BREAKING: Britain appointed Sarah Mullally as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the first time a woman has been named leader of the Church of England in the 1,400 year history of the role reut.rs/46RSbE6

We are losing something by having newsrooms where everyone who has more than a few years’ experience has gotten fired. I don’t fault a young writer for not knowing about things that happened before she was born. But now there are no editors to help give context to these stories, either.

It’s @philipchristman.bsky.social day! Celebrate by listening to an interview about his new book *Why Christians Should Be Leftists* and picking up your own copy via your favorite purveyor of fine literature. 💪🏼

I love this bit of good old Chicago boosterism mixed in with Fugitive Slave Law defiance. Hope it becomes a regular feature: "The man-stealers will only violate our liberties over my dead body, which would then be interred in scenic Graceland Cemetery."

On this Chairteenth, we celebrate the good folks of Montgomery, especially our guy AquaMayne. Special shout out to the folks who, within 72 hours, recreated this in their apartment complex. A COMMUNITY!! 💀

Books.

EVERYBODY-VS.-PHIL-AT-BOOK-TRIVIAL-PURSUIT

Chicago Public Library is developing its next five year plan and they are collecting feedback via a very long but well-designed survey.

32 years ago, a student asked me how I knew what to read? I revisited my answer.

As big as the Mamdani win is, Landers ascent is in some ways even more significant for the national Democratic Party. Most Dem electeds know that they don't have what Zohran has. But most can at least imagine themselves as a Lander.

Last night was a good night for NYC and for my beleaguered WNBA teams. (Valks not pictured. And not all that beleaguered.)

Humble Q: How do I get @philipchristman.bsky.social's forthcoming book in the hands of every Dem operative in the country? Even if you're not personally down with JC, being able to cast a POSITIVE vision for leftist politics that resonates with Christian values seems mmm smart. Strategic even.

Really wishing I could listen in on the conversation Edmund White and Walter Brueggemann are having today.

Wow. I chose the best day to check in on Blue Sky. It’s like finding the perfect use for that weird dooohicky you kept in the drawer for years that will justify never getting rid of a doohickey ever again.

I am so grateful to @roxanegay.bsky.social for accepting this piece in the Audacity’s Emerging Writer Series, and to @megpillow.bsky.social for her superb edits. Earlier edits from @lacockrel.bsky.social and @laceyj.bsky.social helped make this what it is. Please enjoy. substack.com/home/post/p-...

We talk a lot about social media radicalizing the population but it's been far more efficient at radicalizing public figures.

mass schooling and mass literacy are beautifully complex and unlikely and easily destroyed things, and, like all beautiful, complex, and easily destroyed things, they arouse a deep atavistic destructive urge in lots of people, across the political spectrum

"The Democratic party has more to learn from Alexei Navalny or the protesters in Serbia than it does from Chuck Schumer or strategists obsessing over message-testing crosstabs." Important @jvl.bsky.social www.thebulwark.com/p/how-to-thi...

We are politically a democracy — or should I say that we are an oligarchy with its ranks ever open to talent? —Rogue Male, Geoffrey Household

This role of Trump that Bouie identifies here—on identity and relational attachment—seems like it has theological valiance. Namely this is what it would mean for Trump to be anti-Christ

Et tu, @southwestairlines.bsky.social?😭 — seen at DEN this morning

Book sales comprised 1% of my earnings last year. This is typical for many writers, especially those traditionally publishing. At AWP in LA this year, I'm moderating a panel where writers will be transparent about their earnings. Mark your calendars: 10:35 a.m. on Sat, March 29, Bookfair stage.

Life is too chaotic currently to expand the cliche canon I rely on, but one I go back to is that you don’t need to take political strategy advice from individuals who would struggle to put on a dinner party for friends

It’s insane to think that the Trump administration was more welcoming this week to the Tate brothers than to the President of Ukraine.

"fuck you and your entire law school, you bigoted hack" is the kind of energy we need more of, good on Judge Reyes

You don’t have to report to social media what organizing you are doing! That might not be the smart or secure thing to do!! I repeat: You don’t have to report to social media what organizing you are doing!!

the single most un-american and anti-constitutional statement ever uttered by an american president

Laundryland 3052 W Diversey Ave Chicago

"I think too how really miraculous it is, every moment we don't have our hands at one another's throats, every spot of ground that isn't...being drenched with blood, how precious any form of life that lets us extend another instant the suspension of violence" Small Rain, Garth Greenwell

not being at all hyperbolic when i say i've spent a lot of time wishing this book existed but knowing i was too dumb to write it, which is why i'm so glad Phil did and it was even better than i could have imagined. pre-order it now! go go go!

Phil about to lead an army of Christian Girl Autumn Moms to the very heights of power. Tremble before their lovingkindness.

It occurs to me, for no reason in particular, that I should put this starter pack back in circulation go.bsky.app/3h6n3YC

The Democratic “plan” is to “not get distracted” as Trump seizes Treasury, purges the FBI and the military, and completely defies all laws limiting himself, and then win back the House in 2026 by talking about inflation. It’s an awful plan.

If you are in danger unless you comply with a regime, you are in danger whether you comply or not

Call it a purge, not a buyout. Call it a coup against Congress, not a spending pause. Call it censorship, not a review. Words matter, and we in the media have a chance to do better this time.

What he's announcing is a concentration camp. A deeply illegal, unconstitutional, anti-human rights atrocity. Anyone who supports this is complicit. Anyone in any federal service, military or otherwise, is morally obligated to refuse to carry out any orders related to this deeply criminal act.

Imagine a world where you never learned or tried anything new, you just kept pushing the button for another pellet like a rat.

The mainline welcomes you—Episcos, American Baptists, Presbyterians (you want PCUSA), Lutherans (you want ELCA), the UCC, the United Methodists, and The One I Always Forget Whenever I Do This (changes every time but there’s always one) if they ordain women, give em a shot

If you want to read a new book coming out but don't want to buy it, a great thing you can do is ask your local library to order it. The more requests they get, the more likely they are to acquire it and then lots of people will get to read it who othewise wouldn't.

Co-sign.

I took this in 2021! Highly recommend!

A moment of silence for a hero. apnews.com/article/buxt...

i mean, I'm the last guy that's gonna tell you to stop close reading Aristotle or Hegel or Fanon or Xunzi or whoever. but that is because i am a huge book sicko who loves a good ponder, not because I think that this is how we're going to figure out how to allocate water rights or something

couldn't dream up a plainer explanation of the political sides and stakes here

Happy independent bookstore day! Make a real & good one by buying a book from an independent press!

Prime example of why body positivity has never been enough. Fatphobia has rank consequences that reach far beyond personal self esteem.

"I sometimes think that the modern world’s true cultural divide is ... between those who think life is a puzzle that is capable of being solved and those who believe it’s a mystery that ought to be approached by way of silence and humility." Chris Beha on Jon Fosse: www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/o...