Julia Cooke’s new book STARRY & RESTLESS, a bio of three women journalists—Rebecca West, Martha Gellhorn, & Mickey Hahn—is *so* good. God they could make sentences! And so does Julia. We’ll be talking about the book & literary journalism this Tuesday, Woodstock VT: normanwilliams.org/event/j-cooke

Local zoning is the way! A lot of these are being stopped or stalled by neighborhood organizing. These warehouses often need to be purchased, permitted, approved for occupancy and specs. Each one of those steps can be interrupted. Ppl are pressuring corps not to sell, counties to deny permits, etc

I can't get over this number: in 2007, there were 360,000 newspaper jobs. Now, there are 80,000. "My local paper sucked!" Sure. What sucks even more? The void. "I get all my news from the Guardian!" No, the Guardian doesn't report on your town council, your school board, local cops.

Min’s new novel is spectacular! Book critics: contact Cordelia Calvert and me for review copy/interview requests: cordelia dot calvert at hbgusa dot com michael at broadsidepr dot com @minjinlee.bsky.social @reaganart.bsky.social

News you can use, from the @wired.com security team (who are the best in the biz). They asked technologists, activists, aid groups, and cybersecurity experts for guidance on how to organize and collaborate in an age of surveillance. Here’s the result:

Especially awful when contrasted with this other news this week. What's the difference between the two mothers, I wonder? www.nola.com/news/courts/...

In "Raising the Bottom," Alix Chapman offers a performance ethnography of New Orleans bounce music which examines how black queer performers amplify community power, pleasure, and solidarity. Read the intro for free now: buff.ly/MOKyjzQ

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide. This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

We do not want your private ICE prisons in North Carolina! No where. Not now. Not ever! We won't back down and we won't give up! #NCPOL #Pinks www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...

Another review that I loved editing: @coryoldweiler.bsky.social on Julia Cooke's STARRY AND RESTLESS, a group biography of Gellhorn, West, and Hahn, three pioneering women journalists. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/18/a...

FDA reverses course, agrees to review Moderna’s flu vaccine www.statnews.com/2026/02/18/f... via @statnews.com

Our critic @laurenleblanc.bsky.social found a lot to love in KIN by Tayari Jones. If you've got a subscription to the Globe, please go into the comments and do your thing. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/18/a...

In light of this, guess we have to talk about what’s going to happen (or not) with the Yale Jewish Lives imprint.

For @bostonglobe.com, I reviewed Tayari Jones's KIN which follows the lives of two "cradle friends," motherless girls born in rural Louisiana in 1941. It's a tender portrait of friendship against the stark backdrop of life under segregation in the deep South. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/18/a...

Who do I know who is a book critic and who also grew up with Samantha the American Girl Doll. Because there is a book coming this fall, for adults, about Samantha as an adult woman. And I want to cover that shit.

If you're in D.C. a week from tomorrow, there's an event at Politics & Prose honoring the history of Book World. I think the tone will likely be less funerary than you might imagine. I know my comments will be. politics-prose.com/tribute-book...

I feel this way about pretty much all vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. You shouldn't be allowed to dump cyanide into municipal drinking water and you shouldn't be allowed to recreationally spread viruses around shared public spaces.

Dr. Annie Andrews is running for Lindsey Graham's Senate seat. She's one of several doctors seeking office during an election midterm year where health care issues are front and center.

Nice day for the fossil fuel magnates. For every other living thing on earth, sorry, try Mars: Trump Administration Erases the Government’s Power to Fight Climate Change www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/c...

‘My friend K said that what was most remarkable now was that you could get so many of your needs met without paying a dollar. “It’s almost like a parallel society being built, a form of anarcho-communism.”’ Amna A. Akbar on community defence as community-building. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/fe...

The only biosphere in the known universe capable of supporting human life is being turned into a hell planet because most of Earth's governments refuse to stop trying to satisfy the insatiable greed of a plutocracy composed of people who already have more money than they could spend in 20 lifetimes.

