V exciting news: My debut novel RETRO made the Center for Fiction 2026 First Novel Prize Longlist! centerforfiction.org/book-recs/20...
Jessica Goldstein
@jessicagolds.bsky.social
Read my reporting in the New York Times, Vulture, McSweeney's, Marie Claire & more. Debut novel RETRO to be published by Ballantine 💫 6.23.26 💫 Preorder at: jessicamgoldstein.com/retro Subscribe to my newsletter: https://retroreport.substack.com/
Why am I a source in this story? Amazingly, it’s not bc I report on fossil fuel propaganda, an offshoot of tobacco propaganda. It’s bc I own a shirt that says “pls don’t give me a cigarette no matter what I say” and the reporter (my bff @jessicagolds.bsky.social) wanted to know why
Cigarettes are back in vogue. How did this happen?
Celebrities like Dua Lipa and Gracie Abrams have been photographed with cigs, as have social media influencers who like the retro vibes.
washingtonpost.com
Reported on the return of social smoking for the @washingtonpost.com! It’s about nostalgia, nihilism, being “bad” without feeling bad, how big tobacco is still doing what they do best (making people think smoking is cool) & choosing the devil you know in a world of dangers unknown. wapo.st/4wAfSvM
Cigarettes are back in vogue. How did this happen?
Celebrities like Dua Lipa and Gracie Abrams have been photographed with cigs, as have social media influencers who like the retro vibes.
wapo.st
HEATED x RETRO CROSSOVER 🔥💫 Had the best time talking to my beloved @emorwee.bsky.social about my debut novel Retro, climate dread, fighting to feel hopeful about the future, and friendship!!!! substack.com/@heated/note...
A powerful argument against the certainty of doom
Retro, a new novel about time travel, is a tonic for readers who struggle with feeling hopeful about the future.
substack.com
loved talking to @washingtonian.com about my debut novel RETRO (which comes out in one week!!!!) washingtonian.com/2026/06/16/j...
Jessica M. Goldstein's Novel Is a Modern Take on Time Travel
The DC journalist explores the dangers of romanticizing the past in her new book.
washingtonian.com
Making my vertical video debut with the @nytimes.com to ask THE pressing pop cultural question of our time: Why Do Most New Movies Look Meh? www.nytimes.com/video/movies...
Video: Why Do Most New Movies Look Meh?
Jessica M. Goldstein, an arts and culture reporter, inspects why movies today look different than they did 20 years ago.
nytimes.com
Have you noticed a certain meh ne sais quoi at the cinema?? You are NOT alone! So why do so many new movies look like... that? I talked to film bros and film pros for the @nytimes.com to find out! www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/m...
Are Movies Really Getting Darker? Let’s Shine Some Light on the Issue.
nytimes.com
Do you believe in magic and/or #Nicorah? Sparks (and missing coins) are FLYING on this week's episode of Hacks! My @vulture.com recap: www.vulture.com/article/hack...
Hacks Recap: Uh-oh, It’s Magic
Our girls get hyped up for their dates with an international rock star and a sex worker.
vulture.com
This week on The Retro Report: WEDDINGS 🥂 Ft. the drama about The Drama, a Dorothy Baker cult classic, the most romantic thing a woman can do in the movies (divorce Cary Grant), and more! retroreport.substack.com/p/weddings-a...
Weddings, as needed for zest: The Retro Report, vol. 23
THE ONLY GUIDE YOU'LL EVER NEED FOR MAKING A TOAST WITH THE MOST
retroreport.substack.com
Not to be parasocial about it (meta I know) but what a major celebrity sighting this week on Hacks! My @vulture.com recap: www.vulture.com/article/hack...
Hacks Recap: New York or Nowhere
Deborah realizes it’s time to activate the Little Debbies, so they can start a grassroots campaign to get her Madison Square Garden.
vulture.com
Do you wish you could plan a getaway to the Before? V excited to announce the launch of RETRO THE AGENCY DOT COM! Plan a trip, get your Pastport, apply for a job: the site's fully functional, so go wild! And don't forget to preorder my novel, Retro, out June 23! retrotheagency.com
"Disappear into your phone for long enough, and your phone will disappear into you, putting you to work for the platforms even in your downtime." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/06/m...
