In case people forgot why MBS-funded efforts like LIV Golf and the Riyadh Comedy Festival invoke such scorn towards their participants, this is the inciting incident. Saudi Arabia forced a WaPo journalist to come to a Saudi embassy for procedural reasons, then brutally murdered him right there.

Nov. 4 - First store playing Christmas music of 2025 Nov. 5. - First Paul McCartney, “Wonderful Christmastime” Nov. 5 - First store playing exclusively Christmas music Nov. 12 - First “Christmas Wrapping” horn riff

15-20 Democratic Senators: “I know what we said about health care subsidies, but that was before I knew I might have to fucking DRIVE HOME for Thanksgiving and even Christmas! Find the 8 of us who are least vulnerable in ‘26 and get this deal done.”

If you’ve ever thought, “Eggo Waffles are pretty tasty, especially with syrup,” but also thought what they needed was to be smaller, crunchier, had the maple syrup flavoring already included, and to be covered in milk, well, have I got a Limited Edition cereal for you to try! Also, marshmallows.

As a @michiganstateu.bsky.social alum, if J Batt hasn’t already called Brian Kelly to get him to come back to the Midwest and coach the Spartans, then I don’t know what we’re doing with the @michiganstatefb.bsky.social program.

Kind of amazed that the NYT found a couple people willing to go on the record and say, “Yeah, the ballroom is needed and the East Wing probably had to go.” Yet, having watched Netflix’s The Residence this summer, which spends considerable time on the logistics of a State Dinner, I kind of get it.

Serious question: Do you think Trump knows how to play chess? Not metaphorically. Can he actually play a game of chess?

Apparently this is the week where @volts.wtf and @adamconover.net finally line up their podcasts. @sgoodyear.bsky.social and @brooklynspoke.bsky.social on both shows promoting their book Life After Cars.

Sloan have a new album out and it’s real good. These guys have been doing great classic rock and power-pop for decades and this one is chock full of big hooks and cool riffs. www.popmatters.com/sloan-based-...

Frost Children are a hyperpop duo who are so close to figuring out the intersection between cool, glitchy sounds and actual songwriting. This album is an improvement over the earlier stuff I sampled, but it’s a step away from being something I can fully recommend. www.popmatters.com/frost-childr...

I think Comer is confused, thinking that Bill Clinton is a former President that only became more beloved after he left office. We did have one of those, but he just passed away at the beginning of the year.

“Both Contemporary Christian Music and worship music are subpar forms that white evangelicals settle for because they think you can catch demons from the real stuff.” www.salon.com/2025/10/01/m...

Looks like we are changing the name again, this time to the Department of War Crimes.

Neko Case has a new album out. Neko Case always makes fascinating, gorgeous music that’s also delightfully off-kilter. You can read me ramble more about her here: www.popmatters.com/neko-case-ne...

Can we talk about what a dick move it was for Noah Hawley to have the s1 finale of Alien: Earth structured as if it was part 1 of a 2-part finale, but the second part doesn’t exist? This wasn’t loose ends or a cliffhanger, it literally feels like they stopped midway because that was all their time.

Sinclair is a big deal as far as owning tv stations. Now they’ve found out exactly how much influence they have over the actual network conglomerates in the past 10 days. It looked like a whole lot, but now it seems to be significantly less than it first appeared. deadline.com/2025/09/jimm...

Thanks, Twons, for propping up the Tigers for another 48 hours. Maybe they’ll wake up when they actually have to play the Guardians again.

Took a nap today, will it be enough for me to make it all the way through the MSU-USC game that only just started? Probably not, but we’ll see how long I last!

This is delightfully unexpected! Hoping the music is as well.

We won the Houston area trivia championship for the second year in a row today!

The New York Times really nailed this one.

Gotta say this seems like utter BS. gizmodo.com/dc-ends-red-...

