Circles In Space

As I wrote last month, I’ve been into David Grann’s writing lately. After listening to Grann speak with How I Write I finally sat down and started reading The Wager. I posted about the book back in 2023 and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since! I can happily report that I’m about 50 pages from finishing and, boy, is it a wild ride. Shipwreck, disease, mutiny, storms - just about everything went wrong on this doomed voyage. But Grann, talented writer that he is, keeps it lean; this isn’t a dense book at all and worth a read if you enjoy epic sea tales.
Check out this month’s playlist! It’s a bit of everything, and inspired by ’s deep dive into The Beatles tune “I Feel Fine”.
If you can’t tell from the playlist, I’ve been rewatching The Wire. Season 1 is better than I remember. The writing is excellent. Maybe the best crime drama series out there? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. But now I’m slogging through Season 2 and it feels like a different show, a shell of the magic that made Season 1 so great.
The New Yorker war correspondent Luke Mogelson is one of my favorite writers today but he hasn’t published anything (that I can find) in about two years. So while I anxiously await whatever Mogelson’s been secretly working on, I listened to his conversation with the Longform podcast. Mogelson describes his writing like photography, accurately capturing what’s occurring without coloring the details. In fact, he says he tries to go to places where there aren’t many journalists, and prefers to set up right behind a photographer.
Before Rodgers and Hammerstein, there was Rodgers and Hart. Ethan Hawk plays lyricist Lorenz Hart in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon. The entire film takes place in one evening at Sardi’s following opening night of Oklahoma!. Hawk is captivating as the creative, depressed, and alcoholic Hart.

What captured your interest this month? Email me by hitting reply or by leaving a comment below.

Have a great weekend,

Keith

From The Archive: 3.13.26

Keith Walpole — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:23:04 GMT

Hi Friends -

Happy Friday! In case you missed last week’s post, I’m taking a short sabbatical. So this week I thought it’d be fun to revisit three posts from my archive.

At the beginning of last year I was reading and writing about intrepid explorer Ernest Shackleton. The frigid New York winter definitely added to the experience of reading about the trials Shackleton’s men encountered on their expedition to cross Antarctica. First I read Mensun Bound’s book about locating Shackleton’s shipwreck and followed that up by re-reading Alfred Lansing’s classic Endurance. I wrote two essays on these books by using a three-step system to turn my notes into essays.

When I wrote about two books I read on Shackleton’s Endurance expedition, I reviewed what I’d learned, took notes, and shaped my notes into an essay. Here's my three step process for turning your book notes into essays.","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"How To Take Notes On What You Read","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a paralegal by day, writer by night. Creator of Circles In Space newsletter.","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-03-18T20:53:30.507Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ksCs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5d32ed25-b019-4b14-bc38-1493caa30e0b_3024x3024.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/how-i-take-notes","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":159341484,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":0,"comment_count":0,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":false,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

What’s capturing your attention this week?

My 1950s Royal typewriter.

Have a great weekend,

Keith

Updates 3.6.26

Keith Walpole — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 14:50:34 GMT

Hi Friends -

Happy Friday!

I was planning to post my usual Five Bullets this week but I realized I needed to re-focus and find balance.

I started a new role at my day job and it’s taking more time and energy right now. For the time being, if I continue writing weekly I won’t be giving my writing or my new role the attention they both deserve. So it’s time for a change. (Just in time for Spring!)

I will keep writing but I need to vary the frequency. That may mean posting bi-weekly or on another day of the week.

Five Bullets will continue but maybe as a monthly roundup rather than weekly.

I believe a new schedule will also open up my time to post a variety of writing, like blogs, short stories, and deep-dives, and more zines and other experiments that I’ve wanted to try, instead of the same format every week.

I started this newsletter four years ago on a whim with zero expectations. Since then it’s grown into a community of thinkers, readers, listeners, and observers that I’m incredibly proud and excited to collaborate with and write for every week. A sincere thank you for all of your support!

As always, please let me know what you think or what you’d like to see going forward.

Follow me on Substack Notes where I post short ideas, music, and more.

Check out my archive below where you’ll find Five Bullets and deep dives on books, music, history and more:

I’m excited for this new chapter of Circles In Space and I’ll be sure to keep you updated on things!

Thanks again, and have a great weekend!

Keith

Five Bullets 2.27.26: February Roundup

Keith Walpole — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 12:36:44 GMT

Hi Friends -

Happy Friday! We’ve reached the end of the month which means it’s time to reflect on what we’ve learned, read, seen, and heard. Here’s what captured my interest this February:

Five quotes from this month:
- “I am able to take a wire and go into the air and define the air without stealing it from anyone.“ - Ruth Asawa.
- “To love is good: love being difficult. For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.” - Rainer Maria Rilke
- “Unity and kindness begin within each of us and can radiate outward to families, communities, and society as a whole.” - Bhikkhu Pannakara
- “The world is such a complicated place to be in. I think art gives you this kind of weapon for attempting to understand some of that profundity.” - Megan Rooney.
- “She bought me an expensive, illustrated edition of Moby Dick, took me to dinner in a good restaurant, and then ushered me along to a performance of Boris Godunov at the Met.” - from The New York Trilogy.
In case you missed it, here are this month’s Five Bullets:
The ‘Best Of’ this month:
- Books: The New York Trilogy and Sherlock Holmes novel A Study In Scarlet.
- Music: Check out my February playlist.
- Movies: I rewatched Sinners for the first time since I’d seen it in theaters and loved every minute of it again.
- Shows: Gary Oldman is excellent in quirky spy thriller Slow Horses, adapted from Mick Herron’s novels.
Author David Grann spoke with the Criminal podcast about how a detective investigating a murder case found clues written in the suspect’s book. Grann covers this story and more in his true crime book The Devil and Sherlock Holmes.
And lastly, keep an eye out for this weekend’s planetary alignment!

What captured your interest this month? Email me by hitting reply or by leaving a comment below.

