Sunday Newsletter: No Kings

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Like millions of others, we at CatSynth attended our local No Kings protest. It was a beautiful day in San Francisco, and people were in a joyous and defiant mood. I made a short video with highlights from the march up Market Street.

In the midst of the march itself, it’s hard to get a sense of its magnitude – 50,000 people by most estimates.

And this was, of course, repeated in cities and towns across the country, and even in other parts of the world. It gives one a bit of hope in this very challenging and sometimes demoralizing time.

As happens every time I cover one of these protests for CatSynth TV, I get at least one person complaining about my “getting political” and unsubscribing/unfollowing in a huff. I always politely say that I’m sorry to see them go, and remind them that the channel (and the blog) have always delved into political and social causes when I think it’s important to do so. And in this moment, it’s really important that people with platforms that “aren’t political” participate. For every person who complains or leaves, I’ve received multiple positive and encouraging remarks. For example, someone who appreciated seeing a “synthfluencer” that wasn’t just bopping along like everything was OK, and taking the time and effort to bear witness and push back against the regime.

It’s also worth noting that so many people get their information on politics and shape their opinions through channels that aren’t overtly political. I think a lot of us on the liberal-to-leftist side lost track of that in the last few years. In particular, a lot of young men seem to be influenced by channels ostensibly about fitness, men’s health, sports, and the general “manosphere” world, which mixed in a bit of right-wing populism with their sports banter and promos for health supplements. I think a channel about cats, synthesizers, culture, etc., can potentially reach some people who aren’t enmeshed in politics more positively and progressively. Even if we don’t change anyone’s mind, it might get someone who shares our opinion off the sidelines and involved in a way that suits them. There is no one right way or right medium to stand up to this increasingly fascist regime.

Did you attend a No Kings event yesterday, or have you been involved in other actions or events? Please do let us know in the comments.

Feline drone chord and SOMA Lyra-8

I’ve been training my cat to play ambient music. Last night he hit me with this hauntingly beautiful chord change after 10 minutes of A7sus4

[image or embed]

— Jam2go (@jam2go.com) September 28, 2025 at 7:59 AM

A beautiful cat and a beautiful chord. From Jam2go via BlueSky.

The synth to the left of the cat is a SOMA Laboratory Lyra-8. The keyboard is left as an exercise to the reader.

Our First Sunday Newsletter

Also published to Substack.

It’s been a while since I’ve written an essay or such. It used to be a regular occurrence on the CatSynth blog. Between the photos, I wrote music and art reports, “fun with highways” articles, and the occasional opinion piece. Music, art, and highways all migrated to CatSynth TV, and slowly after that, writing dried up altogether, other than the year-end post and the occasional other short piece.

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I’ve wanted to reverse that trend for a while, as there are ideas that don’t lend themselves to videos, music, or the highly compressed bits of communication on social media. But writing always took a back seat to CatSynth TV, to music, and to living life in general.

So what is finally getting me off my tuchus, firing up the ancient Tandy m102 laptop and assembling these words that you are reading now? A few factors stand out. One, I am finally starting to observe free time amidst my usual busyness, given a few external commitments this month. Another is that I have started reading *How to Do Nothing* by Jenny Odell, and resonated with her thesis and examples on how to step back from the ever-toxic milieu we find ourselves in. And finally, there is the toxic milieu itself, which lends a sense of urgency to anything that resists it without running away from it entirely. I have my escapes, and we will talk plenty about them in the coming weeks and months. But for now, I think this is sufficient, being present in this moment outside on the patio at CatSynth HQ, typing on my cute little retro computer while my cat Sam Sam enjoys the cool, fresh air.

Please join me here on most Sundays for more wordy thoughts.

Suzy and Buddy spar over a Yamaha Keyboard

Suzy (black) and Buddy (red) spar as they sit atop a Yamaha Keyboard and Laney amplifier, respectively. Submitted by Erik Gibbels via our Facebook page.

Suzy (black) and Buddy (red) playing tag on my Laney amplifier and Yamaha keyboard. The keyboard is damaged on the outside because they managed to throw it down.

You can see Buddy’s previous appearance on CatSynth here.