Niko Stratis

“There is no perfect place to cry, although I would argue that crying while sitting in a shitty car in the drive-thru of an aging fast-food restaurant comes close to transcendent. There is no science to this, but there is history.” ICYMI I wrote about the Wendy’s emo EP for @weareravenous.com

get your MFDA (Master's of Fine Dad-Rock Arts) at Niko Stratis University

90. The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman by @nikostratis.com from @utexaspress.bsky.social It was AN EXPERIENCE listening to this while alternating with reading Trans/Rad/Fem, as Talia Bhatt's description of transmisogyny was the theory — the casual violence in this book was the real world example.

What if the planets are normal and I’m the one in retrograde

What if the planets are normal and I’m the one in retrograde

literally one of my most well read pieces, on Jackass, happened because @andizeisler.bsky.social DM'd me to say "want to write about this?" and I miss that era of this work. I'm a TERRIBLE pitcher, as anyone who has ever gotten one from me can attest to I'm sure, but I would love to do more

i'll tell ya one thing i miss is FREELANCE ASSIGNMENTS. i have never been a good pitch-er but i can pretty much write whatever someone tells me to and i used to have a stable of editors who liked hurling ideas at me and seeing what i came up with. the salad days of $300 assignments from MEL lol

Dad rock studies continues

I was today years old when I discovered that Caspian from Twisted Teens did a project with the great Amy Lou Keeler of Mama's Broke twistedteens.bandcamp.com/album/holy-c...

Question from this week's newsletter: Who is you favorite "feat. ______" to see in a song description? Read the whole thing here: www.thatsmarvelousnewsletter.com/207-darkness...

Eat shit to fascists throughout the world.

Wrote a little newsletter about how records sound best in the morning, being stalked by a coyote, and Melodie by Slow Pulp www.anxietyshark.ca/did-it-go-qu...

They should make a folding iPhone that’s like a roadmap of the province of Alberta nabbed at the PetroCan in 1998. Make that shit open up 372 times. Make it never go back together normally. Your phone is shoved into the stupid glovebox of your 82 Chevy S10. Dumb stupid phone. Who folded this thing?

do yourself a favor and click through this to see what it's replying to

no one is allowed to talk about vibe coding until they can make one thing that works

I wrote about the end of Catapult defector.com/catapult-eli...

Weird, everyone who has ever met Billy Corgan only have great things to say about him

No, see, Canada is easy to understand: Nathan Fielder is just indie folk Tom Green

Every new movie sounds fake to me, what do you mean “have you ever wanted to fuck the bees out of the wicker man?”

they're paying him in goils.

I hope this book tanks www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Pe...

It's my birthday and there's one present I'd love: a review of Post Games on Apple Podcasts or your podcast app of choice!

"cause i'm intercontinental when i eat french toast"

Also, one of the best records this year drops next week, it's from a Vancouver punk rock band called PISS. Canada is a fucking trend setter babe.

We must find and kill the perception box

Yesterday when I was lamenting the loss of catapult magazine I had no idea the news would get worse

The 12th(!) Gender Reveal grant cycle is now open for applications! As always, these funds are for organizing / community projects led by trans people of color. We are particularly interested in funding existing projects that materially support trans folks, queer people of color, immigrants, etc.

i wrote a little guide on physical fitness for trans people. i made it free because of how important this stuff is. if you like it, you can become a merritt+ member for only $5 a month, which is a huge help to me www.patreon.com/merrittk/pos...

lotta talk about memoir writing and personal essays that have crossed my POV lately, and not enough of them tell why we don't have any good places I can pitch them anymore, and this is just me saying "I miss Catapult"

Far-right provincial party One BC has proposed a "gender ideology task force," which would ban trans women from women's spaces, outlaw the teaching of "gender ideology" in schools ,and force government documents to only include sex assigned at birth (among other things!) x.com/One_BCHQ/sta...

"sharks..."

couple spots left in my upcoming thursday night memoir workshop in brooklyn, these classes normally fill up FAST so don’t miss your chance to join this one!

There should be a Breakfast McFlurry