On literally the five-year anniversary of its release, The Eagles of Heart Mountain is set to be banned from national parks shops by the Trump administration. I'm very proud of this book, a tale of resistance in the face of racism and cruelty. If that's worthy of banishment I'll wear it with pride.

And on the short list of the best Zoom @squawkinsports.bsky.social episodes when @davidjroth.bsky.social & I needed something during Covid. We start year six 1/15! youtu.be/BMbAjwM7jmA?...

Today is (somehow!) the five-year anniversary of The Eagles of Heart Mountain. I want to thank the Japanese American and Heart Mountain communities for allowing me to share this story with the world, and all the schools, libraries, bookstores, and friends who have helped the book along the way.

I loved this counterintuitive take from @almondmilkman.bsky.social in this month's @phillymag.com.

I mean this with all seriousness—they need to study this man’s brain in a lab to see what happened here

Setting up a “Kelee Ringo betting scandal” news alert

Decided to log off today and stick with my original Saturday plan—sneak a neighborhood’s worth of drinks and snacks into a 3 pm screening of Zootopia 2 in a single parka

“I’m Brendan And I’m Noah And this is season seven of Blowback”

I’ve been waiting close to 25 years to say this and the answer is that I’d add a secret room like the one in the Incubus episode of MTV Cribs

we're completely car-pilled and because of it innocent people are dying horrific deaths

I’ve been thinking about it and this year‘s clear winner for Top Mummer was this man, who was marching next to a guy with a flag that just read ITALIAN AMERICAN

Jeremy Shockey the semifinals await your presence brother

Surprise surprise look what box set this 41-year-old white man in media got for Christmas

“It is financially devastating but morally exhilarating” is one of the greatest quotes of defiance I can think of. May we all have such moral clarity in the face of facism.

“Why does this man with two Emmy awards, four Oscar nominations, and a Tony and Grammy nomination continue to get work?” asks the man whose entire career is due to becoming friends with Adam Sandler in 1991.

homage to a former bills legend

Coca Cola choosing to replace generationally beloved Christmas commercials with AI slop is an incredibly dumb decision

Robert de la Salle on his 1669 expedition of southwest Pennsylvania:

I sorta knew this day would come eventually, but it’s still jarring to see my book as the example used in this story of what will soon be banned from national parks gift shops

Tired: Die Hard is a Christmas movie Wired: The Conversation is a Christmas movie

No other magazine on Earth would run profiles of both John Kruk and Josh Shapiro in the same year, I can guarantee you that. Thanks to everyone for reading, sharing, and subscribing. I'm proud of the @phillymag.com staff every day, but especially this year, when we've had our backs up against it.

there has never been a more Dudes Rock moment in human history

Dads love saying “I gotta show you something in the basement“ and then opening a perfectly packed chest freezer

Second year in a row I've made a best-of list. I can put the law school applications in the desk drawer for another year. Thanks to @bradfordpearson.bsky.social for the nod and for letting me write for one of the country's best magazines. What a goddamn treat. www.phillymag.com/news/2025/12...

Merry Christmas!

No other magazine on Earth would run profiles of both John Kruk and Josh Shapiro in the same year, I can guarantee you that. Thanks to everyone for reading, sharing, and subscribing. I'm proud of the @phillymag.com staff every day, but especially this year, when we've had our backs up against it.

This, to me, is the ultimate sin, and indicates just how little Weiss knows about actual news gathering: how do you kill the story without even speaking to the reporter?

Teens everywhere enjoying the forbidden 60 Minutes video, they call it Rooney Maxxing, going Leslie Stahl mode, they go to parties dressed as Scott Pelley

When I was researching The Eagles of Heart Mountain I was in a storage room in a tiny museum in southern Montana, sitting next to a handmade wreath. I couldn't figure out what the material was for the longest time, until I realized that the entire platter-sized wreath was made from human hair.

There’s a guy at my post office right now who decided that this is the week to mail 25 huge packages cross-country and I don’t know if he’s gonna make it out of this building alive

I'm in the eighth inning of the Dad Perfect Game—we have the exact right amount of milk, bread, fruits, vegetables, and cold cuts to last this family until we leave for Christmas tomorrow afternoon.

excuse me?!

hyper-specific tip—there’s no line at Di Bruno right now, so if you’re planning to go do it immediately (line is out the door at Claudio’s already)

“Ms. Weiss provided contact information for Stephen Miller to the ‘60 Minutes’ staff” pretty tidily sums up her role here.

instant classic, my god

From a Northern Liberties parade to Krampus photo ops, Philly’s holiday season is trading forced cheer for folklore, horns, and a little rebellion.

The beauty of Calvin and Hobbes is that it was finite—that's what makes it so beloved. The fact that Lee doesn't seem to understand that means he missed Watterson's whole point.

reading over an interview transcript and treating myself by lightly patting my back every time they say "that's a great question"

The first time I heard this I went "oh this is his song now" in a way that I imagine Otis Redding felt when he heard Aretha do Respect.

this quote pretty neatly sums up the average right-wing billionaire's typical thought process

Out of an incoming 266 freshman law students at Penn this year, only 10 are Black. Dig into the data a little more and you find that in that entire class there are only *two* Black male students. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/u...

I’m sorry to report, especially during this time of year, that the Home Alone House has become the latest victim of Millennial Gray.

Been thinking a lot lately about how It Will Happen and I’ve settled on a theory that he’ll nod off during one of his televised cabinet meetings and then just won’t wake up and chaos will ensue when everyone—the cabinet, the reporters, the TV watchers—all realize what they’ve just witnessed

I got a parent asking for a nine am sleepover pickup. As a member of society, I feel like 10 am is the earliest you ask someone to pick up their kid. This should be actionable in court.

right after walking out of Gone in 60 Seconds I watched a guy try to drift his way out of the theater parking lot in a minivan and he smashed directly into the stone wall in front of the FDR Presidential Library

Toll the Schuylkill Expressway

there's something darkly satisfying about clicking on this story only to have the text rendered unreadable by an AI bot pop-up

gotta say, even though I wrote an entire book on the subject this is the first time I’ve seen a tailgate dedicated to Japanese American incarceration camps. Genuinely interested/baffled by this…piece of outsider art? Family remembrance? High school project?

"...it is cool, not embarrassing, to like something, to be a fan, to admire someone." Loved this @rumaan.bsky.social newsletter about bucking conventional wisdom and just telling people how much you like their work.

Something I've been wondering lately: who is the most Philly athlete of all-time? Not necessarily the best (though they're not mutually exclusive) but the person who best epitomizes the city and its people? Best I've come up with so far are Dawn Staley, AI, and Kruk. Kelce's probably up there.