Have a great weekend,

Keith

Five Bullets 2.20.26: Sherlocked

Keith Walpole — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 13:49:19 GMT

Hi Friends -

Happy Friday! Here’s what’s capturing my interest this week:

Benedict Cumberbatch & Martin Freeman from the Sherlock TV series. © BBC

Rewatching the BBC’s Sherlock series finally convinced me to read the first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study In Scarlet, published in 1887 by Arthur Conan Doyle. With all the detective novels I’ve read recently, I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to get to the world’s greatest detective! Holmes was influenced by Edgar Allen Poe’s detective C. Auguste Dupin from the short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue, which Doyle references in the first few pages. The BBC series brings Holmes into the 21st-century with modern versions of Doyle’s classics, but if you’re interested in Sherlock Holmes, there’s no better place to begin than the book that started it all.
Vinyl music lovers: when was the last time you changed your turntable’s stylus? I noticed my records sounded distorted in the high frequencies. I hadn’t changed the stylus since I bought the turntable years ago, so I figured it was time for an upgrade. What a difference! My records sound better than ever with more depth and clarity than before. As a rule of thumb, the manual for my turntable (I’ve got the ATLP120) recommends replacing the stylus every 300 hours of use. And of course, I checked out the new needle with Lettuce’s Cook.
For Valentines’ Day last weekend, I shared one of my favorite love songs, John Coltrane’s Naima. While doing some research on the tune, I found a poem by photojournalist and organizer Kwame Braithwaite titled Naima for John Coltrane. Braithwaite founded the artist collective African Jazz-Art Society & Studios (AJASS) which included jazz drummer Max Roach and vocalist Abbey Lincoln.
Actor Robert Duvall passed away this week. Among his iconic roles is one of my favorite movie characters Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. Duvall’s on-screen for just over 10 minutes but his performance is magnetic. Kilgore completely encapsulates everything gone wrong during America’s role in the Vietnam War and it’s hard to imagine another actor bringing this character to life. Here’s Duvall on playing Kilgore.
Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling on where ideas come from:
“Ideas come from the earth, they come from every human experience that you either witness or have heard about, translated into your brain in your own sense of dialogue, in your own language form. Ideas are born from what is smelled, heard, seen, experienced, felt, emotionalized. Ideas are probably in the air, like little tiny items of ozone.”
Serling says ideas are the easiest thing on earth to come up with but the hardest part is just getting them down.

What’s capturing your interest this week? Email me by hitting reply or by leaving a comment below.

Have a great weekend,

Keith

Five Bullets 2.13.26: Love Is Too Strong

Keith Walpole — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 14:42:44 GMT

Hi Friends -

Happy Friday! Here’s what’s capturing my interest this week:

Read a snippet from City of Glass.

This week I’m reading Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy, a collection of (sort-of) detective stories which contain all the elements of great writing Auster spoke about in this interview. On the face they seem like simple mysteries but engage with some deep topics. The stories have a rhythm and space to them which I really enjoy. Each story also delves into writing and reading which makes me wonder how much Auster was writing about himself (there’s even a character named Paul Auster). I read that he wrote City of Glass after receiving phone calls from people trying to reach a man named Quinn, making Auster wonder, ‘What if?’
I heard Parliament’s Flashlight blasting over the sound system at 9:30am while shopping this week. I always loved this tune, especially Bernie Worrell’s funky bassline, so I couldn’t help but dance and nod my head in the aisle. When I got home I found out that funk mastermind George Clinton stole the song’s melody from his friend’s Bar Mitzvah!

“The world is such a complicated place to be in. I think art gives you this kind of weapon for attempting to understand some of that profundity.” Megan Rooney’s paintings capture a sense of movement and depth in the city around her. In fact, you can see Rooney dancing around the canvas as she creates, translating the movement she observes into her paintings.
On Sunday February 13, 2000 the last Peanuts comic strip was published following creator Charles Schultz’s passing the day before. Back in December, I wrote about when Charlie Brown Christmas premiered on television.
From 1903 to 1908 poet Rainer Maria Rilke kept up correspondence with an aspiring poet. Rilke’s responses to the young man, compiled in Letters To A Young Poet, give us Rilke’s roadmap for the artistic soul: to feel deeply, to consider with patience, to write only if you truly must. Among Rilke’s words that have stuck with me are those on love:
“To love is good: love being difficult. For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.”

What’s capturing your interest this week? Email me by hitting reply or by leaving a comment below.

Spread some love this weekend! ❤️

Keith

Five Bullets 2.6.26: Peaceful Creations

Keith Walpole — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 14:07:12 GMT

Hi Friends -

Happy Friday! Here’s what’s capturing my interest this week:

Ruth Asawa, 1957. Source.

“When you put a seed in the ground, the ground doesn’t say, ‘Well, eight hours, I’m gonna stop growing.’ You put it in the soil, that bulb grows every second that it’s attached to the earth. That’s why I think that every minute that we’re attached to this earth, we should be doing something.“ Ruth Asawa brought creativity to every moment of her life, whether crafting looped-wire sculptures, drawing and painting or making murals with her young students. She believed that there is no separation between art and living and her work reflects her curiosity to learn, grow and experiment. This weekend is the last chance to see Asawa’s MOMA retrospective. Watch How To See for a short primer.
On February 28th, a rare “planetary parade” will occur with Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter visible in the night sky. You’ll need a telescope to view Uranus and Neptune but the other planets should be visible if you look west after sunset on the 28th. Here’s this year’s astronomical events.
The planets must certainly be in alignment because one of my favorite bands jazz-funk organ trio Soulive released Flowers, their first full-length album in 15 years! The trio recorded the album at Iceland’s Floki Studios and the remote location must have added some musical magic because the band builds on their original chemistry with heavier, psychedelic sounds. I’ll be writing an album review soon!
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced earlier this week that the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building cupola will be opening to the public. The Beaux-Arts style building at 1 Centre Street opened in 1914 and is one of the world’s largest government buildings in the world. The observation deck is the first to be opened by the City since the 1965 World’s Fair.
Two dozen Buddhist monks who set out to walk from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, D.C. will arrive in the Capitol on Tuesday. The Walk For Peace has covered 2,300 miles in 10 states and hopes to “to remind Americans that peace is not a destination—it is a practice.” Texas, where the monks are establishing a new Buddhist center, is home to over 1 million Buddhists from across the world. Spiritual leader Bhikkhu Pannakara said “unity and kindness begin within each of us and can radiate outward to families, communities, and society as a whole.”

