Refuse to evacuate your life
Vol. 79
In This Issue: ESSAY | FAVORITE MUSIC OF THE YEAR | WISCONSIN NEWS | NOW READ THIS | FINAL FRAME
If you’re at all online in December, it’s likely you’ll come across a friend or relative posting their Spotify “Wrapped” lists. This annual tradition gives people a chance to look back at the music they’ve listened to and enjoyed, maybe played on repeat to help through a hard time. I’m always curious to know more about what music the people I like and love are into. One of my favorite things in life is to share music recommendations and be introduced to new artists and bands.
On the flip side, a concurrent/related annual tradition is also popping up in my social media feeds: people pushing others to drop Spotify entirely. The list of company sins is a long one, after all. Spotify is the biggest player in streaming music and uses its near monopoly to disempower the artists who actually create the music the app relies on to make its money (for instance, it’s harder than ever for anyone who’s not a Top 10 artist to make any money from their model). And Spotify does make a lot of money–its CEO Daniel Elk has a personal net worth of $8.3 billion, which he uses to invest in things like AI-driven war technologies. Not to mention the long history of paying millions to and platforming podcasters like Joe Rogan, who spread dangerous misinformation about everything from vaccines to transgender people.
I could go on, but suffice to say that there are many very good reasons to cancel your Spotify subscription, and for musicians to pull their work from the platform. But Spotify also makes it genuinely difficult to do so, especially for smaller artists struggling to be heard in an increasingly algorithm-and-money-driven industry. Given its massive market share, unless you’re already a household name, removing your music from Spotify is a bit like shooting yourself in the foot.
I did move to Tidal a few years ago and I like it just fine. It works much the same way as Spotify and I was easily able to port my playlists over using a third party service. Tidal has a higher artist payout, higher sound fidelity, and, as far as I know, isn’t funding drone and surveillance technologies.
Still, I know as well as anyone that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Both the tech and music industries are minefields of greed, grift, and flat-out theft. When I see people fighting each other online about whether or not it’s OK to subscribe to Spotify or happily share Wrapped lists, I just…don’t think that’s worthwhile anymore. It feels more and more like the wrong fight. There are much bigger issues here and we should spend less time yelling at each other and more time demanding (and building) the more equitable systems that we actually want.
That’s not to say that I don’t think it’s worth it to be, whenever possible, conscientious about where we spend our money. I do believe boycotts can and have been effective strategies for making change. Given that we live under capitalism, “voting with our wallets” is (maddeningly) one of our more impactful options as citizens. And so I have tried, wherever I can, to make more thoughtful choices: I use Storygraph instead of Goodreads, I don’t have an Amazon account anymore, I spend the extra time and money to shop locally whenever and wherever possible.
None of that makes me inherently more virtuous than anyone else. I don’t say this to brag. All of this is just to say that it’s important to me, personally, to make an effort, especially when it comes to things that really don’t make my life meaningfully harder (or put it in danger). In other words, where I can make the choice to put my money where my heart is, I’m going to try to do it.
There are people for whom deleting their Amazon account simply is not possible, or for whom not shopping at Walmart isn’t an option (often because it’s literally the only thing left where they live). We’re surrounded by monopolies. The system is rigged. Inflation is up, wages are down, and corporations rule the world.
But I don’t think that means we should stop caring or stop trying to do what good we can while we can. Just the opposite. I think that caring, really fucking caring about each other and this world is more vital than ever–the only thing that can save us from the current hellscape we’re being forced to live through. The thing is, caring also requires some amount of friction and inconvenience. I think that’s called being alive. It’s then up to each of us to determine what balance makes sense for us, of course–different circumstances call for different levels of sacrifice, challenge, risk, etc. and I won’t pretend to know what’s right for you. I just hope you will decide for yourself.
What the powers that be want is for us to dissolve into unthinking ease–everything available at a single click, don’t think too much about where it comes from or at what cost to people and nature. Don’t worry about anything, don’t trouble yourself to have conversations or build solidarity with your neighbors (too tricky, too uncomfortable, too hard). Let this cool “AI” tool do all the hard work of critical thinking and learning and messy human relationships for you, never mind that it’s not real, that it’s wrong most of the time, that you are evacuating yourself from your life*.
