lithub.com/remembering-.... read this achingly beautiful piece by @thrasherxy.bsky.social I keep thinking, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social was irreplaceable but she nurtured a whole-ass huge forest (or series of forests). No one can replace her, except for all of us doing the work she nurtured in us.

Beautiful stuff from someone who knows.

I wrote an obit of @sfdirewolf.bsky.social for @19thnews.org.

Really great thread here celebrating the brilliance of Neil Innes, with a lot of clips from his underseen series _Rutland Weekend Television_.

I went to an NBA YOUNGBOY show to see what the fuss is about and I was reminded that Black joy comes in many forms. It was one of the best rap concerts I’ve ever been to. For real. andscape.com/features/nba...

This is the first song I went to after I heard the news, as well.

Absolutely getting. What a tremendous artist.

This is one of the most recent things Alice did. It was, as ever, a clear, trenchant, messy, and powerful exploration of not just her own experiences but also society's expectations around disability.

One way I have found to mourn someone is to set up a monthly sustaining donation to a mutual aid effort they cared about. If you can join me in honoring Alice Wong, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social with a sustaining donation today, please do. Thank you Alice, and I will not let the bastards grind me down.

‘Death remains my intimate shadow partner. It has been with me since birth, always hovering close by. I understand one day we will finally waltz together into the ether. I hope when that time comes, I die with the satisfaction of a life well-lived, unapologetic, joyful, & full of love.’ —Alice Wong

The mighty Alice Wong has left us. A writer, editor, teacher, organizer, mentor, activist, creator, curator, podcaster, and oracle, her commitment to justice for disabled people and to centering disability in justice for all people is a call and challenge those who remain here. Praise and gratitude.

This is a great book - don’t miss it!

“Eugenic policies & laws return time & time again like poison ivy.” America’s legacy of eugenics is alive & well in Trump’s White House, @seemiaroll.bsky.social writes in an op-ed. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ableist rhetoric & dangerous policy proposals lead the U.S. down a deadly, yet familiar path.

I interviewed Jake Owen about his new album, the wonderful and surprising "Dreams to Dream." He had a LOT to say about authenticity, bro country ("I invented that shit!") and that little dustup he had with Jason Isbell over artists writing their own songs thebluegrasssituation.com/read/jake-ow...

Happy 80th birthday to Neil Young. Here’s something I wrote last year about 5 of his best albums, all of which were celebrating big birthdays of their own.

Dave Marsh’s THE HEART OF ROCK AND SOUL age 16 was captivating, educational, infuriating, inspiring - songs matter, popular songs matter, you can just…write about them!

We built a team of young Black, Asian, queer, and trans staffers at Teen Vogue, and they deserve the world. They are passionate, whip smart, and incredibly talented. Many of them are now without jobs — please consider donating to their GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/help-laido...

New at No Fences Review: fresh Turn It Up recs from @cantkill.bsky.social & me. New stuff from Rissi Palmer and Cat Power, the 40th anniversary of the last great Clash song, a country call-and-response between Mahalia Jackson and Mavis Staples, and more! Plus reading recs. Please share & subscribe!

I wrote, as expected, about the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in my newsletter. Also about the time I spilled coffee on myself in a drive-thru, and how that wasn't the worst thing to happen to me that day. www.anxietyshark.ca/the-gales-of...

Congrats to @johnlingan.bsky.social on the release of this great book. Don't miss it!

You know what would’ve been funny? If, when Paul McCartney formed Wings, Ringo Starr had started a band called Drumsticks. I’ll see myself out.

Last night, the Trump Administration sent a letter suggesting Wisconsin should return our FoodShare payments. My response ⬇️

With SNAP benefits going out late, nonprofits are begging for pet food donations to prevent desperate owners from surrendering their dogs and cats to animal shelters.

Great album, great artist, great interview.

& a good counterpart, David Cantwell's look at the great country records of '75: nofencesreview.substack.com/p/the-best-c...

I see James Watson has died. What did Watson discover? Rosalind Franklin's lab notes. Only we spell it 'S-T-E-A-L' these days.

