This shocked me: “There’s more traffic to Strength in Numbers now than there was at 538 six months before the election.”

The backlash to Trump's immigration agenda has impacted broader attitudes about the value of immigration in America apnorc.org/projects/abo...

I appreciate the AI skepticism coming from @techcrunch.com vs other tech media: techcrunch.com/2025/09/25/m... The key: It “comes as Meta has recently invested heavily in revamping its AI efforts amid concerns that it was falling behind competitors.” Whose concerns? What does “falling behind” mean?

The Guardian(!) covering the closure of local news in Santa Cruz: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025... It includes a link to this study revealing a roughly 75% decline in local journalists since 2002. www.rebuildlocalnews.org/local-news-c... #SantaCruz #LocalJournalism #LocalNews

Not an Onion article sfstandard.com/2025/09/19/a...

Becoming increasingly clear we’re gonna have to build a parallel infrastructure for all the media we really love. The reason all of this is happening under the color of law is hyperconsolidation, dissent being traded straight up for merger approval, or fear of harassment.

DHH doesn't appreciate being called a "Nazi," as he reminds us in the middle of his essay on [checks notes] how he prefers to live in cities full of people that look and think the way he does.

Who likes Liquid Glass? Sincerely. I’m asking before I upgrade. Does anyone? Do you?

Every time I go back to the Flickr app after too long away it is almost surprising how nice it is. Like going back in time to when apps had no ads and everything was chronological. Such a relief. So inspiring. So pleasant.

Sad to say I’m seeing more and more false or misleading posts here (a la Twitter) from the Left. Often these are from accounts who lazily repost stuff without really checking into it. Or maybe it’s always been that way and I just started looking at Discover too much.

Was curious how media covered the fatal shooting of Malcolm X in 1965: "His Life Story: A Study in Hate" One AP report on the murder opened: "Malcolm X, fiery renegade of the Negro radical movement, was assassinated Sunday..." Philly Inquirer called him a "Merchant of Venom"

Saturday's geology walk in downtown Oakland has tickets available! The sales cutoff was an operator error. Get tickets now til then!

I highly recommend the newsletter from Ganzeer, an artist I got to know while cocurating Strikethrough: alecto.eomail4.com/web-version?... I don’t agree with the complete inevitability of AI, but we can learn from what artists did in other grim times.

Hi! We're Casual Carpool

#CasualCarpool is back! Thanks, @oaklandside.org, for the story: oaklandside.org/2025/08/08/t... Only Lake Merritt so far. I drive by the Claremont & Hudson stop MWF and would love to carry 2–3 folks at no charge. Any takers? @alexis-madrigal.bsky.social This would be a good Forum topic, maybe?

What happens if Substack continues with their lock-in of writers, but other platforms on the open social web can offer better distribution and discovery?

“AI Ain’t It” — @jonkimball.bsky.social

Focusing only on the “efficiency” of AI is like focusing on driving time in cities. The cost of building to save a few minutes is social services not provided, reinforced economic stratification, and the mental and physical effects of cars having more right to exist in public than people.

“States don’t have to actively resist. They can simply refuse to help.” cmarmitage.substack.com/p/its-time-f...

Been waiting for some analysis that explores whether the worst-case GOP gerrymandering scenario would present an insurmountable obstacle for Dems in 2026, and now we have some. The answer: Yes, Dems can absolutely still win the House. Via @gelliottmorris.com. www.gelliottmorris.com/p/how-will-r...

Nearly seven years in the making, the plan from the state transit agency establishes priorities for all urban bike paths on land controlled by the state — including dozens of improvements for Oakland.

YT channel with English subtitles if you're interested youtu.be/KRtyMCeDw8o?...

I don't know why this lad is building a subterranean city for cats, but I'm all for it.

As Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo put it: "A city where you can get let go of your child's hand"

Humanists + lib folks who pursue fed grants, are you still applying for stuff? I'm on the fence. I said no to pursuing a NEH Public Impact out of concern re politicization of US history. I'm wondering if applying to other things can be a form of resistance or whether to redirect my energy elsewhere.