I feel like I’m arguing against myself here. Boycott all the things! Don’t boycott all the things! The point I’m trying to make, though, is that reality is always more nuanced and messy than that. I hope that everyone is able to take some time to decide what’s important and at all possible for them to do and say and try in order to continue feeling like a human being and not just a consumer. How do we become (and stay) people who aren’t just going through the motions, but instead who have the capacity and deserve to be in true relationship with the world around us?
Use Spotify or don’t. What I really want to know is (and what I’m asking myself): What music made you feel something this year? Did you give yourself time to listen to the whole album and not just the algorithmically-recommended single? Do you have the ability to go and buy the song or the album directly from the artist (say, on Bandcamp)? When was the last time you went out to see some local or regional bands play a show? Did you know that Bandcamp lets you search for and discover music made by people in your town/city/state? Are there locally-owned businesses in your area that you can afford to shop at instead of chain retailers or online behemoths? What are some ways that you’ve connected with your neighbors/local community this year? What’s going on in your community and how/where can you get involved? What could you try next year to do that? I’m asking sincerely.
I don’t want to live a life without friction. Neither do I want to live a life entirely made up of friction! I believe there must be a way to build a world that lands us somewhere in between, where everyone gets to enjoy the fruits of progress that meaningfully improves lives while not having to give up our wallets, our environment, or our souls. I think the only way to get there is if we refuse to go along with the smooth “convenience” offered/demanded by the suspiciously wealthy few, and that we remain committed to dreaming up and demanding something better than what we’re currently given. And I think that starts with how we choose, wherever and whenever we’re able, to engage with the systems in which we currently live–and with each other.
(*the phrase “evacuate your life” in relation to overuse/reliance on “AI” taken directly from the excellent Saeed Jones on the “Vibe Check” podcast)
So tell me, what’s good in your world? Here’s a few things from mine:
My 10 favorite albums of 2026 (in no particular order)
- “A Little Louder, Please” by Rose Gray - Top-notch UK electronic/dance music with some deceptively poignant lyrics. Check out “Free” and “Angel of Satisfaction.”
- “Who Let the Dogs Out” by Lambrini Girls - Ridiculously fun, tits-out/balls-to-the-walls queer, feminist, and filthy punk rock. Check out “Cuntology 101,” my official anthem of the year.
- “Forever Is A Feeling” by Lucy Dacus. Beautiful indie rock/folk/pop with great storytelling. I love her ability to be cheeky and sincere at once. “Ankles” is my standout fav and has a delightful music video to go with it.
- “Gully Boys” by Gully Boys. Minneapolis-based hard rock with punk sneer, I love the Boys so much. I’ve had the pleasure of playing shows with them (both with Damsel Trash and LINE, hilariously enough) and they’re also delightful humans. Been an absolutely joyous trip to witness their come-up. Don’t sleep on this one. Highlights: “Mother” and “Break.”
- “THE BPM” by Sudan Archives. Another electronic/dancey entry, with diverse influences (R&B, soul, classic house, hip hop), for me this is a no-skips record. Highlights: “YEA YEA YEA” and “THE NATURE OF POWER.”
- “Son of Spergy” by Daniel Caesar. I think I was introduced to Daniel Caesar via a duet he did with H.E.R. and I’ve been falling further into his deeply intimate, bold, and delicate brand of R&B. This album delivers on all of that and more. There are a number of great collaborations on this, too, including Bon Iver and Blood Orange.
- “The Woodside Sessions” by LINE. I know, I know, this is technically my band! But I had nothing to do with this gorgeous, stripped down EP. This is all Maddie and Charlie, and I am not ashamed to say that I love every track on it. Beautiful lyricism and just-right production make this a great nervous-system-reset of a listen.
- “Neon Grey Midnight Green” by Neko Case. Hard to go wrong with anything she creates, this is an album that just…sounds like Neko Case. And that’s always a good thing.
- “For Melancholy Brunettes (and sad women)” by Japanese Breakfast. I really enjoy how I can never quite get my hands around this band’s genre or direction. Not that it’s all over the place, but I love how they subtly work in influences and sounds from a clear variety of influences to create this sort of dreamy, arty, but grounded rock sound. Highlight: “Picture Window.”
