What is In the Zine?

In the Zine is a Substack about Britney Spears.

Each edition will feature writing about a specific Britney Spears song. Beginning with “…Baby One More Time”, this Substack will make its way through all 150 songs released either as part of an album or as one-off singles in chronological order. There will also be extra posts about obscure bonus tracks, unreleased songs and rarities. Each album will also get a bonus essay when the tracklist is complete.

Featuring stories behind the songs, in-depth essays, straight up reviews, and some experimentation along the way, In the Zine aims to critically engage and wrestle with Britney's work and legacy without reserve.

Who am I?

My name is Alim Kheraj. I’m a writer, podcaster and a lifelong Britney Spears fan.

In 2016, I had an idea to put together a collection of essays about Britney, written by a number of cultural critics, music journalists and Britney fans that would attempt to reframe our understanding of her artistry and her position in pop culture. It was going to be a small print publication and I would call it In the Zine.

While that project never fully materialised, I kept thinking about how I could pursue In the Zine. Ultimately, like so many ideas, it came to me on the bus: In the Zine would work as a Substack. With no formal parameters, a newsletter could facilitate writing about a pop star whose life, career and impact often feel so thorny, frustrating, intricate, complex and fascinating.

Subscribe (bitch)

For now, In the Zine will be free to access to subscribers, although if you enjoy reading and have the means, you can pledge your support for $5 a month.

So if you wanna get In the Zine, I hope you’ll join me on this endeavour. I promise you it’ll be a newsletter to remember.