Welcome to our first guest report of 2026! I’m excited to bring these back. If you’re a long time Midwesthetitician you know these come and go, I find them especially awesome for two reasons:
01) It lets you (and me) get to know other writers and readers. I like to think you may see one of these reports and have a some sort of unexpected, romantic love at first read moment, leading you to a meaningful and symbiotic reader and writer relationship.
02) I get real tired of listening to myself talk, so it’s nice for others to take on the burden of my blog for me 😉 but genuinely, I like sharing my Internet space with others and it gives me some time to devote to larger pieces I’m working on.
Stay tuned for something around optimization x purity culture x agoraphobia. I swear, there will be a through-line.
I’m excited for this reporter as she’s a fellow midwesterner, like real-real midwest. Like, Nebraska. This thrills me. Anyway! Without further ado, may I introduce…
Olivia Exstrum!
Hi, I’m Olivia! I’m a born-and-raised Nebraskan now living in Brooklyn and spreading the gospel of Runza wherever I go. I’m a lapsed journalist turned copywriter who likes to write about strange worlds, fanatics (religious and otherwise), and interesting young women. In my newsletter, Lore, I share short fiction based on old photographs and long essays on the stories we tell each other and ourselves.
R: Reading
At the start of the year, I set the lofty goal of reading 100 books in 2026 to make up for last year’s lack of words. And I’m chugging right along!
I’m currently reading Women, Race and Class by the incomparable Angela Davis for the delightful Lowbrow Book Club right here on Substack. Other recent reads are Wuthering Heights (not a fan, sorry!), Andrew Miller’s The Land in Winter (gorgeous), and Zadie Smith’s On Beauty (the most fun I’ve had with a book in a while). Coming up next is Lady Chatterley’s Lover, which I’m reading with my college best friend in our quest to tackle 12 classics this year. Also, I’m a dedicated peruser of r/Longreads.
E: Eating
I currently am in dire need of a Trader Joe’s run, but I’ve had some good eats lately. I made a harvest salad that absolutely wowed this salad skeptic (the cinnamon in the dressing is the key, I think). I also made the world’s ugliest lentil dish, a slop so unappetizing in appearance that I was embarrassed to eat it at work. It looks okay in the picture, so maybe that’s user error. Regardless, it was tasty!
I haven’t been eating out a lot, but I had these gorg oysters at The Ten Bells in Brooklyn before I did my first-ever (!) reading of my work. I also had a delectable post-Super Bowl week eating leftover buffalo chicken dip.
P: Playing
Every so often, I fixate on what I call Male Manipulator Music, and February was one of those times. I’m a Drake fan circa 2009, back when he was still making the occasional guest appearance on Degrassi and before he was a pervert (at least publicly), and those ties unfortunately run deep. I’ve tried to quit him, but sometimes I relapse. Anyway, I’ve been revisiting his first major mixtape, So Far Gone, and it’s still nuts to me that he collaborated with Swedish indie darlings Lykke Li and Peter Bjorn and John. As someone with Swedish ancestry (and going there this summer!), I get it, Aubrey — sometimes you’re just at a very Scandinavian time in your life. Also, Santigold is on there!
Naturally, I’ve been alternating the likes of The Weeknd and PARTYNEXTDOOR with folksy men with guitars, specifically James Vincent McMorrow’s excellent Wide Open, Horses (do I even need to tell you what year it is?)
I’ve also been spinning some Bon Iver and Ben Howard, and randomly remembered that Father John Misty is one of the best to ever do it. Let it be known that I wanted “Real Love Baby” to be my wedding song before any of you bitches did!
It was a big month for the men, but I promise it’s all you for Women’s History Month, ladies!
O: Obsessing
I’m not a horse girl in the traditional sense, but I do have a large and diverse folder of horse memes on my phone. Needless to say, this is an exciting year for me! There’s just something about those goofy guys that I can’t get enough of.
A sampler:
Another obsession: finding out people I went to high school with are woke — it never fails to delight! My Nebraska county went 68 percent for That Man in 2024, so it’s always a pleasant surprise when someone who refused to even utter the word “abortion” in 2012 is on their Instagram Stories fighting the good fight against ICE and the fascist state of our union. Keep on keeping on, comrades!
R: Recommending
Now that I’m a Woman In Finance (copywriter for an investment bank), I felt obliged to finally see what the Industry hype was all about. And I’m so much better for it! I flew through the first three seasons, and season four is blowing my mind so far. It’s one of those rare shows that just gets better, in my opinion. Here are some of the most evil and horny people alive, trying to out-evil and out-horny each other every episode.
That’s prestige television, baby!
I’m also recommending my newsletter, duh! I just wrote 2,600 words about the dating app bio as a storytelling device (really) in my first nonfiction foray since I began writing on Substack last year. It was a true labor of love and vulnerability, and I would love for you to read and subscribe!
T: Treating
I’ve recently gotten really weird about having a clean room — like, readjusting my area rug before bed every night weird — but it’s changed my life for the better. Waking up to no clutter to the placid sound of birdsong from my sunrise alarm clock (another treat) is the best. Couldn’t recommend it enough!
Also, making a mug cake at night. I love some warm cake at night.
Unfortunately, I’m back. Even more unfortunate, this report is over!
Don’t worry, spring will come.
 | A guest post by
|
Nebraska is Great Plains. Midwest ends at the Missouri River. At least.