yes! yes !! solstice!!!!! fuck the equinox i hate it i will always prefer the #solstice !!!!!

Donald Trump is now just openly bragging about interfering in the media. He's the president. He's running a truck over the first amendment here.

In honor of Bob Weir’s death, here’s the late Steve Albini on one of the greatest pranks ever pulled:

Boooooooo!

That’s a catch.

I'm so grateful to @lastweektonight.com for bringing much-needed attention to the role that public media plays in our democracy and the safety of American citizens. If you want to be part of the network working to keep public media alive: adoptastation.org

Was thrilled to help consult for this fantastic John Oliver segment on the tragic plight of U.S. public media and why, if we hope to be a democracy, we still need public media for so many things that commercial media will never provide. Deserves a wide viewership. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yknM...

That’s the Ducks’ ball!

Employees of the Maine Trust for Local News launch a drive to expand their union to cover all of their papers. www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/main...

Listening to NPR's preview of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska reminded me of my late friend and longtime AK journalist Jay Barrett, who told me about the time Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II met in Fairbanks. Someone sold shirts that read: "I saw the Pope and the Dope in Fairbanks."

A Thousand Episodes Deep, @vishkhanna.bsky.social Is Still In Kontrol...

This is a dark day that will have repercussions for years to come in communities across the U.S., including many in rural areas, that rely on public media as one of the only sources of reliable news and information about local affairs.

The managing editor of the Juneau Empire, the newspaper serving Alaska's capital city, quit and announced plans to start an online news outlet. He says the paper will now be edited remotely by staff at the Empire's sister paper in Kenai, which is 1,000+ miles (by car) away.

This piece captures a lot of my feelings about the impending end of WTF. Maron's announcement that he and McDonald were moving on made a lot of sense for those of us who've been listening for almost the entire run of the show. Also, in light of the changes to podcasting in the past couple years.

Kari Lake said Trump-boosting One America News would provide content for the Voice of America. While horrifying, it’s not the first time the VOA has been explicitly politicized. Listen to the first episode of S2 of The Divided Dial for a 100 years of radio history www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

De-funding U.S. public media is part and parcel of right wing attacks on noncommercial, fact-based, and service-oriented local journalism, which is already hurting from corporate consolidation, mis/disinformation, and the collapse of traditional advertising.

A statement from KTOO's President and General Manager regarding last week's executive order from the Trump Administration. "This is not about politics. This is about protecting a service that millions of Americans rely on every day — one that has enjoyed bipartisan support for over 50 years."

"As news consumption migrates more and more to digital platforms, Britt said the endless scrolling can feel lonely. He hopes connecting the paper with the community can help readers understand the decisions behind what goes into making it, and the staff can learn what readers want from them."

A vital and necessary history/defense of the U.S. public media system from @joshshepperd.bsky.social:

CPB and the board members are asking the court to declare that the email has no legal effect and to issue a temporary restraining order. current.org/2025/04/cpb-...

The grant “was intended to fund the cataloging, digitizing and publishing the material Northeast Historic Film has collected from eight Maine TV collections over the past 35 years.” They’re trying to erase our social memories.

RIP Michael Hurley. I saw him perform once at a pizza place in Portland. I was just listening to this album last weekend.

Twenty-four hours into his time, Sen. Booker just passionately defended public science and universities-- which, at their best, are cornerstones of democracy and a powerful tool for collective liberation (which is why they've been so aggressively attacked). Thank you, Senator.

Robert W. McChesney for decades wrote about the ways our idealized vision of a “free press” was actually hampered by the power of big business, the wealthy, and government.

Huge loss at a time when we need voices making the case for media reform and against oligarchy. The rest of us will really need to step up our game. Requiescat.

The continuing resolution passed by Congress and signed into law earlier this month "allocated $535 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the entity that disburses federal funds to NPR, PBS, and their local stations... That means the recent bill funds the CPB through 2027."

Maine Black Bears! Hockey East champions!

you really ought to read this.

The Fulbright program changed my career, and changed my life (as well as my family's life - my kids got to go to school in Australia). This makes me both sad and enraged. It also weakens our nation, because the Fulbright Program helped America develop & cultivate support throughout the world.

MAINE HAS DONE IT! They’ve snapped a 20 year postseason losing streak AND a 30-game losing streak to Vermont and they’ll play for the first NCAA Tournament bid in program history!

"Another piece, reflecting on the history of the KKK in Anaheim, California, included an AI-generated defense of the Klan... It’s since been removed."

A properly functioning Federal Communications Commission would investigate and resolve issues like this.

Maine Trust for Local News, the nonprofit that owns @pressherald.bsky.social and several other local newspapers in the state, is eliminating 49 jobs (13% of workforce), reducing or entirely stopping print publication of weekly papers, and moving to mail delivery of daily papers in some markets.

"We are running out of creative solutions, and any further cuts will come at the expense of our students, as they face limited access to essential course sections." Good op-ed by three public university union leaders here in Maine:

This. We need more of this... A policy framework for "community-minded local media" and "civic information."

Tragic.

An example of a similar model that I recently heard about in Alaska. Bonus points for having a malamute news hound as part of the operation.

“True change comes from the grassroots—the people at large rallying together and standing together for positive change. But in a sense, Mill’s defiance and that of other governors is also a kind of grassroots resistance writ large.”

Cc: @jonippolito.net. This could be a good opportunity to collaborate.

Will they pay royalties to TrueAnon?

We just learned about this Declaration to #DefendResearch and the inclusion of public data! Thanks for linking to us. We love the level of cross-project support and communication we see now! #DataRescue

lol we are so cooked!

Chili is done, just waiting for the game to start. I’m obligated by marriage to say “Go Birds!” today.

My review of @joshshepperd.bsky.social's important and ever-so-timely book, Shadow of the New Deal, on the history of American public media has finally been published. I posted it online here:

Storage as an end-all preservation strategy will not work for digital media. We need to look to other strategies like emulation, migration, and reinterpretation.

The community health center where I see my doctor might have to furlough some employees because it can’t access federal funds needed to pay them. Cool, cool.

We really gotta stop calling Elon + Trump's ideology "populism." Gutting the federal government ≠ sticking it to elites or helping working class people. @chrislehmann.bsky.social made this point recently on @onthemedia.bsky.social (see below post)

“The Midcoast Villager will also be the first client of Civic Sunlight, a Maine-based AI startup founded by the former CTO of the Atlantic & a former executive at Fox. The company plans to partner with media companies by using AI to transcribe & summarize local meetings & analyze them for trends.”