Recent articles
April 7, 2026
Easter eggs
Easter in East Austin, 2013. The sign reads: “Don’t make your own easter eggs — ain’t nobody got time for that!” Today’s newsletter is about the other kind of easter eggs: It turns out our tweens a...
austinkleon.com
April 7, 2026
Snow in April (a mixtape)
I had a musical Easter weekend. We watched Wayne’s World for pizza night on Friday, my band practiced for 4 hours on Saturday, and I spent most of Sunday afternoon making a new mixtape: April is of...
austinkleon.com
April 2, 2026
Spring break in the desert
From my letter, “Desert not-so-solitaire”: I don’t know how or when it happened, but I’ve somehow become a person who likes being in the desert? It started a few years ago driving from Los Angeles ...
austinkleon.com
April 2, 2026
The Beatles and introspection (or not)
In a recent Tuesday Trio, I wrote about introspection, and quoted Ian Leslie: I’m often struck by how many high achievers are unencumbered by self-reflection. To take an example close to home, I’ve...
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April 2, 2026
Typewriter interview with Marc Bell
Definitely the wildest entry in the typewriter interview series so far: 10 questions for cartoonist Marc Bell.
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April 2, 2026
Craghead collages
From my letter, “Analog Mailbag”: From time to time, my friend Warren Craghead sends me drawings on postcards in the mail. One day I decided to put one of Warren’s postcards at the center of a tape...
austinkleon.com
April 2, 2026
Solvable problems and unnecessary obstacles
In Tuesday’s newsletter, I wrote about the comfort of a Rubik’s Cube: When so many of life’s problems are unsolvable, solvable problems are a wonderful distraction. When so many things seem unfixab...
austinkleon.com
April 2, 2026
March 2026 mixtape
I originally dropped this mix in my “The Return of Spring!” letter and forgot to post it here. I got one side of a cassette perfectly filled with no gaps… and the tape broke. So I had to pivot to a...
austinkleon.com
February 24, 2026
I like kid’s work more than work by real artists
I used this drawing by Jules (age 3 or 4 at the time) in my latest letter, “How I get into something new.” One reader said, “I LOVE Jules’ drawing! That overshadowed everything I just read!” The co...
austinkleon.com
February 20, 2026
My next book: Don’t Call It Art!
Pre-order now! My next book is Don’t Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again. It was inspired by my time spent as a studio assistant to my two sons when they were really little and the less...
austinkleon.com
February 18, 2026
Typewriter interview with Tom Hart
My latest typewriter interview is with cartoonist Tom Hart.
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February 18, 2026
The Pricemaster
A new Tuesday Trio: On February 10th, 2001, a group of friends held a garage sale in Denton, Texas. The sale was immortalized in a surreal, 32-minute short documentary that has since become a cult ...
austinkleon.com
February 9, 2026
Everything has been saved from a wreck
The subject line for Friday’s newsletter came from G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy: “Stories of magic alone can express my sense that life is not only a pleasure but a kind of eccentric privilege. I ma...
austinkleon.com
February 9, 2026
Love TKO (a February 2026 mixtape)
In the tradition of the past two years (see: Feb. 2024: “Music in the Key of Love” and Feb. 2025: “Love is Not a Gadget”), I made a love-themed February mixtape from a sealed, pre-recorded cassette...
austinkleon.com
February 9, 2026
Exquisite corpses
These exquisite corpses we made at dinner gave me the idea to write about my favorite drawing game.
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February 2, 2026
The year is too young to be this long
I used this 2016 blackout poem for last Friday’s newsletter, “The year is too young to be this long.” A few people commented that they couldn’t believe it was made 10 years ago. This is the thing a...
austinkleon.com
February 2, 2026
Tuesday trio
In desperate need of distraction and something to look forward to, I’ve been having a blast writing my new “Tuesday Trio” series for the Tuesday newsletter. In each letter, I recommend one book, on...
austinkleon.com
January 21, 2026
About Time: January 2026 mixtape
Here’s the first mixtape of 2026! Made from a sealed, pre-recorded cassette I got for 99 cents. I taped over the cassette’s protection tabs and then I taped over the music and then I taped over the...
austinkleon.com
January 20, 2026
The best way to read the internet
In today’s newsletter, I wrote about the best way to read the internet.
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January 20, 2026
It’s all been done
I’ve been having fun posting lines from whatever Montaigne essay I happen to be reading. The latest: “Perhaps we really do live in a time which begets nothing but the mediocre.” —Michel de Montaign...
austinkleon.com
January 16, 2026
The wheel of the blog
“…the wheeling seasons brought the year around…” —Homer, The Odyssey 3 years ago I built a little widget for the sidebar of this blog that displays posts that were published “on this date.” I love ...
austinkleon.com
January 16, 2026
It doesn’t take much
Today’s newsletter begins: “Evil fortune does have some use: it is a good thing to be born in a century which is deeply depraved, for by comparison with others you are reckoned virtuous on the chea...
austinkleon.com
January 14, 2026
My reading year, 2025
I wrote and illustrated a book in 2025, so the purpose of reading was, primarily, not for more writing, but to escape writing. I didn’t give myself any quotas or any goals. I didn’t worry about wha...
austinkleon.com
January 13, 2026
Typewriter interview with Tucker Nichols
My latest typewriter interview is with artist Tucker Nichols. This answer made me laugh and think of Ghostbusters: Janine Melnitz: Do you have any hobbies? Dr. Egon Spengler: I collect spores, mold...
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January 13, 2026
Typewriter interview with Elizabeth McCracken
From a WSJ review of Elizabeth McCracken’s A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction: Ms. McCracken refuses to link process and outcome in fiction, so the whole endeavor retains its mysterious sheen. B...
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