Laurie Metcalf as Barbara in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

I love how people can breezily be like “so much that divides people” like it’s a brunch menu when the division is over whether people should be dead or not

God-tier NYT correction: Correction (left), original (right) www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/n...

In the last 48 hours, The New School has fired almost two dozen colleagues in humanities and social sciences, many of them tenured faculty of color, and multiple staff members, including in social justice.

This letter is one of my favorite archival finds: Harold Prince explaining that EVITA is not Brechtian (one of the most over-used and least understood adjectives)

Preview of my next book inside!

not a day goes by that i don't feel insecure about my inability to fix pipes with my wrench that is also a pipe smdh we used to be a country

Always worth remembering that Insider Higher Ed is owned by Times Higher Education, a one-time industry publication which has been remade as a data-analytic consultancy AND which is itself owned by Inflexion Private Equity.

Another among the many, many reasons why we should push back against big tech’s stranglehold on our pedagogical toolkit:

Not to get all gay or anything, but today's the 65th anniversary of Judy's Carnegie Hall concert.

Anyone else notice that a few recent New Yorker profiles border on hagiography?

Hungarians showing how to win big in an unfair election: organize AND protest AND vote AND demand profound change.

Congratulations to our 2026 Alumni Awards Winners! Learn more about the impact of Sophie Maríñez, Gaffar Gailani, Avishan Bodjnoud, Philip Kreniske, Ryan Donovan, Mary Sano, and Frank J. Fabozzi www.gc.cuny.edu/news/announc... @smarinez.bsky.social @ryandonovan.bsky.social @kreniske.bsky.social

Pege Hegseth's chief of staff tried to block the promotion of a black female combat veteran because, as the article notes, "President Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer at military events" in Washington DC

Sean Duffy should be impeached and removed from his cabinet post.

Eating at PF Chang’s in Manhattan should be a crime.

can it be closed down sooner

A week after American and Israeli forces began their assault on Iran, Pentagon officials told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that the cost of the war had already exceeded $11.3bn in its first six days. But that figure is only part of the story 🧵

The cost of fresh vegetables is up a stunning FORTY EIGHT PERCENT from February 2025: www.bls.gov/news.release...

New York! I'm giving a talk on my new book-in-progress at The New School on March 23 at 5pm. Come hear about how Broadway turned backbreaking. event.newschool.edu/broadwaybodi...

crickets from the free speech crowd, of course

the Washington Post effectively blew up its arts section today, dismissing its books, TV, music, and theater critics, features writers, and several editors. (I'm also guessing the vacant film critic position will stay that way.) Just an insane loss of talent and a huge self-inflicted wound.

Biden, Obama, Bush, Clinton. All former cabinet secretaries. All need to speak up. Why are they silent at this moment? Why is up to ordinary Americans to lead in this crisis?

If you're living somewhere outside the USA, one thing you can do is pressure your leaders to boycott World Cup and Olympic events here.

American survived without ICE from 1776 to 2003

"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future." - @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit. Incredible words. Listen to all of it!

As an alum and former part-time faculty member, it is heartbreaking to see this happen. Not mentioned here is that the institution has upwards of 80% part-time faculty, which is depressing enough--and a sign that the university has been in bad fiscal health for decades.

And btw Whipple burns every bridge when he walks away unlike access journalists in DC who can never tell the whole story. He then has to start all over again for his next story

The Vanity Fair photographer from the Susie Wiles story. Holy. Shit. www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...

Happy 100th Birthday Dick Van Dyke, and thank you for the joy!

Saddest thing is that Neeson’s late wife Natasha Richardson was a AIDS advocate and AmFAR spokesperson and now he’s palling around w anti-vaxxers and AIDS denialists.

Fantastic piece about one of the all-time great dances

Anyone have favorite or iconic backstage photographs from 1960s/1970s Broadway musicals? Maybe a snapshot from the wings or a dressing room

Streisand's voice is her instrument; Midler's audience is her instrument. She plays on us and we bring her to life, or at least she makes us feel that we do. (1980)

Before the 1919 formation of Chorus Equity Association, "chorus girls" normally rehearsed weeks on end without pay. The union aimed to reduce this to 4 weeks without pay.

Giving the world Dinesh D'Souza and Laura Ingraham is no longer the worst thing Dartmouth has ever done.

The final callbacks for EVITA are chock full of intriguing What Ifs?

The best news!

Came across this gem today. Must've been so frustrating to lose so many parts to Lansbury. And to not get out of your own way...

Universities are assembling larger and larger teams to deal with academic integrity issues--mostly focused on AI--while simultaneously holding AI "writing" contests, AI-themed events, "hey, come play with these fun tools!" The messages are so mixed, it's criminal. Because AI is bloated with money.

Who said this and when?

Dance Magazine October 1971

TRUMP they still have that Phantom of the Opera musical on Broadway MAMDANI it's an immersive theatrical experience now. it's called Masquerade TRUMP that Phantom's a jerk, isn't he

I can’t believe how stupid everything is

Did Roger Sterling write this? It's like a parody of MAD MEN

Not every idea is worth airing. Not every point of view is worth hearing. Not everything that "a lot of people believe" should be credentialed by homepage space. Would the NYT editorial board run "Did Homosexuals Ruin Culture?" or "Did Black People Get Too Big for Their Britches?" I guess we'll see.

someone must revive "August: Osage County" for Laurie Metcalf

Did you know Kander & Ebb wrote their own (unproduced) Eva Peron musical called SANTA TERESA?