Hayden Donnell's Columns
I've put them all in one place, because I think they're really good
Hi,
I love it when Hayden writes here. He went to journalism school with me, and it annoys me how good a writer he is.
Hayden helped me on a lot of the Arise Church stuff — I literally could not have done that without him.
But Hayden also writes a lot of more ‘whimsical’ stuff here. Darkly whimsical.
This is stuff I send out to paying subscribers — as a “thank you” for supporting what I do here. Paradoxically and wonderfully, paying subscribers mean I can always keep the important, public interest journalism I do completely free.
With that in mind, I wanted to gather all his work in one place, so this is the page for it: webworm.co/p/hayden.
Please enjoy.
David.
Your Friends Should Be Close By
Hayden Donnell fantasises about living in a commune.
How Good Politicians Become Untrustworthy Turdgoblins
Trump may be a liar, but on a deeper level: he’s completely honest
Shouting Insults From Passing Cars
Why are we so quick to scream at others online?
The Futility of Punishment
We know hurting people doesn’t actually fix anything. We do it anyway.
Conservatives Are Scaredy Cats
“If there’s a unifying theme in these meltdowns, it’s their white-knuckled clinging to the past.”
Elon Musk, Bob Iger & Bill Gates: The Myth of the Self-Made Man
Why do the rich refuse to admit they just got lucky?
The Glossy Magazine That Catalogues Grim & Terrifying Deaths
The story behind That's Life! - one of the strangest magazines Webworm has ever seen.
Why are anti-vaxxers all anti-trans now?
The anti-vax coalition was adrift for a moment after Covid measures were dropped - but now it’s galvanised around genitals.
Bad News: ChatGPT Isn't Going to Take Our Jobs
Hayden writes on why we shouldn’t be worried about ChatGPT. Sort of. This is also available as a Webworm podcast.
The Culture War Con
The news played out in predictable fashion after The Telegraph revealed that some classic Roald Dahl books had been subject to “sensitivity” edits. Within four seconds of the story being published, every media outlet in Britain was cranking the handle on the machines in their newsrooms marked “culture war”.
Quiet Quitting Doesn't Exist & Never Did
There’s just one small issue with “quiet quitting”: there’s little to no evidence it’s a real thing.
The Con Men Are in Charge
The lie is the real product - and on social media, we’re all marks.
An Open Letter to Open Letters
A heartfelt letter to end all heartfelt letters.
A World Ruined by Confident Stupidity
Hayden argue the case for compulsory agnosticism.
There’s just too much
Hayden explains the painful fact that each new second is an assault on the senses, the mind, and the nature of reality itself.
How the fuck are you still alive?
Hayden explores the eternal quest for immortality.
The Bad Guys are Winning
Hayden writes on the schadenfreude of anti-vaxxer deaths.
As Webworm gets bigger (there are hundreds and hundreds of pieces here now), I want to make it easier for you to find old stuff from the archives. This is part of that.
So if you go to the main Webworm page — Webworm.co — you will find these little links over on the right to help.
You can see I’ve just added this page in for Hayden:
The App is another really good way to navigate the Webworm archives, and keep up with posts if you’re a heavy phone user.
You’ll always get my stuff via email first, but the App can be a nice way to read it.
Okay. Talk soon,
David.
Man this guy is good
Just read all these columns again and man they're good. Best thing on Webworm!!