Political Gap Between Pastors & Pews “Political partisanship of the average mainline pastor diverges significantly from the politics of the folks sitting in their pews.” Ryan Burge analyzes recent PRRI data to highlight pervasive pattern in Mainline Christianity 👉 open.substack.com/pub/ryanburg...

God forbid you accidentally include a few trans women in your disaggregated data; let's make sure everyone who participates in climate activities must disclose intimate information! An absurd distraction that only hinders urgent progress for women and girls.

Just staggering amounts of sea-level rise: 1.3 feet from 2008 to 2040, and 4.3 feet later this century. So glad I live a whole... 20 feet above sea level... and torrential rains are also increasing inland flood risks. Adaptation is urgently needed. www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...

This cozy fantasy, set in 1926 Carmel by the Sea, is just a delight with great characters, most notably a very strange, sentient and fastidious old house on a cliff. Read author @bethcato.bsky.social's own pitch: whatever.scalzi.com/2025/10/01/t... #Booksky

Tesla's a special kind of awful, but I'm increasingly conscious of how all these "advanced features" in cars could come back to bite us. So many more points where hardware and software can fail, costing lots of money and, sometimes, lives.

I'm starting a bit late this year, but hey, it's time for Beat the Bay State again! This is when hundreds of people across Mass. track every mile we walk, jog or run in a quest to complete the perimeter of our state, to raise funds for @walkmass.bsky.social. Join me! runsignup.com/Race/MA/Bost...

As of Dec. 2024, @unhcr.org says, there were an astonishing 123 million people forcibly displaced by persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. www.unhcr.org/refugee-stat.... Even at its best, the US takes a tiny fraction, but it's still a crucial refugee destination. This is vile.

Incredible deals on a lot of eye-opening, thought-provoking and inspiring books.

An AI-driven mobile app which overrides hard documentary evidence to reach its own "definitive" conclusions of someone's citizenship sounds like an idea that didn't make it out of the Black Mirror writers room

This is how you lose elections: Force people to accept a betrayal of their rights and core values, or just not vote. Sending a clear message that you value conservatives who might (but probably won't) vote for you far more than LGBTQI people, communities of color, progressives and other loyal Dems.

Drop off gently used clothing and shoes the next 2 Saturdays at Connexion to help us stock up for our free store! Drops offs on Nov 1st & 8th from 1-4PM. Our upcoming Free Store is Sat., Nov. 22nd, from 10AM-2PM, at East Somerville Community School. 🥰 Español/Português/Kreyòl Ayisyen 🧵⬇️

The PTA at the Winter Hill Community School are holding an emergency fundraiser to provide free food and gift cards to families who are losing their SNAP benefit on Saturday. If you have the capacity, please donate to help keep our neighbors from going hungry. givebutter.com/qmnqus

The great @tressiemcphd.bsky.social has some thoughts about @grahamformaine.bsky.social, whether we should just expect working-class white people to be racist and shrug it off, and what it takes to win back those voters without betraying our core values www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o... (1 of 3)

Reckless, stupid, cruel. And in case you don't believe it, look at Jamaica right now. It's horrific.

An unfortunate exchange with someone who relies heavily on AI to write inspired me to post this on LinkedIn, and I thought I'd share it here as well. AI is so tempting, but trust me: it turns your thoughts into pink slime, neat and smooth but awful up-close. www.linkedin.com/posts/marion...

Climate change + dense urbanization + deep inequality = severe and escalating extreme heat risks in Latin American and Caribbean cities. Read this NEW World Bank/GFDRR report and share widely! It could save lives. Super proud to be a co-author. www.worldbank.org/en/region/la... #extremeheat #climate

This seems like a problem. I was just talking with someone last week in Costa Rica, where EVs (especially Chinese BYDs) have flooded the market, who expressed serious concerns about long-term servicing and repairs. The software part, I hadn't considered. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Surprise, surprise! Motorists find HAWK lights super confusing and often run them. Though also, folks, you know, the presence of a red light without pedestrians is no different than if you came to a red light with no cars. You stop anyway. It'll turn soon enough. www.axios.com/newsletters/...

Great showing for a lightly publicized immigrant solidarity vigil in East Somerville. A mom's key messages: 1) use your privilege as a white, English-speaking U.S. citizen to speak out, and 2) when you hear la migra (ICE) is around, go out, make noise, help protect immigrants from being snatched.

If you're taking to the streets to protest today, know your rights.

This is an awesome story. The best part is the linked article, just a great example of Black entrepreneurship and civic engagement, and a cool insight into oyster houses. www.fishersislandoysters.com/blog/2021/2/...

Ignore the headline and just read this. AI dominance is such a huge economic prize that companies are racing to build ever more powerful models that may be vulnerable to terrifying misuse. Not to mention, you know, transforming society without consent. Gift link. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...

It might be hard to convey to people outside economics just how seismic this is. The Trump effect has most certainly arrived to US academia.

