I have to go do research and writing and stuff and while I’m doing that, I wish to invite you to send me photos of your autumn and Halloween decorations for my personal edification via posts on this platform. Thank you for your work.

Polly the Demon Queen is my overlord and Charlie Chicago Catman (“CAT-min”) is my benevolent chaos therapist. She only punches him when he punches her first, which is frequent. He thinks they’re playing. She knows they’re not. In sleep they achieve détente.

Today he tried to climb in the toilet immediately after it was used. He also once tried to jump through a urine stream. These things have been reported to me and I felt I must convey them to you, his audience.

geez good thing we’re only using it for health insurance claims, legal arguments, mortgage rates, teaching students, predicting crime, mental health care, automating government services, fact checking, and pointing out other AI

INFLUENCED!

Thank you so much, everybody has come through with such helpful and nuanced, suggestions and genuine context for their opinion. I mean, how rare is that online ever?

They were at $7000 a couple of days ago & now they’re nearly at $11,000. I am certain that along with many members of the wider community, some of you helped make that happen. Thank you so much. I hope the family feels comforted and held by the love of strangers & friends alike.

I hear that. Alexis Coe is another example. So many of our best popular historians don’t have those specific letters at the end of their names.

I AM LISTENING

To put this in context, I’m writing a biography of Abraham Lincoln & as a longtime admirer of and reader of Terkel, Zinn, etc. am particularly interested in public history - doing academic work and effectively translating it for accessibility to a wider audience. But a PhD is a grind & can be $$$$$.

Doubling down on this, I won’t be swayed from my mission to tell the truth

My dad sent this to me and my reaction was a.) weird rage and b.) concern for these people who ultimately did a non-violent crime and clearly are troubled and c.) renewed fascination with pawnbrokers

I will read this!🥯

CONGRATS ON GRADUATING!!!!

My next book will be A People’s History of the Everything Bagel

This is my exotic dancer name

Look, we’re all fucking nerds here so I must consult you. Sometimes I hallucinate about getting an MA and PhD in history. Unfortunately, it turns out I love research. Let’s further enter delusion and imagine an affordable program. If you’ve done it or something similar, what do you think?

Sara is a real one and this is 109% legit. Please check this out and help if you can. You’ve got a little more than a month til her birthday (I have insider info on when that is).

Turning 45 soon. For my birthday, I want to help raise money for some kids whose parents were kidnapped by ICE here in the Chicagoland area. If the video isn’t of interest, I hope the GoFundMe is: www.gofundme.com/f/show-solid...

This entire thing is wonderfully brutal, but my favorite part is where the judge corrects the spelling of a word.

And Trump *Will* amend and refile. Because it’s not about winning, it’s about intimidation. He wants anyone who might oppose him to think that it just too much trouble.

Charlie Chicago Catman has gotten so big since July 🥹

This 5.5 month old creature is amazing at cuddling and also at eating garbage and turning on the kitchen sink and running away.

Wrote about Molly Ivins and drinking and censorship and comedy and a bunch more. Check it out: SaraJBenincasa.Substack.com

This is admittedly a long one, but I had a lot to say today. Contains MOLLY FUCKING IVINS, the noble @johndevore.bsky.social and a hearty dose of Chad the Bird and much more.

I can tell this is a person who works for Big Kitten PR. I SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING! You’re in the pocket of my resident chaos demon!

Oh my God

This 5.5 month old creature is amazing at cuddling and also at eating garbage and turning on the kitchen sink and running away.

I got to share a stage with Molly at an event in college,and to say thank you for being who she was is awkward fangirl fashion. A legend, and I miss her.

This is admittedly a long one, but I had a lot to say today. Contains MOLLY FUCKING IVINS, the noble @johndevore.bsky.social and a hearty dose of Chad the Bird and much more.

Thank you so much. That Wakanda tweet is why my Wikipedia entry is cross-referenced with the entry for Afrofuturism, which is probably the best achievement I will ever be able to list. ❤️

Wrote about Molly Ivins and drinking and censorship and comedy and a bunch more. Check it out: SaraJBenincasa.Substack.com

I love this. In truth I made them private because once MAGA won its cult pageant I started getting more hate mail and threats than I was comfortable with getting for oldass comedy videos. In my youth I had a higher tolerance for it. But making them with Diana was fun as hell and truly nuts.

I used to say this all of the time on Twitter, but I dunno if I posted it here yet so here’s goes: Some of y’all need a groupchat real bad

The MSNBC commentator saying that most political violence has historically come from the left just once again showed how we suffer from failing to learn history. Lynching, pogroms, race riots, the political violence that ended Reconstruction, and against the Civil Rights Movement. Come on.

“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the US, and none of them were out of hate—I’ve performed there many times. […] But there was the issue of—like, fucking ICE could be outside (my concert). And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”

To be clear, this is also political violence.

I'm telling all of you that they are going to do what they ALWAYS do. What you do or do not say has no impact on what THEY WILL DO AND SAY. [just going to leave that here]

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) on the shooting of Charlie Kirk: "Political violence, unfortunately, has ramped up in this country ... I think there are people who are fomenting it in this country. I think the president's rhetoric often foments it."

It’s gonna be so weird watching establishment dems be performatively sadder about this than they were about the colleague and her husband and dog who got shot and killed

History nerds, ahoy!

His hobbies include climbing up my sweatpants, staring at the ice maker in wonder, stealing the big cat’s food and contemplating crimes against birds.

"Chicago, a city I can best describe as what would happen if Philly went to one therapy session. The chaotic benevolence and freakish lust for life embodied by Philadelphians is on its own level... But Chicago, too, is its own beautiful thing - and funny as fuck." How can you not want to read this?

YOU UNDERSTAND!!!

great analogy about Philly Go Cards, Go Blues, but Go Chicago, stay strong up there

I love your city so fucking much.

Wrote a little essay about Chicago and some other things. Shout out to Philly 😎 Rest of it is here: open.substack.com/pub/sarajben...

Wrote you an essay about history and also now. Thank you to my subscribers. This is free for all to read.