Dan Moore, in The Bold Italic, on why the California wildfires feel more unsettling this time:

But it also feels worse because this fire season’s arrival feels somehow fitting, appropriately dystopic. Our hills burn as our institutions burn, under siege by a mad, tweeting king.

A friend who moved out of the Bay Area last year (too expensive, not enough space for the kids, schools are a disaster) texted me this week, checking in. My response? “We’re living through William Gibson’s jackpot. Good times.”