Lola Seaton
@lola_seaton
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Associate editor @NewLeftReview Contributing writer @NewStatesman Other writing @NYBooks @LRB @the_point_mag
Joined September 2020
My – ambivalent but ultimately fond – review of Sally Rooney's new novel, in which something is lost and something gained. @NewStatesman @FaberBooks.
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A little nervously. here's my essay for @the_point_mag on the late philosopher and critic Stanley Cavell – about his style: its significance, and its value, even for those (all of us sometimes?) who can’t stand it
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I wrote about Mark Fisher for .@NewStatesman, reflecting on the reasons for his popularity, writing-as-consciousness-raising, and the relationship btw acquiescence and inattention
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Here's my take on Jon Fosse’s Septology, which is as majestic and inexhaustible as everyone says. I try to explain why — and/or to explain why it’s hard to explain why @NewStatesman @FitzcarraldoEds
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For @NewLeftReview I wrote about the late Louise Glück, and about why and in what way her poems endure – endure not 'as objects but as presences'
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I wrote for @NewStatesman about the history of the failure to avert climate change: when we failed, why we failed, who is to blame, how we can fail better, by way of @Matthuber78's superb new book @VersoBooks
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For @NewLeftReview I wrote about the critic Brian Dillon, whose style inspired some thoughts on the subject: what style is, why it matters, how you get one. ending with the case for indulging in the occasional bang-average sentence
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for the @NewStatesman I wrote something – a paean, inevitably – about Joni Mitchell, the absolute GOAT (an acronym Mitchell has used), revisiting her exquisite 1974 record Court and Spark (a "perfect album" in Brian Eno's view), released 50 years ago.
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Had a great time talking to @abenanav about his seminal, wonderfully lucid new book, Automation and the Future of Work.
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I wrote with somewhat extravagant irritation about Michael Ignatieff for the @NewStatesman, the hollow consolations of his sentimental humanism and the banality of his unswerving liberalism and its vision of solidarity
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For the latest @NewLeftReview I wrote about Anne Carson and ten things you can do to avoid boredom (jk. sort of).
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For @NewStatesman I reviewed Knausgaard's new novel(s), and compare his amazingly simple techniques for immersing his readers – making us 'vanish' even – to those of his former teacher Jon Fosse
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I wrote a short dispatch from London’s heatwave for @nybooks about the scary-sad evolution of the “scorcher”, no longer purely a random blessing and cause for reckless jubilance but freighted with intelligibility
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For @NewStatesman I reviewed Lauren Oyler’s new essay collection No Judgement, and reflected on the fun, as well as, sometimes, the frustration, of self-awareness in writing (by which I mean the performance of self-awareness)
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I wrote about Adam Phillips for @NewStatesman — an ambivalent appreciation of his style, the kind of hopes it raises, its risks, satisfactions, frustrations, disappointments and its rewards
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I love that so many people I know went to Wembley last night. almost no one I know goes to men's games in major tournaments cos they're insanely expensive. Makes you think: pretty cool when ordinary people have access to important stuff!.
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A serious pleasure shooting the breeze with Owen Hatherley about his new book Red Metropolis (@RepeaterBooks) for @NewStatesman. Can't really recommend Red Metrop. enough. A paen to London but helps to restore any spirits broken by Dec. 2019.
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Some thoughts on not having thoughts about Starmer, on the facile opposition, voiced ad nauseam by Mandelson et al, btw membership / electorate, a party's depth / breadth ("factions"/"voters" etc), and on political indifference as a perpetual possiblity.
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I wrote about Vivian Gornick's Romance of American Communism @VersoBooks and Approaching Eye Level @DauntBooksPub for @NewStatesman, both of which are pretty irresistible.
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Turns out membership of the monarchy is just another bullshit job.
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For the @FTMag's special issue on 'the body', I wrote a slightly awestruck essay about how footballers master space, by way of some reflections on Zidane, the elegant bruiser, and the enthralling-boring 2006 doc about him.
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My review of Crossroads, incl thoughts on why "pure realism" isn't as good as it sounds, and how Franzen's sandwiches have changed over the years.
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This is the kind of misinformation the left needs to disseminate.
It is true that becoming a socialist automatically makes you 10% hotter. I don’t make the rules.
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I interviewed Édouard Louis for @NewStatesman about his new book, why fiction is more "narcissistic" than autobiography, why he hates politics, and why his family, once staunch Le Pen supporters, voted for Mélenchon
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Thrilling news! We can all now become supporters of Sidecar aka fulfil our dreams.
Launched in 2020, Sidecar publishes free weekly articles on world politics, capitalism, ideas and culture. If you value our work, please consider becoming a monthly supporter or making a one-off donation.
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Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who regularly orders a calzone.
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Something I wrote about the cunning and incoherence of Extinction Rebellion's anti-politics.
Extinction Rebellion’s stated ambition to “go beyond politics” sits uneasily with its pursuit of parliamentary legislation.
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I've purchased a printer. makes you realise: printers are actually SICK. I mean wow.
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I wrote about Pankaj Mishra's new novel Run and Hide – his first in two decades, and second ever – for @NewStatesman
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This is an invaluable explanation of the economic theory implied by Biden’s $1.9trn stimulus by the brilliant @JWMason1 for @NewStatesman. Highly recommended reading!.
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My review of Minae Mizumura's newly translated untranslatable [sic!!] 1995 novel "An I-Novel" @ColumbiaUP for @NewStatesman
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Cracking piece by the invariably excellent @shirkerism for the @NewStatesman about why Starmer's attempt to transcend both populism and paternalism will unravel if he ever comes up with a serious political vision
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Why does using a dictionary make me feel diligent and using a thesaurus make me feel dirty.
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Feeling stressed about prospect of having to book to go to the pub.
