February 2026

Loop #017

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16 members active in February

31% participation

Published 1 of 16

Justin Mather

Performing for people on the internet (writing for the wrong room)

Charlie D. Becker

I don’t know what I’m writing about—just getting back on the horse tbh

Christopher Coffman

Towards a New Understanding of Being

Published

Yehudis Milchtein

An essay on why I launched Brussels Lunch Project and what my first meetings have taught me

Dolores Lucero

exact topic not pinned down yet, but will get something going this week!

David Kiferbaum

Rabbinic Vision part II--post-workism, post-liberalism, and post-diasporism

Melissa Silva

Silent Retreat Experience + Interview with a Therapist

Ryan Lucht

experimentation and/or decision theory essay

David Glass

I'm writing about how education ought to instill in you a love for yourself, understanding of the world, and ability to contribute to society

Zac de Moor

how sobriety taught me that beauty, meaning, and love aren't feelings we generate but realities we're intentionally made to commune with

Matthew Beebe

The pursuit of creative projects even when you're not sure anyone is listening

Coco Liu

China experiment, Shenzhen urban planning, what is the who in a community

Lily Luo

Either condensing weekly dev blog posts into a single article or my trade-off and/or pornography essay

Shobhana Viswanathan

I want to continue writing on personal experiences

Ines Lee

Lessons from 6 months+ of self-employment.

Activity

Friday | February 20th, 2026

FEB 20, 2026 | 3:00 p.m. ET

14 members RSVP'd for "Weekly Working Session"

FEB 20, 2026 | 12:19 a.m. ET

Clarke Scott checked in for February 2026

Working on: "Pivot Post PLUS..."

I will publish a topic pivot. And start working on a follow-up that reflects this pivot and sets the tone moving forward.

Thursday | February 19th, 2026

FEB 14, 2026 | 9:38 a.m. ET

Christopher Coffman requested feedback on "Ruined Men and Ungoverned Women: Antigone and the Collapse of Politics"

Any kind of thoughts or impressions - this link is only to the first part of the essay

1 response

Michael Dean gave feedback Feb 19 at 6:31 p.m.

Wednesday | February 18th, 2026

FEB 7, 2026 | 1:44 a.m. ET

Matthew Beebe requested feedback on "What I Really Want"

its a super quick draft... I dictated it and cleaned it up... curious if anything is interesting abo...

3 responses

David Glass gave feedback Feb 18 at 7:44 p.m.

Michael Dean gave feedback Feb 11 at 5:56 p.m.

Shobhana Viswanathan gave feedback Feb 9 at 10:40 a.m.

Tuesday | February 17th, 2026

FEB 17, 2026 | 12:43 p.m. ET

Justin Mather checked in for February 2026

Working on: "Performing for people on the internet (writing for the wrong room)"

This is a "letter" to writers (including myself) who've gone quiet—not because we're blocked, but because we've been writing for the wrong room. We got trapped performing for algorithms and strangers instead of creating for the people who actually see us. The internet promised direct connection but gave us gatekeepers with different names. Last year I wrote hundreds of thousands of words and published twice, and I realized the problem was scope and scale—trying to reach everyone instead of going deeper with fewer people. This essay is my attempt to remember (and remind other writers) why we do this.

Monday | February 16th, 2026

FEB 16, 2026 | 6:24 p.m. ET

David Glass requested feedback on "Natural selections gets rid of the weak. Chance chooses among the rest."

This is the first draft of two different pieces. I'm trying to write my first long form piece of the...

Sunday | February 15th, 2026

FEB 15, 2026 | 12:33 a.m. ET

Rosemary DeSena joined Essay Club

Welcome to the community!

Saturday | February 14th, 2026

JAN 30, 2026 | 7:00 p.m. ET

Lily Luo published "33 and NYC"

Tech bro'ing out in the city of dreams

6 comments

Dolores Lucero commented Feb 14 at 10:59 a.m.

Zac de Moor commented Feb 2 at 7:46 p.m.

Coco Liu commented Feb 2 at 7:40 p.m.