What’s capturing your interest this week? Email me by hitting reply or by leaving a comment below.

Have a great weekend,

Keith

Five Bullets 1.30.26: January Roundup

Keith Walpole — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 13:52:19 GMT

Hi Friends -

Happy Friday! We’ve reached the end of the month which means it’s a chance to reflect on the month past and the month ahead. Here’s what captured my attention this January:

This week I discovered the Proust Questionnaire, a series of questions designed to reveal your true personality, made famous by writer Marcel Proust. The questions are interesting so I thought I’d give it a shot. Here are my answers to 35 Questions: The Proust Questionnaire.
Earlier this month I wrote about my 50 Favorite Things From Last Year. If you’re hoping to read more this year, I shared my 10 Ways To Love Reading. And because we’re in a new era and transparency is essential, I defined my Circles In Space AI Policy.
In case you missed it, here are this month’s Five Bullets:
The ‘Best Of’ this month:
- Books: Dylan Goes Electric by Elijah Wald.
- Music: Check out my January playlist.
- Movies: Seymour Hersh documentary Cover-Up.
- Shows: Severance lives up to the hype. Writer Dan Erickson said he wrote it during his corporate job lunch breaks.
And lastly, some good news to close out the month: Indonesia banned elephant rides. The elephant riding industry causes harm and trauma to these intelligent creatures and the ban is a historic victory for animal rights.

Borrowing from the Proust Questionnaire, what was your greatest achievement this month? Email me by hitting reply or by leaving a comment below.

Have a great weekend,

Keith

35 Questions: The Proust Questionnaire

Keith Walpole — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:38:02 GMT

I was reading a copy of Vanity Fair recently and noticed a short celebrity interview on the back page. This series of questions designed to reveal your true personality is known as the Proust Questionnaire, made famous by Marcel Proust though he didn’t create it. The questions are interesting so I thought it’d be fun to take a crack at it and share my answers:

Marcel Proust’s answers.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Reading outside for hours as the day moves by slowly.
What is your greatest fear? Something terrible happening to my loved ones.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Laziness.
What is the trait you most deplore in others? Dishonesty.
Which living person do you most admire? Paul McCartney.
What is your greatest extravagance? Travelling.
What is your current state of mind? Calm and focused.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Faith.
On what occasion do you lie? When I might hurt someone’s feelings.
What do you most dislike about your appearance? I don’t dislike anything in particular except how I might be perceived by others.
Which living person do you most despise? I don’t despise anyone but there are some I strongly dislike.
What is the quality you most like in a man? Creativity.
What is the quality you most like in a woman? Creativity.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse? ‘Cool’ and ‘man’.
What or who is the greatest love of your life? My partner Vanessa.
When and where were you happiest? Telling stories and laughing with family and friends or seeing a great concert.
Which talent would you most like to have? I always wanted to invent something.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I’d like to be smarter!
What do you consider your greatest achievement? Finally becoming a writer because I enjoy it and will be writing for the rest of my life.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? A tree.
Where would you most like to live? Near a lake and mountains in New York’s Hudson Valley or Catskill region.
What is your most treasured possession? My journal.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? War.
What is your favorite occupation? Musician.
What is your most marked characteristic? My powers of observation.
What do you most value in your friends? Positivity.
Who are your favorite writers? John Steinbeck, John Jeremiah Sullivan and Joan Didion.
Who is your hero of fiction? Captain Nemo from Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
Which historical figure do you most identify with? I’m not sure.
Who are your heroes in real life? Everyday people who are kind and help others.
What are your favorite names? William, Mary, John and Marian, my grandparents’ names.
What is it that you most dislike? Close-mindedness.
What is your greatest regret? That it took me so long to start writing.
How would you like to die? At home, peacefully, with family.
What is your motto? Fare Quae Sentiat, which means, “Say what one feels.”

Have you answered the questionnaire? Leave your thoughts below!

Until next time,

Keith

Five Bullets 1.23.26: Searching for New Land

Keith Walpole — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 13:26:48 GMT

Hi Friends -

Happy Friday! Here’s what’s capturing my attention this week:

Lee Morgan 1970. Photo by Gai Terrell

I want to be transparent so I wrote the Circles In Space AI Policy. This newsletter will always remain human-generated but I’ve used AI before to craft headlines, generate SEO tags, and create images. Thus, the policy to clear things up.
Just a few months after recording his classic album The Sidewinder, trumpeter Lee Morgan returned to Van Gelder Studio in February 1964 backed by a lineup of Blue Note’s heavy hitters to record Search For The New Land. I’ve been spinning this album on repeat and it reminds me of Coltrane’s music, exploring both in and out, rather than the brash trumpet Morgan is known for. My favorites are the title track and Mr. Kenyatta, named for Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president after it’s independence from the British empire.
You can’t beat used bookstores! I found a like-new copy of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle for less than $3 last weekend. Jack London called it the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin of wage slavery.” Sinclair went undercover to expose the poor working conditions of the meat-packing industry which led to the Meat Inspection Act.
Over the holiday weekend I updated my personal website and reflected on my experiences writing online. I started blogging there a few years back and those posts became this newsletter but since coming to Substack I’ve struggled with how to use the website. I think I’m going to write pieces there which don’t exactly fit here. It’s always been a place where I can experiment freely.
Art opens my mind to new ways of thinking, like this interview with German artist Anselm Kiefer. I’m also checking out The Sketchbook Library, which shows the limitless creative possibilities in a single book: comics, drawings, watercolor, stories, photos and more.

What are you creating this week? Email me by hitting reply or by leaving a comment below.

Thanks for reading Circles In Space. Please consider subscribing or by supporting to keep the newsletter up and running.

