Wednesday, May 14, 2025
A clean, curated digest of what’s new, what’s weird, and what’s worth your time.
Mid-May: that hazy interval between Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, when the air smells like cut grass. Somewhere, someone is wearing seersucker too soon. And here at The American Bystander, we’ve been keeping ourselves busy with what we do best: odd little masterpieces that wouldn’t exist anywhere else. This week’s offerings include Keats with a SkyMiles account, a psychosexual jury duty fever dream, and a heartfelt ode to inbox fraud. It’s not news. It’s nourishment.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
📮 Dear Editors:
by Al Jean
Keats writes from Rome. He wants airline miles. Honestly, he’s earned them.
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⚖️ Jury Selection
by Simon Rich
A jury questionnaire spirals into something... darker. Did Flo from Progressive do it? What about the Six Flags guy? Why do we want to know so badly?
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📄 Possession of Documents (a spam poem)
by Jack Silbert
A poetic rendering of that email you always meant to delete. Sparse, suspicious, strangely moving.
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🎓 A Poem About Millennials
by Megan Koester
Some say the world will end in fire. Millennials say, “Best summer ever.” A perfect time capsule of delusion and debt.
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MAGAZINE NEWS
🗞️ Issue 30 Is Up for Preorder
It’s an issue you’ll want on your coffee table and your watch list. With world leaders on the covers and some of the best comedy writing in between, Issue 30 is now available for preorder.
Reserve your copy →
👜 Featured: Print Forever Tee & Tote
Designed by E.R. Flynn, our Print Forever collection features a small boy reading under a tree of books—gentle, strange, and almost certainly magical. Available in both tee and tote. Perfect for bookstores, farmers markets, and resisting the algorithmic tide.
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And the Tote →
🧰 Volunteer With Us
We're always looking for smart, capable readers who want to help keep the wheels of independent comedy turning. Editors, designers, spreadsheet whisperers—we see you.
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SUPPORT THE BYSTANDER
If you’ve ever sighed, “They don’t make them like they used to,” good news: we do. And we will—as long as readers like you keep us weird and solvent.
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