This is v interesting but I would not say high-earning women drawing the financial short straw in divorce is a phenomenon “without much public fanfare” — I wrote a @washingtonian.com cover story about this in 2021! washingtonian.com/2021/12/03/m...
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/
"A person reasonably could consider this 'what's good about reading,' or 'the point of reading,' or 'buddy that's actually just ... what reading is,' but that all assumes that your reason for reading anything is that you want to learn something from it..." defector.com/axios-ai-rea...
With The Power Of AI, Information Can Pour Straight Through Your Skull And Onto The Ground Without Ever Slowing | Defector
Reading: What is it? Why does anyone do it? Can anyone at Axios do it? No. Maybe that is why they write like that. When you read a book, the stuff in the book goes into your mind, and your mind assemb...
defector.com
“The nostalgia for the moment before the disaster and the refusal to reckon with what has actually happened since then is so palpable that at times it borders on delusion. At the Obama Center, one walks into 2008 and never leaves.” www.thenation.com/article/cult...
The Nostalgic Architecture of the Obama Presidential Center
Where hope even has a gift shop.
thenation.com
"To be an influencer is to invite, almost by default, a Greek chorus of haters into your life." great story on virality (& the chase) as a curse: washingtonian.com/2026/08/06/t...
Guess What? Tony P Hates You, Too.
Online ridicule helped DC influencer Anthony Polcari go viral—and make money. As his social-media star wanes, he’s looking to jump to television. But can he afford to leave his snarkiest followers beh...
washingtonian.com
Retro (Penguin Random House, 2026) www.theringer.com/2026/08/04/t...
The End of Google Search—and the Internet—as We Know It
For years now, Google has been tweaking its search formula to prop up AI and bury actual links. Now it’s rounding into its final form—and changing the internet forever.
theringer.com
V exciting news: My debut novel RETRO made the Center for Fiction 2026 First Novel Prize Longlist! centerforfiction.org/book-recs/20...
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