What is highbrowlowbrow?
Musings on culture, whether high-brow or low-brow. I wanted a fun space on the internet where I could discuss the latest New Yorker article that captivated me and the 11 billion-page romantasy best-seller that merited skipping all my social commitments over the weekend—so I created it.
I’ll occasionally opine on whether something is, in fact, high-brow or low-brow but for the most part labels don’t matter here. Some days we want to be intellectually challenged and other days we need a comforting read. I’m here for all of it and I hope you are as well.
Who is Tara Bañuelos?
I’m the person in your life who consumes way too much “content” (read: art). I’ve read the books (approximately 100/year), listened to the podcasts, and watched the shows.
I am also a person with eclectic taste. I probably have read the books on the Booker prize short-list but I definitely have read the book with unsupervised teens doing questionable things and I am happy to convince you to add it to your TBR.
I’m a recovering perfectionist, late-in-life adhd diagnosee, and burnout sufferer. This newsletter is a creative outlet aimed at treating said burnout. Like everyone else on the internet, I struggle with productivity and focus.
What can I expect from this newsletter?
With highbrowlowbrow, you can expect personal essays, reviews, and a culturally-focused, Dear Abbey-type post,* every so often. This is a newsletter about how art and culture are helping me (and maybe you?) cope with the demands of life.
*I would love to connect with readers and help solve their cultural conundrums. Can’t find a gripping podcast unrelated to true crime? Have nothing to stream with your partner after a long day of work because the Venn diagram of your shared interests keeps shrinking? Need assistance rising out of a persistent book slump? I’m your internet friend for all of that!
If you have one such cultural conundrum, please reach out to me via direct message on Substack or at tarabanuelos87@gmail.com.
If you’ve gotten this far, THANK YOU. I know the world is filled with words to read, and pictures to look at, I appreciate you visiting this very small patch of it.
This newsletter will only include affiliate links to bookshop.org (which supports independent bookstores and my ability to keep shopping at them). And for the foreseeable future, this newsletter will be completely free.
