Hello and welcome! My name is Michael Z. Zaki.

I believe that storytelling is the cornerstone of human culture. The stories we tell about ourselves, our culture, and other cultures have such a deep impact on how people live their lives. We all tell stories, and to me, it is an honor to tell stories publicly and for a living.


I have been writing for the internet for over a decade. I write about culture, mental health, philosophy, media, and of course, rabbits.

My goal with non-fiction is to generate understanding, curiosity, and reflection. It is also to convey information in a way that is natural, feels comfortable, and tells the story impactfully.

The greatest compliments I have received have been to the effect of: "You articulated something I couldn't find words for," or "Your writing helped me understand something important". The most rewarding part of writing is making other people feel less alone or helping them understand experiences they hadn't considered.

I hope you enjoy exploring my work here, and I would love to hear from you!

Say hello at: michael@michaelzzaki.com

Recent Posts

August Newsletter from Michael Z

Happy almost fall!August is a strange month, and this one passed at a very confusing rate. It felt so short, but events from the beginning of the month feel so far away. In the first week of August, my neighborhood had another neighborhood party, which was so lovely and fun. More people came to this one, despite having less notice. My partner and I helped flyer for it, which was so exciting! I am on the neighborhood group chat [imagine a victorious sunglasses emogi here].Then a couple of weeks w...

June (and Pride Month!) Newsletter from Michael Z

Happy Pride Month! I’m thinking so much about being queer, which I may put in a fully separate essay, but a lot of those thoughts are in the Reading section, because one of the books I read was about depictions of queer people on TV! I like reading about our history in some way in June, but also it’s kind of a hard time to read about it.It’s the last day of June, and it’s felt like a very long month. I’m still enjoying the weather, though a bit less now. I’m grateful to have air conditioning. It...

Reading I Who Have Never Known Men

I recently read I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (1995, for context). I’m going to describe the plot overall and in some detail, so I’ll say don’t read this if you don’t want spoilers. I do recommend the book—it was interesting and a very fast read, due to being both short and written in a way that made the pages fly by. I think that’s impressive, because there is a lot of interiority which often makes a book slower paced. It has a really sad premise, though, so check out content...

Reading I Who Have Never Known Men

I recently read I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (1995, for context). I’m going to describe the plot overall and in some detail, so I’ll say don’t read this if you don’t want spoilers. I do recommend the book—it was interesting and a very fast read, due to being both short and written in a way that made the pages fly by. I think that’s impressive, because there is a lot of interiority which often makes a book slower paced. It has a really sad premise, though, so check out content...

May Newsletter from Michael Z

May has been pleasant, though I can’t remember why. Something about the word, and the weather. It’s been a very social and busy month, which is fantastic, because after my last newsletter I promptly got sick and was isolating for two weeks. I absolutely hate being alone. Not that I fully was—my partner was around of course; but I did not have the brain capacity to even socialize with them very much. It is very weird to miss someone who is there but behind a fog. Regardless, I hate being stuck at...

April Newsletter from Michael Z

My second ever newsletter was about Springtime and how excited I was about it. Living in the Pacific Northwest has been a perfect climate for me. I know it is changing, but if it’s all changing I’ll take this one for sure. I am from Virginia, and the longest seasons are summer and winter there. At least when I was a kid, I remember the fall and spring being about four to six weeks long, with long stretches of moderately cold and moderately too-hot. I wished for long autumns and springs, more rai...

March Newsletter from Michael Z

It’s March! I have committed to it being spring. It hasn’t actually been warm most days, but it has still felt springy. Some flowers are blooming, and a lot of birds are back. They are demanding bird seed, which is fair since we have a bird feeder.I started feeding crows this week too, and it’s amazing. When I am outside one will now make a sound at me and I’ll go get the peanuts. My partner is a crow-feeding pro and advised me to crush the shells a little to make it easier for them, and throw t...

