K.L. Homme

@klhomme

Writer exploring myth, memory, and resistance. No Shortcuts to Now is my serialized book — a journey from a volcanic trailhead into the fault lines of American life. Follow the trail:

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K.L. Homme@klhomme· 27d

This story tells of a young woman who faced down a lion with her bare hands as Apollo watched. A city was founded in her honor. And from that city would emerge one of the most influential schools of philosophy. 🎧 The Lady of the Lovely Arms noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/61-the-lad...

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jul 8

“Apollo looked to the sky, summoned his chariot, and lifted the huntress to the heavens.” The story of the Lady of the Lovely Arms—and the founding of one of the ancient Greek world’s greatest cities. noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/61-where-t...

Classical painting of Apollo driving a golden chariot pulled by four horses through swirling clouds. Wearing a flowing red cloak and holding the reins, the sun god races across the sky in a dramatic scene of motion and light.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jul 7

“Guarding her virtue with her spear, the huntress won the admiration of a goddess.” What if a civilization began with a hole in the sky? This morning, Chapter 6 begins: noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/61-where-t...

Cover image for “Where There Is a Hole in the Sky: The Lady of the Lovely Arms” by K.L. Homme. A dreamlike painting depicts three water nymphs (Nereids) floating in a tranquil forest pool. One, wearing a crown of red flowers, gazes directly at the viewer while two others recline gracefully in the water with flowing hair and raised arms. Sunlight filters through trees, reflecting on the blue water in rich greens, golds, and blues. Overlaid white text reads: “(6.1) Where There is a Hole in The Sky,” with the subtitle “The Lady of the Lovely Arms,” followed by “K.L. Homme” and “noshortcutstonow.substack.com.”

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jul 6

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jul 1

I don't tell this story because I'm proud of it. I tell it because a blush can teach us something that pride can't. I tell it because it holds a clue about what kind of monster requires 42,700 cages — and what kind doesn't. 🎧 Of ICE and Men noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/of-ice-and...

Promotional graphic for the audio essay Of ICE and Men: Curley Edition. The upper half features the title in large white serif text with a headphone icon, followed by the subtitle, “Field Note 5.6—On choosing those who cannot strike back,” the website “noshortcutstonow.substack.com,” and the author’s name, “K.L. Homme,” on a dark olive-brown background. The lower half shows a quiet, foggy residential path at night, illuminated by soft streetlights behind large trees, creating an eerie, reflective atmosphere.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jun 28

“Obama Flag.” That’s what my toddler called the American flag. No one yet flew Trump flags. Looking back, that little mistake captured a moment just before the earth began to rumble. This is where No Shortcuts to Now begins. noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/waypoint-1...

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jun 23

Once the black swan lands, we have a choice: Change our mind, or paint it white. This is a story from my childhood about giants, and the strange things everyday people do to protect their pride and premises. 🎧 The Ballad of Bill and Bud noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/the-ballad...

Promotional graphic for The Ballad of Bill and Bud: The Finest Black Swan to Ever Play the Blues by K.L. Homme. A towering ponderosa pine rises dramatically from the forest floor toward a blue sky filled with scattered white clouds. The photograph is taken from the base of the tree looking upward, emphasizing its height and strength. White text overlays the lower portion of the image with the title, subtitle, author name, and the website NoShortcutsToNow.Substack.com. A small headphone icon indicates an audio edition.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jun 18

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jun 17

Reagan called it morning in America. Up on the mountain, it looked like cowboy boots and Marlboros and a man named Bill who made the summer feel like something out of a tall tale. It was. Just not the kind he told. noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/the-finest...

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jun 17

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jun 16

"He painted his black swans white." A field note about a gas station, a Gold Wing, and the quiet mechanics of prejudice. noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/the-finest...

Low-angle photograph of a towering Jeffrey pine reaching into a cloud-dappled mountain sky, with the title The Ballad of Bill and Bud: The Finest Black Swan to Ever Play the Blues overlaid on the image.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jun 12

“Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths.” —Popper The Delphi Cycle follows a winding path from biology and mythology to philosophy and politics, asking what happens when reality collides with our sacred stories. Reader’s Guide: noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/the-delphi...

