Brain Stoker

In Defence of Literary Fiction

A response to Noah Smith’s ‘Literary Fiction is a Trap’

Sep 2 • 

David P. Stoker

1

August 2025

Thought Mulch

Notes on reading, writing, and making a mess worth keeping

Aug 20 • 

David P. Stoker

2

One Person’s Break: Helsinki, Punkaharju, and the Power of Doing Nothing

City breaks, wild swims, and secondhand books

Aug 5 • 

David P. Stoker

July 2025

June Reads and Other Excuses to Rearrange My Bookshelves

Everything I read in June—plus a few tangents on poetry, patriarchy, and personal shelving systems

Jul 20 • 

David P. Stoker

4

June 2025

Alone in Berlin

On the Hegelian Other, and Finding What We Need Over What We Want

Jun 17 • 

David P. Stoker

1

May 2025

A new mission

A SubStacker's search for meaning

May 28 • 

David P. Stoker

2

April 2025

Let the Grief In

On war, empathy, and the cost of distance

Apr 22 • 

David P. Stoker

One Person’s Impact: Bananas, Plastic, and the Power of Choice 🌱

Go Prefigure #15

Apr 7 • 

David P. Stoker

1

January 2025

On Digital Ephemera

How digital tools shape they way we live, love, and make memories.

Jan 28 • 

David P. Stoker

2

11:22

Books That Shaped My Year: Fiction

Stories that stirred, surprised, and stayed with me

Jan 7 • 

David P. Stoker

3

Ideas That Shaped My Year: Nonfiction

The thinkers and themes that changed how I see the world

Jan 2 • 

David P. Stoker

1

November 2024

Tie Your Horses to the Right Sled

On George Saunders, weird voices, and the art of writing with joy

Nov 6, 2024 • 

David P. Stoker