The appeal of someone *just* better than you, the cult of Aesop, busy-ness as social status

Shop edit: 12 'classics with a twist' on sale and the best cookie recipe everrrr.

I’ve had a lot of new people here — hello! I did basically zero promotion of my newsletter over the holidays but somehow I still, very fortunately, got a lot of new subscribers and paid subscribers — so THANK YOU!

For those who are new, I send out a weekly newsletter of articles I like, sometimes there might be a recipe I’ve cooked (I am a big home cook …