El-Sayed: "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of political philosophy that ought to animate us all, it's what would we do if we treated all our kids like they were all of our kids?"

‘Gone Girl’ Is the Best Thriller of the 21st Century. Here’s How It Gets Inside Your Head. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

‘Gone Girl’ Is the Best Thriller of the 21st Century. Here’s How It Gets Inside Your Head.

nytimes.com

I worked for New York’s largest medical center at the start of the pandemic. There were morgue trucks on the streets. They set up emergency medical tents in Central Park. Healthcare worker colleagues died. It is horrific that RFK Jr is on national TV lying that ICUs were empty.

Call me skeptical. I’m not sure I buy the science of ai detection at this point, especially with regard to genre fiction which often makes heavy use not just of tropes but also certain recognizable linguistic trends and phrases.

Brooklyn seems pretty good — a weekend in Mamdani’s bluest. Trees and all.

honestly, i'm intrigued by these 'gross trees,' i need to know more about them

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d ago

Trump: "Look at the blue cities. What do they have in common? They're all dirty. They're filthy dirty. Their streets are dirty. Their streets smell. Their storefronts are broken. Their trees are all gross. Everything about the place is dirty. It's really all of them."

"Prove to the robot that you are human" tests should let you click an option for "I'm on my phone and don't have my reading glasses."

I’d love to see a quantitative analysis of ad hominem press attacks. I’d be shocked if this admin doesn’t make a new record But by how much?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d ago

Trump says Jeanine Pirro "choked" and then snaps at a reporter who asks if her job is safe: "Don't ever talk again"

With so much going on (war, the economy) it’s easy to ignore and underplay this administration’s agenda for education and cultural institutions. That’s a big mistake. It’s unrelenting and it matters.

Sonja Drimmer@sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · last wk.

“AI has become a blunt instrument in the enterprise to impose precisely this form of sanctioned ignorance about America’s past...Taken together, [Trump’s & Musk’s] plans amount to a one-two punch, history in the hands of the corporate state.” My latest on AI & history: www.salon.com/2026/07/28/t...

“AI has become a blunt instrument in the enterprise to impose precisely this form of sanctioned ignorance about America’s past...Taken together, [Trump’s & Musk’s] plans amount to a one-two punch, history in the hands of the corporate state.” My latest on AI & history: www.salon.com/2026/07/28/t...

Trump and Musk both want to control America's history

The frenemies' strange obsession with historical "accuracy" has disturbing connections to big AI

salon.com

BREAKING: Pirro has dismissed the case against Davey Hearn for vandalizing the reflecting pool, saying that there's no way vandals could have caused the damage.

I talked with @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social for the @bostonglobe.com. I don't think she loves all the attention online, but she's definitely tough enough to handle it all. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/31/a...

Emily Wilson is in the spotlight for her scathing critique of Nolan’s ‘Odyssey,’ but she’s always been opinionated - The Boston Globe

Wilson’s bold, often negative review of Christopher Nolan’s film “The Odyssey,” which the director had said was largely based upon her translation, appeared this week in the London Review of Books. Th...

bostonglobe.com

Whats most striking to me about this 1955 review of East of Eden is that they absolutely nailed the megawatt star power of James Dean in his debut film: “East of Eden’ Combines Artistry With Box Office,'” www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

‘East of Eden’: THR’s 1955 Review

On March 9, 1955, Warner Bros. unveiled Elia Kazan's adaptation of the John Steinbeck book at its premiere at the Astor Theatre in New York.

hollywoodreporter.com

Carole V. Bell@cvbell.bsky.social · 6d ago

A new limited series adaptation of Steinbeck’s East of Eden is coming to Netflix this fall with a fantastic cast led by Florence Pugh. In the meantime I thought it would be fun to revisit James Dean’s historic film version (his debut). www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

A new limited series adaptation of Steinbeck’s East of Eden is coming to Netflix this fall with a fantastic cast led by Florence Pugh. In the meantime I thought it would be fun to revisit James Dean’s historic film version (his debut). www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

‘East of Eden’: THR’s 1955 Review

On March 9, 1955, Warner Bros. unveiled Elia Kazan's adaptation of the John Steinbeck book at its premiere at the Astor Theatre in New York.

hollywoodreporter.com

This caught my eye. Politico Playbook led with a fairly glowing piece today about how Josh Shapiro uses soft power to wield influence behind the scenes, most recently to bring LeBron James to Philly. Josh Shapiro shoots his shot: www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Josh Shapiro shoots his shot

politico.com

A new limited series adaptation of Steinbeck’s East of Eden is coming to Netflix this fall with a fantastic cast led by Florence Pugh. In the meantime I thought it would be fun to revisit James Dean’s historic film version (his debut). www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

‘East of Eden’: THR’s 1955 Review

On March 9, 1955, Warner Bros. unveiled Elia Kazan's adaptation of the John Steinbeck book at its premiere at the Astor Theatre in New York.

hollywoodreporter.com

Don't let none of these lil techno fascists tell you art is dead. ART IS NOT DEAD!

