Rediscovering America’s Orwell Why are people in the United States not happy? "Because we are so violent." That was the view of Dwight Macdonald, a great essayist whose work is collected in a new book....

Doing a talk on Richard Wright next week moulinande.com/agenda/cente... at the Moulin d'Andé outside of Paris

barbarians ate the gate

Happy May 8th. I could never love anyone who doesn't know what play opened in London on this day in 1956

As it happens, on @thisdaypod.com next week we're doing a two-parter on Plessy v Ferguson... we trace reconstruction, the brief rise of Black electoral power, and the pushback. We then talk about the world Plessy wrought... Wish it didn't feel so deeply timely. But I think it'll be worth a listen.

I watched BAIT this weekend - very rare for me to be able to sit through an actual full TV series. I loved it. The Riz/Himesh scene in ep2 - is so good but this little clip makes it even funnier. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCrh...

in the near future all our children will be locked up for "6 7"

This podcast episode from historian Jill Lepore and her team is a great listen for Earth Day. www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/the...

Ok..I just saw someone on the train reading this and I just have to ask... is this desperation or is this a well thought out propaganda strategy!?? @mayor.nyc.gov

Such a great conversation about power and institutions. Send to everyone you know who clings to the fantasy that everything will be OK once Trump is out of office! -OK to be fair many people who think this are not evil, but they are wrong!

‘Nicola Barker’s explorations have taken her to 19th-century India and a post-metaphysical future. Yet British banality has retained its allure, and its uses. Her work is full of people called things like Bill and Jim.’ Leo Robson on Barker’s novels. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

When do we just admit that a portal was opened at this moment

Not dunking on Zack or this post, I’m just always struck by how easily American journalists will admit that the media shapes public polling and political outcomes when they’re not talking about America.

1956 / 2026!

so much winning!

important news:

was that Melania speech one of Iran’s demands

BEIRUT (AP) - Israeli strikes hit several dense commercial and residential areas in central Beirut Wednesday afternoon without warning, hours after a ceasefire was announced in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. @apnews.com

Cornish Mazraa Beirut just now. Israel is bombing throughout Lebanon

ok.. going to the book party !

Tonight we learn the true meaning of ART OF THE DEAL, or we get a surprise announcement that the hit show has been extended for another season! Either way I am STOKED!

Tbh this is the line that always haunts me

going back and forth between "this is the end" and "this is just a crazy guy ranting"

This is a far simpler answer than people would like to believe. Trump issues the order via the National Military Command Center to the commander of Strategic Command, and then STRATCOM carries it out directly. There is no second vote, no veto, no check-and-balance.

Mil Bluesky (such as it is) says that preparations to target Iran with a nuclear weapon would be multi-day / complicated by refusal of overflight by allies / would probably have sparked rumors. Maybe that’s reassuring. Doesn’t change the fact that the insane old man is threatening genocide

Comforting myself by thinking this is just one of those high drama episodes of the Apprentice and not a preview of nuclear war.

F-bombs are easier to ignore than A-Bombs

Really terrifying to see how many people believe he is going to order a tactical nuke.

If he croaks tomorrow, does that mean Jesus is paying attention?

The last bits and bobs of the Village Voice were hauled away by a dumpster. I grabbed one framed cover, a key plot point in the story of paper's demise!

the Barbara Walters clip got me... Wish I had a bunker!

Jesus' Train dreams.

Sunday listening www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGu8...

The @wsj.com coverage of no kings beats a lot of the other BUT like all the other sites - the report is hidden away and buried... www.wsj.com/us-news/crow...

Haha @lrb.co.uk has incredible ads!

The difference between these two is racism

Y no hay remedio (And it cannot be helped). https://collections.artsmia.org/art/57871/

Listening... @equatormag.bsky.social: Positive aspect of this moment: "We Can see more clearly who the enemy is" Reading... @wsj.com Negative aspect of this moment: New ICE detention centers will have no windows.

‘The dialectic in her work is not between high and low, or naivety and knowingness, but what a character from 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 calls “finding significance through insignificance”.’ Leo Robson on Nicola Barker’s transcendence. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

I have always felt weird that I share a birthday with Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern but today I just found out that @camanpour.bsky.social is also January 12! The day has been redeemed!

here is an AI generated image to go with all the terrible articles like this one about how we have escaped the apocalyptic dangers of the escalation ladder. www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

Had another nightmare where I was being chased by Soldiers screaming into their helmet mics: "GROK IS HE REAL!?!"

def the right question

Bullshit tacos are a real thing?

ARCO, is great - even though I prob should have watched the French version but these clowns were fantastic!

Sometimes you need to bet Grandma's house in order to get Mom's house back.