Have a great weekend,

Keith

Circles In Space AI Policy

Keith Walpole — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 19:02:40 GMT

Hi Friends,

I want to be transparent so I wrote a policy clarifying my AI use and what you can expect to see here at Circles In Space.

First things first: Circles In Space will always remain a human-generated newsletter, written by me. But I’ve used AI in the past to craft headlines, generate SEO tags, and create images. Thus, this policy to clear things up.

Back in 2024 I became interested in using AI tools in my personal and professional pursuits. I spent the better part of last year testing and experimenting with ChatGPT at home and Copilot at work. I have a basic understanding of how large language models work plus their strengths and weaknesses.

I now have a clearer vision of what I can expect from these tools and how I will or will not use them for this newsletter. I think it’s more important than ever before to reinforce and clearly express my thoughts on my AI use and to be open about it.

AI is a tool but it can also be a shortcut that replaces real learning and understanding. These ethics are at the heart of why I started Circles In Space.

Keep reading below for the policy.

Using a 70 year old typewriter to write this new age manifesto was fun.

Circles In Space AI Policy

Circles In Space is a newsletter written by Keith Walpole.

Purpose: To set forth the parameters of AI usage as it pertains to this newsletter.

This policy covers the following AI tools: chatbots, transcription, & image generators.

Note: At the time of publishing, I have not used any other AI apps for the purposes of this newsletter and will update this policy if that changes.

In an effort to maintain transparency and promote the ethics of openness, clarity, learning and development embodied in this newsletter, I hereby state the following:

I Will Not Use AI For:

Writing.
I started this newsletter to engage my curiosity, to learn, and to practice writing. Outsourcing the actual writing, even a word, line or headline, defeats that purpose. While I’ve used AI in the past to craft headlines, going forward I will not use AI in any shape or form to write any part of this newsletter. Also, a chatbot can simply regurgitate someone else’s ideas.
Research.
Researching is my favorite part of writing. I enjoy scouring the internet, books, movies, and music to find the information I need. Using AI for research robs me of this essential learning experience.
Content ideas.
I’ve tried using AI to brainstorm content ideas before but I haven’t used even one idea. That goes against the purpose of Circles In Space which is to highlight the cyclical nature of our lives, so my content should come naturally and not from AI.
Images.
I’ve used AI to create images in the past but only when I was going for an AI ‘look’ back when it was a novelty. Now, image generation far exceeds those images and it’s becoming difficult to tell what’s real and what’s not. That’s why you’ll never see an AI image used here going forward. I create all images in Canva.

I Will Only Use AI For:

Strategy.
I’m a one-man show so I use ChatGPT to brainstorm strategy about how to reach more people. I’m not really a business-minded person and AI can be useful for highlighting areas I can improve on. But my goal is to share ideas and creativity rather than to be the biggest newsletter on Substack.

SEO tags.
I realized last last year I should be using SEO tags effectively to attract new readers. So while I’m learning SEO, I use ChatGPT to help identify tags for my posts. Once I’ve learned how to do this I won’t need AI assistance.

Upskilling.
I absolutely love asking AI questions like, “How do I embed a Substack post on my website?” AI does this really well, giving clear, accurate instructions and it’s helped me immensely.
Transcription.
Two tools which save me tons of time: Apple Notes and Descript. I use Notes to grab text from photos and to transcribe audio recordings. I use Descript when I need more robust audio transcription.

With this policy, I set forth the parameters of AI use for Circles In Space. I acknowledge that such tools can sacrifice learning and growth for ‘efficiency’ which is in direct contrast of the purpose of this newsletter which has and will always be to promote and share curiosity, creativity, learning, and deep engagement with facts, ideas, and the world.

Thereby, as stated above, I will not use AI for writing, research, content ideas or generating images, and limit use to those circumstances indicated above.

Keith Walpole

01.22.2026

That’s the Circles In Space AI Policy.

Clear, transparent, and in line with the ethics and ideas I embody with this newsletter. I’ve made this policy as comprehensive as I can. I don’t see it changing for the time being but I will continue experimenting and update accordingly.

There’s other considerations to take into account when using AI too, like it’s impact on the environment. But often the discourse around AI is very doom-and-gloom and while that may be true in the not-so-distant future, I don’t think it’s productive at the moment. I view AI like any other tool; what matters is the intention behind it.

My hope is you’ll continue reading this newsletter because you value curiosity, creativity, learning, and engaging with facts and ideas. You love books, music, movies, and history. I love these things too, I love learning about them, and sharing them!

As always, please let me know if you have any questions, thoughts or concerns.

Until next time,

Keith

Thanks for reading. If you value Circles In Space, please consider subscribing or by offering your support below.

“Jack Straw” lyrics, one of my favorite Grateful Dead tunes.

Five Bullets 1.16.26: Jack Straw from Wichita

Keith Walpole — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 13:52:38 GMT

Hi Friends -

Happy Friday! Here’s what’s capturing my attention this week:

This Monday January 19th we remember the life and legacy of civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. During the 1963 March on Washington, King delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech which you can read and listen to here or watch here.
Founding member and guitarist of the Grateful Dead Bob Weir passed away. If there’s one thing that Bob and the Dead shared with us it’s that music has the power to heal and to give a reprieve from the craziness going on in the world. If you haven’t seen it, check out the documentary The Other One: The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir.
A continuous humming sound has been heard below the streets of Times Square since 1977. The permanent sound art installation by Max Neuhaus is located below an MTA subway grate at the intersection of 45th and 46th street.
Neuhaus connected a sound generator to a nearby street lamp for power allowing the device to emit a droning hum amid the hustle and bustle above. Neuhaus became interested in sound art after studying percussion with Gene Krupa and performing John Cage pieces.
Youtube journalist Johnny Harris sat down with David Perrel to talk writing and storytelling. In his videos Harris discusses complex topics with deep research and engaging curiosity that makes the information relatable. Harris shares his pillars of Youtube writing, his influences, and what makes for good storytelling. Check out Harris’s explainer on Why Everyone Suddenly Wants Greenland.
Once upon a time I barely read any books but there was always that voice telling me to read more. Then I started reading books I liked and got hooked. I wrote about 10 Ways To Love Reading to help you read more books this year!

