Trailer for The Librarians, a documentary film about censorship & persecution of librarians in the US. “In The Librarians film, librarians emerge as first responders in the fight for democracy and our First Amendment rights.” [kottke.org]

They literally ruin everything they touch

I've said it elsewhere, but if you're a young organization in the South that meets the eligibility criteria for the new literary fund (budget over $50k) but has not yet gained 501(c)(3) status, @hubcitypress.bsky.social might be able to serve as your fiscal sponsor. www.mellon.org/news/coaliti...

I had the latest entry in the Communities in Transition series for @thestate.com. We took a look at Rosewood, the classic Columbia neighborhood that is working to retain its charm amid broader growth and change across the city and region. Tracy Glantz shot the pics.

I'm not sure you can get more marie antoinette than taking away food stamps before thanksgiving while you build a gold and marble dance hall so the other crooks can bring bribe you over a badly-cooked (argentinian) steak

Holy crap Kara Walker chopped up a Stonewall Jackson statue and revealed a monster

when was the last time you heard someone mention NFTs? gotta remember to savor these little things

Public art is never permanent as long as people don’t continuously value the pieces and the reasons they were created in the first place. Even the odd and complicated pieces deserve love. (Gift Article) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/12/a...

One of my favorite parts of author visits is the Richland Library "Off Book" recording. Here's the most recent one with @silviamg.bsky.social. We still want to know what @sgj.bsky.social thinks about his cameo in The Bewitching! youtu.be/EtL31zGFZhw?...

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

quick while the government is shut down let’s all switch to metric

What is happening? This is all posted by @thestate.com in the last five days.

this is truly an era of blather and balderdash. we are up to our eyeballs in claptrap and i for one have had just about my fill

"…and Magda Goebbels made a great strudel.”

i find this image so fascinating. it is both a literal example of authoritarianism but also a second-hand reproduction of the aesthetics of other authoritarian states. it's like a simulacra of authoritarianism whose purpose is to attempt to make the simulacra real.

“Busted Plug” was found in a field. Hunter-Gatherer and its mural were knocked down. How do these losses impact Columbia’s push to build identity with public art?

“'Columbia has a lot of talented artists,..performers, musicians...But when somebody rolls into town from another place, they will see public art, and they’ll say, ‘This is a creative place,’ and they’ll know that there are going to be lots of artists of all types in that place.'" via @thestate.com

A 90-minute video of making a batch of woodblock prints “from blank paper to finished print” from the printer’s POV. Relaxing & ASMR-adjacent. [youtube.com]

A Man Read 3,599 Books Over 60 Years, and Now His Family Has Shared the Entire List Online. That’s roughly a book a week. The list runs over 100 pages and he checked most of the books out of the local library. [openculture.com]

dawg how has it gotten WORSE

But do we really know for sure how many bs there are in blueberry?

I really enjoy the times I get to sit and ask a list of oddball questions to esteemed visitors to Richland Library for the Off Book series. Most recently, Elizabeth Rusch visited and talked about falling into ticks and her favorite USWNT players - youtu.be/_FKW55sLZuA?...

Mailing a regular letter a distance of 40 miles in VT now takes 10-13 days (routed through CT for "efficiency") if you're wondering how basic services are doing under this regime. Another great American institution strangled by conservatives.

Bloc Party’s Tiny Desk Concert! Twenty years! It’s been twenty years since Bloc Party’s debut album Silent Alarm was released. This is probably the only time you’ll run across the phrase “glockenspiel-forward” this week. [kottke.org]

“What’s actually happening is a reinforcing of cultural hegemony.” Averageness is efficient. “You have economies of scale if everything is the same.” A.I. Is Homogenizing Our Thoughts www.newyorker.com/culture/infi...

"Learn about what zines looked like 25 years ago when artists were just starting to get online and see a vision of the future" at Richland Library in Columbia, SC." www.richlandlibrary.com/event/2025-0...

Pediatrician Dr. Annie Andrews is running against Lindsey Graham for one of South Carolina’s Senate seats. Based on the commercial launching her campaign, I kinda want to move to SC just so I can vote for her. [youtube.com]

Owls in Towels. Nothing in the animal kingdom emotes better than an owl. [kottke.org]

It doesn't get reiterated enough that "human on a bicycle" is not only the most efficient way that a person can move, it's the most efficient form of motion ***ever observed in land animals***.

Big couches and small couches, and several instances of artwork depicting themselves.

The cost of the 4 F-18 planes lost in the Red Sea ($240 million) is now greater than the 2025 NEH Budget ($200 million)

Beautiful segment on All Things Considered today about Poetry Out Loud finals in DC. It's a shame they didn't use the opportunity to mention the program is 97% funded by the NEA--I assume this 20th anniversary event could likely be its last guaranteed program for a while.

Along with many other nonprofit arts organizations, we learned last night that our grant from the National Endowment for the Arts—$40,000 toward the publication of our books in 2025—has been terminated. While this news was not unexpected, its message was chilling.

Really hard to say what the worst part of this NEA grant termination letter is (sent at 10pm on a Friday!) but I think it's finding out the federal government's priority for arts funds is now "fostering AI competency" rather than funding literature.

Received my NEA grant termination letter last night.

Fact is, bustin' DOESN'T make me feel good. Ghosts are sad confused creatures, cruelly tied to this plane by a powerful nexus of pain and fury. It gives me no pleasure to hunt them, shoot them with beams, and trap them in a box. I hope they find some peace in there. But TBH, no one really knows.

my endorsement for any democratic presidential candidate who promises to send the entire DOGE team to prison

Among the thousands of groups affected by the sudden cessation of funds are state arts councils, museums, historic sites, archives, libraries, educators and media outlets in all 50 states.

Great Timothy Snyder analysis of the Trump/Vance/Zelenskyy meeting. “There was a logic to what happened…the logic of throwing away all reason, yielding to all impulse, betraying all decency…in order to bring out the worst in the world.” [snyder.substack.com]

We never want to let go of the restaurants we love in Columbia. But when one leaves the scene, more than just menus are lost. Had some good convos on this one, including a special guest: Revered writer and @truesouthtv.bsky.social host @johntedge.bsky.social.

Some terrific writers are visiting the University of South Carolina this spring: sc.edu/study/colleg...

I’ve made a starter pack for artists in Columbia, SC. Check it out! Let me know if you’d like to be added or share accounts to add. #sodacity #sodacityarts #columbiasc go.bsky.app/82ndDJk

these people are segregationists and their position is that no one who isn’t a white man is qualified to do skilled work of any kind

Please do not listen to anyone who's like "was this even a real problem if it's over in 36 hours?" It didn't happen BECAUSE everyone raised a completely appropriate shitstorm about it. They'll obviously try other heinous shit but this is a huge victory. www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...

it's been a rough week so i thought i'd rotate a gyro for everyone. as a treat

BREAKING: A set of nonprofits and a small business organization sue OMB over Monday's grants/loans "pause," seeking a temporary restraining order. The groups are represented by @democracyforward.bsky.social. Complaint: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

I had the privilege to ask some questions of @rfkuang.bsky.social at Richland Library for our Off Book series. I particularly love the answer about how different languages mark the passing with time. youtu.be/DDeBqV-U0V8?...