Politics | Recovery | Current Obsessions
This week, I published a column I’m really proud of: It’s about climate disaster, public infrastructure, and the uniquely Texan tendency to valorize mutual aid while dismantling the systems that could actually prevent catastrophe. The part I keep coming back to:
There is such a powerful instinct to help, to give, to protect… Yet that same generosity does not translate into broad support for the kind of public infrastructure that can prevent or mitigate disaster. I have seen people stand on a roadside and cheer a truck from Texas supermarket chain H-E-B rolling through floodwaters; meanwhile, the local siren system goes unfunded. People will risk their lives to pull a child out of a tree but refuse to invest in what might have kept both the child and themselves safe in the first place.
Please give it a read, and share it if it resonates. I haven’t seen anyone else making this particular argument—and I think it matters.
Meanwhile, on Past Due we've been talking about surviving the creative economy, and what “making it” even means if you can’t trust the system to support you. Three episodes I’m especially proud of:
Josh Gondelman & Maris Kreizman
Even success stories can feel like cautionary tales.
We talk about hope, hustle, and the fragile logistics of making art with someone you love. (Josh and Maris also have separate big swing projects out this week! Josh’s special is here. Maris’ new book is available here.)
Jamie Loftus
When survival mode becomes your whole personality.
Jamie joins us to unpack inherited frugality, financial fear, and the weirdness of making it.
Xochitl Gonzalez
Working-class success isn’t supposed to look like this.
Xochitl gets candid about precarity, shame, and why we need to talk about money—even when we don’t want to.
Catch up on episodes here: pastduepodcast.com
Thanks, as always, for being part of this little corner of the internet. Your attention and solidarity mean a lot—especially when the world feels so dangerous. If you can afford to contribute to the newsletter financially, your ongoing support allows me to pursue longer projects that won’t find a home elsewhere. Take care of yourselves.
—Ana