Overnight, a masked bandit broke into our kitchen. Armed with opposable thumbs, he proceeded to sample everything on offer. I’d just visited the farmers market, so the menu was extensive. I can now share a highly specific peer-reviewed list of what this particular raider did & did not enjoy. 🧵

Raccoon's Evil Smile: 'Good, Good'

Alt: Raccoon's Evil Smile: 'Good, Good'

static.klipy.com

These are Fox polls.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. is suing Jay Penske, Penske Media, Todd Boehly and the Golden Globe Foundation, alleging they engineered the 2022 boycott of the Globes to devalue the organization as pretext to acquire the awards show and its charitable assets. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

Golden Globes sale was a 'sham,' Hollywood Foreign Press alleges in $150-million suit against Penske, others

The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. sues Jay Penske and Todd Boehly over the 2023 Golden Globes sale, alleging fraud, monopoly and misuse of charitable funds.

latimes.com

Not one but two well connected republican women have accused Max Miller of physical abuse.

George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸@gtconway.bsky.social · last wk.

“Ms. Moreno, the daughter of Senator Moreno ... has said that Mr. Miller scalded her chest and stomach by throwing hot water from a skillet at her body; held a gun to her head; pushed her against a wall and hit her head; and fractured their daughter’s collarbone and bruised her shoulder. ...

Booker Prize Nominees Include Novels by Marlon James and Elizabeth Strout www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/b...

Booker Prize 2026 Nominees: Marlon James, Elizabeth Strout and More (Gift Article)

Also among the 13 works up for the British literary award are the latest books from Douglas Stuart, Gwendoline Riley and Emma Cline.

nytimes.com

Conservatives in 2016: TRIGGERED LIB???? Conservatives in 2026: We are installing trigger warnings in the Smithsonian

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/o... "Governing via conspiracy theories, personal whim and wish-casting, Trump has taken his place as the most consistently inept president of this century"

Opinion | Trump’s Kiss of Death (Gift Article)

On top of everything else, the president is inept.

nytimes.com

I somehow missed that Law & Order made a (not surprisingly really problematic) episode entirely based on one of my colleagues and very loosely based on campus speech debates surrounding Gaza. She writes about it here. h/t @americanstudier.bsky.social

Los Angeles Review of Books@lareviewofbooks.bsky.social · 3w ago

"My field of scholarship had become a legal and criminal minefield." Arabic Literature professor Huda Fakhreddine on seeing herself unfortunately reflected in "Law and Order": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/law-order-racist-dick-wolf-middle-eastern-studies/

No, this really really really is rape

Amanda Marcotte@amandamarcotte.bsky.social · 3w ago

“'Most every guy I know did what he’s being accused of at one point or another with their girlfriend at some point after a night of drinking,' complained the Donald Trump-loving comedian Adam Carolla." www.salon.com/2026/07/15/m...

Hats off to Forbes. This could have been simply a political story (White House defends anti-immigration policies) or a story on ideological meddling with the Smithsonian. But the journalists cited a study of how the Chinese Exclusion Act gravely harmed the economy, an implicit lesson for today.

Catherine Rampell@crampell.bsky.social · 3w ago

A White House report has defended the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, pushing back against its characterization by a Smithsonian Institution exhibit that the law was racially motivated. www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...

RFK Jr's CDC reportedly scaled back foodborne disease tracking last year, removing cyclospora from mandatory reporting. The CDC also lost roughly 3,000 employees since 2025. Now? A cyclosporiasis outbreak has sickened thousands across 34 states. "Make America Healthy Again."

In America today, the wealthiest 1% is now worth more than the entire American middle class. That never happened before.

Mainers need some sober and courageous adult representation right now.

Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social · 3w ago

The person ICE shot and killed in Biddeford, Maine has been ID'd as a 26-year-old Colombian man.