Ryan Lucht commented Feb 2 at 7:39 p.m.

Zakk Fleischmann commented Feb 2 at 7:34 p.m.

Yehudis Milchtein commented Feb 2 at 7:23 p.m.

JAN 28, 2026 | 7:00 p.m. ET

Elizabeth Edwards published "Baby-Induced Life Reflections"

The Drawing Board #22

4 comments

Dolores Lucero commented Feb 14 at 10:40 a.m.

Coco Liu commented Feb 2 at 7:49 p.m.

Ryan Lucht commented Feb 2 at 7:41 p.m.

Yehudis Milchtein commented Feb 2 at 7:23 p.m.

Friday | February 13th, 2026

FEB 13, 2026 | 4:18 p.m. ET

Michael Dean requested feedback on "micro-institutes"

I'm happy with the opening frame (Elon's xAI essay prize, as contrast), but the ending falls flat fo...

FEB 13, 2026 | 3:00 p.m. ET

12 members RSVP'd for "Weekly Working Session"

Thursday | February 12th, 2026

FEB 8, 2026 | 3:40 p.m. ET

Yehudis Milchtein started "Brussels Lunch Project Format"

Hello there!! I'd love to bounce ideas around with you. I'm eating lunch with 184 people in 202...

Struggles

2 comments

Coco Liu commented Feb 12 at 7:50 p.m.

Michael Dean commented Feb 11 at 6:21 p.m.

FEB 6, 2026 | 10:46 a.m. ET

Matthew Argyle started "I'm the n00b"

A little about me: 40 years old, married, dad to one daughter. I originally started writing to suppo...

Introductions

3 comments

Coco Liu commented Feb 12 at 7:36 p.m.

Shobhana Viswanathan commented Feb 9 at 4:40 p.m.

Yehudis Milchtein commented Feb 8 at 3:49 p.m.

FEB 12, 2026 | 11:24 a.m. ET

Charlie D. Becker checked in for February 2026

Working on: "I don’t know what I’m writing about—just getting back on the horse tbh"

I will be wrong about the bookstore, Ai, intention, serendipity, fatherhood, my goals for 2026, and whatever else comes up in my life.

Wednesday | February 11th, 2026

FEB 7, 2026 | 4:33 p.m. ET

Shobhana Viswanathan requested feedback on "Neither Here Nor There"

flow and imagery, ideas to expand

2 responses

Michael Dean gave feedback Feb 11 at 6:15 p.m.

Matthew Beebe gave feedback Feb 10 at 12:44 a.m.

Tuesday | February 10th, 2026

FEB 10, 2026 | 12:33 p.m. ET

Christopher Coffman checked in for February 2026

Working on: "After great, super-insightful comments by Dolores and Michael I'm continuing to work on my Antigone essay."

Antigone is traditionally understood as the great heroine who acts on her private moral values and defies the State's laws, accepting death in order not to compromise what her conscience tells her to do. Now that women have become so prominent in politics and other key domains of modern society and the economy it's interesting to consider what is happening when women enforce the laws while the tradition of women claiming the right to break the laws in favour of their own individual consciences remains persists.

Monday | February 9th, 2026

FEB 9, 2026 | 7:00 p.m. ET

Christopher Coffman published "Towards a New Understanding of Being"

Rebuilding meaning based on a truth we all have experienced

JAN 25, 2026 | 8:03 p.m. ET

Elizabeth Edwards started "Hello Essay Club!"

Hi friends!I'm joining Essay Club from New York. I'm a working architectural designer, currently on ...

Introductions

4 comments

Shobhana Viswanathan commented Feb 9 at 4:45 p.m.

Yehudis Milchtein commented Jan 26 at 7:02 a.m.

andrew plainview commented Jan 25 at 10:39 p.m.

Michael Dean commented Jan 25 at 9:11 p.m.

JAN 26, 2026 | 6:55 a.m. ET

Yehudis Milchtein requested feedback on "Dayenu"

What can I add to the piece from a cultural perspective to achieve my goal?

5 responses