Curated Reading: The text version of ANEW: Don’t Hold Anything Back is HERE.
Curated Listening: Listen to Tracy Chapman sing Fast Car HERE.
Supporting = Loving
Thank you for walking with ANEW — an invitation
ANEW
If you’ve been here for any length of time, you already know this space was never meant to be fast or loud. It is meant to be attentive. Reflective. Human.
ANEW is a place to think out loud about education, leadership, creativity, memory, and what it means to keep becoming—together. My hope is that something here has helped you feel more awake to your own thinking, your own work, your own becoming.
As a gesture of thanks—and as a way to sustain this work—I’m offering a limited-time special rate on a paid ANEW subscription for readers who want to go a little deeper.
Redeem your special offer here →
What a paid ANEW subscription supports and unlocks:
Subscriber-only video essays and talks — longer, more personal reflections I don’t publish publicly, released every fourth Wednesday of each month.
Full archive access — the complete ANEW body of work, including curated listening and audio pieces.
Founding Members — a signed, personalized copy of my forthcoming novel, MANCHILD AT YALE (Fall 2026).
There’s one more thing that matters to say plainly.
Half of all paid subscription revenue continues to be directed to charitable causes—particularly those focused on children, education, and community well-being. That commitment isn’t new. It’s part of why ANEW exists.
For this season, we are proudly supporting:
Montessori School of Englewood — Chicago, Illinois
DONATE NOW TO TMSOE →
The Montessori School of Englewood sits on Chicago’s South Side, in a neighborhood I know—not just by geography, but by memory, by story, by the quiet strength of community that doesn’t always make the headlines but always makes a way.
This is Montessori as it was meant to be.
Not as a luxury.
Not as a boutique option.
But as a birthright.
A public, tuition-free Montessori education rooted in the belief that every child—every child—deserves to be known, challenged, and trusted.
Here, children learn with their hands, their heads, and their hearts. They move at their own pace, guided by curiosity, grounded in community, and lifted by adults who believe deeply in their potential.
Your support helps make that real in tangible ways:
Early childhood classrooms that nurture independence and wonder
Experiences beyond the classroom that connect learning to the real world
Outdoor exploration that roots children in the natural world and in themselves
Student enrichment that expands what is possible
Teacher development that strengthens the adults who make all of this go
A growing FabLab—a space where imagination meets innovation
This is not theoretical work.
This is daily, lived transformation.
The Montessori School of Englewood is doing what education at its best has always been called to do:
remove barriers, restore dignity, and build the architects of tomorrow.
What this means for ANEW
Half of every paid ANEW subscription during this season will directly support the Montessori School of Englewood—its students, its teachers, and the community it serves.
Please know this:
Supporting ANEW always means supporting children at promise—
while sustaining the writing and extending its reach beyond the page.
If you’re already a paid subscriber, thank you. Truly. Your support makes this possible.
And if you’ve been reading quietly and wondering whether to step a little closer—
this is an open door.
With gratitude,
Brian
