Virginia's Newsletter

A Plague of Mysterious, AI-Written Emails from "Fellow Authors"

Early AI adopters are using it to scam authors.

Feb 16 • Virginia Postrel

41

15

7

January 2026

Recent Work and an Exciting New Project

Plus recommended reading

Jan 8 • Virginia Postrel

29

6

2

November 2025

From the Archives: Gothic Revival Architecture Is Like Dreadlocks

You can try embedding ideology into a style but if people like the look, the meaning will get diluted over time.

Nov 20, 2025 • Virginia Postrel

6

1

Why the Anti-Promethean Backlash?

Jason Crawford asked me a tough question. Could this chart hold an answer?

Nov 20, 2025 • Virginia Postrel

64

9

13

October 2025

From the Archives: Joel Mokyr on the Industrial Enlightenment

The great economic historian Joel Mokyr has won the Nobel Prize. Here I reprint a column on his book The Gifts of Athena.

Oct 13, 2025 • Virginia Postrel

22

1

7

From the Archives: How Job-Killing Technologies Liberated Women

Progress is more than space adventures.

Oct 3, 2025 • Virginia Postrel

32

5

3

September 2025

What Brings You to DC?

Varieties of abundance, reading Middlemarch, too many mosquitoes

Sep 9, 2025 • Virginia Postrel

23

3

2

AI Slop and Human Play

Computers can win at chess and Go, but how about a rap battle?

Sep 8, 2025 • Virginia Postrel

19

4

3

August 2025

From the Archives: The Faux Populism of Trumpified Architecture

What looks “civic” depends on experience, not architectural theory. In Los Angeles, where I live, traditional civic buildings are not classical.

Aug 29, 2025 • Virginia Postrel

21

8

July 2025

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Reading good books and an occasional lousy one. Plus lots of podcasts.

Jul 7, 2025 • Virginia Postrel

18

3

2

April 2025

Wanted: Manly Jobs for Manly Men

Or at least for manly men who don't have their acts together.

Apr 26, 2025 • Virginia Postrel

56

2

22

Reposting: Waiting for Trump Fever to Break

With hopes for progress and abundance after Trump.

Apr 8, 2025 • Virginia Postrel

39

7

4