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jun 11

“Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths.” From fish with feet to black swans. The Delphi Cycle reader’s guide: noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/the-delphi...

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jun 9

"All I have to do is look.” “But that’s not evidence.” A journalist’s challenge to a president echoes a question that stretches back to ancient Greece: How do we tell the difference between knowledge and suspicion? 🎧 Waypoint 5.5 noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/55-black-s...

Promotional graphic for the audio essay Waypoint 5.5: Black Swans and Sacrificial Goats. The upper half features a dark slate-blue background with white serif text reading “🎧 5.5: Black Swans and Sacrificial Goats” and the subtitle “On Oracles and The Open Society.” Below are the website address “noshortcutstonow.substack.com” and the author name “K.L. Homme.” The lower half shows a striking black swan floating beside a rough stone edge in deep blue-green water. The swan’s black plumage contrasts with its bright red beak, while reflections of turquoise and emerald light shimmer across the water’s surface.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jun 8

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Jun 4

The difference between knowledge and suspicion matters. Especially when entire societies begin acting on claims that cannot be meaningfully tested. noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/55-black-s... #CriticalThinking #OpenSociety #KarlPopper

Promotional graphic for No Shortcuts to Now. The title, “5.5: Black Swans and Sacrificial Goats,” appears in large white serif text against a dark slate-green background, with the website address and author name, K.L. Homme, below. The lower half of the image features a black swan with a bright red beak gliding through luminous blue-green water. Reflections ripple across the surface, creating an almost otherworldly atmosphere. The image evokes the essay’s central theme: how a single black swan can overturn certainty and challenge assumptions that once appeared unquestionable.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· May 26

Oedipus kept asking the question. Even when the answer began to destroy him. The final audio installment of my Oedipus cycle is now live: 🎧 5.4: Not Every Riddle Myth, Popper, prophecy, power, and the danger of needing certainty more than truth. noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/54-not-eve...

Promotional graphic for the audio release of 5.4: Not Every Riddle — The End of Inquiry from No Shortcuts to Now by K.L. Homme. The upper half features a dark brown background with white serif text and a headphone icon. The lower half shows a classical-style painting of the aftermath of Oedipus’s revelation: an older, anguished man in red robes sits at the center surrounded by grieving women and attendants in flowing garments, while shadowed figures stand in the background beneath tall stone columns and arches. The mood is tragic and mournful, emphasizing grief, revelation, and collapse.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· May 20

He spent the entire story searching for the murderer. Only to discover he was searching for himself. WP 5.4 — “Not Every Riddle” “The wish to be omniscient is the wish to be God.” — Karl Popper noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/54-not-eve...

A dark, haunting illustration of the blind prophet Tiresias standing in shadow with a staff, his long white beard and outstretched hand illuminated against swirling pale spectral forms behind him. Below, a kneeling warrior holding a sword looks upward in fear and awe. Overlaid text reads: “5.4: Not Every Riddle — The End of Inquiry” by K.L. Homme, with “noshortcutstonow.substack.com” at the bottom. The image evokes prophecy, tragic revelation, and the terror of forbidden knowledge.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· May 17

What if the deepest political lesson in this series was hidden underground long before Oedipus ever reached Delphi? “Nature has never fancied it needed a center. Only people do.” A quiet critique of every king who imagines himself the world's axis. noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/waypoint-4...

A promotional image for No Shortcuts to Now featuring the title “Of Roots, Rhizomes, and Fish with Feet (4.1)” above the subtitle “The Lurid Bait of Egotism: On humility, deep time, and the illusion of the center.” Below the text is a reconstruction of an early amphibious fish-like creature crawling across muddy ground, symbolizing evolutionary transition from water to land. The image evokes themes of deep time, evolution, humility, and interconnected life.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· May 12

He asked the question. The answer implicated the king himself. 🎧 The Man You Seek — Part Three of the Oedipus sequence is now live in audio form. Truth risks being wrong. noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/the-man-yo...

