Newsom signed SB79! So, so huge. Enormous props to all the people who worked so hard, for so long, to make this happen, above all @scottwiener.bsky.social. It's going to change California, and the country.

This is a lovely story. Won't change the world or nothing, but it's still worth a calm, ruminative few minutes of your time. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/a...

Graffito of the Week, No. 028: No eres sin mi; Ecuador, 2010. I have always loved this one. #GotW

Big news in Philly-area academia. www.inquirer.com/education/te...

Read the memo in the next part of the thread. Weiss admitting that she doesn't know how to manage an organization, delegate, use her organization's performance review process, or construct a survey. It's just amateur hour, with boldness as a substitute for competence.

congrats to Nobel Peace Prize winner Portland Frog

Cities are developing a new approach to developing housing: Integrating it into mixed-use library projects. These investments improve neighborhood vitality, add housing & improve services. In new research @urbaninstitute.bsky.social, I create a database of such projects & point to success stories ⏬

There should be more sports journalism like this. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here. Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

BREAKING: a 36-floor, 620-unit tower is proposed at 1321 S. Columbus Blvd. in Pennsport. There had been big plans here in the past, but this new proposal (which already has permits), would change the area completely - and add better trail connections. jackphillyre.substack.com/p/breaking-3...

Every quarter, in every undergrad class, I talk with students about what should be included in our LLM AI policy. For the first time, most of the class decided that we should not allow AI at all. Here's how we got there . . .

transit officials, cyclists, straphanger/bus rider coalition

There's a fascinating case study to be done on the different strategies of Macron and Sánchez. Both emerged, against the odds, from centrist milieux in the mid-2010s to lead their countries since 2017/18. But their fates are totally different.

May his memory, like his cannoli, be a blessing

Having just finished Against the Day, and been moved by its elegiac tone again and again, despite its bagginess, it was great to stumble across this thread. It - and Pynchon's novels - are well worth your time.

It appears that my employer, Dartmouth, one of the Trump 9, has said no to the compact. All the better given that our president is cited within it. But she’s saying no. Count the small victories when they come.

Demography is science, but it's not rocket science. Journalists and related professionals could understand crude birth rate, general fertility rate, and total fertility rate - and use the terms consistently. So I made this annotated table: familyinequality.wordpress.com/2025/10/03/l...

Well, well, well www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...

Graffito of the Week, No. 027: Warhol and Basquiat; Wynwood Walls, Miami, 2015. #GotW

exact same for me. Fetterman *simply was not like this as Lt Gov,* there was no grand conspiracy to knife his constituents, what happened was a stroke

These are the lowest cost insurance options for a 62 year old Georgian making $65k. 2025: $228 2026: $1142 She will lose $704/month in credits because of GOP cuts to health care. This is a crisis. We cannot wait to fix this.

Yes! As Diana Lind writes, now is the time to pedestrianize some streets permanently. thephiladelphiacitizen.org/new-urban-or...

Not to quibble, but in Sora's AI-generated video of a home run in this article, the runner never touches third base. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/t...

Some problems have simple solutions. This new “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” is one. The answer is simply saying no. Simple does not mean easy. But Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, Vanderbilt, Univ of AZ, UPenn, USC, UT Austin & UVA must understand what they’ll lose if they sign on.

Trump's higher ed ransom note is here - everyone would have to acquiesce to their unprecedented demands or not be "given priority for grants," plus they can demand "reimbursement" for "violations" www.wsj.com/us-news/educ... A mechanism to enforce fealty. An attack on academic freedom and democracy

I love my books and I want many, many more of them, but this feels like too much even for me. www.inquirer.com/columnists/r...

Superficial individual expression, things of that nature.

The H-1B visa policy is really going to f**k up university hiring. I'm already hearing through the grapevine about some schools newly deciding not to interview faculty candidates who need a visa.

What happens if all the generals and admirals call his bluff?

A good, quick read. I agree Rizzo provides a kind of ur-text for understanding Trump, but we also have to mind the differences: Rizzo really was of the people he claimed to represent, while Trump has been an elite showman all along; he never "came up hard." theconversation.com/how-frank-ri...

Saw Hiromi last night with her quartet Sonicwonder. It was a great, manic show! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hTA...

I grew up with and around the Erie Canal. This year's commemorations can full well co-exist with a more honest accounting of its costs. A fuller, more complex recognition of what the past entailed is better history, and a clearer path to self-awareness too. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/n...

I really miss the old Painted Bride; I went to so many events at the Old City location. But I'm so happy to see them moving on and into the next chapter. The Bride is a rare bird, a pillar of community arts in Philly, and should be cherished and supported by all. www.inquirer.com/arts/painted...

The Youtube video looks like it has been taken down, but this Roots of Chicha album is fantastic and I've loved it for years. Go buy it!

Bucknell is closing its university press bc apparently it "doesn't serve undergrads." What content exactly do they think is being taught in upper-level undergrad courses? IT'S RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS FROM PRESSES LIKE BUCKNELL UP. networks.h-net.org/group/discus...

you probably need to be of a certain vintage to understand the absolute hilarity of ken starr being in the epstein files

Ha ha... whut? You gotta be kidding me. www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

Brilliant businessman accidentally gives employees 7-month paid vacation.

It's a sad day for Philly-area beer drinkers. Iron Hill was a local success story and brewed in a wide range of styles; their restaurants were always a good place to meet friends. www.inquirer.com/food/restaur...

America First!

cRoNy CaPiTaLiSm

Wow. Cass Sunstein is... incoherent? sucking up to powerful friends? not very bright? hopeless? a person with horrible judgment who we shouldn't let anywhere near politics? This interview is epic in its badness, like getting Chotinered on steroids.

We keep to the old ways here

I used to worry about overinflating my baby with too many vaccines, but then I learned about how many other liquids they consume, and I decided to cut way, way back on milk and water for my child. Now my kid is a nice shade of desiccated husk.

Topical commentary from 1852 www.marxists.org/archive/marx...

I think if you're GWAR, having Libs of TikTok introduce you to her entire dingbat audience is probably the best thing that could possibly happen