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Wow, this is. indicative, to say the least. Fantastic stuff by @Anoosh_C.
NEW: You're *23 times* more likely to be prosecuted for benefit fraud than tax crimes - even though the latter costs the economy NINE times more (£20bn in 2018/19!!):.
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The end of the end of the end of history?.
Finally, post-history can begin afresh.
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This is fascinating on the relationship btw the decline of mass politics and the rise of UBI-adjacent policies.
"More than economic necessity, the 'new politics of distribution' exemplified by cash transfers also arises from deeper, structural changes in our democracy." Brilliant piece from @AntonJaegermm and @DanielZamoraV on UBI and and “liquid” democracy.
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Why does coffee later in the day never taste as good as in the morning. Really frustrating.
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The estranging thrill when the NYT Daily turns it attention to UK politics…can’t lie these Brechtian occasions have a special place in my heart
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A short review of a short (and great) book for @NewStatesman’s new Reviewed in Short section, full of short and sweet reviews.
'SIMPLE PASSION is a riveting investigation into what happens to one’s experience of time in the throes of romantic obsession.' @lola_seaton reviews SIMPLE PASSION by Annie Ernaux, tr. Tanya Leslie, for @NewStatesman:
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This is an amazing piece which it feels like no one else in the world could have written.
Here from the new @bookforum summer issue is my somewhat lengthy engagement with the adventurous and erudite British writer Hari Kunzru, whose books I greatly enjoyed and admired with one exception, w. bits on Challengers, Gatsby, Deleuze, Warwick, Wired.
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How do you snatch a victorious day from the jaws of a hangover.
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This is a truly wonderful essay by @Louis_b_r about the opposition "hidden in our ordinary language" between owning something and caring for something, and how we might undo it.
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My paean to Arsène.
"If, like me, you are an Arsenal supporter born in the mid-1990s, Wenger’s 22-year tenure as manager coincides almost exactly with your lifetime.” . @seaton_lola on how Arsène Wenger changed football.
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Always feel like I'm overwhelming my interlocutor when using WhatsApp on laptop. their little thumbs just can't keep up.
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This is great. Featuring Putin's gold-plated toilet brush that apparently costs €700. Bargain
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Have had an opened bag of coffee beans in my bag all day for legitimate reasons and the delicious smell whenever I have to retrieve stuff has made today a good day.
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One thing about the British Library is that you will leave horribly dehydrated.
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Twitter must be so distracting for people who actually do consistently good tweets.
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This is an absolute belter by @leorobsonwriter.
Here is my @NewLeftReview Sidecar piece about Noah Baumbach’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel White Noise, with thoughts on the director’s past work (The Squid and the Whale, Frances Ha, et al), his sociological bent, and slight sentimentality 🦅.
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Lovely essay by John Burnside on Ivan Illich's 1970s critique of "obligatory schooling" and his radical vision of more convivial, decommodified, non-instrumental forms of learning – the contemporary relevance of which hardly needs emphasis @NewStatesman
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Seconded! Fascinating ep yet again from @poltheoryother. Goes well with this also fascinating @nybooks piece by @jameskmcauley
Sebastian Budgen's discussion of the coalitions and fault-lines on the French far-right, from @poltheoryother, is extremely interesting:.
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Looooool UBS = Universal Basic Sesh.
Finally, this joke of a candidate comes through with a serious and progressive policy proposal
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just had some minstrels before midday, never done that before.
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Smugly letting the heavy rain express itself cos it’s got no idea what’s in store
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I feel like there isn’t even a strong enough word for injustice of this degree and brazenness — and for the fact this is ordinary, expected, utterly characteristic!! Intolerable
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Can someone explain to me why bankers receiving insane bonuses is good for the economy / “growth”.
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I hate it when you eat dinner and then you feel so tired after. A real evening-ender.
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Amazing thing about queueing ferally for a national express coach from stansted in the early hours is that it's not a contingency plan, nothing's gone wrong, it's just the way you get home. incredible!.
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Arguably not the most enticing plug but if you happen to be curious about the book responsible for my latest flare-up of mirthlessness, look no further.
Why does reviewing a book turn me into a dour dogmatist.
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at the time it seemed like a no-brainer but i kind of regret spending so much of my childhood watching Friends re-runs on E4.
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If you read one thing on inflation. 👇.
'Both inflation hawks and doves miss the elephant in the room: financializations backed by easy money.'. @RadDesai on the structural causes of inflation: .
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Part of my experience of reading LRB articles now is latching onto phrases that could have been alternative titles.
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Someone on BBC world service just described Omicron as very “spready”. Hope that adjective isn’t.
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So sad to hear about Janet Malcolm. Her prose is inspiring in the basic sense that one wants to write like her (and often wittingly tries to) but also in a more existential way. It's commonly said she made it "look easy" (which I guess she did?) but reading her always reminds me.
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Starting to think I could eat a hot cross bun everyday for the rest of my life.
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However much I try I never can remember what "smh" stands for. Just one of those things I guess.
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Do u ever get sent a viral vid at the end of the day and then you immediately send it 2 ur other friends and then it transpires they’ve all already seen it and then you think wow I’m connected to contemporary culture by the skin of my teeth.
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Been thinking a lot about the fact Messi doesn’t do step overs.
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Air BnB reviews of you as a guest are quite a mad phenomenon…many literally begin with assessments of your personality.
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Me: ah I'll turn on Radio 4, that'll be nice.Radio 4: 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨INFLATTTTIIOOONNNN!!🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨.Me: turn off radio in fit of resentful anxiety.
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in the US 2 lateral flows cost $25 and in the UK they’re free but out of stock… deeply on brand in both cases.
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I would hate to be someone who receives hundreds of emails a day. Hope that never happens to me.
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