"Meetings are held, emails are sent, phone calls are made, and something like 520,000 children die of malnutrition, diarrhea, tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV." prospect.org/2026/05/22/w...

I had one of the happiest DiCaprio Pointing moments ever today, watching The Mandalorian & Grogu. During the last 10 minutes, I recognized an actor I could not believe I was seeing. For the first time, I can say I have a friend in a Star Wars movie. Don’t spoil it here. DM me if you recognize him.

SIGN OF THE DAY…

In 1934 Hitler created a medal to give to everyone who participated in the Beer Hall Putsch, in case you want to know what's going to happen to all these people after Trump gives them a big check.

Trump did not reach a settlement with the government. There was no case to settle. He has not created a slush fund. He has colluded with Todd Blanche to steal money from the US Treasury. This is not a “deal.” This is a crime for which Trump & Blanche must be prosecuted. It ia a crime.

Shapiro: Somehow, he can’t find the money to pay for healthcare, but he can steal from you to pay off the criminals who stormed the Capitol.

Trump is putting no effort into becoming less unpopular but a TON into putting elements of a coup in place. Some of them may remain invisible, but the ones we can see point to his general approach: violent intimidation + corrupt judges + executive branch and congressional coconspirators + bribes.

The entire Cannes Film Festival is almost over and not a single word from any journalists or critics about CRITTERZ, the Open AI produced film that was supposed to upend the entire animation industry with only a $30 million price tag. It's almost like it doesn't exist.

Opposition to Trump insurrectionaries slush fund

I am seeing so many puns in the reviews for THE SHEEP DETECTIVES that I wonder if @justincchang.bsky.social isn't cooking up some kind of follow-up essay just to defend his territory.

The glamorous job of a DOJ attorney; trying to bankrupt undocumented immigrants with no savings, just to make their life even more of a hell. Congrats to every lawyer involved, now quit your job.

I had the pleasure of talking with @overstreet.bsky.social about his new book, "Lost and Found in the Cathedral of Cinema," as well as film, faith and beauty. And, of course, we slip in some Jim Henson talk. chrisicisms.substack.com/p/chrisicism...

Note: The pastor who runs services attended by Pete Hegseth, who spoke (via video) at this event, self-identifies as a Christian nationalist. So, too, did former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Keeping this false narrative alive is a corruption of public office. Audits and lawsuits have already answered this question.

I know that the #Mariners are struggling, but are things really so dire that they're already, um . . . "urning"?

Reposted w alt text

Story here: www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Was going to set aside time to review this today, but now I’m not sure that’s necessary. I don’t think I have anything to add to what Sarah so eloquently expresses here.

The stories & photos from today’s voting rights marches in Alabama deserve to be seen by people who weren’t able to stand there in person. If this piece moves you, please share it widely & help make sure these voices aren’t lost in the noise of a crowded news cycle. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

There isn’t much left to say except that your children will be less well-rounded than you. Less well-read than you. Less intelligent than you. Less able to problem solve than you. Leas worldly than you. Less empathetic. Less equipped. And more helpless. For the first time in living history.

The things you find when you're doing a search in order to report to your publisher about media coverage of your new book. Somebody has recently mentioned a book you wrote 20 years ago! 😃

This massive sale on digital versions of Criterion Collection films is like a living nightmare. Some of them are only $5 each. Who can withstand such temptations? athome.fandango.com/content/brow...

As one who aspires to follow Jesus, I see that this is shaping up to have far more to do with opposing & misrepresenting Jesus than with honoring him. Like All Things Trump, it’s a con, it’s about arrogance, & it is led by people who show contempt for those Jesus teaches us to serve. (Matthew 24:5)

I feel confident that this man has no idea what the women in his house do.

YES!!! Hallelujah! This is huge, Joel. Congratulations!

a ten million dollar torture clinic Paxton really is uniquely evil even among the murderer’s row of assholes that is the Texas GOP

Joshua Johnson and I started talking about movies as a means of meaningful escape from fear-driven systems and religious fundamentalism, and we could’ve gone for hours. He’s packaged a concentrated hour of our conversation to share with you. I’m eager to hear your thoughts on it!

You know, a President accusing a NYT reporter of committing treason just for asking a question is actually quite a big deal, and this bunch just standing there listening to it and doing nothing is not encouraging the public to think of journalism as a serious business or of words meaning anything.

A long, important read (grateful to have been interviewed for this article): www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

When we took office, NYC had a $12B deficit. Today it’s zero. And we didn’t close that gap on the backs of working people. We closed it while funding parks, libraries, safer streets, & public housing. Call it Pothole Politics or Democratic Socialism: We are government that delivers for the people.

Are you a fan of ALIEN? ALIENS? You should check out @dodgyboffin.com 's incredible fusion of film criticism & theology: BECOMING ALIEN: The Beginning and End of Evil in Science Fiction's Most Idiosyncratic Film Franchise. Nobody I've read writes so deeply and meaningfully about those films.

The Tennessee Speaker of the House will remove all Democratic Caucus members from standing committees and subcommittees as punishment for their redistricting protests. Democracy dies in Nashville.

A 10-year-old wrote MAGA Congresswoman Virginia Foxx for a school project. He chose to write about an electric vehicle tax credit. He thought it was good for the environment. Virginia responded by attacking him and his teacher for being propagandized. These people have power over your life.

My thanks to one of the film scholars whose work moves and astonishes me. I'm grateful for this vote of confidence from Joel Mayward.

Finding out she was saying this to arts & communications grads really is a "wow you are fundamentally incapable of reading a room" gold medal contender.

This ruling gives a boost to Donald Trump's effort to rig the 2026 elections and the Republicans' long game to attack voting rights. We are rightfully outraged, but we will not give up. We must continue our fight to restore the power of the people.

Last month in Virginia, the people made their voices heard at the ballot box and voted for new Congressional maps. Today, the Virginia Supreme Court ignored the will of the people and overturned those democratically chosen maps.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA infinity.

🔥 @redstateupdate.bsky.social (MURFREESBORO): “When they want to do something to hurt Black people— the wheels of government turn fucking FAST.” #Memphis #JimCrow @GovBillLee @MarshaBlackburn

Note that comorbidities for this consideration were things as mundane as "Over 50" "Had been pregnant once" "High blood pressure", "Has depression". The average American died with 3.8 chronic conditions because the average American *lives* with as many.

Truly, America has never had a leader like this man.

Air traffic Control is in crisis, planes are crashing, TSA lines are around the block, airlines are going out of business. And this fox news bozo went on a seven month-road trip while we were paying him to be transportation secretary? Do I have this right?

We’re watching, and failing to respond to, a social engineering project meant to make impossible any belief in modernity having any positive aspects. This is a sociopolitical revolution, not a benign “political era.” An excision of alternatives to constrict human imagination and possibility.

Check out my chat with @overstreet.bsky.social about his new book — and don’t blink, there are Muppets!

so simple that even a billionaire can understand it

I'm literally writing about a set of Tennessee segregationists in the 1960s at the moment. I swear to God, they were not *this* comically and overtly racist.

Can I opt to swap this atrocity for an automatic download of a U2 album? Remember when the world rose up in protest of THAT?

Last night I re-watched The Fits after seeing @jmayward.bsky.social and @overstreet.bsky.social chat about it on here. Still as powerful as the first time I watched it

It really is no mystery why conservatives like this guy. He's made a mockery of all their stated policy principles, but none of them ever had any real policy principles anyway! They see themselves in him: seething. Whiny. Endlessly aggrieved. That's the core of it all.