One of my most favorite writers, Charles Dickens, excelled at serialized writing. You are in good company bringing it back, Ryan! Looking forward to reading more of your work (even if some of it leaves me experiencing sympathetic apoplexy).
Looking forward to 2026 with Telos news. ❤️ And I hope there is a day for you, Ryan, in the future, that you can finally put all this “bamboo” behind you.
I love the serialization and buzziness of the bamboo story. I would be interested to see other writers in the format with behind-the-scenes perspectives.
Ryan — I've been wondering since I read Bamboo, which ends in September 2020. Wasn't Olivia's mother dying at this time? Was Olivia caught up with her mother's fatal medical problems? Was she taking care of her? If she wasn't, that would have been an alert to me — on multiple levels — in a relationship that seemed headed towards marriage. One thing I thought about when getting serious about my husband (we've been married 37 years) is how beautifully he was taking care of his father at the time. To me, even beyond Olivia writing a tv script for her future, that would tell me this person has major problems and best to move onto someone who would be there for me. Which my husband has been. And Olivia doesn't seem to know the concept of being there for anyone. She's there for her fictional image of herself, but she seems to have no organic connection to anyone, even herself.
This seems unnecessarily harsh. Olivia moved in with 52yo Keith Olbermann when she was only 18 and he paid for her college. This suggests her parents were not supportive at all -- I'm not sure why you would expect her to act as a caregiver to her mother?
Perhaps this childhood home environment is the source of Olivia's trouble maintaining nurturing relationships now.
Hi Unsafe, I hope I made it clear that it's an “if” question. I don't know the woman. But I'm curious about several things. Did anything make her like this? Why weren't people getting signals that she was crazy? Ryan is a high level political reporter. How was Olivia able to deceive him? Aside from Ryan's account, I read interviews with her and excerpts from American Canto where she struck me as a con artist. Rather like Elizabeth Holmes. Now, do I have the right to make my observations? Hell yeah, Unsafe, what do you think I'm shelling out the subscription money for?
One interesting thing about the Bamboo series is the author is also one of the main characters. There were definitely signs along the way that Olivia was crazy:
Thank you for the New York Post link! I hadn't seen that one. Interestingly, the ads that popped up were for the December demographic — Depends, arthritis and ED medications. Were I a man seeking jailbait those ads would turn me off faster than a MeToo. One thing I wonder is, why weren't David Remnick's Teen Vogue geniuses calling Olivia a racist for going ice blonde and denying her Amy Fisher ethnicity?
I just had a vision of Olivia's next incarnation: she embraces her dark Italian hair and starts an advice/PI empire for wives who suspect their husbands are cheating on them with younger women. Monica Lewinsky will encourage her to go full size in a bikini shot. And Olivia will finally have her pop star moment doing a cover of Dory Previn's “Beware of Young Girls.”
I knew nothing about Telos News until I decided to subscribe so I could read the Nuzzi series. I would be curious to see what happens now that this series seems to have wrapped up. I hope it was a cathartic experience for you and helped you to put the relationship in perspective.
As far as SubStack goes my observation is those who already have a name elsewhere do bring subscribers with them which makes getting a footing here easier. It’s also helpful if a person plunges into regular videos or podcasts. Written chats with subscribers don’t really do that even though written interactions are more familiar for writers. I don’t care much for social media so am no expert, but I do know SubStack fairly well. It’s a bit of a jungle here because there are a lot of heavy hitters mixed in with those whose little notes are probably better suited for Instagram or Facebook. It isn’t clear how much you plan to delve into SubStack. You’re known so have a leg up on the unknown but even they can make it big here if they are willing to make it a full time job. I guess we’ll see what the future brings for you.
One of my most favorite writers, Charles Dickens, excelled at serialized writing. You are in good company bringing it back, Ryan! Looking forward to reading more of your work (even if some of it leaves me experiencing sympathetic apoplexy).
