Koismail #2 stories and podcasts by Dan
I can’t believe the QR code worked, again!
I wrote a spirited defense of bar soap in the body-wash era. I also catalogued my 10 favorite recipes from cookbooks published in 2025.
I still make Slate’s daily word game, Pears. I’ve also made a couple of mini-crosswords.
I produced and co-hosted a new episode of the Martin Chronicles, about Lionel Asbo.
I co-hosted Slate’s Culture Gabfest in January, discussing The Housemaid, The Testament of Ann Lee, and my agent Alia Hanna Habib’s book Take It from Me. In the Plus segment, we had a very entertaining convo about what pop-culture artifacts we would add to a syllabus for a high-school U.S. HIstory class.
Finally, I turned 51 in December, which means I have been driving cars—and listening to music in cars—for 35 years. To celebrate, I made Apple Music playlists in which I attempted to recreate precisely what I was listening to on mixtapes, mix CDs, iPods, and streaming services while driving 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 years ago. Enjoy: 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025