Cover image for the audio episode “The Man You Seek (5.3): The Riddle Turns” from No Shortcuts to Now by K.L. Homme. The artwork shows a violent struggle from Greek mythology: muscular figures grapple around a chariot at a crossroads, with one man raising his arm to strike while another lunges toward him. The scene evokes the moment Oedipus unknowingly kills Laius. White text overlays the darkened lower portion of the image, alongside a headphone icon indicating an audio episode.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· May 5

He solved the riddle. Became king. Now the city is dying, and he’s looking for someone to blame. Part III is up. 🔗 noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/the-riddle... #Philosophy #Mythology #CriticalThinking #Power

Oedipus attacks King Laius in a violent struggle at a crossroads, with attendants falling around them; overlaid text reads “The Man You Seek (5:3) – The Riddle Turns” by K. L. Homme.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Apr 22

Solving the riddle? That part was easy. The harder question: Could the prophecy be wrong? Oedipus didn’t ask it. He made it true. 🎧 The Riddle of the Gate (5.2) noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/the-riddle... #Mythology #Philosophy #Oedipus

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Apr 19

They found her in the ashes... an iron key in one hand, coins in the other. She was ready to pay the ferryman. The key opened nothing. 📖 The Iron Key noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/the-iron-k...

Black-and-white image of a volcanic eruption, its towering ash plume billowing upward like a mushroom cloud over a distant tree line. The stark, ominous scene evokes destruction and time frozen in ash. Overlaid text reads: “The Iron Key (3.1): Pompeii, Volcanic Fire, and The Locks of Time” by K.L. Homme.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Apr 18

We told him to spit it out. Sidewalk gum. Still sweet. He wouldn’t. Funny what we grow out of... and what we don’t. 📖 All The King's Candy noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/field-note...

Promotional graphic for All The King’s Candy. The top half is a muted purple background with white serif text reading: “All The King’s Candy — Field Note 3.2: Every kingdom starts with a taste for something sweet,” along with the Substack URL and author name, K.L. Homme.

Below, a cartoon parody of a news broadcast shows a smiling blonde woman wearing a gold cross necklace seated between two boys holding lollipops; one blows a pink bubblegum bubble. A news-style banner reads “BREAKING: OUR BOY TIED TO TREE,” satirizing media spectacle, childhood innocence, and the manipulation of belief through sweetness and performance.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Apr 15

He answered the riddle. The gate opened. No one asked what he had done to get there. 📖 The Riddle of the Gate (5.2) open.substack.com/pub/noshortc...

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Apr 12

King Croesus asked if he should go to war with Persia. The oracle said if he did, a great empire would fall. He heard what he wanted, and got what he feared. A great empire fell. Just not the one he expected. We still hear what we want to hear. noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/waypoint-4...

King Croesus bound to a burning pyre as flames rise and a crowd gathers around him, rendered in a dark classical painting. Text overlay reads: “The Dolphin’s Always Right — 4.6: Know Thy Fault,” with the caption “Croesus on the pyre” and the site NoShortcutsToNow.Substack.com.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Apr 11

The oracle answered. Croesus still got it wrong. We haven’t improved much. Chapter 4: The Riddle of the Deep noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/chapter-4-...

A classical-style painting of a woman in a red hooded garment seated against a dark background, holding a small object and a leafy branch, overlaid with the text “Chapter 4: The Riddle of the Deep” and “Beneath the surface, something speaks.”

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Apr 8

What would actually prove a belief like this wrong? If the answer is “nothing”... then it isn’t knowledge. It’s a trap. 🎧 Nine Moons Certain noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/waypoint-5... #Philosophy #Epistemology #KarlPopper

A classical painting depicts a shepherd carrying an injured infant through a dark, wooded landscape, while another figure gestures in the background. The child’s body hangs limp, suggesting exposure and abandonment. Overlaid text reads: “Nine Moons Certain — Waypoint 5.1: A Fate Unfalsifiable,” with the author’s name and Substack URL below.

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Apr 1

Karl Popper warned us: What cannot be falsified cannot be challenged. Laius heard a prophecy—and treated it as certain. Everything that followed came from that decision. 📖 Nine Moons Certain noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/waypoint-5... #Epistemology #Philosophy #Popper

K.L. Homme@klhomme· Mar 25

“Liberty is found at that old crossroads—where rights and responsibilities meet.” 🎧 Veni, Vidi, Vaccine The shot that flew over the cuckoo’s coup 👉 noshortcutstonow.substack.com/p/veni-vidi-... #Philosophy #Writing #CivicLife