Today I'm releasing probably the most important scholarly thing I've ever worked on - a report based on talking with 144 people about why they don't vote or only vote regularly, and on what needs to be done to build a democracy that can include everyone. www.swarthmore.edu/u... please share!

While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot. I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.

from the mind that brought you "Gen Z hates Harry Potter because it's too liberal," it's "any story about a heterosexual nuclear family is inherently conservative"

The Washington Post gutted the health team which I helped to lead despite our stories being among the most widely read, impactful and adept at reaching new audiences.

patient : doctor i am depressed . doctor : solution is simple , watch the muppet show special with sabrina carpenter patient : ohh good idea !! i actually perform as a clown named pagliacci so im big into comedy

A couple weeks ago a good friend of mine told me, “you need a purpose in life.” After some soul searching, I decided my purpose in life will be a newsletter. I hope you like it because I do like receiving accolades.

Man, if this is your defense

Yeah, I can't really think of a larger one off the top of my head. The Messenger was similar in raw numbers, though it was a complete closure rather than the gutting of a newsroom like the Washington Post yesterday. Even the massive CBS News layoffs this past fall are small in comparison...

the direct, self-deprecating desperation of ending the new Muppet Show special (designed to be a fingers-crossed pilot for future continued production) with a big group number to "Don't Stop Me Now" that's EXACTLY THE MUPPETS, BABY

I’m mad enough about diners but if the Zoomers kill dive bars there will be hell to pay

my anger is still directed where it belongs, but I’m getting at least increasingly irritated that outlets like Status reporting extensively on the layoffs aren’t even bothering to note that the Post apparently fired every single one of of its remaining arts critics

Jeff Bezos’s wealth has increased an average of $70 million every day of 2026, meaning that he could have offset The Post’s losses with what he’s made since Monday.

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

Just been made aware of Haiti's winter Olympics get-up. That skirt looks warm, has good pockets, and has a massive horse on it. DING DING DING.

I have rolled my eyes at so many slavishly faithful reboots and I though it was on principle but it might just be that none of those things meant as much to me as The Muppet Show

have to separate this from my review because the picture gives it away, but guess which Muppet turns out to be the same height as Sabrina Carpenter

for bonus points, watch the episode and guess which part made me cry

If you're thinking about Washington Post, "well, to hell with them, they did it to themselves," then count yourself on the side of management. Because, no, labor didn't do this to themselves, didn't grind the paper down, yank it right, & rip out its spine. That's capital. Now we'll all suffer.

the Washington Post effectively blew up its arts section today, dismissing its books, TV, music, and theater critics, features writers, and several editors. (I'm also guessing the vacant film critic position will stay that way.) Just an insane loss of talent and a huge self-inflicted wound.

I wrote about the new Muppet Show, which is, thank God, exactly like the old Muppet Show.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art Museum

I’m sorry what

I’ve been laid off by The Washington Post Serving as this newspaper’s pop music critic for the past 16-plus years has been my privilege, my joy Endless solidarity to my righteous colleagues, endless gratitude to our faithful readers

I think it's best for everyone to understand that the unified class project of billionaires right now is to do to white collar workers what globalization and neoliberalism did to blue collar workers.

I am starting to get the sinking feeling that incredibly rich people do not, in fact, have the rest of our welfare in mind

Seems as though they have laid off their entire photography staff. Photojournalists don’t just take photos, we report, we pitch, we take photos while our lives and safety are under threat. We explore our neighborhoods, restaurants and sports with a creative eye. Photojournalists do it all.

It is worth noting the Post slashed the bulk of its arts coverage, including most of the critics, ending a great tradition in journalism.

funny how the man who cost the Washington Post hundreds of thousands in subscriptions by canceling the paper's presidential endorsement—almost certainly the most destructive decision in the history of the paper, if not journalism itself—still has his job

Whatever you think of the Washington Post at this moment, here's a chance to support the dedicated, hard-working journalists who were just laid off. If you have the means, your donation is most welcome. If you don't, a kind thought and maybe spreading the word to others is support enough 💙

You know who covered sports at the Post as a "cultural and societal phenomenon"? Thomas Boswell, Sally Jenkins, Michael Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser, Jane Leavy, Shirley Povich, Christine Brennan, Mike Wise, Dave Kindred, John Feinstein, David Remnick, David Aldridge, Jerry Brewer, Dan Steinberg...

Where have all the anthems gone? Talking with Dana, Steve, and Carl about what modern protest music looks like, plus Mel Brooks, Catherine O'Hara, and the timeliest Oscar nominee of them all.

thinking once again about how many Washington Post jobs the $75 million Bezos spent on Melania could have saved

honestly can't keep track of all the brilliant, invaluable writers the Washington Post has let go this morning, but I cannot recall in my lifetime a once-great publication so purposefully shooting itself in the face

to paraphrase Sports Night, anyone who cannot make money off Jon Fischer should get out of the money-making business

hot take: newspapers should not be run by people who dislike reading and thinking

The guy who owns Amazon shutting down the books section of the Washington Post is beyond parody

In addition to sports, the Washington Post is killing its book section, suspending its Post Reports podcast, restructuring its metro section, and shrinking its international footprint.

just someone who came up through alt-weeklies talking, but publications with a place in their name who abandon local coverage are giving up a crucial reason for their readers to support them in order to chase the mirage of a global audience

1. Build huge subscriber base by telling them their $ supports democracy. 2. Don’t establish other revenue sources. 3. Rug-pull subscribers by pushing opinion side to the right. 4. Subscribers leave, revenue falls. 5. Enact crippling newsroom cuts.

I didn’t intend this as a photocall for three-legged puppers but I am delighted at how it’s turned out

This part of our response essay is where I'm at. Boiling down all of politics to electoralism has been absolutely terrible for resisting rising authoritarianism. www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...

this is what really killed the place even before the nazis fully took over the Venn diagram of “people willing to pay for Twitter so their replies are boosted” and “people capable of making funny comments” is just two completely separate circles side by side

anyone who sells out is a lamestain

I wish the Epstein nightmare weren’t the most heinous and disturbing shit that’s ever happened, because what these files reveal about how much labor it takes to create the illusion of everyday frictionlessness for the uber-wealthy is so appallingly fascinating

74% of Democrats support abolishing ICE, with 53% *strongly* supporting it, according to YouGov polling from last month. Weak calls for "reform" are coming from *elected* Democrats like Chuck, not the average Democratic voter.

the VFX shop that did the elaborate and extremely well-executed "Bob falls off a building then gets tazed" shot from "One Battle After Another" could put out an 10 minute video about how that shot was done and it would get millions of views, and it would only elevate the stature of the film - alas

Hey Chuck, I know the Baileys. They are solidly on board with abolishing ICE at this point. Eileen is driving her friend Luisa's mom to chemo and calls me up to say she's just aghast at how scared she is.

Three-legged dogs always seem so happy

A tough one to sit with--but we must--is that some people's ability to make good art in part derived from, or was protected by, the fact that they were enabling or doing terrible things. See also: We Need to Talk about Cosby doc. Even more troubling on this score: Read deep reporting on Alice Munro