Marston Quinn
@marstonquinn.bsky.social
📚 a "fast and careless reader"
🖋️ writing at https://poundfoolish.substack.com/
❓ask me a question at https://forms.gle/N6qshdtfTYeVftZh9
👋 everything else at https://beacons.ai/marstonquinn
🖋️ writing at https://poundfoolish.substack.com/
❓ask me a question at https://forms.gle/N6qshdtfTYeVftZh9
👋 everything else at https://beacons.ai/marstonquinn
The Gulf Stream (Winslow Homer, 1899)
December 8, 2025 at 7:29 PM
The Gulf Stream (Winslow Homer, 1899)
You can labor away in the kitchen for hours and whatever you make will still not be half as tasty as good bread dipped in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, flaky salt, and fresh cracked black pepper.
December 8, 2025 at 3:16 AM
You can labor away in the kitchen for hours and whatever you make will still not be half as tasty as good bread dipped in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, flaky salt, and fresh cracked black pepper.
Holiday party season in NYC is a strangely feral period that should be considered dangerous to live through, not unlike hunting season on the savanna or the 15th century English wars of succession.
December 6, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Holiday party season in NYC is a strangely feral period that should be considered dangerous to live through, not unlike hunting season on the savanna or the 15th century English wars of succession.
Every now and then I remember that for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, SHAKIRA was chosen to do the anthem, which I think would upset more people if Waka Waka didn’t absolutely slap.
December 6, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Every now and then I remember that for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, SHAKIRA was chosen to do the anthem, which I think would upset more people if Waka Waka didn’t absolutely slap.
You don’t get into a relationship to make yourself happy. You get into a relationship so that you can sit in a restaurant next to people on their first date and judge them. Get it straight.
December 6, 2025 at 1:11 AM
You don’t get into a relationship to make yourself happy. You get into a relationship so that you can sit in a restaurant next to people on their first date and judge them. Get it straight.
Olivia Nuzzi, Alison Roman, and David Rubenstein walk into a bar...
poundfoolish.substack.com/p/the-weeken...
poundfoolish.substack.com/p/the-weeken...
The Weekend Read for December 5, 2025
Olivia Nuzzi, Alison Roman, and David Rubenstein walk into a bar...
poundfoolish.substack.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Olivia Nuzzi, Alison Roman, and David Rubenstein walk into a bar...
poundfoolish.substack.com/p/the-weeken...
poundfoolish.substack.com/p/the-weeken...
I don’t know if anyone else is a scribbler, but I am, and about once a week I end up with a satisfyingly torn scrap pile after going through all my notes.
December 5, 2025 at 7:51 PM
I don’t know if anyone else is a scribbler, but I am, and about once a week I end up with a satisfyingly torn scrap pile after going through all my notes.
Part of my approach to social media (text, short-form video, etc.) is sharing thoughts I don't quite know how to articulate yet in the hopes of figuring them out on the way, or honing them based on the responses I get.
December 5, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Part of my approach to social media (text, short-form video, etc.) is sharing thoughts I don't quite know how to articulate yet in the hopes of figuring them out on the way, or honing them based on the responses I get.
My girlfriend wanted to remember the name of a show we watched because the new season is coming out. All she could remember about it was “it’s not sci-fi or fantasy, set in the United States, contemporary times.”
The show in question?
Fallout 🙃
The show in question?
Fallout 🙃
December 5, 2025 at 2:31 AM
My girlfriend wanted to remember the name of a show we watched because the new season is coming out. All she could remember about it was “it’s not sci-fi or fantasy, set in the United States, contemporary times.”
The show in question?
Fallout 🙃
The show in question?
Fallout 🙃
I think a powerful reframe for overthinkers is to move from "what did I do wrong?" to "have I done anything wrong?"
December 4, 2025 at 2:10 AM
I think a powerful reframe for overthinkers is to move from "what did I do wrong?" to "have I done anything wrong?"
The Hatch Family (Eastman Johnson, 1971)
December 3, 2025 at 11:28 PM
The Hatch Family (Eastman Johnson, 1971)
This might be my favorite sentence of the year:
"In the American imagination, Florida is where you go when you’ve done something wrong. California is where you go when you’ve done something wrong and want to be pretentious about it."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
"In the American imagination, Florida is where you go when you’ve done something wrong. California is where you go when you’ve done something wrong and want to be pretentious about it."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Olivia Nuzzi’s Tell-Nothing Memoir
Can “American Canto” turn scandal into literature?
www.theatlantic.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:13 PM
This might be my favorite sentence of the year:
"In the American imagination, Florida is where you go when you’ve done something wrong. California is where you go when you’ve done something wrong and want to be pretentious about it."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
"In the American imagination, Florida is where you go when you’ve done something wrong. California is where you go when you’ve done something wrong and want to be pretentious about it."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Our national superpower is attracting the best and brightest from billions around the world to supplement the talents of 320 million. It’s a shame to lose that.
economist.com/china/2025/1...
economist.com/china/2025/1...