What are you reading, hearing and seeing this week? Email me by hitting reply or by leaving a comment below.

Thanks for reading! Please consider subscribing or by supporting Circles In Space below to keep the newsletter up and running.

Have a great weekend,

-Keith

10 Ways To Love Reading

Keith Walpole — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 15:09:17 GMT

Do you want to read more but don’t have the time? Or haven’t found a book that really grabs you?

40 percent of Americans didn’t read even one book in 2025. And only 27 percent read 1 to 4 books.

I was once in your shoes. I read at school because I had to but it wasn’t until I found books I actually liked that I became a reader.

Then eight years ago I made reading a daily habit. Reading everyday keeps my brain engaged, enriches my life, and grounds me. Reading is an essential part of who I am.

Last year I hit a new personal best of reading over 25 books. That’s low for some but for me reading still takes planning and work. Nothing worth doing is ever easy but at least we can make it fun!

That’s why I’m going to help you fall in love with reading.

10 Ways To Love Reading:

Read what you like. Don’t read what you think you should read or what everyone else is reading. Try a few books and stop reading if it doesn’t interest you. Keep experimenting until you find a book you can’t put down. Often I don’t know if I like a book until I read about 100 pages. Austin Kleon says, “Don’t read books you don’t like!”
Read everyday. To build a new habit or routine you need to do it every day. Set time aside to read even if it’s for 15 minutes. Use a timer. Small daily increments add up over time. But read at your own pace!
Read everywhere. Always have a book with you. Read between meetings, on the subway, and during your lunch break. Replace scrolling on your phone with reading. Replace watching TV with reading. Try audiobooks and ebooks.
Keep books around. Having lots of books around means you’ve got plenty to choose from and also serves as a not-so-subtle reminder to keep reading. I’ve got a stack of unread books on my shelf which means I’m always reading.
Keep a list. Hold yourself accountable. If you keep a list or calendar of your reading activity you’ll be less likely to skip a day. I also keep a list of the books I’ve read each year.
Take notes. This isn’t essential but I think if you really love reading you’ll get more out of it if you take notes. Taking notes helps you figure out what you like to read and want to read next. Don’t be afraid to write in your books! Underline quotes. Dog-ear important pages. Write down words to look up in the dictionary. Write a summary of what you liked and didn’t like.
Re-read books. Get more out of your favorite books by re-reading them. Re-read books you’re interested in but didn’t completely ‘get’ on the first read. You might find that the meaning or significance of a book changes with each re-read.
Invest in yourself. Ryan Holiday says that books are the best investment you can make in yourself. You can change your life for less than $20!
Apply what you’ve read. Books open our hearts and minds. They can help us understand our world, each other and ourselves. Whether you’re reading fiction or non-fiction, apply the lessons you’ve learned from reading in your own life.
Join a book club, write a newsletter, or start a podcast. Sharing books makes reading more fun! Talk about your favorite books. Gift family and friends book you like. Get excited about books!

What tips help you read? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below or shoot me an email.

I love when a book grabs me and I can’t put it down. At first I struggled to get through Moby-Dick but then I got hooked. Sometimes you have to put in the time before a book reveals itself to you.

And sometimes a book might not be right for you in the moment but years later it finally connects which is why it’s helpful to try a book then move on if it doesn’t catch.

I guarantee you’ll read more if you follow these steps. You’ll get addicted, enrich your life, learn more, and be curious, interested and engaged.

And you’ll be a better person. Not just because you’re reading but because you’re listening to that part of your soul that wants to read!

Thanks for reading. Please consider subscribing or support Circles In Space below.

Happy Reading!

-Keith

Five Bullets 1.9.26: Fresh Folk Reinvention

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 13:29:16 GMT

Hi Friends!

I’m discovering this week that the clean slate of a New Year is inspiring my return to all things authentic and original. In recent years, that’s manifested as listening to lots of folk music! Here’s what’s capturing my attention:

Joan Baez & Bob Dylan at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. © Everett Collection

I made a list of my 50 Favorite Things From Last Year. Now that I’ve finished my last end-of-2025 post (I promise!), I’m writing resolutions and excited for new possibilities. I can’t remember where I read this but it’s always helpful to have something on your to-do list that’s already completed and crossed off, that way it seems more manageable.
For the price of a song, you can grab my worksheet! It’s perfect for focusing your 2026 resolutions, goals and projects onto a single page.

Buy the Worksheet
I’m reading Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric, the book that inspired Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. I’m learning about the early 60’s folk scene leading up to Dylan’s “electric apotheosis” at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. You can watch that milestone moment here. The thing I’m finding most interesting is how Dylan reinvents himself, starting out as a rock-n-roller, becoming a folk singer and songwriter, then back to a rocker, and on and on. Future post on the book plus a playlist coming soon!
While reading Dylan Goes Electric and listening to traditional folk artists, I’m digging back into the music of Willie Watson, one of my favorite ‘new’ folk musicians. I kept his first two CDs in my car. I love the space on these recordings and Willie’s heartfelt delivery so I ordered Folksinger Vol. 2 on vinyl to listen at home. Check out the original versions of those songs here.
Because sometimes old things are new and new things are old, I looked through my archives to see what I wrote about this week in years past. In true Circles In Space form, I wrote about folk musician Elizabeth Cotten in 2023 and Woody Guthrie’s New Year’s Rulins in 2024. Maybe if I hadn’t heard Willie Watson, or read about Elizabeth Cotten, the Seegers and Woody Guthrie, or watched A Complete Unknown, I might not have picked up Wald’s book. The circle continues!

What are you returning to or reinventing this week? Email me by hitting reply or by leaving a comment below.

Thanks for reading. Please consider supporting Circles In Space by subscribing or helping me keep the newsletter up and running.

See you next Friday!