Please enjoy this goat’s high quality horns and beard. @laureola.bsky.social and I lucked into the East Bay fire-mitigation team on Sunday’s hike. #Oakland #SFBA #Goats

If you’re in the Bay Area (and even beyond), just a heads up that the new community space we’re opening up in Oakland has opened up memberships ahead of our October open. We’ve got so much good programming on tap. Way more info here: www.thelocaleconomy.com

Trump is now under water in Ohio, Iowa, Florida, and Texas. (Via @gelliottmorris.com datawrapper.dwcdn.net/IpJUE/25/)

“Took delivery of” is such an awkward 2020s phrase that is almost never needed. It’s ok to say, “I received my Rivian” or “Rivian delivered my new car.”

I appreciate software companies who continue to innovate without resorting to useless AI features. Which corps are actively taking a stand against it? Would love to see some examples of ads or docs that say, “We just don’t see much use for AI in our product, so we’re not going to force it on you.”

Friends, please stop linking to Spotify like it’s ok. The company steadily siphoned money from indie artists, spent millions to host Joe Rogan, littered their library with AI music, and now the CEO is investing in AI weapons. There are plenty of less damaging ways to listen to music and podcasts.

@plausible.io Love Plausible. It would be cool if sources like Mastodon and linkin.bio showed up in the Social channel, rather than Referral. Or if there were some way for us to customize which domains appear in the Social Channel.

I‘ve been enjoying my blood journey map a lot

Just got this email from @americanredcross.bsky.social a couple weeks after donating blood. Very cool that they can tell you where yours went and who it helped. ❤️

my statement on Ai from the mini-comic I'm making as syllabus for a new class I'm teaching this fall. It's simple, but I pretty much said all I have to say on it - it robs you of decisions and struggle - and the joy of being surprised. It robs you of learning...

@laureola.bsky.social and I took the slow road from SF to Portland for #TypeCon. There are many sign pics to share, but my favorite thing of all is probably this guy. #Orick #WoodCarving #RoadsideAttractions

“After more than a decade of clickbait undermining media credibility, subscription-based publishers discover a simple truth: Producing high quality content that readers genuinely value is a far better business than chasing low quality page views for diminishing ad revenue. ghost.org/changelog/6/...

New Yorkers understand what’s going on in Gaza. www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2025/7/...

Newsletter: In a media landscape dominated by algorithmic feeds that aim to manipulate and extract, sometimes the most radical thing you can do is choose to read what you want, when you want, without anyone watching over your shoulder. Here’s how to use RSS. www.citationneeded.news/curate-with-...

I’ve been hoping for this! My favorite tech writer, @molly.wiki, just wrote a great intro to RSS: www.citationneeded.news/curate-with-... @fontsinuse.com has long provided RSS feeds for many aspects of our site.

Interesting. blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-...

I can confirm that the time saved not having to deal with all the unnecessary complications of Google Analytics is well worth Plausible’s minimal cost.

The “comment for the link” trend to force engagement may be IG’s jump-the-shark moment.

When you strip away humanity

This Mustang Mach-E driver piled an impressive number of miles in just over three years. Today, his battery is performing much better than you might think. insideevs.com/news/766834/...

Birbday card from @laureola.bsky.social. #umlaut

The intro and questions from this Politico reporter read like an ad for Joe Rogan. The gushing is nonstop. Is this how everyone feels about that jackass? www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Talk about The Wire, Sopranos, Game of Thrones all you want, but the greatest US television program ever made is Sesame Street. It's not even close. 50+ years of treating kids across class, ethnicity, religion not as mini-consumers...but as citizens with a stake in this world.

my favorite sesame street song is the one buffy saint-marie sang to big bird when he was jealous of her baby. what a great lesson for all of us- that you will love different people in life, and love them in different ways, and it will change and change www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA49...

Dropping knowledge about understanding: substack.com/@johnfdicker...