuels as the main source of climate pollution.
heated.world/p/cbs-news-k...
CBS News has gutted its climate change reporting team, one of the best in the business, and one of the only ones on cable news that consistently called out fossil fuels as the main source of climate pollution.
heated.world/p/cbs-news-k...
CBS News kills its climate unit
David Ellison, the new pro-Trump chief executive of Paramount Skydance, has dismantled the best climate change reporting team in cable news.
heated.world
October 31, 2025 at 3:51 PM
A scoop that I’m not happy to report:
CBS News has gutted its climate change reporting team, one of the best in the business, and one of the only ones on cable news that consistently called out fossil fuels as the main source of climate pollution.
heated.world/p/cbs-news-k...
CBS News has gutted its climate change reporting team, one of the best in the business, and one of the only ones on cable news that consistently called out fossil fuels as the main source of climate pollution.
heated.world/p/cbs-news-k...
October 28, 2025 at 2:51 AM
It’s the time of the season for HAUNTING AND BEING HAUNTED by the art that never was!
This week’s Retro Report is all about the art that got away.
Come yearn with me!
retroreport.substack.com/p/haunted-by...
This week’s Retro Report is all about the art that got away.
Come yearn with me!
retroreport.substack.com/p/haunted-by...
Haunted by the art that never was: The Retro Report, vol. 3.
YEARNING FOR THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY!
retroreport.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:15 PM
It’s the time of the season for HAUNTING AND BEING HAUNTED by the art that never was!
This week’s Retro Report is all about the art that got away.
Come yearn with me!
retroreport.substack.com/p/haunted-by...
This week’s Retro Report is all about the art that got away.
Come yearn with me!
retroreport.substack.com/p/haunted-by...
THRILLING NEWS: I STARTED A NEWSLETTER! It is called THE RETRO REPORT.
Come and get the super-specific, mood-based recommendations for what to read, watch, listen to, meditate on, and obsess over you've been yearning for!!!!!!
open.substack.com/pub/retrorep...
Come and get the super-specific, mood-based recommendations for what to read, watch, listen to, meditate on, and obsess over you've been yearning for!!!!!!
open.substack.com/pub/retrorep...
Extremely-online language is the Shein of slang, or: why do all celebrities sound Like That? The Retro Report, vol. 2
PLUS: RETRO RECS TO REPLENISH THE WORD WELLS IN OUR MINDS!!!
open.substack.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:39 PM
THRILLING NEWS: I STARTED A NEWSLETTER! It is called THE RETRO REPORT.
Come and get the super-specific, mood-based recommendations for what to read, watch, listen to, meditate on, and obsess over you've been yearning for!!!!!!
open.substack.com/pub/retrorep...
Come and get the super-specific, mood-based recommendations for what to read, watch, listen to, meditate on, and obsess over you've been yearning for!!!!!!
open.substack.com/pub/retrorep...
very funny to read this in the Washington Post which was, until quite recently, in the business of setting up singles. clearly the people yearn for Date Lab!
www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
Your single friends are dying for you to set them up
Tired of dating apps, some singles long for their friends to get into amateur matchmaking.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:56 PM
very funny to read this in the Washington Post which was, until quite recently, in the business of setting up singles. clearly the people yearn for Date Lab!
www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
"The person-based relational constellation that once transmitted skill, mentorship, and mutual obligation, however imperfect, has been replaced by a digital loop: workers feeding prompts into the same systems that eventually gatekeep, surveil & smoothly replace them."
www.thecut.com/article/job-...
www.thecut.com/article/job-...
The Job Search Has Become a Humiliation Ritual
“It feels like I’m trying to make my robots talk to their robots.”
www.thecut.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:35 PM
"The person-based relational constellation that once transmitted skill, mentorship, and mutual obligation, however imperfect, has been replaced by a digital loop: workers feeding prompts into the same systems that eventually gatekeep, surveil & smoothly replace them."
www.thecut.com/article/job-...
www.thecut.com/article/job-...
REMEMBER: WE NOT BREAK NEWS. WE POUND NEWS LIKE BONGOS UNTIL NEWS BREAK ITSELF.
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/aaa...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/aaa...
“AAAGGGHHH!!!” A Memo from Animal, Your New Editor-in-Chief
“[Editor-in-chief of CBS News] Bari Weiss told network staffers in a morning editorial call that she wants to ‘win’ before delivering a rallying cr...
www.mcsweeneys.net
October 9, 2025 at 1:37 PM
REMEMBER: WE NOT BREAK NEWS. WE POUND NEWS LIKE BONGOS UNTIL NEWS BREAK ITSELF.
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/aaa...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/aaa...
just in time for spooky season: a fantastic horror story by @annasilman.bsky.social
www.gq.com/story/how-th...
www.gq.com/story/how-th...
How the Crisis PR Machine Shapes What You Think About Celebrities
The disinformation age has hit Hollywood, and the celebrity-industrial complex is armed to the teeth. Meet the crisis publicists, right-wing wranglers, and trolls for hire who are influencing what we ...
www.gq.com
September 30, 2025 at 9:23 PM
just in time for spooky season: a fantastic horror story by @annasilman.bsky.social
www.gq.com/story/how-th...
www.gq.com/story/how-th...
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By @petridishes.bsky.social who has actually never said anything to or about anyone and never will, I’m sure of it 🫡
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
By @petridishes.bsky.social who has actually never said anything to or about anyone and never will, I’m sure of it 🫡
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
A Beautiful Day for Saying Nothing
That chill in the air isn’t Jimmy Kimmel’s show being suspended. It’s just autumn!
www.theatlantic.com
September 19, 2025 at 5:21 PM
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By @petridishes.bsky.social who has actually never said anything to or about anyone and never will, I’m sure of it 🫡
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
By @petridishes.bsky.social who has actually never said anything to or about anyone and never will, I’m sure of it 🫡
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
"One translation of Aaaaughhhh is 'There’s a difference between not dying and being alive.' A summary of Gyyyyyuaaack might be 'Things can grow so corrupted or damaged that it’s better not to have them anymore.'” Great @xwaldie.bsky.social on modern zombiemania: www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
Our Age of Zombie Culture
Zombies are the least eloquent monster. But they have a lot to say about us.
www.newyorker.com
August 13, 2025 at 3:07 PM
"One translation of Aaaaughhhh is 'There’s a difference between not dying and being alive.' A summary of Gyyyyyuaaack might be 'Things can grow so corrupted or damaged that it’s better not to have them anymore.'” Great @xwaldie.bsky.social on modern zombiemania: www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...