Wrote a lot this year, still working on it. If you’d like to chat about my work, assignments, or anything else really, I’m at ptosiello@gmail.com. Cheers. On Benny the Butcher’s The Plugs I Met 2 (Pitchfork): Benny the Butcher / Harry Fraud: The Plugs I Met 2 Like executors of a late painter’s estate, Griselda operates markets of self-imposed scarcity: $60 screen-printed…pitchfork.com On the new, non-populist poptimism (DIRT):

Who can afford to be ambitious when all we have is posting? — Although the apology post has since been removed for dubious reasons, to the best of my recollection it boiled down to this. In the heat of bipolar mania, Freddie deBoer, a socialist academic and prolific essayist, falsely accused a fellow writer of sexual harassment; the hoax was swiftly exposed, and…

Well, here we are. Wherever you are, I’m sorry for whatever you’ve endured. Here are all the freelance pieces I published in 2020. If we make it to 2021, I’ll happily write for your esteemed publication—I’m at ptosiello@gmail.com. See you out there. In conversation with Anna Wiener (The Paris Review): Silicon Valley Hustling: An Interview with Anna Wiener As a contributing writer for The New Yorker, Anna Wiener files dispatches from San Francisco that home in on the…www.theparisreview.org

The ongoing saga of Spotify’s embattled discovery tool — Early this spring, Spotify users began to grumble about the sudden, unceremonious disappearance of a beloved feature. Prior to May 2020, the Appears On section was situated at the bottom of each artist page, collecting an artist’s credited guest appearances on other artists’ records in reverse chronological order. In May…

Like we always do about this time, here’s a round-up of all the stuff I wrote this year. I’m contractually obligated to note that calendar years are not necessarily illustrative of anything, and that all years are bad for unique and the usual reasons. Writing is a game of evanescent…

Hey! Here are the things I wrote in 2018. Editors, I would love to write for you in 2019, preferably for money. Please do reach out at ptosiello@gmail.com! On Bhad Bhabie and her debut mixtape, for Vulture: Can Bhad Bhabie Rap? Bhad Bhabie went from being a meme to a credible rapper, but there are a lot of pitfalls that have come alongside her…www.vulture.com On Nas and Kanye West’s NASIR, for FLOOD Magazine:

Hi. Does anyone still use this? I’ve always found Medium’s interface pleasant, even if it was a failure as an ads revenue-generating platform. Not everything has to Disrupt, some things can just be good websites. True, it’s probably owned and managed by evil technocrats, but I’ve resigned that if I…

Don Lee’s affecting new novel — The characters in Don Lee’s new novel Lonesome Lies Before Us are reduced. They have health issues, financial issues, and legal issues. They live in dying towns and work in dying industries. They have destructive compulsions and addictions; people and institutions have let them down. …

The album review is dead, long live the album review; a dialogue of sorts — Music writing is under attack! This is not a new phenomenon, nor is it irrationally malicious — the free press, like any institution, should be held accountable for producing shit, which music-focused outlets, like the best of us, do with predictable regularity. Barriers to access and entry have been minimized…