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SUSANNAH BRESLIN

susannahbreslin@gmail.com

The Audition

July 24, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

Awhile back I pitched a story to a podcast. It would involve talking about one of the most out-there, extreme things I ever witnessed as a journalist on adult movie sets (and there were a lot!). The production team requested that I create an audio audition of what the story might sound like. That prompted me to revisit everything I had created that was about that out-there thing: photos, art, writing. I also viewed the adult movies that were created on those sets, which I found on adult streaming sites. During this research process, I re-read “They Shoot Porn Stars, Don’t They?”, which I wrote in 2009 and is about the Great Recession’s impact on the adult industry. I had always felt that I hadn’t gotten the ending right, but when I read it this time, I thought I did. In fact, I think it captures what’s at the heart of my writing on the adult industry: the relationship between fantasy and reality and what happens when you insert yourself into the tension between the two. In any case, I’ll post more thoughts on this audition process down the line. For now, that’s it.

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tags / SEX, PORN, AUDITIONS, JOURNALISM, PODCASTS

Adult Movie Set, North Hollywood, 2001

July 23, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

Adult actress, North Hollywood, Calif., 2000 | Photo credit: Susannah Breslin

An adult movie actress poses on a North Hollywood set, 2001. For more of my photos, follow me on Instagram.

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tags / PORN, PHOTOGRAPHS, INSTAGRAM, WOMEN, SEX

What I'm Watching: "The Dog Days and Your Creative Juices"

July 22, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

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tags / VIDEOS, ART, WORK, PSYCHOLOGY, WHAT I'M WATCHING

It's Like This and Like That

July 21, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

In this week’s newsletter, I share more about my next book—which is part of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 books series and focuses on Dr. Dre’s 1992 album, The Chronic—including a peek at the proposal and the other contenders.

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tags / THE REVERSE COWGIRL, NEWSLETTERS, HIP HOP, DR. DRE'S THE CHRONIC, BOOKS, NONFICTION

The Actress

July 20, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

Adult actress with script, Los Angeles, Calif., 2017 | Photo credit: Susannah Breslin

An adult actress reads her script before shooting her scene. For more of my photos, follow me on Instagram.

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tags / PORN, PHOTOGRAPHS, INSTAGRAM, SEX, WOMEN

Books I Read: Moord in Rotterdam

July 19, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

Moord in Rotterdam is not for the faint of heart. It compiles crime scene photos taken by the Rotterdam police between 1905 and 1967. The cover features a woman who un-alived herself. She appears to be napping. Her lookalike doll is at her side. Is it creepy, beautiful, tragic? The scene is in the eye of the beholder. Flipping through the pages of homicides, suicides, and crimes of passion, one is struck by the grand artistry of it all. I don’t know whether to credit the Rotterdam police for their photography skills or chalk it up to fantastic editing of a gruesome body of work. A great pick for fans of Joel-Peter Witkin and Wisconsin Death Trip.

Books I Read

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tags / BOOKS, BOOKS I READ, REVIEWS, PHOTOGRAPHY, DEATH

What I'm Watching: "The Discipline of D.E."

July 18, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

via The Art of Noticing

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tags / VIDEOS, PHILOSOPHY, WEIRD, WHAT I'M WATCHING, WORK

Triptych (Playboy)

July 17, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

I made this triptych the other day of various Playboy-related things I own for my most recent newsletter, which details my time on Playboy TV. There’s a vintage Playboy mirror, a few magazines, and a branded basketball.

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tags / PLAYBOY, TRIPTYCHS, PHOTOGRAPHS, NEWSLETTERS, THE REVERSE COWGIRL

Books I Read: A Guest in the House

July 16, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

E. M. Carroll’s A Guest in the House is a tricky book to review because about 90% of it is terrific. It’s a dark, weird, gloomy story about what happens when you marry a man who seems normal and it turns out he may have murdered the wife before you. One of the most exciting things about the book is how it occasionally explodes out and across the page in moments of colorful surrealism. So, mostly, I really liked this book. But the ending left me baffled. It felt rushed, patchworked together, and I had to search the internet to try and understand it. Your experience may vary. But in general, this is a great work. She didn’t nail the ending.

