Thread by @shadihamid

For today only, @dmarusic & I are un-paywalling our two most recent @WCrowdsLive essays. Check them out! Here’s mine—a reflection on counterfactual histories, novels, politics, fear, and the long, slow process of losing hope

wisdomofcrowds.live/when-we-were-y… 1/x

Some of you know I've been reading and thinking about James Salter's "Light Years" to the point of minor obsession. Anyway, the novel features this wonderful, if slightly depressing quote. 2/x

This essay was my best attempt to illustrate, with an unusual structure, how the personal and political intertwine in unexpected ways. I wanted to do something a bit more experimental to convey how lives slowly build over time. 3/x

wisdomofcrowds.live/when-we-were-y…

I fell in love with politics, and I fell in love with the Middle East, even if sometimes I felt like I could hate it just as much, in moments of anger and weakness. 4/x

And here's @dmarusic at the peak of his powers—one of the sharpest, most insightful essayists working today. It's hard to describe, but this is the sort of piece that gets made into a big, sprawling book.

He will shatter your pieties: wisdomofcrowds.live/afghanistan-an… 5/x

Every week @dmarusic & I take turns writing these "Friday Essays." They're not normal opinion pieces. We use them to try out new arguments and push ourselves. Subscribe and join our little community to get them straight to your inbox every Friday! wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe/ 6/6