@robertloerzel.bsky.social did a fantastic deep dive into Dunning a while back. We went out to the former hospital site and did video interviews with people trying to keep the memory of the place alive. www.wbez.org/curious-city...

On Chicago’s NW side from 1854 to 1970 there was a “civil commitment and forced medical care” institution called Dunning Asylum, later the Chicago State Hospital. People realized during construction in the 1990s they were building on mass graves of poor and mentally ill people. There is precedent.

I told them I didnt want a "Mark's last day is..." email because it would have been like the 10th email in as many months. So many great people have moved on. Its insane.

Was annoyed at the number of Mill Creek photos I still hadn't colored from the Lemen Collection, and there's a lot, probably close to 40 images overall, of which maybe 20 are worth coloring and I've colored 10 Started a new one tonight

Robin Williams' daughter has some quality thoughts on AI slop

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Ill be at city foundry Wednesday Evening hawking my art, both collages and colorizations.

Have a new substack piece, one in a series, on photographs of Mill Creek Valley. The first piece focuses on my favorite collection both as a historian and a colorization artist, the Lemen Streets & Sewers Collection at SLPL. Crispy photos, rich with details & urban beauty

CHATGPT: I understand where you're coming from. You worked really hard to get here, and now it's time to enjoy the fruit of your labors. ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart. ISILDUR: true

It always irks me when they say St. Louis City has no Republicans in leadership when Tom Oldenburg is right there

Things to consider: Document the violence & violations--on camera, w/photos, saving images--any way you can. Speaking as a historian- it will matter Point out violations--w/images & text--even if you think it won't matter. It will. It needs to be called out & exposed You are a witness. Expose it.

It's increasingly clear that the president lives in a constructed bubble of unreality designed by aides who are manipulating him in order to take control of US policy. Seems like an important story - wish media would cover it.

It's never OK for Dems to call political opponents authoritarians... but totally cool when these guys do it

NEW: ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the Trump administration’s cuts to an aid program.

sorry to reopen this wound but the number of elite conservatives declaring a fatwa on Cracker Barrel for no reason, I want to see proof that they’ve even stepped inside one in the past six years. I, Midwest Swin, am now looking at a giant stuffie cow I bought for my son, at a Cracker Barrel

I am back. And today I submitted my 2 weeks notice.

I am very happy today. That is all.

Alarming reports that the Trump admin is trying to silence history at the National Park at Harper’s Ferry—where abolitionist John Brown led a raid seeking to arm slaves for a revolt. Signs being targeted include those that refer to “racial discrimination.” archive.is/gGV2d

Weeknight meetings would be cool though, so people who work during the day could attend and stuff.

If you’ve ever wondered why crime is higher in majority-Black, Democrat-controlled cities, you can just look at the data. Spoiler alert: it’s not.

What a sad, sad day it will be if this regime screws with STL water. ☠️

The Living St. Louis interview that airs next monday is gonna be so cringe because I shaved for it and probably took 10 years off my appearance And most of my colleagues already think I look 25 as is

“…The two sources familiar with the internal deliberations say that multiple ABC execs knew Kimmel had not actually said anything over the line. But it didn’t matter. The government was angry, and wanted another liberal scalp.”

People roasting me in comments, I got the salmon free from my mom's freezer and the rest cost like $10 max at the farmer's market.

Freelance illustration gigs drying up. Ad agencies using Midjourney instead of hiring human artists. Costume design turned over to AI wholesale. Good work vanishing. These are the stories of working visual artists, who describe losing jobs, wages, and hope as their clients and bosses embrace AI.

It is bizarre to me to see Matt Smith pictured as he was in the Game of Thrones spinoff instead of say his best role ever as The Doctor, in Doctor Who

The kind of meal you make when you're trying to use everything you got a soulard market in the 1-3 day window before it all goes bad.

RIP, Robert Redford. What a devastating year this has been for actors of this stature and this generation. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/m...

The Trump administration is ordering the removal of information on slavery at multiple national parks in an effort to scrub them of “corrosive ideology.” wapo.st/4mnNDLt

St. Louis is at a demographic crossroads: new 2024 Census data show both warning signs and opportunities. Saint Louis University professor Ness Sándoval joined @stlonair.bsky.social to talk about how building more single‑family homes may be key to sustaining growth.

Empires decline all the time, for all kinds of reasons, but our present moment will be remembered in history books for the sheer volume of *voluntary & pointless self-imposed damage*. We're systematically dismantling what made us great, for no reason! Genuinely, with no rationale! It's wild.

Does anyone know if randalls wine sells wine boxes? Like ive seen them say it before but only on certain occasions not like an everyday thing

thank you to everyone who came out to Ssippi last night! We filled the patio and auctioned off some very nice art after talking STL myths @kyle-g-olson.bsky.social @renegadestl.bsky.social

ANDOR!

Archivists: what are some things you wish journalists better understood about archives and about your work? Putting together a training in a couple weeks.

These damn cats yell at me even though there's food in the bowl until I walk them there personally like a waiter. Anything else sir. Would you like to hear today's specials

Seven am waking up in the morning gotta be fresh gotta go downstairs

The mortgage fraud claim against Lisa Cook is false, per documents obtained by Reuters. Bill Pulte's accusation, the sole pretext Trump used to fire her from the Fed, was that she claimed two homes as primary residence. These docs show she did not. www.reuters.com/world/us/fed...

Big interview today

For the first time ever I have a print order in that is 99% not colorizations. While I'll still be bringing all fuckin 500 prints of colors i already have with me to May's market at city foundry (the 26th) I'll be bringing a shit ton of collages as well. Stuff like this:

It's funny how getting official statistical validation by the government that I am now having to pay more for new furniture, food and oh, that car repair the other day is something the market rewards with record highs.

My favorite photograph from Mill Creek Valley, literally across the board. I remember first opening this, it's an enormous panorama showing troops on Olive in 1918, presumably marshalling for war. And panning from left to right and then BAM, the best part isn't even the main subject of the photo

this Sunday at Ssippi - come hang and talk STL history

“The city has about a year to keep hope alive. And there has to be some evidence of a rebuilding.” Ness Sándoval, St. Louis University demographer. www.stlpr.org/health-scien...

It really shouldn't be lost in the news of this afternoon that yesterday at a congressional hearing on UAP/UFOs they showed a video of a hellfire missile literally going "BONK" off a UAP and the mfer just going right on its way, albeit a little shaken about it www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nzl...

@kgrumke.bsky.social and I delved into the documents on this one, revealing a network of shell companies that connect the stalled St. Charles project to the search giant. www.stlpr.org/economy-busi...

What Do We Want? A Moratorium! When Do We Want it? Now! Hopefully the Conditional Use permit request for the large data center proposal at the Armory site gets rejected at least for now. The hearing is on the 25th. The site was supposed to be apartments and is in a TIF District w/ tax abatement.

I had a marvelous time talking with author Susannah Cahalan about Rosemary Woodruff Leary, who so often was cut down to "one of the wives of Timothy Leary." But she was so much more -- including, as I learned, a native of St. Louis. www.stlpr.org/show/st-loui...

Have been informed my interview for KETC's Living St. Louis will air September 22nd !