Forget the A.I. Apocalypse. Memes Have Already Nuked Our Culture.
nytimes.com
My debut novel RETRO got a Kirkus star ⭐️! "...a 2020s office novel that cleverly lampoons both the luxury travel industry & self-obsessed tech bros’ myopic innovations. A nuanced, biting cautionary tale about how not staying present can erase our very selves." www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...
RETRO | Kirkus Reviews
A failed actress finds her calling as a Time Travel Agent guiding rich “explorers” on escapist vacations into the past.
kirkusreviews.com
Trying something new at THE RETRO REPORT: a retro recap!! Time travel to 1999 to talk SATC classic, “they shoot single people, don’t they?” 🚬💗 open.substack.com/pub/retrorep...
An endless parade of decoys and distractions: The Retro Report, vol. 20
TIME TRAVEL TO 1999 FOR A SINGLE & FABULOUS RETRO RECAP!
open.substack.com
"When I recently tried explaining this dynamic to another friend—a writer/critic, no kids—he kindly reframed: “Imagine a musician in the future being interviewed about the music they grew up hearing, & they say, ‘My parents were really into KPop Demon Hunters.’”" open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...
Every grown-up gets a trophy
You, an adult, don’t have to like the music of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’
open.substack.com
This week’s issue of THE RETRO REPORT is all about awards that technically don’t exist, including my million dollar journalism idea: The Pulitzer Prize for Excellence in Restraint 🏆 retroreport.substack.com/p/the-only-r...
The only real award is bragging rights: The Retro Report, vol. 19
MY MILLION-DOLLAR JOURNALISM IDEA AND IT'S ALL YOURS — FOR FREE!
retroreport.substack.com
into this: "It’s not an accident that the greatest evangelists and technocrats who promote these technologies seem to have a poor grasp of human interaction." www.chrismelito.com/blog/the-but...
The Simulacrum is Insufficient — CHRIS MELITO
I’ve been thinking a lot about our collective inability to faithfully simulate human interaction. Invariably, in any modern debate about technology replacing the effort of humans, someone on the pro t...
chrismelito.com
This week’s Retro recs are all <200 pages so if you are over hearing me talk about The Power Broker… REJOICE! open.substack.com/pub/retrorep...
Living gracefully if we live at all: The Retro Report, vol. 18
THE WOLF AT THE DOOR, THE NINETIES REVIVAL, AND RETRO RECS THAT KEEP IT MOVING!
open.substack.com
I have hot theories about sex scenes, NOT-a-sex-scenes, Pet Billionaires™️ and more in this week’s issue of The Retro Report! open.substack.com/pub/retrorep...
Is there anything sexier in cinema than a not-a-sex-scene? The Retro Report, vol. 17
AND: IS THE SECRET TO ROMANCE... HIGH-DENSITY AFFORDABLE HOUSING?
open.substack.com
This week on THE RETRO REPORT: do you want to get out of here? (Here = reality) I have recs for that! let’s gooooo Also: remember when Super Bowl commercials used to be the Super Bowl of commercials? I have thoughts & theories about the great advertising decline! open.substack.com/pub/retrorep...
Escape to a magnificent elsewhere: The Retro Report, vol. 16
LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!
open.substack.com
“There are things more important than medals,” he said. “I stood up for what I believe in.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/w...
Ukrainian Olympian Is Disqualified Over Helmet Honoring War Dead
nytimes.com
Arlington ultramarathoner Michael Wardian just broke the world record for fastest time in 50Ks (!) on all seven continents (!!) www.arlnow.com/2026/02/10/a... I had a blast profiling him in 2022 for @washingtonian.com after he ran across the entire United States: washingtonian.com/2022/09/14/b...
This Arlington Runner Ran 3,200 Miles Across the Country
Michael Wardian ran 3,200 miles across the country.
washingtonian.com
"Unlike, say, data analytics giant Palantir or some other high-profile surveillance companies, Ring is a surveillance network that homeowners have by and large deployed themselves, powered by fear mongering against our neighbors and unfettered consumerism." www.404media.co/with-ring-am...
With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet
Ring's 'Search Party' is dystopian surveillance accelerationism.
404media.co