On our latest premium episode, we discuss the work of Paul Thomas Anderson and his ambitious, sweeping 1999 ensemble drama MAGNOLIA. We also contend with PTA skepticism, articulating the director's limitations as artist alongside his singular idiosyncrasies. Link below.

updates for the pod and such will be here, but i'm mostly posting from @notoriouslightning.bsky.social these days

‘No form of consent they might give could make the injury done to them less real; it would only reflect their powerlessness.’ —John Gray, ‘A Report to the Academy’, from the essay collection ‘Gray’s Anatomy’, p. 406

US Congress probes Musk's Starlink for fueling Myanmar's forced-labor scam dens, where trafficked workers bilk billions amid a sham crackdown, as dishes sprout on roofs like capitalist warts. #StarlinkScandal

Just received from a colleague: looks like Penn is going to join the universities refusing the extortionary Trump "compact". I do not regret to inform you that we are going to win

This guy is such a thin skinned dictator, reminds me of the US president. Say some daffy shit, watch everyone try to parse it logically, then mock them for taking you seriously

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025... 🚨 ‼️

Woman invoked Charlie Kirk's killing while threatening immigration agents, US charges reut.rs/4qthzJo

NEW: With 157 million users, ByteDance’s Doubao 豆包 has officially surpassed DeepSeek to be the most popular AI app in China. How come? “It's marketed at people who are not the most technologically informed. Some of the earliest Doubao users I heard of were my friends’ grandmothers & aunties.”

As swiping wanes, people are searching for connection where it’s always existed: in real life How dating apps killed romance:

Palestine’s most popular leader, Marwan Barghouti, was beaten unconscious and has his ribs broken by Israeli prison guards and his family fears for his life, his son has said, citing evidence given by former Palestinian detainees released this week as part of the ceasefire deal.

The way to peace of mind is to never read a comment section on any app or site, ever.

A reminder that Ben Gvir was set to be sanctioned by the United States government in February 2024 but was personally taken off the list by President Biden.

NEW: We, along with our partners at @ccrjustice.org, are demanding more information on President Trump's illegal drone strikes on civilian boats in the Caribbean. Under international and domestic law, the President does not have the power to arbitrarily carry out assassinations.

Brown rejected the compact! www.brown.edu/sites/defaul...

Holy shit. This is Angelo Elia, a legislative correspondent for Congressman Dave Taylor. According to @rooster.info, during a Zoom meeting today, he had an American nazi flag displayed in the background.

Listen to how casually Justice Gorsuch presents as fact the idea that remedying racial gerrymandering requires racial discrimination.

The cost of holding down ACA premiums for a year is less than this…

like Ron Paul has been writing openly racist newsletters since the 70s. paleoconservatives have always been this way.

Cyberspace—all of it, from social media to Substack to any other form—is where both imagination and conflict are endless and without limit.

In the Supreme Court’s upcoming term, it will hear Slaughter v. United States, a case many scholars expect to narrow or overturn Humphrey’s Executor. @nicholasbednar.bsky.social explores what the consequences of eliminating removal protections for multimember commissions would be.

www.bbc.com/news/article... "I once met a former bodyguard of one billionaire with his own "bunker", who told me his security team's first priority, if this really did happen, would be to eliminate said boss and get in the bunker themselves. And he didn't seem to be joking."

The Pope is a White Sox fan. That's okay, because God's grace is greater than any human failing.

This morning in PDX I had a man FOLLOW ME into my hotel and slip on to my elevator (I thought he was a guest, he was not a guest) to confront me about flipping off his cybertruck. I am shaken, but safe. And I am proven correct that men who drive cybertruck are the most insecure men possible.

There is a reason I left the other site for good

Long story short, an actual Nazi doxxing ring. Enough people reported them that they went away for like 12 hours and then Elon personally brought them back. The site is dead. If you’re still on there, go lock your account right now

I’ve been locked since Kirk died over there because they’re actively trying to get people killed. I’m honestly amazed people haven’t sued since there’s definitive proof that they knew these guys were doxxing people and personally intervened to allow it.

