Just finished listening to Season 5 of Michael Lewis' Against the Rules Podcast. It's about sports fandom, and more specifically the modern era of ubiquitious sports gambling and it's one of the best things I've ever heard. 10/10 open.spotify.com/episode/0hvs...

I spoke with a lawyer from the CFPB to try and get a better sense of what's happening there amidst the DOGE rampage:

Really interesting (and likely telling) parallel here from @nateweisberg.bsky.social: Donald Trump Is Following the Sam Brownback Playbook washingtonmonthly.com/2025/04/28/d...

Arsonist blames fireman

Heartbreaking story about Trump and Musk causing children to starve to death in Sudan.

This is the missing explanation for why so many seemingly sane Republicans obey Trump: physical fear of his armed mob. In the Senate, there are many more cowards than cultists. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/u... via @NYTimes

This entertaining profile of "Baghdad Batya" reminded me of Hoffer's "The True Believer" and the idea that fanatics aren't so much loyal to a particular ideology as they are looking for the emotional fulfillment of belief itself & the high of absolute conviction washingtonmonthly.com/2025/04/09/w...

Trump’s peculiar genius is for changing the subject from his latest outrageous idiocy to a new outrageous idiocy.

Is MAGA the repudiation of Reaganism, or its apotheosis? Max Boot's excellent new biography provides evidence on both sides. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

February 28, 2025 —a date which will live in infamy—the authority of the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by its own President.

Appalled by the 10-year sentence for Carlos Watson. He was never violent and poses no future threat to society. Six months — or less — would serve the purposes of retribution and deterrence. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/b...

The Committee to Protect Journalist is on the hunt for a Chief of Staff. It’s a crucial role at an essential organization. @pressfreedom.bsky.social cpjorg.bamboohr.com/careers/80

Predict Murdochs will be suing each other for the next 30 years. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/b...

Cheese sculpture: a truly Midwestern art form. Is that supposed to be a chèvre Noguchi in front of the Prudential Building? www.axios.com/local/chicag...

This insults France, rewards a criminal, and gives a sinecure to Trump’s own family. Trifecta! www.nytimes.com/2024/11/30/u...

Market is up today because Trump is naming a Treasury Secretary who is not a sex predator, a conspiracy nut, or a Fox News talking head. But note that his single most qualified pick still falls below the minimum standard of any normal administration.

We’re celebrating upstate

“CPJ has been studying the authoritarian playbook for silencing the press around the world. In the U.S., as elsewhere, we will follow the facts and remain vigilant. If and when we see parallel moves to curtail the press here, we will challenge them forcefully.” #ipfa @pressfreedom.bsky.social