About

Topics of Capricorn is an occasionally autobiographical blog by Ben Richmond, first published in Paris in 1938. The blog was subsequently banned in the United States until a 1961 Justice Department ruling declared that while its contents were obscene, by the standards of the internet, they were in fact quite dull. Richmond toiled to make the content more obscene and full of dissent, and ended up simply discontent and unseen.

The unifying concept of the blog is “things that interest the author, or that he wishes to explore and practice writing about.” Obviously, this will result in the occasional misfire or rant or confusing post, but ToC wishes you would bear with it.

On the author:

Richmond is a New York-based freelance writer and graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He has work slated to appear in Vice and The Believer, which pretty much says it all. He has co-authored two plays. His interests include: philosophy (Continental and theological–nothing too believable or binding!), music (indie rock and free jazz, but never the intersection), the Green Bay Packers (offense and defense but never special teams), the intersection of technology and culture (in spite of being an uncultured Luddite), and procrastinating.

He tweets under the handle @a_ben_richmond and so you’ll want to follow him if you are interested when he publishes something or if you like puns.