I'm telling all of you that they are going to do what they ALWAYS do. What you do or do not say has no impact on what THEY WILL DO AND SAY. [just going to leave that here]

Houston elected a Mayor who hates anything that interferes with cars. Since taking office he has been actively redesigning and even ripping out bike lanes and pedestrian-friendly projects. At least now we have proof that this is what’s happening. www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

If Cory Doctorow didn’t refuse to use Bluesky, it would be really cool to see his reaction to this.

"Why should I care about U.S. Space Command being transferred to Alabama? I hate the military-industrial complex. We spend too much money on defense. Why does it matter which rich people get richer off it?" There are a number of reasons you should care, but you really only need one. (thread)

Remember how if a kid choked on a little plastic toy they used to stop selling the toy

The Beths new album is an indie-rock gem. I highly recommend it, and you can click through for the full review. It’s out tomorrow. www.popmatters.com/the-beths-st...

Huh.

One reason to tax the wealthy is to help pay for the billions of dollars the U.S. Government is going to owe people from successful lawsuits against ICE.

If I hadn’t fallen off on the retrospective thing over the past year, I would definitely have done a piece on Twin Cinema for @popmatters.com . I think I put it at #1 when it came time to submit our lists for Best Albums of the 00’s. An absolute monster of a power-pop record.

This is upsetting. Motorcycle accident. It sucks that he left the band on less than amiable terms earlier this year, but this is worse. loudwire.com/mastodon-bre...

Molly Tuttle’s new album was led by an incredibly catchy but not very bluegrassy single, “That’s Gonna Leave a Mark.” But I warmed up to that, and the rest of the record shows Tuttle to be as excellent as ever at songwriting, singing, and guitarist. Full review: www.popmatters.com/molly-tuttle...

This seems like a prudent strategy.

According to plays in grocery stores, “Roam” is the B-52’s biggest hit. “Deadbeat Club” was also a major hit in the grocery store alternate music universe.

Serial let host Susan Burton run with the idea of narrating The Retrievals Season 2 as if it was a medical drama, including descriptions of stage direction and camera shots. This provides little spikes of aggravation amid an otherwise excellent story of women’s pain during c-sections.

@nytpitchbot.bsky.social Thank you for your attention to this matter!

This morning my scale said I was the heaviest I’ve ever been. I don’t like those numbers so I’m gonna throw out the scale and get a new one. That should fix the problem, right?

As a Big Ten fan, our conference commish still pushing his “Big Ten and SEC get 4 bids each in a 16-team playoff” plan is ludicrous. Adding a slate of Big Ten play-in games for those bids does not help. I’m in the rare position of fully supporting the SEC on this one. Auto-bids only go to champs.

Whether it has anything to do with Trump’s tariffs or not, shrinkflation is still happening. Just noticed this morning that Simply (the juice company) has reduced its regular sized bottles from 52 oz. to 46.

Hot take: A 4K restoration isn’t going to turn this mediocre movie with a lot of cool ideas into a fully realized good film.

Some analysis from the tv side of things.

Hey, Gen X’ers, you might not think about Swedish pop-rock titans Roxette much these days, but you know who does? The people (or algorithms) that program grocery store music. “Dangerous”, “The Look”, “Joy Ride”; come for the shelf stable food, stay for the late 80’s jams!

My first review in quite a while is up today. @theswellseason.bsky.social have just put out their first album in 16 years, yet it feels like they never left. www.popmatters.com/the-swell-se...

Must’ve missed this announcement. Allred’s “big talk, low effort” campaign strategy last year resulted in a terrible wipeout to a vulnerable Ted Cruz. He doesn’t have a shot against Cornyn, so I really hope Jasmine Crockett wipes the floor with him in the primary. www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcn...

do not give money to dems who don’t support court reform. don’t vote in primaries for dems who do not support court reform. do not support dem leadership that will not pursue court reform. do not bother with pundits who are not on board with court reform.

Maybe I need to give Black Rebel Motorcycle club a chance! Never really listened to them.

Every time Dan Patrick has to speak about a tragedy it feels like he’s remixing The Christmas Shoes. “You just lost your entire family in a flood? Don’t be sad, they’re going to meet Jesus now!!”