-Keith

50 Favorite Things From Last Year 2025

Keith Walpole — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 14:03:27 GMT

Hi Friends,

Here’s 50 of my favorite things from last year:

Celebrating the New Year in beautiful Puerto Rico with V.
Walks along the river and in my neighborhood, watching sunrises and sunsets and the changing seasons.
Being a tourist in my own city by exploring the Highline and lower Manhattan during the winter months.
Celebrating birthdays and holidays with family and friends.
Seeing Becoming Led Zeppelin and The Grateful Dead Movie in IMAX.
Art gallery walks and Nom Wah dumplings with V.
Visiting my grandpa’s place upstate for the last time after his passing in December 2024. The unexpected snow made everything peaceful.
Running errands in downtown Brooklyn then walking to Brooklyn Bridge Park and taking the ferry on a brisk April day.
Solo hiking in Harriman State Park and having lunch by the lake.
Seeing Nils Frahm perform at the Kings Theatre. (My phone rang during a particularly quiet part of the set!)
More concerts! Mark Guiliana, Galactic, Budos Band, Lettuce, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Dumpstaphunk, Makaya McCraven, John Scofield, Robert Glasper, and LCD Soundsystem.
Camping and hiking with E on a beautiful May weekend in Fahnestock State Park.
Visiting the Transit Museum with my parents.
Movie club nights with friends. Some favorites: Prince of the City, The Seventh Seal, Moby-Dick, Sweet Smell of Success, The Verdict, and Gaslight.
Practicing the drums!
Walking Riverside Park with E and getting caught in the rain at Grant’s Tomb.
Taking a two-day writing workshop at Center For Fiction.
Writing short stories and fiction.
Helping Dad rebuild his screened-in patio.
Making my first zine to celebrate the third anniversary of the newsletter!
Seeing Photoville’s annual festival under the Brooklyn Bridge.
Standing in the front row at Lettuce’s Coney Island Amphitheater show.
Photographing tugboats, sailboats and ferries on the East River.
Making music with E and walks in Central Park.
Getting a new car but missing my old car’s CD player.
Visiting Half Moon Bay for a friends wedding. Early morning runs along the foggy bay. New experiences with friends.
Getting an 8-week old orange cat we named Tony!
My friend’s documentary screening at Rooftop Festival in Greenwood Cemetery.
Summer rooftop barbecues at E & C’s place.
Recording tunes with friends.
Visiting Storm King Art Center on a warm summer day and taking photos of the sculptures.
Visiting family in Sacramento then driving to spend a week in Lake Tahoe with more family. Hiking, walking, swimming, eating, watching sunsets, and soaking in the hot tub.
Summer reads! Especially Blood Meridian and The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Re-reading Endurance and Travels With Charley.
Seeing an enormous amount of art at The Armory Show.
Watching my buddy’s rock band perform.
Beach trips to Jacob Riis Park.
More restaurants, movies, bookstores, day-trips, and picnics.
Talking art, creativity, music and politics on weekly walks with my good pal S.
Attending documentaries with Q & A’s: Not Not Jazz and Orwell: 2+2=5.
Seeing Larry Bell’s art at Madison Square Park.
Early morning runs at my local park.
Walking to the Newtown Creek, exploring the Nature Walk then walking all the way back home.
Getting film I shot over the summer developed.
October camping trip in the Catskills with Dad & E. The beaver who kept making nightly trips through our lakeside campsite site to chew trees!
Acquiring more books and records! Reading 25 books. Discovering new music.
Fall family trip to the Queens County Farm.
Watching the tree outside my window change color.
Resting and reflecting during the holidays. Seeing family and friends. Snowy winter walks in my neighborhood.
Another wonderful trip around the sun at Circles In Space: growing the newsletter, learning a lot, giving myself permission to write less, creating a clipboard worksheet, and finally completing the year end review I’ve wanted to do for years!

What was your favorite thing in 2025? Leave me a comment below.

Until next time,

Keith

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Five Bullets 1.2.26: Welcome to 2026!

Keith Walpole — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 15:20:20 GMT

Hi Friends -

Happy New Year! Here’s what’s capturing my attention week:

New Years Eve 1930, Times Square. © AP

Is journaling one of your New Year’s resolutions? I’ve been journaling every day for the past 8 years. Here’s my 5 Tips For Keeping A Daily Journal.
While compiling 2025’s Year in Review I noticed Five Bullets covered several scientific breakthroughs over the past year: discovery of a dwarf planet in our solar system; the James Webb telescope’s images of a star being born; and researchers discovered ultra-high energy neutrinos under the sea.
Over the holidays I caught up on movies and TV. In The New Yorker At 100, I loved getting an inside peek into the editorial team’s process preparing the magazine’s 100th anniversary issue. Cover-Up highlights the career of investigative journalist the writer who broke stories on the My Lai massacre, CIA domestic spying, and prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.
On December 31, 1904 the first New Year’s celebration was held in Times Square with fireworks presented by New York Times publisher Alfred S. Ochs to celebrate the opening of One Times Square. Three years later on New Years Eve 1907 Ochs began the ball drop tradition. Times electrician Walter F. Palmer suggested using a time ball like the one atop the Western Union Telegraph building, normally used for synchronizing maritime chronometers.
Good news to begin the new year with: a Ukrainian man escaping conscription said his kitten Peach kept him alive in the freezing Romanian mountains. Rescuers found Peach curled up on his owner’s chest who said “Peach kept my heart warm and he kept my faith alive.”

What are you looking forward to this year? Email me by hitting reply or by leaving a comment below.

See you next Friday!

-Keith

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Support Circles In Space. Your generosity keeps the newsletter up and running.

My favorite books this year.

Five Bullets 12.26.25: 2025 In Review

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 19:16:56 GMT

Hi Friends -

Happy Friday! Here’s what captured my attention this year:

My post popular post this year was the Circles In Space Zine. New zine coming in the New Year!
Complete list of this year’s bullets and posts:
My year in 25 Quotes:
My 10 Favorite Books:
My Favorite Albums:

What captured your attention this year? Email me by hitting reply or leave a comment.

