Recent articles
October 13, 2026
Archival issues
I have been writing a special Tuesday newsletter for paid subscribers for five years now, which means there’s a bunch of really good stuff just kind of hiding in the archives over there. I’ve tagge...
austinkleon.com
October 13, 2026
Are we a teardown or a fixer-upper?
Last week’s newsletter began: An out-of-town developer tore a house down at the end of my street and cut down every single tree on the lot. As I watched the big T-Rex excavator claw down the walls,...
austinkleon.com
October 13, 2026
Typewriter interviews with Roz Chast and Paul Noth
This was not entirely pre-planned, but: it turns out I’m publishing a typewriter interview with a cartoonist every week of October, and I just now realized they’re all contributors to The New Yorke...
austinkleon.com
September 30, 2026
Inside the cartoon library
Curators Jenny Robb and Caitlin McGurk took me on a 45-minute guided tour of one of my favorite places: the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum on the OSU campus in Columbus, Ohio. Really fu...
austinkleon.com
September 29, 2026
Learning by drawing
In last Friday’s newsletter, I wrote about helping my sixth grader with homework: I’ve been inspired lately by how many people I admire have moved to an analog notebook-based method of teaching. I ...
austinkleon.com
September 29, 2026
Typewriter interview with Roman Muradov
The latest typewriter interview is with artist Roman Muradov.
austinkleon.com
September 29, 2026
The Bad Place
We are rewatching The Good Place, a sitcom that ran during the first Trump administration, this time with our tweens. It’s a show about moral philsophy and what it means to be a good person, but it...
austinkleon.com
September 23, 2026
Still summer (a mixtape)
“Still Summer” is a mixtape full of jazz and electronic music that evokes the kind of autumn wind and crunchy leaves that I pine for here in Texas when the fall equinox hits and it’s still 99 degre...
austinkleon.com
September 22, 2026
Typewriter interview with Esther Pearl Watson
The latest typewriter interview is with artist Esther Pearl Watson. (I can’t believe I’ve published 30 of these things!)
austinkleon.com
September 22, 2026
Summer misery
My last two Friday newsletters have referenced the late summer misery of September. (See: “The cruelest month.”) From “The Birds are in misery”: It is so miserable in Texas right now that I’ve take...
austinkleon.com
September 8, 2026
New typewriter interviews with Adam Koford and Kevin Huizenga
My latest typewriter interviews are with two cartoonists — one is a fully-drawn and pithy eye feast from Adam Koford, and the other a surprisingly wordy meal from Kevin Huizenga:
austinkleon.com
September 8, 2026
No urge to be doing
I used a quote from Patrick O’Brian’s Post Captain to start my letter, “No urge to be doing”: “There are days… when one sees as though one had been blind the rest of one’s life. Such clarity – perf...
austinkleon.com
August 19, 2026
Typewriter interview with George Saunders
A near-Herculean feat of transcription, if I do say so! Read it here.
austinkleon.com
August 19, 2026
Fogust groove (a mixtape)
“Fogust Groove” is a mixtape I made of a bunch of yacht rock and blue-eyed soul I played for my kids while we were driving around the coast of California last week: I first heard these songs as a k...
austinkleon.com
August 19, 2026
Typewriter interview with Julia Rothman
An author is never more vulnerable than when they have a book coming out, so I’ll often reach out to their publicists and snag them for an interview. In this case, the publicist reached out to me, ...
austinkleon.com
August 19, 2026
Inside the man…
See my letter, “Inside the man is a teenager.”
austinkleon.com
August 19, 2026
Typewriter interview with Erik Winkowski
Artist and filmmaker Erik Winkowski’s “Zinemail No. 1” and “Zinemail No. 2” (and now “Zinemail No. 3”) are some of the most interesting uses of the Substack platform I’ve ever seen, so I asked him ...
austinkleon.com
August 19, 2026
At the pool
A blackout I put at the top of my letter, “Summer Catch-up.” I haven’t done these in a while. Takes a bit to get back into them.
austinkleon.com
July 28, 2026
Typewriter interview with James Kochalka
My latest typewriter interview is with cartoonist James Kochalka. It’s fun and light and exactly like his comics. James has long been an inspiration to me — in the P.S. I mention that James’ sketch...
austinkleon.com
July 24, 2026
A sense of lightness
I’ve been trying to go about the summer Friday newsletters with a sense of lightness, the way I make a collage out of scraps in my drawer — I pull out what I’ve saved, push it around until it makes...
austinkleon.com
July 24, 2026
A(nother) conversation with Beth Pickens
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of getting to chat about Don’t Call It Art with art coach Beth Pickens. I started off the conversation by describing the dream I had after seeing Bob Dylan liv...
austinkleon.com
July 24, 2026
Typewriter interview with Mark Haddon
My most recent typewriter interview — a big hit with readers! — is with author and illustrator Mark Haddon, who said it was the most enjoyable interview he’s ever done and bestowed upon me my new t...
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