"...the school district has become... the first line of defense: a logistical support system, a crisis response team, and for many families, a rare point of stability." Mind-blowing what educators are doing on top of education, AND excelling at it www.chalkbeat.org/2026/02/18/o...

Happy Pub Day !!! to THIS AIN'T OUR FIRST RODEO #Booksky #YALit #romance

Read Kawai Strong Washburn's Letter From Minnesota: “A Prayer Must Be More Than Asking” via @literaryhub.bsky.social:

for young MN playwrights: youtu.be/p2U37e2ViDw

Industry Auction to Support Minnesota, Immigrants buff.ly/V1dQfDD

Awful to even try to catalogue the harm being done here in MN. Educational harms, students out school? At least months. Economic harms, from empty, half-functioning businesses? At least years. Civic and psychic harms, from shattering the basic sense of safety? Decades. Stolen neighbors? Forever.

I know all eyes are on Minneapolis, but there's a fast-approaching nightmare in Springfield, Ohio. Trump is revoking protected status for tens of thousands of Haitians living there on Feb. 3. Reportedly, on Feb. 4, 1000 ICE agents are arriving to remove this population. Ethnic cleansing.

It’s really difficult & disorienting but the feds hit LA extremely hard today. There were kidnappings all over & reported cluster raids in Chinatown, East LA, Ktown. This list shows to 1130 AM but they haven’t stopped all day Just because the media attention stopped doesn’t mean the abductions have

A finalist. #prairie #nonfiction

the artists are at it and I'm here for it can we have a local show please there's so much more beyond this article, too @mplsart.com #museums @artsmia.bsky.social mspmag.com/arts-and-cul...

so many ways for us to eat ourselves alive in 2026 lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2026/01/newl...

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

Tonight, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band opened their Land of Hope & Dreams Tour. Bruce launched this run of shows with three statements about the situation in the United States, with comments preceding his songs Land of Hope and Dreams, House of a Thousand Guitars and My City of Ruins.

Thank you for reaching out. It’s truly meaningful to hear from you. You see the headlines ask how it’s going? All I can say is, You are living here too. The tectonic plates have shrugged; the wave unleashed. (MSP isn’t an epicenter; at best it is a seismometer) YOU ARE LIVING HERE TOO.

Religion note: those who have been protesting DHS/ICE in the streets — those Sec. Hegseth labels “lunatics” here — have included hundreds of clergy *just this week.* religionnews.com/2026/01/23/i...

Jokes about paid protestors have me thinking about the juxtaposition of 2 burgeoning networks of our time: the BBB/ICE budget/prison industrial complex and the decentralized/unpaid labor/social capital network rising in response. It's quite a duality.

Poorly Researched Men's Fiction www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/poo...

suggested edit You _will_ be next.

This article cites an impetus to protect neighbors and push back on federal overreach. Not captured: the systematic racism of the violent abductions. Verified accounts abound of ICE agents clearly stating that this is what propels their actions. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/u...

It's not enough that kids have lockdown drills to prepare for school shootings while they are in class; now they are also receiving info on how to stay safe from federal agents while entering and exiting the school building. We send children, defenseless, daily, to the front.

ooh ooh congrats! to Hester Kaplan and TWICE BORN also @catapultbooks.bsky.social

shout out to "laureate of dissatisfaction" Sarah Moss lithub.com/lit-hubs-43-...

Happy, Happy Publication! @thatpaulachase.bsky.social #booksky "Chase delivers incredible characters, great settings, and drama galore" -- Starred Booklist

My @bostonglobe.com column this week features Hester Kaplan, whose book about her father blends biography, memoir, and craft class. I really enjoyed it! www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/09/a...

Happy Publication Day to TWICE BORN by Hester Kaplan !! "Hester Kaplan does with memoir what her acclaimed father Justin did with biography—finds the right subject, makes it new, and teaches us how to write with great compassion and grace." —Annie Dillard. @catapultbooks.bsky.social

Dashboard updated 2x/week tracking how federal de-funding is impacting the state. mn.gov/mmb/budget/f...

Twin Cities outdoor theater in the summer. Do we have it? Could we get it?

'Plenary Power Doctrine!' say it once say it twice Handcuffing judges Benefits ICE Debbie Nathan on immigration history, the judiciary, and the 4th branch of government (aka the streets) @bostonreview.bsky.social www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...

www.zibbyowens.com/p/my-fall-20... calling out Hester Kaplan's TWICE BORN in the "Non-Fiction About Writers and Creators" category @catapultbooks.bsky.social

can't get this opening line out of my head "we swim in oceans of quackery" -- a sentence that could take you almost anywhere -- in this case, it's to a book review that also includes the phrase "jibber-jabber" and heralds a book I'd like to read www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...

Re: re-re-re-re-redistricting www.newsweek.com/map-shows-st...

We need to talk about our sentences. auraist.substack.com

Meanwhile, in ‘Octlantis’…. www.bbcearth.com/news/underwa...