Thanks for all of your support this year! See you in 2026!

-Keith

Thanks for reading Circles In Space. Subscribe to get Five Bullets every Friday.

Support Circles In Space. Your generosity keeps the newsletter up and running.

2025: Year in Review

Keith Walpole — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 19:01:20 GMT

Hi Friends -

2025 was a landmark year for Circles In Space.

When I started this newsletter four years ago I didn’t even really know how to write a newsletter. I made a commitment this year to make Circles In Space this best newsletter and community I possibly could by re-designing, revising, and improving my writing. This year’s accomplishments include:

72 posts
245 bullets
Circles In Space Zine.
Clipboard worksheet.
Deep dives on books, creativity, music, New York City, writing and more.

Thank you for all of your support. I can’t wait to see what 2026 brings!

Here’s a list of this year’s posts:

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Deep Dives

Books

Creativity

Music

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Field Recordings

New York City

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Writing

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Five Bullets

January

February

March

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April

May

June

July

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August

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 8.1.25","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-08-01T16:27:42.512Z","cover_image":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5cc18956-d1b1-46ab-97de-f92bedd54497_4032x3024.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-8125","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":169844772,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":0,"comment_count":0,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 8.22.25","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-08-22T15:49:44.826Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!eZIy!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fed16afa5-e0b5-4264-908a-8f1422646124_952x1052.png","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-82225","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":171282837,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":2,"comment_count":0,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

September

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 9.19.25","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-09-19T14:24:21.860Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7gZU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0561813f-3ac5-4fe6-bbdd-497de5531230_2587x2179.heic","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-91925","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":173807404,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":0,"comment_count":0,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 9.26.25","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-09-26T14:44:19.778Z","cover_image":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/bd9d5b2f-2b20-4842-826f-30790f0fe8f2_840x600.png","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-92625","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":174605699,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":4,"comment_count":0,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

October

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 10.3.25","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-10-03T13:03:36.138Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lx77!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2535498-99e3-436c-b6f7-300074867679_2654x2908.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-10325","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":175095423,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":0,"comment_count":0,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 10.10.25","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-10-10T15:30:24.234Z","cover_image":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e7df22ba-4fbe-45b9-b881-e7e5f6406dfb_542x570.webp","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-101025","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":175716248,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":1,"comment_count":0,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 10.17.25","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-10-17T14:06:02.480Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!O20i!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F42069cda-8926-41ae-8642-8c6a9bec1de5_2812x3170.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-101725","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":176321281,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":2,"comment_count":1,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 10.24.25","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-10-24T14:48:56.253Z","cover_image":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/63bb1cba-77f3-41cf-83a6-d0fa70838b8b_900x506.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-102425","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":176938739,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":1,"comment_count":0,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

November

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 11.14.25: November Highlights","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-11-14T14:19:22.762Z","cover_image":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/cc91628c-3596-4049-b88d-f798b12c64dc_2237x1801.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-111425-november-highlights","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":178459748,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":0,"comment_count":0,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 11.21.25: Small Books & Real Music","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-11-21T15:02:43.748Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iBXt!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff99445d3-bf00-4c74-8fef-04e9c69bf9c2_1080x720.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-112125-small-books-and","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":179552229,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":3,"comment_count":0,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 11.28.25: Jazz, Cats & Worksheets","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-11-28T15:54:25.278Z","cover_image":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f9eb2302-61b6-495d-8388-06c7966f8578_746x1052.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-112825-jazz-cats-and","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":180116139,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":2,"comment_count":2,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

December

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 12.5.25: iPods and New Music","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-12-05T14:33:43.346Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!OBpw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2e47b6a9-13cb-4644-9d84-a4046798a6b2_1512x2078.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-12525-ipods-and-new","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":180724037,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":2,"comment_count":2,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 12.12.25: This Week In History","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-12-12T14:56:17.618Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!R9GB!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F05c21d3c-ce21-4e70-b1d1-8044701d8e8f_1400x2084.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-121225-this-week-in","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":181429584,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":2,"comment_count":3,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 12.19.25: \"In Hopes That Neil Peart Soon Would Be There.\"","publishedBylines":[{"id":85917556,"name":"Keith Walpole","bio":"Keith Walpole is a writer in New York City and creator of Circles In Space. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47efdd23-c727-44ef-bb29-8baf61648e77_827x827.jpeg","is_guest":false,"bestseller_tier":null}],"post_date":"2025-12-19T13:12:15.727Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KPop!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea5e2d8c-177e-4b5c-a53c-9c503077d8a8_640x480.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-121925-in-hopes-that","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":182028110,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":2,"comment_count":0,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

","cta":"Read full story","showBylines":true,"size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"Five Bullets 12.26.25: 2025 In Review","publishedBylines":[],"post_date":"2025-12-26T19:16:56.995Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KxbW!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3cd69c9a-42a9-49f7-8979-05d8ab1c3096_3484x3024.jpeg","cover_image_alt":null,"canonical_url":"https://www.circlesinspace.com/p/five-bullets-122625-2025-in-review","section_name":null,"video_upload_id":null,"id":182028585,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":3,"comment_count":2,"publication_id":827321,"publication_name":"Circles In Space","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!kjoU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d1d1e57-19b4-4a55-86c2-2d21e93deb31_256x256.png","belowTheFold":true,"youtube_url":null,"show_links":null,"feed_url":null}">

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See you in 2026!

-Keith

My 10 Favorite Albums in 2025

Keith Walpole — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 17:41:29 GMT

Hi Friends,

I listened to over 300 albums this year! Mostly I listened to jazz, funk and rock.

My listening parallelled the concerts I attended throughout the year. I saw three of my favorite drummers perform. Lettuce came out with two albums! King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard played Forest Hills Stadium in August so that was a heavy Gizzard month. I also read Ted Goia’s How To Listen to Jazz so I listened to more jazz this year.

