It Can Only Get Stranger Sunday Roundup for September 13, 2026

Thank you so much for subscribing to It Can Only Get Stranger.

I am still thinking about how format will work over the course of a week, but I am pretty sure I will put out one weekly roundup of posts and other points of interests that will get sent out to subscribers once a week. Unless there is a specific and compelling reason to do otherwise (urgent announcements or whatever), you will only ever get one email per week. That's the It Can Only Get Stranger promise.

I will post throughout the week, though, and I’ll usually push standalone posts out via social media. 

And hey, thanks for signing up for this. I am excited and eager to spend some here. And thanks to the folks who went the paid subscription route even though as of right now there is literally no difference. (There will eventually be bonus stuff.) It helped me cover the annual hosting fee and that means so much to me. It's encouraging! Thank you!

Okay so generally, posts will cover the following ground: 

• notes and passages that strike me while studying sex, sexuality, shame, psychosexuality and anything in between  
• compilations of links to news stories and commentary relating to the same 
• general advice posts (which are an outgrowth of advice I was sharing on social media, which itself was an outgrowth of an advice column I had a number of years ago) 
• essays drawing connections between some of the above and some of the below

Regarding my interest in psychosexuality, my driving questions (as of right now) include but are not limited to:

• what role does shame play in American culture? 
• wow does surveillance capitalism shape our relationship with our sexuality / sexualities
• what on earth is going on, psychosexually speaking, in Trumpworld and how does that speak to American culture? 
• how does The Erotic manifest politically? 
• what is the status of the war on porn? 

And more!

Posts this week have included: 

• Psychosexuality… Today? Weekly? Whatever: Notes on the launch of Whatever We’re Doing Here. 
• Evidently E.T. was horny for Elliott’s mom: Notes on the yearnings of E.T. as detailed in the novelization.
• Peeping Toms abound: A complication of links to stories where, from billionaires to high school students, people (largely men) are using surveillance tools are to torment and abuse (largely women). 
• “Major BDSM vibes in early New England” A short passage from Jane Borden’s great Cult’s Like Us, a book I can’t recommend enough. 
• Ask Alex: Am I too old to learn? Short answer, no. But I provided a long answer too. 

Wholly unrelated notes of potential interest:  

• This week on You Are Good, we covered the criminally under-seen Billy Elliot. 
• On our show The OC, Again, Niko Stratis and I talked about our fondness for the Mitchell episode of MST3K (which came out 33 years ago, oh my!) I started watching it again last night. Speaking of The OC, Again. We’re winding that show down and kicking off a Beastie Boys podcast next month. 
• I am so excited for The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt (The Butthole Surfers documentary!)

Okay that's probably enough.

Over and out.