Who's a real American, a full-fledged citizen, worthy of all the rights and benefits of belonging here? Laila Lailami's "Conditional Citizens" connects multiple forms of exclusion – and the corresponding fights for justice. #Booksky lailalalami.com/conditional-...

Yikes. License plate readers all across Mass. kindly sharing data with the feds and with other states.

“We don’t actually give a fuck.” 10 ways to enrich the Trumps and the MAGA movement

Note that the NYT deliberately surveyed an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. What they all have in common is an understanding of the law. Scary times. Gift link. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/m...

Did you know you can now bike almost entirely on off-road paths, and in very scenic areas, all the way from Assembly Row, to downtown Medford, to Alewife? It's really nice and makes for a great ~11 mile loop with the Community Path.

Just finished a gorgeous, sad, funny and palate-tempting book, the luscious Aftertaste by @darialavelleauthor.bsky.social. If you love food and what it means in our lives, you'll love this. #Booksky www.simonandschuster.com/books/Aftert...

I loved my first car, a little red Civic I drove for 16 years. I'm quite fond of my hatchback, and am being very picky about its successor. Cars can be lots of fun. They're just not better than people. And they're really, really impractical at scale.

RIP to a lovely woman who brought so much grace, empathy and wisdom to the world. Thank you, Jane Goodall, for 91 great years! www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

This, exactly. Trump and Hegseth gave speeches calling for flagrantly illegal uses of military force, including within U.S. cities, but also abroad. They openly said that they want to do, and urged all generals who disagree to resign. WTF??? @warren.senate.gov @markey.senate.gov @pressley.house.gov

A little dose of joy for you today: a monarch on the asters in our backyard.

Mmm... I guess anyone can be a violent leftist extremist these days. Especially since none of these are explicitly defined? Not enough prison cells in America to fit this many potential terrorists.

Hey Somervillens! AWESOME opportunity to turn your paved-over driveway or yard into green space! Green & Open Somerville has teamed up w/ MRWA to depave a site and plant it with native species. Learn more: www.greenopensomerville.org/depave Eligible area: mysticriver.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/in...

Whatever you do, don't put any responsibility on drivers or traffic engineers. Sure, some people do dumb things, but the overwhelming majority of pedestrian and cyclist deaths could only be prevented by never entering a road. The streets belong to ALL of us!

"Common decency stigmatizes people that do not participate in it—removes them from voluntary association. We indeed have to live with one another, but terms and conditions apply." me on why Ezra Klein should be ashamed / why shame is Good Actually www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...

It's been a rough several days, and this was the perfect book for me right now: a darkly funny, warm, sad, joyful novel about death. Or living? zibbymedia.com/blogs/our-bo... #Booksky

Wow. This includes 7 of our 9 members of Congress from Massachusetts, by the way. @pressley.house.gov and @moulton.house.gov voted nay, while all others voted yea (not even "present"). To be clear, Dems had strongly supported an alternative measure that condemned violence without lionizing Kirk.

Yes, exactly this. Our country is changing rapidly into a terrifying place. One with many echoes of our ugliest history, but still. A stark warning, or lament, by M. Guessed. Gift link. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/o...

Love flowers? Cool houseplants? Pollinator-friendly species? All this and more will be available TOMORROW, Sunday, Sept. 21, for dirt-cheap prices, at the annual Somerville Garden Club plant sale, 10am-1pm at 331 Summer St. The best part? Free expert advice! www.eventbrite.com/e/somerville...

I knew it would be bad if Minerva won. Criminals in the city are now out of control, even in full daylight.

The free speech champion, model Christian and patriot was also a fierce advocate for U.S. energy supremacy built on fossil fuels. The latest Heated newsletter highlights links between debunking the climate myth and defending American values. It's all connected. open.substack.com/pub/heated/p...

We’re excited to be doing walk audits in this program in the next year+ in Danvers, Salem, Wakefield, Melrose, and Stoneham! Through those walk audits, we’ll be working with community members to help find short term actions that advance bigger climate resilience goals they’ve already identified.

Hey Boston-area folks! I have two tickets to see Garbage tomorrow at Roadrunner ($60 each, paper tickets so no junk fees!) that, to my great sadness, I can no longer use. Selling at face value. Pick up in Somerville or if it's not too far, I will bike them over to you. DM if interested!

Battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life: 1) cats 2) flowers 3) bees, butterflies and other garden bugs 4) sci-fi books 5) fresh fruit

Hey Somervillens! Mimi says 'Go vote!" and she doesn't mean in the bike path election won by her twin. My own choices were based on leadership style, housing and affordability, truly "getting" the concept of complete streets, and incumbents' record in responding to constituents. #somervillema

I'm glad that in today's media landscape, there are alternatives for those whom major outlets silence. But most Americans barely even read major newspapers. I support several newsletters, but it's not enough. We need principled editors and producers to keep bringing voices to broader audiences.

This is the very best gift anyone could've given me today. 😍😍😍