We can’t force the flower to bloom. We can’t make water boil. We can’t [insert your cliche]. We can, however, get good at the art of patience. open.substack.com/pub/jenknox/... #5amwritersclub #writesky #booksky #patienceandcreativity #resilientcreative

The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5

60 Minutes journalist Sharyn Alfonsi sharply summarizes the appalling decision of Bari Weiss not to run her CECOT story: “If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient.”

This is entirely to please Trump, who has voiced criticism of 60 Minutes under the new owners, who are the definition of rank amatuers, emphasis on rank. This Stephen Miller interview suggestion is idiotic in the context of this story and shows a startling lack of sophistication or smarts.

Asking this seriously: has Bari Weiss ever in her career reported out an investigative story?

Clueless US media understand Trump's shut down of Atlantic coast wind farms as just some vague national security thing about radar or as Trump's weird ideas about alternative energy. But in Denmark, this is immediately understood for what it is: a shakedown against two large Danish companies,

The Epstein Files: My Observations (Free) jkbjournalist.substack.com/p/the-epstei...

Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.

If you see this, share a redhead.

Really appreciate the justified anger in this piece by @ryanlcooper.com. The GOP's narrative about trans people "is and always has been a lie. What these people actually have is a seething, obsessive hatred of trans people. They want them either back in the closet or dead."

🧵

One of the many problems with the term "AI" is that it doens't refer to a coherent set of technologies, rather lumping together different types of automation. >>

This story Carl Nassib told on RC's pod about coming out in the NFL cracked me up. His delivery is so good!

Brilliant doc director Christine Choy came to more screenings than any other filmmaker I can think of. When she came to see your film, you were going to get A LOT of thoughts, expressed enthusiatically. RIP Christine. LEGEND. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/m...

Same for excessive bronzer and hand bandaids ☕️

I wrote this, a long analysis of a single line of Shakespeare and what it’s doing. How good writing is an ethical practice. And my continuing attempts to work out what it is that I’m spotting when I look at a piece of text and go “oh that was written by AI.” open.substack.com/pub/naomiald...

In America, we believe in healthy competition. That success happens because you had a good idea, you worked hard, and you inspired people. Not because one giant company buys up their competitor to dominate an entire industry through currying favor with the president.

You're going to see lots of Jane Austen content this week, in the run-up to Austen's 250th birthday. But there's only place where you'll answer the hardest-hitting Austen questions, like whether or not Mr Collins really is a wrong'un: The Museum of English Rural Life

‘Go ahead and sue me, I’m not afraid any more’: South Park’s festive special isn’t afraid of a fight

Dance break :) www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Abk...

We're hiring a Team Assistant (six-month contract)! Do you want to work with us and help run our creative writing courses? Does this sound like you? 💬 Confident communicator 💻 Strong administrative skills 📖 Avid reader Apply by 6 Jan 2026: www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/blog/we-are-...

Oh no not that: “Driving all this, Mr. Sarandos has been the leading evangelist for giving the consumer control, more options, greater ease” and “Netflix was focused on volume and scale, rather than wooing talent with expense accounts and private planes.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/o...

Incarcerated members of the LGBTQ community already face heightened risks for physical and sexual violence, and this directive to disregard the law will only put them further at risk. Human rights don't end at the prison walls.

“It’s turned up and it’s just doing what a beaver does” 🙌🦫❤️ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It starts with knowing the truth. Don’t allow yourselves to be gaslit into believing this is a real question.

Any Lucia Lopez Belloza. Learn her name. This young woman who escaped a Honduran city overrun by gang violence at age 7, a productive member of our society with a bright future ahead, is who Trump is wasting our tax $ to deport. Cruel. And also stupid. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

So here is a clue. #reMERZ is an online/offline project. During December I'll perform reMERZ poems live - in Twitter Spaces (audio only), Youtube Live, Instagram Live, TikTok live and probably some 3D chatrooms. Unscheduled. Sudden. Hic&Hoc. Pay attention to this monitor image.

