Welcome Distractions – April 14

You Can’t Go Home Again (after this weekend)

Hey! You’re here! Thank you.

Big news: Yesterday the website hit a milestone: Turn & Work has had more traffic in 2025 (so far) than in all of 2024. Thanks for being a part of it. Big things coming!

This weekend I visited my childhood home for the last time. It’s too much house for my mom – she’s selling it and moving to a lovely apartment not far away. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel. On the one hand I’ve moved enough in my adult life that I don’t develop attachment to physical places, but this is different.

In short: it was much tougher than expected. There’s a bit of a theme that unifies that trip with some music I’ve been listening to lately as well as a book I just read, so more to come on that this week.

It also related to the short stories from last Friday’s Shortlist post. All but one of them are about reinvention in one form or another: moving on from someone who takes you for granted, finding (or losing) God unexpectedly, or trying your best to be someone new.

It’s also touched on in the new(ish) series Long Bright River (you should read the book too). Among the many themes the story addresses is being an adult in the place you grew up, and the ghosts that stalk you when you do.

It’s strange to think that there will be a time when I have no reason to visit my hometown, and I’m already conflicted about that. So much of me has been shaped by that place, and I’ll carry it with me forever. Also, it’s a very depressing place to visit. It’s a dead-end town just barely holding on, and I often see people I love that never made it out.

Anyway. Lots of mixed feelings from the weekend, but lots of great things coming up this week.

In other news:

Journalism!

• LitHub is 10, and there are some truly mind-boggling statistics from the founder.
• The Booker Prize shortlist was announced, you can read excerpts from each nominee here. I’m mostly done with Perfection, and (spoiler alert) it’s aptly named. Watch for it next week.
• FT had an interesting piece about How The Great Gatsby (which turns 100 this year, woo) explains today’s America:

Fitzgerald was writing a socially realistic novel about the people he saw in the world around him — he knew many men like Tom, rich, entitled and stupid. A century later they are still here, searching for ideologies to justify their dominance. Many of them now run the US.

• Blog fave Untitled (halo) had a KEXP this week and it’s worth your time (the last song especially). The band is so nervous, it’s adorable. Check it out:

• This NYT piece on Tracy Chapman is excellent. Her debut record is perfect.
• I liked this piece on BlueSky’s boss. I also like BlueSky, and think it’s potentially the basis for a whole new web experience.
• This video of Rick Beato exploring AI music creation tools is worth watching, courtesy of OG blog pal Kat Koan (who I’m trying to talk into writing a piece about AI and music):

• Lastly, did you hear about the dire wolf being brought back from extinction? It was kinda not true (and probably impossible), but a heck of a win for the PR team.

What got your attention this week? Got a hot take on something? Reach out.

On the blog

Reading:

• The new Stephen Graham Jones book is essential. It’s about an American atrocity and how it echoes throughout history. And vampires. It’s brilliant.
• Adrian Tomine’s Killing and Dying is like Raymond Carver stories in graphic form. Very good.
• Vengeance is Mine was not for me.
• The Shortlist: Eight short stories, seven of them about people undergoing transformation (in different ways). I’d recommend Chameleon, but I’m recommending all of ‘em, so read them all.

Read or write anything good lately? Wrote something you want to share? Let me know!

Listening:

Music features last week:

• Hiqpy is the latest #DutchIndie band on the site, with one song out and a bunch of live performances that’ll spellbind you.
• Housewife is a Toronto indie artist whose songwriting is clever and unforgettable
• Cousines Like Shit – – just click the link. I can’t describe it in a bullet point
• Night Tapes makes trip-hop-dream-pop and they just keep getting better.

The Setlist: standout tracks from Francis Kelly, Scott Evil and Leela Rosa. Plus the usual indie rock, alt-pop, electronic whatever.

It’s 28 songs, 90 minutes flat.

Listen on Apple Music or Spotify

What are you listening to this week? Reach out and tell me!

Comin’ up:

I’m hoping for a feature on a new #DutchIndie artist I’ve been really enjoying lately, but a few things need to work out to make that happen. I’m also working on a new post type – this has been rattling around in my brain for months and I think it’s finally gonna see the light of day.

What are you listening to these days? Send me your faves.