The online version includes links to rare archival recordings.

I found a picture of the real Stagger Lee, and it was not what I expected:

Librarian Luanne James fired for refusing to move books from children's to adult section. "Her story will echo from the Courthouse in Murfreesboro, TN, across the country, as emblematic of the fight against censorship and suppression,” said PEN America's Kasey Meehan. www.yahoo.com/news/article...

That's right

Suggested follow-up for anyone who attended #NoKings: Call congressional Democrats and tell them to start backing impeachment, because right now they're running on a platform of "Let Trump Get Away With Everything." punchbowl.news/article/hous...

Folks, I think the tyrant might be mad.

"The people of the Twin Cities" are the winners of the prestigious 2026 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award www.huffpost.com/entry/latest...

Aesop: I TOLD YOU

“Chronic hunger” at American concentration camps reported by USA Today. www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

"Britannica’s lawsuit said that OpenAI unlawfully copied nearly 100,000 of its articles... The complaint said that ChatGPT produces “near-verbatim” copies of Britannica’s encyclopedia entries, dictionary definitions and other content, diverting users who would otherwise visit its websites."

WEIRD, adj. (archaic): concerned with or controlling fate or destiny

I wrote this essay about the private sector's exploitation of American concentration camps in July 2025. The situation has since advanced much further. snyder.substack.com/p/concentrat...

Valéry‘s capsule definition of poetry: “strange discourse, as though made by someone other than the speaker and addressed to someone other than the reader.“

Yes. This is transparently the plan. It is a destructive and unconstitutional plan. And it can be stopped. It can even be turned into an electoral issue that hurts Trump. But only if we face this now.

This is like a drunk guy trying to sell you sobriety.

You should care about this because trans people are human beings with inalienable human rights, but even if you don't, you should care about this for your own personal safety First they violate the rights of a group they think no one will fight for, and then they come for the rest of us

This is a Nazi move. Stripping people of rights, invalidating their IDs, setting them up for criminalization and imprisonment. If you don't support trans rights, you support fascism.

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.

NEXT THURSDAY! Join us at @loftliterarycenter.bsky.social as we metabolize the ongoing emergency. Your $25 ticket goes to the ILCMN!

Zadie Smith wearing what must be the world's only "WG SEBALD" baseball cap

2026 in one headline:

@deardara.bsky.social on the brutal impact of ICE on Twin City businesses.

Poetry by Claudine Toutoungi, Austin Allen, Zachary Bos, @timliardet.bsky.social, @carlphillips.bsky.social, Sim Pereira-Madder, Caitríona O’Reilly, @lisadmkelly.bsky.social, Stephen Kampa, @racheljeffcoat.bsky.social and Rory Attwood. Pre-order here: thelondonmagazine.org/product/pre-...

let's not forget our friends in minneapolis. they're still occupied. time for another round of calls to our reps. free minnesota!

The current regime took a week to abolish USAID, which is three times as old and was not in the news every day for brutalizing children

The question of morale is PARAMOUNT. These clowns have no idea what even TEN MINUTES more of sunlight can do to us. So a whole hour this month?? We are gonna be HULKING OUT with our whistles, we are gonna be SUCH a pain in the ass, GET WRECKED ALREADY ASSHOLES

I wrote about Minnesota @lrb.co.uk www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/fe...

I found this comment regarding the poem in an interview with Brooks. Love what she said about the insinuation that she was copying Pound

While independent bookstores are giving out free whistles, hosting protest sign making events, and donating proceeds to mutual aid, Amazon is *checks notes* providing technology that assists ICE in their terrorizing of communities. Independent bookstores deserve your support. Amazon does not.

I think a lot of politicians tell themselves, "If I make this one little compromise, I can climb up to the next rung of power, where I'll finally have the power to be uncompromising." And that's never how life works.

the base has always pushed dems to fight harder but this is different & i don't think dem leaders get that -- people are apocalyptically furious

This man is gazing toward a future we have not yet reached.

five calls makes it easy to call your reps, it takes mere minutes & they provide a script. you can call about ice’s murder of renee nicole good, a fellow writer & poet. you can call about venezuela apps.apple.com/us/app/5-cal...

Here's the full moment of silence including a fan yelling "Go home, ICE"

With Trump, we see American imperialism with no clothes. Naked and vain. American imperialism is not just morally wrong. It is strategically disastrous. I wrote this essay in March 2025 when Vance visited Greenland, and it is unfortunately still too relevant. snyder.substack.com/p/vance-in-g...

During Fiona Hill's testimony to Congress on Oct 14, 2019, she described how Trump and Putin discussed exchanging Ukraine for Venezuela. The quid pro quo was if Trump refuses to help Ukraine fight off a Russian invasion, Putin would not help Venezuela (a Russian ally) resist a US takeover.

If I were elected comptroller, my inaugural speech would start, "Well, well, well. I guess you people just couldn't comptrol yourselves."

Happy 2026...?

People are dying inside American concentration camps right now. www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i...

“I carried him on my back. It took seven days.” A camp in eastern Chad is now home to more than 100,000 refugees of Sudan’s civil war, and is a key destination for those fleeing El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State. Resources are strained as the number of newly displaced people increases.

This reading's going to be excellent - mark your calendar: www.folger.edu/whats-on/the...

"Verse was a special illness of the ear" www.babelmatrix.org/works/en/Aud...

"We write to you today as concerned poets, educators, and members of the poetry community, regarding the Poetry Foundation's intent to lay off longtime staff members Shoshana Olidort and Maggie Queeney...we strongly urge [PF] to reverse its decision and retain them." docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Might Could has a cover! Designed by the lovely Philip Hoy, with artwork by Amber Cowan. Thanks to Waywiser Books—can't wait to share this book with y'all. ❤ www.waywiserbooks.org/coming-soon

The titular wokeness being rolled back is the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Gift-giving season is here. Do you know someone who enjoys poetry? Typography? Travel? Saudade? French cosmology? Limestone statues in labyrinths? Gondolas? Rendezvous? This book might be for them: www.powells.com/book/the-tra...

"Carried her unprotesting out the door. Kicked back the casket-stand. But it can't hold her, That stuff and satin aiming to enfold her, The lid's contrition nor the bolts before." Gwendolyn Brooks died 25 years ago on this day.