Now listening to Mavis Staples' new album, and it is glorious.

On that note: this one doesn't *really* count because it was recorded in 1990, but the newly-released Carl Perkins album is also a really lovely surprise. sunrecords.com/new-carl-per...

Eagerly awaiting tomorrow's new Mavis Staples album, playing the remarkably good new album from Dion, and feeling grateful that there are still folks whose careers started in the 1950s who are making great and vital records all the way over here in 2025.

Nearly 1.2 million disabled Americans are self-employed. For many, expiring enhanced premium tax credits threaten health care access and affordability. New from me, @seemiaroll.bsky.social, & @nzmurphy.bsky.social for @americanprogress.bsky.social www.americanprogress.org/article/aca-...

Comment from ILX: "A Hipgnosis album cover waiting to happen." (Also, as there is no alt text: Trump in the Oval Office standing with a frown behind the Resolute Desk looking distractedly downward to his left. Off to his left slightly behind him, people are gathered around someone who collapsed.)

I'm so grateful to @andrewgill.biz & @drleahpayne.bsky.social for having me on their show I can hardly stand it. We talk Amy Grant & Switchfoot & Michael W. Smith & Brian Eno & Nashville. Also apocalypse. Also the Prayer Trade. Listen here. www.iheart.com/podcast/310-...

Hey folks, my book about Bushwick Bill, rap, race, and disability is on sale right now through UT Press' holiday sale. 40% off with the promo code UTXGIFTS. I'm proud of the book and I hope you'll check it out, along with the other great books in the Music Matters series.

I knew Ryan Adams was an asshole but I didn't realize he was this kind of asshole

New at No Fences Review: @cantkill.bsky.social with a big-backyard take on his favorite country albums from 1975. Essential stuff, as always. Please share and subscribe!

ah, perhaps instead of pumping millions into endless factional infighting Dem donors could invest in making local Dem organizations genuine civic spaces that can reach people during and between elections

After 13 years, Mississippi Democrats have broken the Republican Party’s supermajority in the Mississippi Senate. Democrats flipped two GOP-held Senate seats and one House seat in the special elections. buff.ly/nTvLlFI

BREAKING: Democrat Johnny DuPree has flipped a Republican-held Mississippi Senate district in a special election. DuPree was previously the mayor of Hattiesburg. His win imperils the Mississippi Senate GOP's narrow supermajority. www.mississippifreepress.org/democrat-joh...

Wrestling Fan Zohran Mamdani Elected Mayor Of New York

Young people in NYC absolutely showed out and there should be 1000 articles and profiles about this. Because we have had to put up with 1000 MAGA diner stories for years now.

Zohran at the rally for trans youth on february 8 ❣️ he was polling single digits.

Savor this moment, friends. They couldn’t buy their way to a win. They couldn’t racist their way to a win. There are more of us than them, and we fucking beat them. And we can keep beating them.

New York is a-changin'.

Looking forward to learning all about how the right should move left to win elections tomorrow. They should maybe dye their hair pink, learn to love pronouns.

thank you for the outpouring of support! those of us laid off from Teen Vogue yesterday are now sharing our GoFundMe to help us cover our emergency expenses now that we've lost our incomes, as we get back on our feet.

i'm a very biased party here but pretty much everything about the Mamdani campaign and the discourse around it thus far is a pretty thorough vindication of Africana Studies

i want to repeat this: mamdani and spanberger have run similar campaigns tailored to their respective electorates and it is maddening to watch political journalists attempt to create some broad contrast where none exist

They are destroying what SHE built. #TeenVogue

In addition to its politics coverage generally, Teen Vogue was one of the few mainstream outlets that had incredible coverage of disability issues written by actual disabled writers. Not sure what’s left on that front now. Maybe just @19thnews.org and @motherjones.com?

She shaped music history before the Grateful Dead thanks to her work as a background singer in Muscle Shoals & Memphis. Then she became a crucial complement/counterpoint to the Dead's boys club in one of their most fertile periods. Here's to a true pro & forever leader of the Heart of Gold Band.