He always had more dogs than he ever had friends
Another week, where I don’t have much to say, which is probably for the best… anyway, some things for ya’ll to check out.
An amazing podcast episode
Nick Tosches was one of the great American writers. Hell, Nick Tosches was one of the great Americans. This interview he did with Marc Maron in 2015 is a gem. Listen to it and then go buy his books… all of them.
An excellent profile
You might not know the name Ricky Jay, but you probably recognize him. This New Yorker profile on the late magician/writer/actor/etc… by Mark Singer from 1993 is a deep dive into the late
A movie to see
A reflection on a pre-edgelord youth
This is a well-written piece from Sam McPheeters of Born Against fame, and more recently a novelist and writer. It’s a good look at how some folks like McPheeters and Steve Albini have matured, while others like Gavin McInnes, have doubled down on the folly of their youth.
A look back at Dusty Rhodes and Vince McMahon
You won’t be surprised to find out that Dave Zirin finds Dusty Rhodes a much more likable figure than Vince McMahon from this 2015 piece. The Irresistible Realness of Dusty Rhodes - Dusty Rhodes was a fake wrestler telling real truths in dark times.
An unbelievable but true story
This is a weird one. An Alabama Kidnapping That’s Stranger Than Fiction. It’s one of those true stories that reads like over-the-top fiction. A family breaks into the rental home of a wealthy 75-year-old man and tries to tell him that they have bought the house and its contents. From there things get weirder and it turns into a kidnapping. The case is eventually easily solved because most of it is caught on a phone recording.
A quote
We shit, they eat it - Nick Tosches
Good reporting
This isn’t an easy read, but it is written very well and it covers a topic that often gets overlooked - When people call the new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, who is on the other end of the phone? - The Lifesavers via Esquire.
A book to read
“As years passed, the more I learned of boxing, and the more fighters I saw fight, the more I knew that there was no other fighter like Sonny Liston. There never had been, and there never would be. And the more I lived and learned of other things, the more I began to feel that the secret history of Sonny Liston would reveal one of the greatest Mob tales ever told, a tale that ended in a murder mystery whose solution seemed to be lost forever, as gone as that night when Sonny's dead man's eyes went dead for good. I did not know that it would also reveal the forces of another, unexplored darkness, an underworld unto itself. And I did not know, above all, that it would reveal a soul that, even amid the darkness in which it dwelt, eluded all concepts of good and evil, of right and wrong, of light and dark themselves.” - Nick Tosches
An honest look at the UFC/WWE merger
Via Lauren Theisen at Defector - The WWE/UFC Merger Will Be Bad For Almost Everyone - “If Endeavor succeeds, it'll have created a wrestling and fighting monopoly with no regard for the actual wrestlers and fighters beyond their ability to make some shitty rich guys even richer.”
Some great music
The world lost the co-founder of The Weirdos - one of the first American punk bands - in March. This is one of their best songs.
My recent MMA writing
Rivalry over? Israel Adesanya doesn’t get to decide that while 1-1 with Alex Pereira