I have one piece of advice for American men: be the guy at the party who makes everyone a perfect grilled cheese at 3 in the morning and you’ll never sleep alone. Also what is going on with this embassy thirst trap

Signing onto a REALLY fun feature project that ramps up in January. I can't talk about it - but I'm so freaking excited!!! Hey there, 2026, I like you already. ☕☕☕ 🙏🙏🙏 #scriptsky #amwriting Also, 2025, it's not me, it's you. 🕺🕵️‍♀️💫🍿🎬

Tom Stoppard won an Oscar for his screenplay for “Shakespeare in Love”, and later got a knighthood; but neither helped with his main preoccupation, writing the next play

Fascinating obit for a centenarian Penobscot hero of WWII. He was not allowed to vote in his state of Maine when he came home from the war. RIP to a remarkable American

Earlier this year, the Trump administration gutted the Institute of Museum and Library Services, leading to canceled federal grants. Now, after a court order, those grants are being reinstated. n.pr/4phxzwN

making this a country nobody wants to live in is not “securing the border”

This is in the weeds, but please be reminded that this gross usurpation of the Institute of Peace was made possible by a Supreme Court order from the shadow docket in an unrelated case, which then three Trump judges on the D.C. Circuit ran with to allow this usurpation to proceed.

Yeah more pollution + more money dumped into the tank. Woohoo - we've been waiting for this.

A US citizen woman screams: "I'm a US citizen. Please help me. Why are you doing this?" Population Control Police manhandled her, brought her to the ground, handcuffed, loaded her into a vehicle. Later released her. Kavanaugh stop or something worse? -12/3/25

Up and polishing/editing ☕️ Let’s get it done. #5AMwritersclub

AOC: This is how our healthcare system got deregulated. People talking about Americans should have the personal choice of getting totally fleeced by insurance companies.

While several media reports have suggested that DOGE has all but fizzled out, it’s far from dead. DOGE affiliates are scattered across the federal government. Meanwhile, the DOGE ethos remains fully in force.

i'm actually struck by how pete hegseth isn't just a cowardly man but a capital-c Coward. a guy who gets off on abusing and hurting people he thinks are weaker than him and then tries to run and hide when there might be consequences

THE TELEPHONE, my micro-short film starring Josh Neal, featuring a score by Joe Stockton, is now available to watch. Shot this back in 2022 as my first film project here in Sweden. Give it a quick watch and let me know what you think. youtu.be/zRm_39aVKIc #scriptsky #filmsky

Kelly: He runs around on stage talking about lethality and the warrior ethos.. That’s not the message that should be coming from the Secretary of Defense… He runs around on a stage like he’s a 12 year old playing army. It’s embarrassing.

As we kick off December and the year starts to wind down, there's still time to nominate your script for the 2026 Grey List! #scriptsky #filmsky 📺

An issue we're seeing at all levels of university is that many students are simply refusing to do *anything*. They aren't reading the syllabus, aren't following assignment guidelines, aren't engaging with material, ignoring deadlines. And this might seem like old news, but it truly has ramped up.

I'm glad she's standing up, but there are no "DC political pundits" threatening her. There are only MAGA Republicans.

Aside from the extremely dubious question of whether the occupants of the Venezuelan boat even qualified as “combatants,” ordering a second strike from an aircraft for the sole purpose of killing defenseless people was absolutely an illegal order.

I feel like one of the most underrated explanations for what's happening right now in global politics is that almost everyone has lost their minds.

1/ You must refuse illegal orders.” That’s what 6 Democratic members of Congress said on video. Trump called it seditious. The FBI launched an investigation. Then came reporting in WAPO about an order SecDef Hegseth gave ahead of the 9/2 attack on a boat allegedly trafficking drugs in the Caribbean.

Mike Johnson, whose claim to fame is a ridiculous selfie with Kid Rock, is furious that we’re pushing to force a vote on extending tax credits. You know what to do:

What do these corporations have in common? Netflix Ford Tesla T-Mobile Duke Energy DISH Network Metlife Dominion Energy United States Steel In recent years, they all paid their execs more than they paid in taxes. This is what a corporate-rigged system looks like.