IB: You have a brilliant knack for making entirely unexpected connections, pulling a Joan Didion quote out of context to describe Kim K. It’s such a Philippa Snow move, both tongue in cheek and profoundly revelatory. Do you think of this technique as a game, a methodology? PS: I’ve been caught out! In fact, I do see making those kinds of connections as a game, although a bit of it is that I do it because it brings me pleasure.
I feel like if people think I’m merely being ‘pretentious’ in engaging seriously with the kind of subjects I’m sometimes writing criticism about, they’ll tune out, and I won’t reach them. If I can make a throwaway comparison that lands, and that also lets them know that I know that what I’m doing is kind of insane, it keeps them onside.