Leah Schnelbach

I guess someone has to

Personally I find genre about as necessary as gender - and, as ever, I love @mollytempleton.com's brain. 💖

Take the Fire Out From the Wire: Imagining a Future in Heated Rivalry - Reactor How can we find a path forward after the cottage?

Absolute joy to share @thenerdypriest.bsky.social's essay on how Heated Rivalry can help us think about working for a more hopeful future.

I feel like every other thing I post lately includes the word "hope"?

I hope that continues.

reactormag.com/imagining-a-...

How a Stephen King Character Becomes an Unlikely Source of Hope - Reactor Holly Gibney embodies the ethos of “do no harm but take no shit.”

Absolutely loved working with @gonebabygone.bsky.social on this gorgeous essay about Holly Gibney, and a resistance to dark times that's rooted in hope.

reactormag.com/how-a-stephe...

Reading Infinite Jest stands as one of the best experiences I've ever had with a book, and I really enjoyed re-reading it a few years back in conversation with Snow Crash.

Alas no Jarnathan this year, but just like last time, this video made me whoop with delight, and a couple of the song choices made me cry? wtf?

This reminds me that editor @leahschnelbach.bsky.social let me contemplate many things about the No-Prize for @reactorsff.bsky.social back in 2022. reactormag.com/how-marvels-...

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is Wild, Brutal, and a Perfect Middle Child in the Trilogy - Reactor And might just feature the best performance of Ralph Fiennes' career?

I don't spoil anything in my review of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, but there's a scene that's SO GOOD my jaw's still on the floor, AND I get to talk about Small Things Like These again—it's relevant, I promise!

And I want to found The Church of Jack O'Connell.

reactormag.com/movie-review...

historically accurate☑️

Anyone Can Vote in the Hugo Awards — And Here's How - Reactor You — yes, you! — can nominate work and vote for the winners of the 2026 Hugo Awards!

Did you know that you, yes YOU, can vote in the Hugo Awards??

@mollytempleton.com breaks down the process, including how to register before the January 31st deadline!

Renee Nicole Good, murdered by ICE, was a prize-winning poet. Here’s that poem. Renee Nicole Good, 37, mother to a six-year-old boy, was murdered earlier today by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, a few blocks from her home. According to the Minnesota Star Tribune: [An ICE agent] s…

“i want back my rocking chairs, / solipsist sunsets, / & coastal jungle sounds...”

A poem by Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered by ICE earlier today.

lithub.com/renee-nicole...

Conan O’Brien has just two credits listed - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story and Late Night with Conan O’Brien

This is the actual back cover for the “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” Blu-Ray. I haven’t stopped laughing all day.

26 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books to Look Forward To In 2026 We are so lucky to have such an incredible year ahead of science fiction, fantasy, and speculative works from a mix of established and debut authors. In an unsurprising bit of kismet, a lot of thes…

New releases from Cameron Reed, Ann Leckie, Melissa Albert, Isabel J. Kim, and more are among these 26 sci-fi and fantasy books to look forward to in 2026.

a guy wearing a “i ❤️ ny” cap reading the qur’an in one hand and the communist manifesto in the other

day one in mamdani’s new york

New York Public Library press release: Schomburg Qur'an Selected for Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani's Swearing-In In a historic first, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will use a Qur'an from NYPL's Schomburg Center at a midnight swearing-in ceremony. December 31, 2025-The New York Public Library announced on Wednesday that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will use a Qur'an from the collections of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to take the oath of office at a midnight swearing-in ceremony on New Year's Eve. This comes as the Schomburg Center is celebrating its centennial. Following the midnight swearing-in ceremony, the Qur'an will be put on public display beginning January 6 in the McGraw Rotunda at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street. "This marks a significant moment in our city's history, and we are deeply honored that Mayor-elect Mamdani has chosen to take the oath of office using one of the Library's Qur'ans," said Anthony W. Marx, President and CEO of The New York Public Library. "This specific Qur'an, which Arturo Schomburg preserved for the knowledge and enjoyment of all New Yorkers, symbolizes a greater story of inclusion, representation, and civic-mindedness."

Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in as NYC's first Muslim mayor on a Qur'an from the personal collection of the great Afro-Boricua intellectual Arturo Schomburg—as well as Qur'ans owned by Mamdani's grandparents. www.nypl.org/press/schomb...

Rest in peace you absolute legend of an artist

this fills me with joy, and i'm absolutely adding it to the Extended Edition of the article should that ever happen

This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)

Bob Dylan attempts to explain Willie Nelson in The New Yorker's profile of Willie: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Every year, no matter how bad the year, we at Reactor find at least a little joy, and then it's a joy to share it with all of y'all.

Joyception!

Not A Memoir, Unless It Is Tobias Carroll reviews 'This Year,' a collection of 365 annotated song lyrics by John Darnielle, author and frontman of The Mountain Goats.

ICYMI, I wrote about @themountaingoats.bsky.social's THIS YEAR for Kismet! kismet-mag.com/reviews/not-...

aaahhh thank you!!! obviously if you want to write anything about WUDM once we open back up in the new year, say the word

working with you has been one of my highlights tooo

Some of Reactor’s Best Articles About TV, Movies, and Pop Culture in 2025 - Reactor We're looking back at some of our favorite non-fiction articles from the past year, highlighting essays focused on visual media.

Okay yes we love books at Reactor but we ALSO love movies, TV, and witches. Here are some of our favorite nonfiction articles from 2025, featuring David Lynch, folk horror, Kpop Demon Hunters, and Master & Commander:

obviously I'm in

Entirely Too Many Thoughts About Wake Up Dead Man - Reactor Digging in to the nuances of religion, faith, and grace tucked inside the latest Benoit Blanc mystery

I've spent the last three weeks wrestling with Wake Up Dead Man. Here are some of my thoughts—I have many more.

I am wildly grateful to talk about art that deals seriously with the world we've created, and somehow still holds on to hope.
reactormag.com/entirely-too...

I think you're going to love it! We'll hopefully have a spoiler-y discussion up early next week if I can just...write it

An Infallible Ranking of Crime-Solving Clergy - Reactor There's a surprising amount of crossover between sleuthing and pastoral care.

If I can find a way to write about Wake Up Dead Man every day until the end of the year, I might just make it through December.

This time out, we're ranking crime-solving clergy!

reactormag.com/an-infallibl...

The Benoit Blanc trilogy might end up as one of the best artistic statements on the diseased conservatism of our era, and l think Wake Up Dead Man is my favorite of the trilogy, largely because it’s Rian Johnson trying to understand Christianity and its adherents more than having a definitive take.

Wake Up Dead Man Is a Miraculous Film - Reactor Faith AND Reason??? In THIS economy???

Today is New-Benoit-Blanc-Mystery-In-Theaters-Day! That's like, the BEST day!

I'm seeing this movie at least 2 more times before it hits Netflix, and I'm gonna essay about it, but for now here's a non-spoiler review of the film.

(OK, one spoiler: I LOVE IT.)

reactormag.com/movie-review...