Alex Pretti's parents keep a box crammed with 200 letters and cards that have poured into their Denver home since their son was shot and killed by immigration agents. "He's my first born," Susan Pretti said. "He's the one that made me a mother. There was no reason he should have died that day."

The world is what it is but books continue! Agents + writers: looking for deeply researched and imaginative nonfiction manuscripts about the South, for publication in 2027/28. Literary nonfiction, personal/reportage & cultural criticism are highly welcomed. DMs open for pitches or [email protected].

NEW: ICE is leasing offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.

It's strange to be living in a place with a national news story (measles outbreak) and see the gaps in how the media talks about it. We don't have much of a media environment here, but there has been some good local journalism, specifically around the religious exemption, instead of rehashing RFK.

NEW: South Carolina's measles outbreak has reached 876 cases, and for the first time, the state has confirmed encephalitis—brain swelling—in some children who have gotten measles. Encephalitis can cause long-term neurological damage, including intellectual disability. www.wired.com/story/measle...

I’m available to start a book review cooperative. I don’t have any money, but I have a ton of editing experience, and I love doing it. And I write, too.

bring back google reader but for book review newsletters

journalists are workers who deserve to be paid fairly for our labor and I think that far too few consumers of media recognize or even care about this fact

Please subscribe to @roncharles.bsky.social's Substack if you haven't already done so. (Prices range from free to $50/year.)

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 💙

If you are a person who cares about books, you’re different from Jeff Bezos. Now would be a good day to stop shopping from Amazon, permanently.

Mackenzie should’ve gotten more money in the divorce.

All the smartest, best people I know are broke and losing their jobs, while the stupidest, meanest, most vicious and violent people are thriving. It’s awful, and of course it’s just one part of the terrible times we’re in. If you feel as hopeless as I do, go read a story, poem, or essay today.

Curious what it's like here in Minnesota for those of us who are not in the epicenter? It's still very hard and very sad, but community helps. The N.C. Writers Network asked me to write about it. My essay is here: www.ncwriters.org/news/blog/a-...

In my view, mandating the signing of an NDA for judicial employees clashes with the tradition of transparency and openness that should motivate the courts. Should some things be confidential? Yes. But trying to use a contract to get there means we have lost the plot. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

thank you for your leadership mr. president

Lest we forget: On Sat night, as Minnesotans braved Arctic cold to honor Alex Pretti and demand that ICE/CBP leave their state... ...Tim Cook was at the White House for "friends and family" premiere of payola-based 'Melania' movie. Also Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO. Bezos was at fashion show in Paris.

Alex Pretti’s coworkers take a moment of silence this morning

Maybe because JK Rowling is a hateful TERF and these people grew up?

As usual, @anupamchander.bsky.social was right all along: “My worry all along is that we may have traded fears of foreign propaganda for the reality of domestic propaganda.” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/t...

Perhaps MacKenzie Scott should found a newspaper.

The officer who shot Alex worked for DHS for 8 years. The officer who shot Renee worked for DHS for over 10 years. Both are considered “highly trained.” The problem isn’t "training." DHS was built to violate our rights and has been empowered to act with impunity. We must MELT ICE and dismantle DHS.

A major newspaper publishing guide to help people identify the munitions their government is using against them is a real "Late Republic America" timepeice that future historians will comment on.

Today is the 82nd birthday of Dr. Angela Y. Davis. To celebrate her life and work, we’re proud to share an excerpt from our 2005 pamphlet “Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empire, Prisons, and Torture,” an extended set of interviews with Dr. Davis conducted by the late philosopher Dr. Eduardo Mendieta.

He did enough. He just didn’t do it to most White folks.

NYT Ed Board: One year ago, Trump took an oath to serve the American people. Instead, he has focused on using the presidency to enrich himself. A review by the editorial board shows that Trump has used the office of the presidency to make at least $1,408,500,000.

You can’t “apprehend” a child who’s only been toilet trained for maybe 2-3 years & who still has his milk teeth.