Seems harsh but we can’t have people losing faith in a critical American institution like gambling.

Among other things, this is a pretty great paper on the idea that Smith’s Wealth of Nations is the worlds longest footnote to The Theory of Moral Sentiments. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I love The Hip Pocket’s format. Since the guest curates the three deep cuts to talk about, it’s fundamentally geared towards impassioned recommendations. But, as these are deep cuts, you’re often also getting fresh first watch reactions from the hosts. A perfect mix for discovering new favorites

Off their phones and into the streets www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/n...

All else aside, I feel like I’ve gotten a brief respite to set down a heavy weight that I had gotten used to carrying since last year’s election.

BREAKING: Democrats just broke the GOP supermajority in the Mississippi Senate! In a stunning victory, Democrats gained seats in court-ordered special elections and will now head to Jackson to represent and fight on behalf of their constituents.

“Cause everyone’s my friend/ in New York City” youtu.be/erXAq5iTLAw

Waited 5 minutes to call it just to be sure

Waited 5 minutes to call it just to be sure

A moment of silence, please, for the "young men are all MAGA now" narrative. (Source: www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...)

I democracied

Woke up today to the news

This is such a lovely chat. It reminded me of one of my favorite things I wrote back in 2020 about how, if you think about it, Rocky Horror and Sunset Boulevard are weirdly kind of the same movie. www.storyscreenpresents.com/post/rocky-b...

Fine that folks do this, but I’ve always found that I profoundly reject this distinction. I’ll accept that consensus on what the best is may differ from what I prefer, but that’s an other people thing. If I have a clear favorite, it’s always going to be the one I would also vote for as the best one.

Oh wait, people didn’t like House of Dynamite? Aside from fumbling the abruptness of the ending, I thought this was actually pretty great.

I stopped House of Dynamite with 12:43 left to go to the bathroom, so I could focus on the ending. It turns out, there was in fact only 50 second left before credits. This, in and of itself, may tell you a little something about the end of House of Dynamite.

I wrote about the degrading choices our political system forces on us, the importance of respecting yourself, and the time I experienced a mild Oliver Stone moment at Sammy's Deluxe in Rockland, Maine. defector.com/what-job-is-...

The first chapter of my new short biography of Wittgenstein is free to read at Lit Hub: lithub.com/on-the-simpl...

I student taught a class today and, if I may say so myself, I crushed it.

I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.

I got to read an advance copy of Tim’s book and loved it. He isn’t dishy about his career (aside from some pointed remarks about his co-stars in Oscar), but he covers most everything he did, and shares quite a lot about about his family and upbringing. Glad to see him get to take this victory lap.

I know there's a million worthy causes to fund but may I suggest this teacher in Maryland who wants to buy two Albert Camus novels for his AP students? Please and thank you? www.donorschoose.org/project/2-no...

Re-posting my very long appreciation thread from 7 months ago about the episode of Twin Peaks that Diane Keaton directed. Short version: I think her work on this episode is very underrated!

We have a get-together tomorrow at 1:30pm EST, both in person and also on Zoom. If you're interested in contributing to the conversation and thinking about research collaborations, just reach out!

Lost ten minutes trying to leave the house because a little bug flew into my eye and I somehow blinked it under my eyelid.

writing "are AI actresses virgins?" on the chalkboard in the philosophy grad lounge, grinding all work in the department to a halt

A memorial for my sister Helen De Cruz will take place on 19 October, both online (hosted by Blake Hereth) and in Brussels (Royal Library of Belgium). tally.so/r/3yLRJd

"Helen de Cruz (1978–2025): an academic and personal tribute" *Religious Studies* Published online 2025:1-4. doi.org/10.1017/S003... @helendecruz.net

I did spend a lot of this season telling folks that, as bad as things looked at times, this year would probably still shake out alright for the Mets. I stand corrected.

Did everyone already know that placing a wooden across the opening of a boiling pot will stop it from boiling over? Was just advised to do it with pasta on an electric stove I wasn’t used to, and it worked immediately, like some kind of witchcraft. I’ve read how it works and still don’t believe it.

I like that season 1 of Alien: Earth was Jurassic Park and, it looks like, at least part of Season 2 will be Weekend at Bernie’s.

Rumor has it that my grandmother, my mom, and my wife were all apparently Tylenol fiends

I had been meaning to get around to this for years, but hadn’t really prioritized it because I had just assumed it was one of Jeunet’s films that was in French. Nope. Instead it’s unusually American and reminds me more than a little of Danny Boyle’s Millions.

The address to target is: Disney-ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution 500 S. Buena Vista St. Burbank, CA 91521-3515

1967 paper by Margaret Mead indicating just how long people have talked about Americans being an unusually lonely people. It may be more than just the smartphones.

Weird pundit and politician centric take. As if advocacy is sacrosanct even if the policies being for advocating for are violent.

Murder: Bad

📚📚 ANNOUNCING: POOL PARTY BOOKS!!! 📚📚 Pool Party is open for book submissions!!! We will have two reading periods and publish two books/year. The first reading period runs from now until December 15th, 2025. Visit our website for details 🔥

Still one of the best deals around. The perks are perky and you will be content with this content. Do it to it.

Hilarious and on brand for me to get this in one Framed #1271 🎥 🟩 ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ framed.wtf

🪦 🎢

Wait, this isn’t the living room

A quirk about Star Trek was that, in the future, it seemed like anyone who had a hobby had one that was weirdly rooted in the 20th century. I never realize that this was actually prescient, foreshadowing that with the rise of easy bespoke AI entertainment, people might just stop having novel ideas.

Someone Is In My House is a beautifully designed, large format paperback coffee table book collecting images of rarely seen multimedia works by the late, great David Lynch mzs.press/David-Lynch-...

I am not a Goonie. I am a Muppet.