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The Absence of Young Male Novelists Signifies the Death of American Culture
Chronicles | August 14, 2026 | George P. Cross

Here’s an interesting question: how many white American men born after 1984 have had a literary piece published in The New Yorker? The answer is zero. How did we get here, and who let this happen?

Every literary generation used to produce its Roth, Updike, Bellow, Wolfe, McCarthy, or Franzen. Today’s literary establishment shows no interest in producing young men of comparable prominence—especially if they’re straight and white.

This is not a new or underdiagnosed problem; in fact, it appears to be a point of pride for the new generation of literary critics and publishers alike. Penguin Random House has no problem publishing it’s demographics yearly and celebrating the slow but consistent decline in white editorial staff.

Acclaimed novelist Joyce Carol Oates had no issue tweeting that “a friend who is a literary agent told me that he cannot even get editors to read first novels by young white male writers, no matter how good; they are just not interested.”

(Three out of four paragraphs use the word “interest.”)

New world speed record of 406 mph set with hydrogen-powered JCB supercar in Utah
NY Post | 08/11/2026 | Lydia Moynihan

A new land speed record was set today in Utah by British driver Andy Green, driving a specially designed JCB Hydromax car, which reached 406.320 miles per hour. …

The driver is a former Royal Air Force fighter pilot who is the only person to have broken the sound barrier on land, which he did when setting the overall land speed record, reaching 763 mph in a car powered by twin jet engines in 1997.

Gen Z women say they’ve had enough financially supporting — and parenting — their boyfriends
AP Moneywise via Yahoo | August 8, 2025 | Victoria Vesovski

Naomi is a 24 year old, lives on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and earns six figures working two retail jobs. Her boyfriend, meanwhile, spent much of his time at her apartment lying in bed and scrolling through Instagram Reels.

Naomi helped him fix his résumé, pushed him to apply for jobs and, while he figured out his next move, picked up the tab for nearly everything. But the money was only part of what bothered her. Naomi told The Cut that his lack of income seemed to double as an excuse to put little effort into the relationship, too. Romance, after all, does not require a six-figure salary.

“If you can’t afford something, write me a love letter,” she told The Cut. “He could have literally made me Kraft mac and cheese.”