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"Follow the Dopamine" ... w/ smart phones, addiction and recovery go far beyond drugs
My second conversation with Colorado drug counselor Stefan Bate, this one about the legal stuff served up to us with addictive intent: gambling apps…
Nov 19
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Sam Quinones
10
8
2
GOODWILL BOOK REVIEW: Our Hyper-potent, 24-Karat, Ultra-processed Time
And why I wrote "The Perfect Tuba," and just read "A Tale of Two Cities"
Nov 13
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Sam Quinones
6
4
A Cemetery of Flags on the Border
I was driving up the Rio Grande Valley one day in 2017 and saw all the flags flying in this cemetery. I stopped and made this....
Nov 11
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Sam Quinones
5
1
4
Tuba player Jim Self and the Liberation of Creativity
A grand tuba influence passes. And why I wrote The Perfect Tuba in the first place.
Nov 6
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Sam Quinones
8
2
5
Hyperpotent, ultraprocessed everything ... so much of the U.S. economy
Our economy of addiction shows how permitting legal, hyper-potent addictive stuff is doing the job on us better than any foreign enemy could.
Nov 6
•
Sam Quinones
11
1
7
Read earlier posts below -- and subscribe to my Dreamland newsletter here:
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THE MAIN THING
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A Cemetery of Flags on the Border
I was driving up the Rio Grande Valley one day in 2017 and saw all the flags flying in this cemetery. I stopped and made this....
Nov 11
•
Sam Quinones
5
1
4
Tuba player Jim Self and the Liberation of Creativity
A grand tuba influence passes. And why I wrote The Perfect Tuba in the first place.
Nov 6
•
Sam Quinones
8
2
5
Hyperpotent, ultraprocessed everything ... so much of the U.S. economy
Our economy of addiction shows how permitting legal, hyper-potent addictive stuff is doing the job on us better than any foreign enemy could.
Nov 6
•
Sam Quinones
11
1
7
What Happened on tiny Wilton Place
A quiet block of Hollywood was beset by what afflicts L.A. -- fentanyl, meth, mental illness, homeless encampments, and the search for affordable…
Oct 30
•
Sam Quinones
13
10
7
The tuba is about liberation ... & ... a tiny L.A. newspaper has a good week ...
investigating homelessness funding, nonprofit salaries, property deals ... But first some cool stuff about my latest book, THE PERFECT TUBA
Oct 17
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Sam Quinones
8
1
1
The Punk Rock of Book Promotion
Needed to promote THE PERFECT TUBA, about tuba players and band directors
Oct 10
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Sam Quinones
11
3
5
Out today, my next book: THE PERFECT TUBA
"A mind cleanse for our time" ... About tuba players, band directors, & finding love for something thru hard work & persistence — a love no drug can…
Sep 30
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Sam Quinones
18
7
3
One Woman Covers L.A.'s Westside in a Time of Fentanyl, Meth, Homelessness
Hyper-local, investigative reporting has allowed her Westside Current online newspaper to grow as readership at trad news outlets falls.
Sep 25
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Sam Quinones
15
1
2
The Perfect Tuba arrives home
My fifth book. About tuba players & band directors. About finding purpose & fulfillment from hard work, focus & postponed gratification in a world of…
Sep 18
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Sam Quinones
12
5
4
My Father's Poem for 9/11
Shanksville and the power of decency over fanaticism
Sep 11
•
Sam Quinones
18
11
4
Reading My Own Book Aloud: The Making of an Audio Book
I thought I knew how to read when I went in to record my next book for Audible.
Sep 1
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Sam Quinones
18
4
6
The saga of an L.A. shelter
Neighbors say a Bridge Home homeless shelter opened w/ promise but the city ignored that it became a magnet for crime/psychotic behavior as fentanyl…
Aug 13
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Sam Quinones
26
18
9
THE DREAMLAND PODCAST
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"Follow the Dopamine" ... w/ smart phones, addiction and recovery go far beyond drugs
My second conversation with Colorado drug counselor Stefan Bate, this one about the legal stuff served up to us with addictive intent: gambling apps…
Nov 19
•
Sam Quinones
10
8
2
One Landlord's Experience with `Housing First'
Any solution to homelessness, addiction and mental illness has to include small landlords, who are often unheard on the issue. Which is why I thought…
Sep 17
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Sam Quinones
7
3
4
The Mistakes of Legalization -- One Counselor's View
In Colorado, legal pot resembles what has happened to food, ultra processed into something bearing no resemblance to the original plant, designed…
Aug 28
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Sam Quinones
25
19
10
1313 Burpees and a Prison Hit - An Audio Tale
A California inmate narrates what led to his stabbing on a prison yard by his own gang, using shards of glass broken from a TV.
Aug 21
•
Sam Quinones
7
3
1
The Dreamland Podcast: A conversation with Joanna Sokol
Paramedic and now author of a great new memoir about life on an ambulance.
Jul 31
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Sam Quinones
6
3
2
ONE GREAT SONG ... and a story behind it.
View all
"Kol Nidrei" - Max Bruch
On Yom Kippur, a beautiful piece written by a Protestant
Oct 3
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Sam Quinones
10
4
2
Here Comes That Rainbow Again - Kris Kristofferson
For my One Great Song column, a collaboration between a great American songwriter and a great American writer, who was "dead at the time."
Sep 4
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Sam Quinones
6
2
"Sweet Leaf" - Black Sabbath (Master of Reality)
On my ONE GREAT SONG column, a fond R.I.P. to Ozzy Osbourne
Jul 22
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Sam Quinones
18
7
1
"Going to New York" - Jimmy Reed
After hearing this, "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" just didn't get it done any more.
Jun 10
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Sam Quinones
4
2
1
"Smoking Gun" - Robert Cray
I'm thrilled to welcome this ONE GREAT SONG from Larry Sloven, co-owner of Oakland's HighTone Records, one of the great roots-music labels in its time.
May 14
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Sam Quinones
5
4
GOODWILL BOOK REVIEWS ... of books I find at Goodwill Outlets
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GOODWILL BOOK REVIEW: Our Hyper-potent, 24-Karat, Ultra-processed Time
And why I wrote "The Perfect Tuba," and just read "A Tale of Two Cities"
Nov 13
•
Sam Quinones
6
4
The Grapes of Wrath and California's Promise
I'm re-reading the novel, found in a Goodwill Outlet, and it reminded me of the state's greatness and whether it can endure
Sep 4
•
Sam Quinones
13
7
2
The Beautiful Literary Love Story of Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How an ill, shut-in Victorian poet found freedom and love through poetry.
Aug 20
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Sam Quinones
12
5
2
Goodwill Book Review*: Hopper
A book of paintings of our isolation by Edward Hopper, one of America's great 20th Century artists
Aug 8
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Sam Quinones
11
11
3
Talking Crime Reporting, Walking the Tenderloin
Wayward burglary suspects, Hondurans, fentanyl, and storytelling -- as I review a mystery novel, while walking the Tenderloin neighborhood in San…
Jun 4
•
Sam Quinones
14
2
4
18:45
TELL YOUR TRUE TALE ... stories from my East LA writing workshop, 2013-18
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A Walk up the Street
One youth's coming of age tale -- up the street through the neighborhood
Jul 16
•
Sam Quinones
2
2
Two Trips Home
On Memorial Day, one family's story
May 26
9
2
4
Bringing Luz
A woman spends a lifetime looking for her children, so does the author.
Apr 25
3
7
3
Brushes Were Forbidden
An almost-blind Czech kid navigates Soviet communism
Feb 25
2
Rosa
The rise then disappearance of a village drug queen.
Feb 4
2
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