"Still, nearly a year into his second term, Americans see Mr. Trump less than they used to, according to a New York Times analysis of his schedule...Most of his public appearances fall between noon and 5 p.m., on average." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...

Has this discourse cured anybody else's imposter syndrome? I'm not that smart but I have never had medieval peasant brain. No, the fucking computer isn't a person!

EXCLUSIVE: US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised Russia on how to pitch Ukraine plans to Trump, in audio files reviewed by Bloomberg

Russia has gained less than 1 percent of Ukrainian territory this year. But President Putin said Russia is ready to keep fighting if Kyiv refuses to discuss a draft peace plan that demands deep military cuts and the ceding of territory Russia hasn’t yet taken.

Breaking news: Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) will not seek reelection, a seismic decision in D.C. politics that will bring to a close more than a decade in leadership.

"The D.C. business community recently launched an effort to 'draft' Bowser for a fourth term, saying it was not the time for 'on-the-job training,' but by then Bowser had largely made up her mind." www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Come to this Pen and Pencil event I'm organizing with novelist Liz Moore in conversation with the great Dave Davies! It's the Thursday after Thanksgiving. Sign up on our janky website here: penandpencil.org/content.aspx...

I wrote about the fake account blowup on X this weekend. A genuine post-truth nightmare and proof that these companies have polluted their platforms so thoroughly and traded reality for profit that they've undermined the very idea of what the internet is supposed to be.

Come to this Pen and Pencil event I'm organizing with novelist Liz Moore in conversation with the great Dave Davies! It's the Thursday after Thanksgiving. Sign up on our janky website here: penandpencil.org/content.aspx...

“.. This is X in 2025: Potentially fake accounts crying at other potentially fake accounts that they aren’t real, all while refusing to acknowledge that they themselves aren’t who they say they are — a Russian nesting doll of bullshit.” @cwarzel.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Two years after Vermont passed a huge investment in childcare, more programs opened than closed for the first time since officials started keeping track www.sevendaysvt.com/news/educati...

NEW: Gov. Josh Shapiro is sending $220 million to SEPTA to help repair fire-prone Silverliner IV Regional Rail cars and a damaged overhead power system in the trolley tunnel. With the new capital funds, SEPTA will be able to restore Regional Rail to its normal capacity within a few weeks.

Feds suspect arson: "Two days before an apartment complex once hailed as a shining example of Philadelphia’s urban renewal went up in flames, its owner, embattled city landlord Phil Pulley, transferred the vacant property to a New York investment firm." www.inquirer.com/news/phil-pu...

This could be a problem for Mayor Parker's housing initiative www.inquirer.com/politics/phi...

“In 2025, America built fewer homes per 100,000 people than it did in 2005, 1995, 1985 or 1975.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...

What a headline www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/u...

"Costs for goods and services are 25% above where they were in 2020. Even though the inflation rate is below its recent 2022 high, certain essentials like coffee, ground beef and car repairs are up markedly this year." www.wsj.com/personal-fin...

Fetterman: "Don’t assume that uncharismatic people have hidden depths...One can be dull and inept." www.ft.com/content/68ee...

Philadelphia developers may soon benefit from a 20-year property tax abatement to convert large, underutilized properties into residences.

The Philadelphia Art Museum has named Daniel H. Weiss as its new CEO and director. His resume includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art and local colleges.

SEPTA's Zero Fare program could end next year. Advocates are pushing to save it.

Really interesting analysis www.semafor.com/article/11/1...

Bit of a buried lede here that Mayor Parker reveals that she is “most excited” to give tax breaks to developers to convert closed public schools into apartments, just as the school district whose board she appointed is getting ready to close a bunch of public schools.

How Illinois Made a ‘Transformational' Investment in Transit www.governing.com/transportati...

Mayor Parker successfully lobbied Harrisburg to allow the city to create a 20 year tax abatement for the conversion, and demolition, of underutilized buildings to residential uses. She says an affordability component will be part of her bill next year: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

The US is losing blue-collar jobs for the first time since the pandemic—year-on-year job losses have hit 59k as manufacturing industries lose jobs at a rapid pace while growth in construction & transportation has nearly zeroed out

City Councilmember Mike Driscoll cited my report yesterday when he condemned PHA's layoff of building trades union members, and said he is encouraging the Housing Committee to look into it: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

Yes. I have done this.

"While shootings citywide are down about 55% compared to three years ago, they have fallen even more in Kensington." www.inquirer.com/crime/a/kens...

Zoning legislation to enable an affordable housing complex in West Philly was successfully defended in court yesterday, as the latest in a series of lawsuits by an oppositional neighbor went down to defeat. www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

CP Kenyatta Johnson is repealing his zoning bill from last year that would have enabled a mega project by Hines and Mark Nicoletti in the stadium district: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

one of the crazier construction lawsuits we've seen: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

PHA is laying off many of its building trades union members who are on staff www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

pretty convincing nymag.com/intelligence...

This by @mlsist.bsky.social is quite a bombshell. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

The New Yorker wrote up The Big Picture pod! www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

"Mr. Mamdani’s campaign did not want volunteering for him to feel like work, but like a chance to meet new people...His vision of the city, the campaign said, is of a joyful place — one where New Yorkers can spend less time slogging and more time hanging." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/n...

Aww id go to court for this precious lil guy too www.inquirer.com/news/gary-ca...

fascinating story www.inquirer.com/crime/philly...

“slot machine look-alikes — known as skill games — yet again avoided any form of regulation or taxation.” www.inquirer.com/politics/pen...

Top executives cannot shut up about AI. … but is it helping?

" Though there’s a tendency to sort elected officials into de facto parties — labor and business, progressive and moderate, endorsed by The Stranger or The Seattle Times Editorial Board — Harrell never fit quite so cleanly into those categories." www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Another round of business curfews and restrictions were introduced in City Council today, this time for much of Girard and Fairmount avenues in North Philly www.inquirer.com/politics/phi...