America is foolishly waving goodbye to thousands of Chinese boffins
Hostile policies and attacks on science are driving them back into China’s arms
economist.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Our national superpower is attracting the best and brightest from billions around the world to supplement the talents of 320 million. It’s a shame to lose that.
economist.com/china/2025/1...
economist.com/china/2025/1...
In a chronically online world it strikes me that governance, personal brand, and social presence are going to be more and more enmeshed.
www.wsj.com/us-news/san-...
www.wsj.com/us-news/san-...
San Francisco’s Buzziest Social-Media Star: Its Mayor
He’s no Kardashian, but Daniel Lurie is building his brand and showcasing his city with a growing following. Not everyone is a fan.
www.wsj.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:57 PM
In a chronically online world it strikes me that governance, personal brand, and social presence are going to be more and more enmeshed.
www.wsj.com/us-news/san-...
www.wsj.com/us-news/san-...
Opinion | A Serious Journalism Scandal Hiding Inside a Frivolous Sexual One
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:10 PM
I’m new to social media and was told every video I record makes it look like I’m staring directly into the sun and all that makes me think of is that one time Trump stared right into the eclipse.
December 2, 2025 at 2:54 AM
I’m new to social media and was told every video I record makes it look like I’m staring directly into the sun and all that makes me think of is that one time Trump stared right into the eclipse.
Political reporting in 2025 is…strange.
December 1, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Political reporting in 2025 is…strange.
Nothing surprised me about Wicked: For Good more than how much I've genuinely come to enjoy one of the ~new songs~ they wrote for it. Me?! A traditionalist!?
December 1, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Nothing surprised me about Wicked: For Good more than how much I've genuinely come to enjoy one of the ~new songs~ they wrote for it. Me?! A traditionalist!?
Is anyone else furiously listening to as much tasteful music as they can find in order to salvage their Spotify Wrapped from being soul crushingly embarrassing?
December 1, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Is anyone else furiously listening to as much tasteful music as they can find in order to salvage their Spotify Wrapped from being soul crushingly embarrassing?
"What we found was a city with no escape from severely toxic air, and a population resigned to a public health emergency as its everyday reality." Absolutely horrifying.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/w...
India Is a Rising Power, but Its Capital Is a Lethal Gas Chamber
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 3:55 PM
"What we found was a city with no escape from severely toxic air, and a population resigned to a public health emergency as its everyday reality." Absolutely horrifying.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/w...
My favorite line from Thanksgiving weekend, without context.
"Did I marry my Dad, or just someone my-Dad-shaped?"
"Did I marry my Dad, or just someone my-Dad-shaped?"
November 29, 2025 at 8:28 PM
My favorite line from Thanksgiving weekend, without context.
"Did I marry my Dad, or just someone my-Dad-shaped?"
"Did I marry my Dad, or just someone my-Dad-shaped?"
Pop stardom, newsworthy divorces, and Slutty Cheff poundfoolish.substack.com/p/the-weeken...
The Weekend Read for November 28, 2025
Pop stardom, newsworthy divorces, and Slutty Cheff
poundfoolish.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Pop stardom, newsworthy divorces, and Slutty Cheff poundfoolish.substack.com/p/the-weeken...
Love that the “injury history” graphic for Joe Burrow on Thanksgiving Football included his July 2022 appendectomy. Very comprehensive!
November 28, 2025 at 4:07 AM
Love that the “injury history” graphic for Joe Burrow on Thanksgiving Football included his July 2022 appendectomy. Very comprehensive!
At a certain point, if you entertain enough, your fridge will be >50% full of olive medleys
November 26, 2025 at 12:11 PM
At a certain point, if you entertain enough, your fridge will be >50% full of olive medleys
It finally happened.
A friend told me she was approached by a strange man Saturday evening with the most confusing pickup line she’d ever heard.
Luckily, I spend enough time on the internet to explain what “may I meet you” is all about.
A friend told me she was approached by a strange man Saturday evening with the most confusing pickup line she’d ever heard.
Luckily, I spend enough time on the internet to explain what “may I meet you” is all about.
November 25, 2025 at 8:12 PM
It finally happened.
A friend told me she was approached by a strange man Saturday evening with the most confusing pickup line she’d ever heard.
Luckily, I spend enough time on the internet to explain what “may I meet you” is all about.
A friend told me she was approached by a strange man Saturday evening with the most confusing pickup line she’d ever heard.
Luckily, I spend enough time on the internet to explain what “may I meet you” is all about.