@Jacob_Brogan
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Nominal doctor.
Washington, DC
Joined September 2012
- Tweets4.5K
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There's so much to be sad about the destruction of The Washington Post, right now, but I'm also just feeling wistful about how much I loved our book section. Writing for our section head, John Williams, let me be the kind of writer and critic I always want to be. Threading a few:
Everyone knows that Yale only grants tenure to writers whose first book sells at least 22 million copies
Erich Segal was a Yale classicist, a popular lecturer, a Guggenheim winner — and the author of Love Story, a paperback and film phenomenon that sold more than 21 million copies. Soon after, Yale denied him tenure. chroni.cl/4h6X4Q1
Jacob Brogan retweeted
Hello — testing, testing, is this thing on?
I’m reviving my extremely occasional newsletter, This Midcoast Life, with some thoughts about writing sheds, grass moats, and creating the conditions for creativity to arrive. luciagraves.substack.com/p/a…
Jacob Brogan retweeted
One of the great things about the @propublica model: anyone can republish their work, for free. It means a giant scoop with a big local/regional import can easily get in front of the audience that most needs to see it.
A fascinating novel that seems likely to both resonate with a lot of people and quietly baffle many more. Its failings are ultimately linguistic—an intermittent, aspirational lyricism that struggles against its flat baseline register.
Advance copy just in from @transitbooks in a really cool printed mailer— I’ve been waiting for this one. Dropping everything to read it tonight so there will be updates! Objecthood-centric historical novel of juxtaposition? Target audience right here!
My full sentence here was “I do know that Jameson was the greatest intellectual titan of the past half-century who remained largely unknown to the general public,” but the sentiment holds.
"The greatest intellectual titan of the past half-century. No one reads anything (not literature, not film, not even the uncannily lit corridors of a casino) quite like Jameson did..."
--Jacob Brogan (@Jacob_Brogan)
"After Year Zero: On Postwar German Thought" is available now!
Jacob Brogan retweeted
“Emily St. John Mandel’s novels remind me of swimming pools,” Katy Waldman writes. Over seven works of fiction, Mandel has explored beauty, in nature and in fine art. “Her writing has an aqueous quality: things slip or ripple or hold a soft glow; rain mists down; ships glide forward in the night,” Waldman continues. Her latest novel, “Exit Party,” is “an elegant, gracefully written crime story with sci-fi shadings.” Set in 2031, it presents two parallel time lines that comment in opposite ways on contemporary politics: one in which the United States has disintegrated into warring territories, and another in an authoritarian surveillance state. For more reading recommendations, visit our ongoing list of the best books of 2026 so far: newyorker.com/best-books-202…
Jacob Brogan retweeted
Today I launched The Submariner, a new newsletter about travel, urbanism, and the components of a good life. If this sounds interesting to you, I hope you'll join me there: marincogan.substack.com/abou…
Two terrific, very funny American novels from this very summer: Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer and Country People by Daniel Mason. The latter made me laugh as much or more as any British comic novel that I’ve ever read.
Raves never travel on here the way that hatchet jobs do, but I reviewed Greer’s terrific novel here: theatlantic.com/books/2026/0…
Jacob Brogan retweeted
Feel like a lot of people are imagining the end of the world before the end of capitalism
Jacob Brogan retweeted
If the @washingtonsun starts doing book coverage they will have every dollar I used to give the WaPo
Josh is brilliant, and among the best colleagues I’ve ever had at the various places I’ve worked with him. Any publication would be stupidly lucky to have him on the global beat.
Jacob Brogan retweeted
Hire the brilliant @joshuakeating before someone else snaps him up. One of the smartest reporters and kindest people I’ve had the pleasure to work with and learn from.
DC parties, expectation: Constantly getting asked “what do you do?”
DC parties, reality: Constantly getting Greekmogged by Homermaxxers
When I was in my twenties and new to DC, I was at a cocktail party when someone brought up The Odyssey. Thinking I was being impressive, I recited the opening passage from memory. Another guy nodded in acknowledgement, then recited the same passage in Ancient Greek. I've been one-upped many times, but never so elegantly.
Jacob Brogan retweeted
The rumors are true! @dieworkwear and I have started a monthly podcast together.
We read works of fashion philosophy and talk about what they mean today.
We start with a book from 1705 called Fable of the Bees
substack.com/home/post/p-207…