Greta Thunberg: “Israeli soldiers hit, kicked, starved, and tortured me” • They placed a flag next to me, and anytime the flag touched me, they kicked me • Whenever I raised my head to look at Ben-Gvir, I was kicked • She was filmed while stripped naked Aftonbladet: tinyurl.com/a33vxatc

"And yet Táíwò’s own position misses something fundamental about the world we now inhabit. Shame does not operate in a vacuum...today, the sturdy ground that once formed shame’s foundation has collapsed." Helpful response by @eric-reinhart.com in @newrepublic.com newrepublic.com/article/2015...

A thought: don’t say ‘antifa’ anymore. Say the whole word. ‘Anti-fascist’. Shortening words and phrases was dumb to begin with, but now that most people (in America, at any rate) are absolutely flat brained morons, use the whole word. When you shorten words, they get to keep lying.

Hey look, Israel broke the cease-fire, twice, in two different ways, within 24 hours - again.

'Sora cost $20 a month & subscribers can generate an unlimited number of AI videos... this costs (Sora owners) OpenAI "at least $5 per 10-second video"'. Journalists, please ask more questions about how this tech could ever in a million years make a profit?

Pete Hegseth’s attempt to gag journalism is a resounding failure | Margaret Sullivan

You are out of your mind if you think young republicans in the early aughts weren’t bigots. They were saying the n-word all the time, too, they just didn’t have group chats to get leaked.

A story four months in the making, by me and @susanrinkunas.com in collaboration with @motherjones.com.

"Modern conservatism always contained the seeds of authoritarianism. But the same can probably be said of most ideological movements, can’t it? When it comes to modern American conservatism, those seeds flowered because of choices, actions, and events." www.thebulwark.com/p/elian-gonz...

The rule of law means future accountability must always remain possible. DHS is implying that accountability itself is illegitimate - a stunning rejection of democratic norms.

'O you gods, what a number of men eats Timon, and he sees ‘em not! It grieves me to see so many dip their meat in one man’s blood; and all the madness is, he cheers them up too. I wonder men dare trust themselves with men. Methinks they should invite them without knives. Good for their meat,

"Immortal Gods, I crave no health. I pray for no man but myself. Grant that I may never prove so fond to trust man on his oath or bond. Or a harlot for her weeping. Or a dog that seems a-sleeping or a keeper with my freedom. Or my friends if I should need them. Amen. So fall to it. Rich men sin,

Very often, I advise people to not accept claims (especially those like this one that Pakman is pushing), but to think about it. Treat it as a fiction until you find proof. Otherwise, pod people like Pakman will lead you by the nose into nonsense.

This weekend, three men in Evanston hugged their families goodbye to look for work at Home Depot but were attacked by ICE before they could return home. Two were abducted, one is petrified of leaving the home. If you’re able, please help us support our neighbors: www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with...

ICE's escalating violence and use of excessive force are wreaking havoc and making cities less safe. Armed, masked federal agents shouldn't be menacing our communities.

Very often, I advise people to not accept claims (especially those like this one that Pakman is pushing), but to think about it. Treat it as a fiction until you find proof. Otherwise, pod people like Pakman will lead you by the nose into nonsense.

Normally people who get compared to iconic artists of the past aren't mentioned in the same breath as them when they die. Imagine working with the very clearly, colossally famous and talented influences D'Angelo did (Prince, Sly Stone!) and then very securely standing alongside them. It's just wild!

I've always said this, but since last November, I've been pointing this out frequently in whatever venues to whatever audiences I can: "The planet NASA studies most is Earth."

The Hawaii Supreme Court has assailed SCOTUS in recent rulings. "The Roberts Court casually dismisses the lessons of American and world history, the warnings of prominent early Americans, and the judiciary’s storied legal minds," the court wrote.

Evelyn Waugh is such a damn funny writer