A man books himself a hotel room after forty days without a proper night's sleep. The hotel has other ideas.

In the inaugural episode of NIGHT MATERIALS, Wolf Johnson finds himself ~$180 poorer, considerably more exhausted, and without the bed he'd been looking forward to all week. What follows is a meandering account of life without a home, the financial wreckage of divorce, fatherhood, the peculiar absence of joy, and the occasional indignities of simply trying to get by.

Somewhere along the way, the conversation wanders into the machinery of social media outrage, the increasingly theatrical nature of public discourse, the peculiar things people do for attention, and why sitting across from another human being with a cup of coffee might still be one of the better ways to make sense of the world.

There's also some talk about what NIGHT MATERIALS might become, the little world growing behind the online zine, and an unfortunate but possibly accurate description of the whole endeavour as a glory hole for expression.

No particular agenda. No grand conclusions. Just some thoughts from a tired man who really could have used that hotel room.

A special thanks to Heather and Anne for their generous contributions to the Night Materials Ledger, and to everyone in the Night Shift helping keep the lights on.

NIGHT MATERIALS

The online zine and Night Shift: https://nightmaterials.online/

FOR ALL I THINK OF HER

Poetry by Wolf Johnson, available on Amazon.