Books I Read

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tags / BOOKS, GRAPHIC NOVELS, REVIEWS, BOOKS I READ, WEIRD

Announcing My Next Book

July 15, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

I’m happy to announce my next book: Dr. Dre’s The Chronic. It’s part of Bloomsbury’s much-loved 33 1/3 series. I’ll be writing about the seminal album and its influence. Thanks so much to Bloomsbury for the opportunity.

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tags / BOOKS, MUSIC, HIP HOP, NEWS, DR. DRE'S THE CHRONIC

Scenes From My Life on Playboy TV

July 14, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

“My shtick was that I was the sarcastic one who covered the most deranged, out-there subjects.” Read my latest newsletter, which explores the five years I was on Playboy TV. Subscribe to get it in your inbox weekly.

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tags / SEX, PLAYBOY, TV, NEWSLETTERS, THE REVERSE COWGIRL

I'm a Comic Book Character

July 13, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

In my recent review of Desolation Jones: The Biohazard Edition, I mentioned that a character in the comic book series is based on me. Her name is Filthy Sanchez, and she’s a porn czar in Los Angeles. What you see here is a snippet of their interaction. She appears to be accompanied by her gimp. I think it’s hilarious.

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tags / COMIC BOOKS, FUNNY, ART, PERSONAL, PORN

Nice Words

July 12, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

Thanks to John Wooden, who gave me my first editing job, for these nice words about my memoir, Data Baby. John has a new newsletter on Substack called EPOSTASY, where he rails against the all consuming “ebyss.”

You should subscribe to it.

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tags / DATA BABY, MEMOIRS, NONFICTION, BOOKS, NEWSLETTERS

What I'm (Re)Watching: "Apocalypse Now"

July 11, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

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tags / WHAT I'M WATCHING, WAR, VIDEOS, MEN, VIOLENCE

Books I Read: Frank Sinatra Has a Cold

July 10, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

I’ve read Gay Talese’s “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” several times, so when I saw Taschen had produced this oversized version with photos by Phil Stern, I had to have it. I really enjoyed re-reading Talese’s work this way, Stern’s photos, and the ephemera that includes Talese’s hand-drawn outline for the work. A good buy.

Books I Read

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tags / BOOKS, REVIEWS, BOOKS I READ, PHOTOGRAPHY, MUSIC

Triptych (Porn Valley)

July 09, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

A triptych of photographs I’ve taken in Porn Valley, from yesterday’s newsletter. Subscribe to get it every week.

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tags / PORN, PHOTOGRAPHS, SEX, NEWSLETTERS, TRIPTYCHS

Creeping Around the Valley

July 08, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

Adult actress in backyard, Los Angeles, Calif. | Photo credit: Susannah Breslin

In my latest newsletter, I share what my novel, the adult industry, and fictional literary maps have in common.

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tags / PORN, NOVELS, FICTION, NEWSLETTERS, THE REVERSE COWGIRL

What I'm Listening to: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's "Love Burns"

July 06, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

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tags / WHAT I'M LISTENING TO, VIDEOS, MUSIC, LOVE, RELATIONSHIPS

Sex $75

July 05, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

In the early 2000s, there was a very cool magazine called Arthur. It was edited by Jay Babcock and, per Wikipedia, “featured photography and artwork from Spike Jonze, Art Spiegelman, Susannah Breslin, Gary Panter and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.” Arthur was printed on paper and about all kinds of things: music, art, L.A. In 2003, I wrote an essay for Arthur, “Sex $75,” the title taken from a photo I took of a wall, on Santa Monica Boulevard, upon which someone had scrawled those words. My story was accompanied by some photos I had taken, including on the sets of porn movies. In any case, Babcock has scanned every issue of Arthur and made them available online as PDFs. It was pretty cool to see a piece I had written so long ago. The main photo at the top of the essay I had forgotten about entirely. I took it on the set of a porn movie filmed in a house above the Sunset Strip. When I arrived on the set, I asked if I could take photos of the male porn star, whom I knew, and the female porn star, whom I had just met, while they filmed their sex scene. When the woman hesitated, the male porn star said to her: “She’s cool.” Anyway, thanks for that moment, and for saying that. Time travel is pretty cool, even virtually.

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tags / SEX, ESSAYS, PORN, JOURNALISM, NEWS

Ride It

July 04, 2025  /  Susannah Breslin

Girl on a seesaw at a sex expo in the Chicago area. 2013 or so. For more of my photos, follow me on Instagram.

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tags / SEX, SPORTS, MONEY, PHOTOGRAPHS, INSTAGRAM
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