Top all-time · #1850
Shaun Usher
Personal blog · news.lettersofnote.comhistorywritingculture
Shaun Usher writes Letters of Note, a personal blog at news.lettersofnote.com about history, writing and culture. Since 2021, 42 different Hacker News readers have linked it 52 times, most often “Arkell v. Pressdram (1971)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-30, and you can follow it by feed.
Nothing but history's most interesting letters. Click to read Letters of Note, by Shaun Usher, a Substack publication.
Most-linked posts?
- Arkell v. Pressdram (1971)8 people · 10 mentions · first linked 2023-03-27
- Albini pitching Nirvana: “I would like to be paid like a plumber” (1992)5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2022-04-02
- Why Explore Space4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2023-09-16
- /p/very-truly-yours3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2022-12-02
- Please don’t let anyone Americanise it (1992)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-05-12
- /p/make-your-soul-grow2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-05-28
What Hacker News says?
Whether he considered himself one or not, Steve Albini will always stand out to me as the epitome of the Punk value system. Here are two of my absolute favorites: * "I would like to be paid like a plumber" - https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/nirvana * "The Problem with Music" - https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-problem-with-music
Comment linking /p/nirvana
on “Steve Albini has died”Submitted Please don’t let anyone Americanise it (1992) as a story · 352 points
HN discussion"I would like to be paid like a plumber: I do the job and you pay me what it's worth. The record company will expect me to ask for a point or a point and a half. If we assume three million sales, that works out to 400,000 dollars or so. There's no fucking way I would ever take that much money. I wouldn't be able to sleep." [0] https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/nirvana
Comment linking /p/nirvana
on “Steve Albini has died”Submitted Albini pitching Nirvana: “I would like to be paid like a plumber” (1992) as a story · 346 points
HN discussionSeconded. Letters of Note (there are various printed volumes as well, e.g. "Speeches of Note", "Letters of Notes: Cats", ...) are a very fine collection of thoughts. One of my favorites is "Why explore space": https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/why-explore-space .
Comment linking /p/why-explore-space
on “I love my wife. My wife is dead (1946)”Submitted My mother declared my bedroom a disaster area (1984) as a story · 307 points
HN discussionThat is excellent, and if you enjoyed it, you might also enjoy the Cleveland Browns one: https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/very-truly-yours
Comment linking /p/very-truly-yours
on “My mother declared my bedroom a disaster area (1984)”Submitted I Miss Lorina Bulwer: A hand-stitched letter of note as a story · 31 points
HN discussionI like the Arkell versus Pressdram. https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/arkell-v-pressdram
Comment linking /p/arkell-v-pressdram
on “My mother declared my bedroom a disaster area (1984)”Submitted Kris Kristofferson writes a fan letter to Muhammad Ali as a story · 5 points
HN discussionThis is one of my favorites: https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/i-am-unable-to-accept-your-...
Comment linking /p/i-am-unable-to-accept-your-rejection
on “My mother declared my bedroom a disaster area (1984)”Submitted I hope you will never get this letter as a story · 4 points
HN discussion> telling them in proper legal language to 'fuck off' I refer m'learned friend to the precedent of Arkell v Pressdram https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/arkell-v-pressdram
Comment linking /p/arkell-v-pressdram
on “Fake AI law firms are sending fake DMCA threats to generate fake SEO gains”Submitted Maybe we should ban suits as a story · 4 points
HN discussionArkell v. Pressdram: How to respond to a frivolous legal threat https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/arkell-v-pressdram
Comment linking /p/arkell-v-pressdram
on “YouTube's Legal Team sent me a letter [video]”Submitted All my senses are being tortured simultaneously as a story · 3 points
HN discussionI always appreciate Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger‘s response to such criticism: https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/why-explore-space
Comment linking /p/why-explore-space
on “Everything will be alright in Iceland”Submitted We are just temporary occupants of this office as a story · 3 points
HN discussionLove this. Reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's "make your soul grow" letter to high school kids - https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/make-your-soul-grow
Comment linking /p/make-your-soul-grow
on “Create More, Consume Less (2021)”Submitted Einstein: “I would rather choose to be a plumber” as a story · 3 points
HN discussionOne of their legal battles[1], Harkell vs Pressdram[2], has become legendary and the precendent apparently referenced often in the UK legal system and beyond. [1] for very small values of "battle" [2] https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/arkell-v-pressdram
Comment linking /p/arkell-v-pressdram
on “Ex Post Office CEO hands back award after IT failures lead to false convictions”Submitted Sidney Poiter’s Letter to US President Roosevelt as a story · 3 points
HN discussionDouglas Adams also battled with this: > One general point. A thing I have had said to me over and over again whenever I’ve done public appearances and readings and so on in the States is this: Please don’t let anyone Americanise it! We like it the way it is! > There are some changes in the script that simply don’t make sense. Arthur Dent is English, the setting is England, and has been in every single manifestation…
Comment linking /p/please-dont-let-anyone-americanise
on “Windows 11 calls a zip file a 'postcode file' in UK English”Submitted Excuse this ghastly handwriting: When letter writers become self-conscious as a story · 2 points
HN discussionhttps://news.lettersofnote.com/p/make-your-soul-grow Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK? Tear…
Comment linking /p/make-your-soul-grow
on “In Obscurity”Submitted I would like to be paid like a plumber as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThis is up there with the response from Arkell vs Pressdram [1] … [1] https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/arkell-v-pressdram
Comment linking /p/arkell-v-pressdram
on “When 'Lol, No' Is Not Enough: Why Bogus DMCA Over Shirt Should Result in Fees”Submitted Arkell vs. Pressdram as a story · 2 points
HN discussionHumans can be more than their place in the workforce. And we should be. When asked for advice from school students Kurt Vonnegut responded “ November 5, 2006 Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Congiusta: I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don’t make public appearances any more becau…
Comment linking /p/make-your-soul-grow?s=r
on “Ask HN: Why encourage creativity in school given most employers don't reward it?”Submitted Also... (2022) as a story · 2 points
HN discussion