Looking forward to 2026 with Telos news. ❤️ And I hope there is a day for you, Ryan, in the future, that you can finally put all this “bamboo” behind you.
I love the serialization and buzziness of the bamboo story. I would be interested to see other writers in the format with behind-the-scenes perspectives.
Ryan — I've been wondering since I read Bamboo, which ends in September 2020. Wasn't Olivia's mother dying at this time? Was Olivia caught up with her mother's fatal medical problems? Was she taking care of her? If she wasn't, that would have been an alert to me — on multiple levels — in a relationship that seemed headed towards marriage. One thing I thought about when getting serious about my husband (we've been married 37 years) is how beautifully he was taking care of his father at the time. To me, even beyond Olivia writing a tv script for her future, that would tell me this person has major problems and best to move onto someone who would be there for me. Which my husband has been. And Olivia doesn't seem to know the concept of being there for anyone. She's there for her fictional image of herself, but she seems to have no organic connection to anyone, even herself.
This seems unnecessarily harsh. Olivia moved in with 52yo Keith Olbermann when she was only 18 and he paid for her college. This suggests her parents were not supportive at all -- I'm not sure why you would expect her to act as a caregiver to her mother?
Perhaps this childhood home environment is the source of Olivia's trouble maintaining nurturing relationships now.
Hi Unsafe, I hope I made it clear that it's an “if” question. I don't know the woman. But I'm curious about several things. Did anything make her like this? Why weren't people getting signals that she was crazy? Ryan is a high level political reporter. How was Olivia able to deceive him? Aside from Ryan's account, I read interviews with her and excerpts from American Canto where she struck me as a con artist. Rather like Elizabeth Holmes. Now, do I have the right to make my observations? Hell yeah, Unsafe, what do you think I'm shelling out the subscription money for?
One interesting thing about the Bamboo series is the author is also one of the main characters. There were definitely signs along the way that Olivia was crazy:
https://nypost.com/2025/11/19/us-news/olivia-nuzzi-once-recorded-a-song-called-jailbait/
May-December relationships often involve quite a bit of deception, including self-deception, do they not?
Thank you for the New York Post link! I hadn't seen that one. Interestingly, the ads that popped up were for the December demographic — Depends, arthritis and ED medications. Were I a man seeking jailbait those ads would turn me off faster than a MeToo. One thing I wonder is, why weren't David Remnick's Teen Vogue geniuses calling Olivia a racist for going ice blonde and denying her Amy Fisher ethnicity?
I just had a vision of Olivia's next incarnation: she embraces her dark Italian hair and starts an advice/PI empire for wives who suspect their husbands are cheating on them with younger women. Monica Lewinsky will encourage her to go full size in a bikini shot. And Olivia will finally have her pop star moment doing a cover of Dory Previn's “Beware of Young Girls.”
I am genuinely excited and curious to see what all of the characters in this drama do next, but to be honest most especially Olivia.
Well-observed, Unsafe.
Just remembered this RFK Jr. says virus hits black people but skips Jews
https://youtu.be/LAD8f5HhJRI
I knew nothing about Telos News until I decided to subscribe so I could read the Nuzzi series. I would be curious to see what happens now that this series seems to have wrapped up. I hope it was a cathartic experience for you and helped you to put the relationship in perspective.
As far as SubStack goes my observation is those who already have a name elsewhere do bring subscribers with them which makes getting a footing here easier. It’s also helpful if a person plunges into regular videos or podcasts. Written chats with subscribers don’t really do that even though written interactions are more familiar for writers. I don’t care much for social media so am no expert, but I do know SubStack fairly well. It’s a bit of a jungle here because there are a lot of heavy hitters mixed in with those whose little notes are probably better suited for Instagram or Facebook. It isn’t clear how much you plan to delve into SubStack. You’re known so have a leg up on the unknown but even they can make it big here if they are willing to make it a full time job. I guess we’ll see what the future brings for you.
Cant wait