When I lived by the lake

For three years, I lived in a house with friends a few blocks from a huge lake. I could see the lake from huge living room windows, and it was beautiful. Because the lake was at the bottom of a hill, and my house was at the top, I did not go down to the water very often. It was often painful to hike back up, and I am an anxious person who often tries to over-conserve energy on top of what I actually need to conserve.The whole time, I kept thinking I would regret not taking more advantage of how...

Why housekeeping talk is so hard

As a person who enjoys clutter, hates dirt, was barely raised, enjoys cleaning, and has sometimes severe fatigue and pain that limit my ability to do any of the things I want to be doing, I have had a hard time communicating with housemates about cleaning and tidiness. I have also seen friends go through the same thing—not able to communicate effectively with the people they live with, feeling frustrated, misunderstood, and unhappy at home.I think part of why this happens is that there is usuall...

Michael Z's February Newsletter

I hope you’re having a good mid-late winter! I am almost keeping up with my goal to have small social gatherings each month. My partner and I tried in February, but attendance kind of comically fell apart. Oh well, at least we cleaned.Happy belated Valentine’s, if you enjoy it!I love Valentine’s day. It’s either a day to appreciate my friends, or it’s that plus a nice opportunity for a special date. I know a lot of people hate it; it can be a reminder of sadness about being single, or it can fee...

Michael Z's January Newsletter

Hello lovely readers! I’d love to hear how you rang in 2025. This year I was able to go to a NYE party and co-host a few friends/family for New Year’s Day Japanese lunch on January 1st with my partner. This is the second New Year’s day since we’ve lived together, and I felt more involved this year in preparing, which was very lovely. I hope in a few years I’ll reach my full holiday prep potential.In general, I really love hosting small parties, and that’s only grown now that I live with my also-...

Taking it personally

I’ve been working on not taking it personally when I hear things that aren’t aimed at me personally. The other day I was listening to a podcast, and the people on it were addressing a listener question about wanting their partner to change living habits before they live together. In answering this, they mentioned that some people live in an unsafely dirty environment and that it’s reasonable to want that to change, but short of that, people also just live differently from each other and it’s some...

A friend who inspires me

I am subscribed to a wonderful Substack called “Whimsical Writing with Wake.” Wake is a friend I met once in person then many times on the internet over the past six or so years. I’m so grateful we met, then connected on Facebook in the time you could so easily connect with all the cool people you met (I’ve since brought myself to make the effort to ask for people’s contact info). Wake writes daily writing prompts, sending them weekly as a list, then daily they send their response to the prompt...

Michael Z's October Newsletter

October has been an eventful month! I turned 33. I quit my job. AND October brought the first full week of being engaged!!! I made us rings and we kissed our first engaged kiss on the beach!It’s been a huge moment of change, a big wave of rediscovering myself, trusting loved ones, and looking at a beautiful future (with my betrothed).This month, I have been trying to approach life with a willingness to use up my energy. For years I have tried so hard to protect my energy because it felt so limit...

Michael Z's September Newsletter

I’m home alone for a few weeks (cry) and so it’s been boys’ night for a while. The boys being me and the rabbits. I started calling Tilly my son a few years ago as a joke, because he is a little marshmallow, and I’m not particularly masculine, and he is in fact a rabbit, so I enjoy the idea of presenting our relationship as a masculine, familial, and human bond. This became my partner’s “stepson” and our “second son” Tiramisu. I am not sure if it’s a joke anymore, in my heart. Careful what you s...

Michael Z's August Newsletter

Hello lovely subscribers! It’s time for my August newsletter. I’m mid-writing an essay, so that will be coming soon. Here is my August list of thoughts, opinions, reflections, and of course a bunny update. I hope you enjoy reading! The sections are “Thinking about,” “Reading,” “Opinions,” “Little updates,” and “Rabbit update.”I’m thinking about writing itself. I have been in a bit of a tailspin trying to understand my relationship to it. I have been a writer longer than I’ve been almost anything...
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