The Conversationalist

07/09/2026

When was the first time someone made a negative comment about your body?

🎥: .muse

07/09/2026

Staff Reads from our Executive Editor: "Claire L. Evans continues to be one of the most infinitely readable tech writers in the game. Her latest feature is a trip!"

Mini human brains are being grown in labs all over the world. Soon, they could outthink neural networks.

05/09/2026

Convo Reads from The Flytrap Media: "Nicole Froio deep dives into the music industry, technofeudalism, and what it's doing to girly pop music."

Technofeudalism has stripped pop music of meaning.

04/09/2026

For this week's newsletter, we’re turning the mic over to our summer intern, Allison Baker, who just wrapped up a season as a member of the Conversationalist team.

Read about her path to journalism and her passion for the WNBA ➡️

For this edition of the newsletter, we’re turning the mic over to our summer intern, Allison Baker, who just wrapped up a season as a member of the Conversationalist team. To commemorate her time with us, we asked her to share a little about her path to journalism—plus, what she’s worked on, w...

04/09/2026

"For many in the African and Caribbean diaspora, oral tradition is a survival tool that is sharpened, exercised, and passed down through generations."

For one writer, it encompasses family stories, beliefs, and customs that preserve history and can even inform where they are headed next.

For many in the African and Caribbean diaspora, oral tradition is a survival tool passed down through generations. It is also largely sustained by women like my great-aunt Nerissa.

03/09/2026

What's your favorite bookstore?

02/09/2026

Contributing Editor Kovie Biakolo reflects on her own Urhobo culture and the aunties that keep Nigerian traditions alive in our podcast.

Listen here 🎙️: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/an-ode-to-our-aunties-w-prisca-dorcas-mojica/id1613278500?i=1000766195610

02/09/2026

"It could be said that the art world needs to touch grass, but I would argue it needs to touch hardwood."

In this Cultural Currency, Cara Marsh Sheffler writes about what the art world can learn from the New York Knicks (and other jocks)—a spontaneous sense of togetherness and real connection.

What the art world can learn from the jocks.

01/09/2026

Writer Spotlight: s. e. smith 🔆

s. e. smith is a journalist, author, and critic who explores topics around labor, disability, feminism, and more. They're also a co-founder of The Flytrap Media, a feminist media collective focused on criticism against the algorithm. Some story highlights:

Under Trump, the ideology is on the rise. But ultimately, eliminating eugenic beliefs from our shared society may require dismantling the United States itself.

01/09/2026

“Building cyberdecks, many off-grid, can allow women and girls to feel safe, because it allows them to disconnect from the online spaces where abusers most often reach them.”

Why women around the world are building their own DIY computers.

Why women around the world are building their own DIY computers.