- “Always, I Love You” by KIERNAN. Another artist I had the pleasure to meet and share a bill with this year, KIERNAN is singer-songwriter Laura Kiernan, who creates achingly lovely alt-folk odes to messy, simple humanity. “Unhelpful” is a whole mood.
If you’d like to dig into my full playlist of songs I loved that were released in 2025, check it out on Tidal.
Next week, I’ll dig into books I read that I liked this year. Several of them came into my life as a package deal with getting to talk with their authors at book talks hosted at A Room of One’s Own, a new thing I’ve loved getting to add to my resume/list of things people sometimes call on me to do.
Wisconsin News and Stuff
“Wisconsin Supreme Court accepts case challenging sheriff authority to detain immigrants” [Wisconsin Examiner]
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a lawsuit from the immigrant-rights group Voces de la Frontera against the authority of the state’s county sheriffs to hold people in county jails based on detainers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The lawsuit from Voces will be immediately heard by the Supreme Court as an original action, meaning it won’t begin at the circuit court level and work its way up to the Supreme Court. The case comes as jurisdictions across the country wrestle with the effects of the Trump administration’s increased immigration enforcement and the level to which local law enforcement should participate.
“Courting Cash” [Isthmus/Wisconsin Watch]
Part 1 in a vital three-part series that digs into how Wisconsin elects our judges and why that process has gotten so expensive and so partisan–and what can be done to fix it.
“As a musician stages his comeback, his accusers ask where the accountability is” [Tone]
Several of Henzie-Skogen’s accusers are asking why he embarked on this new chapter before publicly acknowledging or responding to the accusations against him. They’re also questioning how he managed to gain a professional role in behavioral health within less than two years of the allegations becoming public.
Now Read This.
“TPUSA Silences Another Trans Person” [Noah Berlatsky]
If you understand that censorship first of all targets identities, not opinions, then it becomes clear that the most endangered speaker in the United States right now is not a Christofascist spewing hate. The most endangered speaker right now is a trans person saying, “I exist.”
“The potluck manifesto” [Garrett Bucks]
…it isn’t an accident that many of the most transcendent social movements in American history (the Underground Railroad, Settlement Houses, the Flint Sit-Down strike, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, just to name a few) required, for their success, the rapid deployment of hospitality infrastructure (a literal warm bed for the night, an actual physical home, a factory transformed into living quarters, an alternative transportation network). The work, when it truly shook the world, was never just about firing up a crowd.
“Me Too forever: Why the backlash was so short-lived” [Rebecca Traister for The Cut]
The contention “Me Too went too far” is not exactly bearing up under scrutiny. Rather, a year after Donald Trump’s reelection, we are beset by daily reminders of why Me Too, and feminism more broadly, came to exist in the first place. And why, despite the fondest wishes of those whose authority it threatens, it is not likely to go away anytime soon.
“Your Loneliness Was a Design Decision Made By Your Enemy” [Margaret Killjoy]
We need to meet one another and we need to talk. We need to talk about our lives, and talk about our problems, and talk about solutions to our problems. We need to meet people where they’re at, and we need to meet with people who are different from us.
We need to get together, because it turns out we have the same enemies: the people who are trying to make us lonely—who are the same people who are trying to make us poor, who are the same people who are drying the lakes to build data centers, who are the same people who are trying to shut down borders, who are the same people who drew those borders in the first place.
“‘The precedent is Flint’: How Oregon’s data center boom is supercharging a water crisis” [Food & Environment Reporting Network]
Amazon has come to the state’s eastern farmland, worsening a water pollution problem that’s been linked to cancer and miscarriages.
“The Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. Affair Is Messier Than We Ever Could Have Imagined” [Brian Philips for The Ringer]
Inside the most important, and also least important, story of our times. (Content warning for sexually explicit/very bad poetry.
Final Frame.
I happened to be downtown on a recent evening when a lovely snowfall started. Wisconsin really does have a beautiful Capitol building.
‘Til Next Time.
Take care of yourself and of each other. Free Palestine.
This newsletter is an AI-free, venture capital-free, bespoke labor of love. If you like my writing, please consider supporting my work with a paid Grist From the Mills subscription - or just send me a tip in the amount of your choice!
