Margins

Shorter dispatches, marginalia, and notes on events, books, and ideas.

Werner Mouton 11/4/26 Werner Mouton 11/4/26

What Money Could Not Buy

Elon Musk spent about $474 million on the 2026 US midterms, $224 million for Ken Paxton in Texas. This essay explains why James Talarico won and why big money lost.

Werner Mouton 10/26/26 Werner Mouton 10/26/26

Nobody Writes Alone

Magazine bans on AI writing rest on a myth of the solitary author. This essay sets that myth against Lish and Carver, Pound and Eliot, Churchill’s dictation and digital photography.