Politics now is all cult-adjacent. Personalities and team identification. Real actual struggle for power and a better world requires mature and clear-eyed skepticism. MAGA isn’t the only political cult with built-in denial of reality. Every day we get new and disturbing examples of where this leads.

@rbreich.bsky.social notes on this occasion that five corporations now control up to 90 percent of American #media market.

More Perfect Union@moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Fox has reached an agreement to acquire Roku for $22 billion, after already buying Tubi for $440 million in 2020. This marks the latest case of media consolidation in an industry controlled by a smaller and smaller number of huge corporations.

Delores Huerta speaks her truth. IMO all recognition for Cesar Chavez should be withdrawn and changed to recognition of Delores Huerta.

Full Moon Coyote be reading headlines like

“We—that is, Americans—live most of the time inside the cocoon of our small daily lives. Except for fire, flood, or outright war, the history-making world hardly ever impinges on most of us. For the most part, it is over there and we are over here.” New from Vivian Gornick:

Turning a Blind Eye

A memoir of daily accommodation to fascism.

bostonreview.net

We saw “Desk Set” today—surprisingly a Xmas movie!—from 1957 with Katherine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy. The fun part is the ancient yet cutting-edge technology. It’s abt Hepburn keeping her job as head researcher or being replaced by “EMERAC” computer (ie: UNIVAC). Same concerns as today’s AI issues.

The #SantaMonicaReview is one of three publications helmed by the brilliant Andrew Tonkovich, not to mention his radio show “Bibliocracy.” An earlier version of this essay appeared in the Community of Writers’ newsletter, the Omnium Gatherum Quarterly. ogquarterly.org/issue18/#tan...

BTBaum@btbaum.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Proud to make my first appearance in the pages of the Santa Monica Review. My essay, “Days of Future Past: Catching Up with Author Norman M. Klein,” explores the work of one of the great urban historians of our time. Norman has many unusual insights on how, why, & when our Great Unraveling began.

Proud to make my first appearance in the pages of the Santa Monica Review. My essay, “Days of Future Past: Catching Up with Author Norman M. Klein,” explores the work of one of the great urban historians of our time. Norman has many unusual insights on how, why, & when our Great Unraveling began.

The script was everything I wished 2023’s disappointing biopic of Bernstein could’ve been. Inspired to learn more about #ElizabethWeiland & read “Shy”—memoirs of Richard Roger’s’ daughter, #MaryRogers. And more Andrew Scott as Richard Rogers please! Sequel? Like “Before Sunset” but “After Hart.” 2/2

BTBaum@btbaum.bsky.social · 10mo ago

We just saw #BlueMoon about Lorenzo Hart at the #MVFF. Loved it. Felt like an erudite stage play & had to que up Joni Mitchell’s version of “Wish I Were in Love Again” from 2000. Didn’t care for the camera tricks to make Ethan Hawke appear 4’ 10” — his ACTING was fine. 1/2

We just saw #BlueMoon about Lorenzo Hart at the #MVFF. Loved it. Felt like an erudite stage play & had to que up Joni Mitchell’s version of “Wish I Were in Love Again” from 2000. Didn’t care for the camera tricks to make Ethan Hawke appear 4’ 10” — his ACTING was fine. 1/2

For me, the news of Griffin's passing sends me back to her 1992 book, "A Chorus of Stones," and Rosner's newest, "Third Ear." Meanwhile, here's my profile of their 2017 conversation, which which remains (sadly) timely and relevant. end/ alumni.berkeley.edu/california-m...

Hear Her Roar: Ecofeminist Author Susan Griffin Isn't Going Away - Cal Alumni Association

Feminism has come roaring back, from the recent popular vote to pussy hats and other forms of protest. And so have its opponents. Whether happenstance or part of the Zeitgeist, Counterpoint Press last...

alumni.berkeley.edu

BTBaum@btbaum.bsky.social · 10mo ago

To find inspiration these days, I would suggest returning to both Griffin and Rosner's books which in so many ways knew what was coming, understood the stakes, and proposed spiritually grounded responses to it all. 3/of several

To find inspiration these days, I would suggest returning to both Griffin and Rosner's books which in so many ways knew what was coming, understood the stakes, and proposed spiritually grounded responses to it all. 3/of several

BTBaum@btbaum.bsky.social · 10mo ago

This event was occasioned by Counterpoint Press' reissue of Griffin's book "Women and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her." Also, the reissue and attendant conversation took place about a week after the first Women's March, a global response to the toxic stew that now engulfs us. 2/of several

