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WHAT IS TRYING!?
Matt Gross

I've been writing about travel, food, parenting, culture, and whatever else strikes my fancy for a few decades now. Once upon a time, I was the NYT's Frugal Traveler. I live in Brooklyn, obviously.

You deserve better butter

Food

/

Jan 5, 2026

You deserve better butter

It's an indulgence you should never feel guilty about — as long as it doesn't cost too much.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
I resolve to shut up

Writing

/

Jan 1, 2026

I resolve to shut up

Where's the line between outspoken critic and arrogant loudmouth?

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
The future isn't what it will one day have been supposed to be

Sci-Fi

/

Dec 31, 2025

The future isn't what it will one day have been supposed to be

Why all fiction is science fiction.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
Are you a domestic terrorist?

Politics

/

Dec 23, 2025

Are you a domestic terrorist?

Am I? Is everyone now?

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
My population crisis

Parenthood

/

Dec 16, 2025

My population crisis

Are there too many people? Too few? Just use your imagination.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
How many pigs today?

Food

/

Dec 11, 2025

How many pigs today?

In which I more or less butcher the arguments for eating less (or more?) meat.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
I'm a weirdo. You got a problem with that?

Language

/

Dec 9, 2025

I'm a weirdo. You got a problem with that?

In a world that coopts and capitalizes on quirks, it's ever harder to stand out as truly bizarre.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
Everyone is wrong about Generation X

Trends

+1

/

Dec 5, 2025

Everyone is wrong about Generation X

Are we beloved slackers or obsolete losers? Cultural saviors or whiny ironists? Whatever: I'm bringing data AND vibes to the never-ending argument.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
Do you see what I see?

Memory

/

Dec 3, 2025

Do you see what I see?

For decades, I've been trying to observe absolutely everything. And the more I've witnessed, the more I've missed.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
When I was a superhero

Food

/

Nov 25, 2025

When I was a superhero

Why delivering pizza as a teenager was the best job in the world.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
No one shot JFK

Language

+1

/

Nov 19, 2025

No one shot JFK

How irony can help us walk back our conspiratorial thinking.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
What do the aliens really want from us?

Sci-Fi

/

Nov 17, 2025

What do the aliens really want from us?

Our bodies, our brains, our planet, our women? What their fictional desires reveal about our own failings — and whether 'Pluribus' and 'Bugonia' get it right.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
I will now reveal a secret

/

Nov 14, 2025

I will now reveal a secret

You are welcome, even encouraged, to spread it around.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
The schtickless wonder!

Writing

/

Nov 10, 2025

The schtickless wonder!

When a project is about anything and everything, it's also about nothing — and who'd want to read that?

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
Super Fun Pak Mini Essays!

/

Nov 6, 2025

Super Fun Pak Mini Essays!

Four short, sharp takes — plus a special appearance by a guest poet.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
There are things you will never understand

/

Nov 3, 2025

There are things you will never understand

But you can still use your stupid brain to try!

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
Notes on a very Trying! year

Writing

+1

/

Oct 31, 2025

Notes on a very Trying! year

Hundreds of thousands of words later, what's to become of this newsletter?

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
Cartoons are better than people

Pop Culture

/

Oct 29, 2025

Cartoons are better than people

For me, live-action movies and TV will always be secondary.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
Thomas Pynchon and me

Writing

/

Oct 23, 2025

Thomas Pynchon and me

His writing shaped my life, and he's now at a literary and cultural apex. But is the mysterious postmodernist's work still any good?

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
An idle waste of your precious time

Death

/

Oct 14, 2025

An idle waste of your precious time

Don't worry, death isn't coming for you quite yet.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
When the enemy is boring AF

Politics

/

Oct 3, 2025

When the enemy is boring AF

Yawning reflections of a radical left Democrat.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
This is not a travel story

Travel

/

Oct 2, 2025

This is not a travel story

I built my career on artful narratives of adventure. But was I lying to my readers — and to myself?

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
I spy with my little eye

The Future

/

Sep 19, 2025

I spy with my little eye

Does "When in doubt, cut it out" apply to body parts? Asking for, uh, a friend.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
I ate a bad sandwich

Food

/

Sep 16, 2025

I ate a bad sandwich

And it taught me the meaning of life.

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
Squawk, memory!

Travel

+1

/

Sep 12, 2025

Squawk, memory!

My recollection of the past is crisp but scattered. Will a pile of ancient photos make sense of it all?

Matt Gross
Matt Gross
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Trying!

Funny, weird, thought-provoking, and occasionally insightful essays and reportage, brought to you almost daily, by Matt Gross

© 2026 Trying! by Matt Gross.

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