Here’s my 10 favorite albums I listened to in 2025:

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

Keith Jarrett Trio At The Deer Head Inn and The Old Country
After checking out What’s Louis Cole Listening To? I went down the Keith Jarrett rabbit hole and found these albums recorded live in 1992 with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian. The trio’s spirited improvisation, tactful phrasing, and energetic dynamics make this a repeat listen for me.
Lettuce With The Colorado Symphony and Cook.
My favorite band Lettuce put out TWO albums this year! Their career-defining performance with the Colorado Symphony was captured on record and DVD. Their second release Cook picks up where last year’s Unify left off. This band never ceases to deliver.
Freddie Hubbard & Lee Morgan Night of the Cookers Vol. 1 & 2
I feel like I stumbled upon something ‘secret’ with these albums even though they’re well known in the jazz world. There’s an indefinable magic in the air and we’re lucky these recordings exist from two nights when these trumpet titans went head-to-head.
Nils Frahm Tripping With Nils Frahm and Paris.
I’ve been listening to the neo-classical virtuosity of Nils Frahm for years but finally got to see him perform at Brooklyn’s Kings Theater. Frahm’s set was pretty close to live album Paris and the body-enveloping tones of his synths conjured the same excitement I get when listening to Tripping.
Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane and At Carnegie Hall.
For a short period in 1957 Monk and Coltrane recorded a few albums including a live performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall. I was listening to lots of Monk when I found these records. It doesn’t get any better than hearing two of my favorite jazz musicians play together. Monk’s tunes are earworms and I find myself whistling his quirky melodies.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Phantom Island
In advance of their summer tour King Gizzard released this album which sounds similar to 2024’s Flight b741 but with the added addition of an orchestra. When I saw them perform in August, they played the album top-to-bottom with a live orchestra who also joined the band for epic versions of classic Gizz tunes like Crumbling Castle.
The Band Last Waltz.
One of my favorite albums of all-time and a top choice every year. It hits that spot right between soul, blues and rock n roll. I love live albums and this was The Band’s ‘farewell’ concert so there’s a special energy. Plus all the special music guests make you feel like you’re witnessing one hell of a party.
Makaya McCraven Off The Record EPs
Last year I got really into McCraven’s album In The Moment so I knew I had to see him this year. I stood right next to his drums and watched the master at work. McCraven made some touching and wise statements both on and off the drums.
Led Zeppelin Live EP
It’s not everyday Led Zeppelin releases new music! While these songs aren’t exactly ‘new’, they haven’t been released on an album before. The four songs on this album were recorded in 1975 and 1979 when the band was at the peak of their musical prowess.
Wes Montgomery Boss Guitar.
This is my favorite record right now. I picked up it for a while back and I’ve been hooked on it ever since we listened to it again recently. The album features both sides of Montgomery’s skillful playing, his beautiful ballads as well as scorching improvisations.

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Let me know your favorite music this year in the comments.

Happy Listening!

-Keith

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Tips

10 Favorite Books in 2025

Keith Walpole — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 16:25:05 GMT

Hi Friends,

I read 25 books this year, breaking my personal goal of reading over 20 in a year! I haven’t been able to crack the 20 book mark since I started keeping a list five years ago. Here’s 10 of my favorite books from this year:

My 10 Favorite Books in 2025.

Endurance by Alfred Lansing.
I spent the better part of the cold and dark early winter months of this year re-reading Lansing’s classic. It’s one of my favorites and a fascinating non-fiction book that reads like fiction. (I wrote about Shackleton’s List.)
The Ship Beneath The Ice by Mensun Bound.
I read Mensun Bound’s book on searching for the Endurance shipwreck first, then had to go back and re-read Lansing’s book to complete the saga. Bound’s logs detailing his two expeditions searching for the wreck are the perfect bookend to the logs and diaries of the Endurance crew.
How To Listen To Jazz by Ted Goia.
Ted Goia is one of my favorite writers on Substack so I knew I wanted to read one of his books. I love jazz and thought I ‘knew’ how to listen to jazz but learned a ton! Goia’s wealth of knowledge on music and music history made this a fun read.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.
One of my goal’s this year was to read more fiction. I’d just finished watching the television series based on Atwood’s novel so I had to read it. Atwood doesn’t disappoint; it’s up there with dystopian classics 1984 and Brave New World.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.
I love finding books at free libraries or out on the curb. I have this idea that these books were ‘meant’ for me because they crossed my path. I’d heard a lot about Station Eleven so when I found I picked it up. Another dystopian novel that’s super creative, imaginative and musical! (Read before watching the TV series!)
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.
Back in May I took a fiction writing workshop and was recommended this novel. I read No Country For Old Men last year and loved it. Blood Meridian is an epic masterpiece. The writing floored me. It’s the western Moby-Dick.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson.
Reading this was one of the highlights of my summer. I started working my way through Thompson’s work two years ago with Hell’s Angels and Rum Diary. It’s hilarious, outrageous, even frightening, but also some damn good writing.
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith.
Maybe my #1 book this year. What a ride! Tom Ripley reminds me of Breaking Bad’s Walter White, a villain we can’t help but love. Highsmith’s writing is thrilling and easy-to-read. I couldn’t get enough of following Ripley across Italy from one crime to the next. (Another book recommended to me at the writing workshop.)
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Stevenson’s 1886 horror novella is one of those books that everyone’s heard of but I was surprised to learn it’s more complex than I anticipated. I loved how Stevenson imbues dreary, foggy London with the hint of something supernatural, strange and unnerving.
Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck.
One of my favorites, period. I re-read Travels with Charley once a year usually while I’m travelling because it gets me into the mindset of letting the experience of the trip take over, rather than following an itinerary. I started reading while visiting Lake Tahoe and it carried me through the end of the summer.

Some more books I read this year:

Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Marukami
Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion
Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Discipline Is Destiny by Ryan Holiday
Zero Day by David Baldacci
2182 Kilohertz by David Maisel
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John Le Carre
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem

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I read a lot of fiction this year plus a few non-fiction titles. I read books that were on my to-read list but also left room for books that grabbed my attention. Summer was definitely the high point of my reading year.

Let me know your favorite book this year in the comments.

Happy Reading!

-Keith

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