This event was occasioned by Counterpoint Press' reissue of Griffin's book "Women and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her." Also, the reissue and attendant conversation took place about a week after the first Women's March, a global response to the toxic stew that now engulfs us. 2/of several

BTBaum@btbaum.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Yesterday, I learned on Elizabeth Rosner's Instagram post that the great, Berkeley-based author Susan Griffin has passed. Impossible to weigh the loss of her presence with the life-sustaining gift of her books and groundbreaking ideas. 1/of several

Yesterday, I learned on Elizabeth Rosner's Instagram post that the great, Berkeley-based author Susan Griffin has passed. Impossible to weigh the loss of her presence with the life-sustaining gift of her books and groundbreaking ideas. 1/of several

Strange time to be traveling. In Bologna for the annual #CinemaRitrovato film festival of restored gems of world cinema. So, we are time-traveling as well. Thinking abt what has been lost, deliberately left behind, or worth saving. Plus, #KatherineHeburn gems curated by author/critic #MollyHaskell!

Proud to be making my second appearance in the #communityofwriters quarterly, this time with a tribute to author Norman M. Klein. (See "Days of Future Past: Catching Up with Author Norman M. Klein") ogquarterly.org Check it out! #historyofforgettng #booksky #booklover #losangeleshistory

The 80-year recipe stoking America’s Prosperity: 1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas… 2) enabled by Engineering Innovations… 3) based on Science Research in Universities… 4) funded by Grants from the US Government. It’s time more people understood this.

Why would I need to read Joan Didion's "Notes to John" when I'm already listening to the audio version of Lili Anolik's "Didion and Babitz"? And just, wow, I am loving Anolik's heartfelt, gossipy, well-researched portrait of Eve Babitz. I love Didion, too, always have. But Babitz is the revelation.

Celebrate the power of place this May for #PreservationMonth with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Learn more about this year’s theme, Harnessing the Power of Place, and the countless ways that preservation creates. savingplaces.org/stories/pres...

Preservation Month 2025 | National Trust for Historic Preservation

This May, for Preservation Month, we’re celebrating the power of place—and the countless ways, big and small, that preservation creates. The work you do strengthens communities, breathes new life into...

savingplaces.org

The Supreme Court is issuing 1AM injunctions on a Friday night ordering the Trump administration to stop deporting people to El Salvador.

I’m a little early. #AWP25

I already bought more books than I can carry home and #AWP25 hasn’t even officially started. On the other hand, my friend took me to North Figueroa Bookstore - what was I supposed to do? Wait till we went to Skylight Books? The Last Bookstore? AWP’s mammoth Bookfair? C’mon. Be real. #booksky

Heading to Los Angeles for #AWP25 and listening to the audio version of Didion & Babitz about women, literature, and the storied LA scene of the 60s and 70s. It’s narrated by the author Lili Anolik, who voices this memoir/deeply researched hybrid. An era this hometown girl always finds fascinating.

Took my first class from "Five Things I Learned" w/ poet Matthew Zapruder. Channeling imagination --> production is always a stretch. But now? Much harder. Grateful that M.Z. shared ways to "touch your novel (poem, etc) every day & keep our creative lights on." myfivethings.com/class/metthe...

Thanks, @tomandlorenzo.bsky.social! I've much to say about dogs, music, theater, books, history. I'll start with this pandemic-era photo of YOUR BOOK. It was a Xmas present to fellow board members of Rainbow Honor Walk. We all loved your seriously rich scholarship wrapped in a package of fabulous.

Tom & Lorenzo@tomandlorenzo.bsky.social · last yr.

The culture media's migration to Bluesky simply hasn't happened yet. If I want information about pop culture or fashion, or if I just want to scroll through conversations about it, they're all happening on Twitter, still

Yeah, this is not a supply chain that can survive getting gouged 25% every time a part crosses a border.

To make yourself less valuable to Meta, @lastweektonight.com recommends EFF's Privacy Badger extension and Surveillance Self-Defense guide to disable mobile ad tracking on your phone: www.johnoliverwantsyourraterotica.com

Saw @hughryan.bsky.social's photos of today's demo at Stonewall/NPS Historic Site in NYC. I was there June '24 for Pride Month. Thought I'd re-up some photos. Don't mess with historians. This material, like us L-G-B-T-Q people, is EVERYWHERE. No one can erase our history. More details in alt text.