Excited for more of that exploding pundit genre, I Am Filling My Diaper Over This Primary Result
Dave Levitan
@davelevitan.bsky.social
Science journalist, bylines all over the place. Book: NOT A SCIENTIST: How politicians mistake, misrepresent, and utterly mangle science (WW Norton). www.davelevitan.com Sign up: www.gravityisgone.com
Sorta feels like even the name Flock is something of a red flag
The entire continental US is covered by smoke plumes and there are spots in the northwest that are absurdly toxic, do NOT go outside there. For reference, "hazardous" starts at an AQI of 300. fire.airnow.gov
Today, August 4, 2026, is the setting of Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” about a fully automated house continuing on after the family who lived there and the world around it died in a nuclear blast.
The makers of Old School have the next 25 years of James Carville to answer for
Every Trump cabinet member exists in a superposition of he’s-mad-at-you-now/he-will-be-mad-at-you-soon, that flipping from one state to the other is hardly news
Don’t want to take up smoking but I very much do want to take up striking matches on random surfaces. A dilemma.
wh... what
Kate Riga@kateriga.bsky.social · 2d agoSomething about that seat man – Edwards' predecessor was the scandal-ridden Madison Cawthorn. Texts that will make you physically uncomfortable, personalized Adam Sandler puzzles, "approximately 30" types of ice cream ahead (if you dare): talkingpointsmemo.com/news/house-e...
If you want to watch a pretty good movie and support free speech and indie film: watch.eventive.org/everyoneisly...
Everyone Is Lying to You for Money | Everyone Is Lying to You for Money — Live from New York | Everyone Is Lying to You for Money
Actor and author Ben McKenzie investigates the lies, hype, and harm behind cryptocurrency’s rise—and who’s really paying the price.
watch.eventive.org
Should I revisit this or just do an updated edition of Not A Scientist, because whew, the folks in charge are very Not Scientists
Not a Scientist
An eye-opening tour of the political tricks that subvert scientific progress., Not a Scientist, How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent, and Utterly Mangle Science, Dave Levitan, 9780393353327
wwnorton.com
Dave Levitan@davelevitan.bsky.social · 2w agoA few years back I had designs on writing a book about the history of the presidential science advisor position, and did some archival research on it, but the way things have gone it just seems kind of silly now. Eh.
Congrats again to the White House Correspondents Association!
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d agoTrump says Jeanine Pirro "choked" and then snaps at a reporter who asks if her job is safe: "Don't ever talk again"
The war in Iran is gonna be one of those things that students learning about it in the future will be like "wait... why?" and their teacher or prof will just shrug and remind them it was eventually named Trump's Folly or The War for Nothing or whatever
People have so many opinions on this! Mostly wrong ones. But some are good.
Dave Levitan@davelevitan.bsky.social · 3d agoIs there a modern equivalent to Lee Marvin?
Despite stiff competition, Carville hovering very near the top of the “nope, I’m good!” pundit rankings
Imagine if once a year Obama had posted “I have once again toasted the competition in the And 1 tourney!”
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3d agoTrump: “The Winning Shot in the Bedminster Club Championship! Thank you very much to all of those who participated. I won with a 70, & am so honored in that, unlike the rest of the field, I’m given very little time to practice, bc I’m focused on many other things. It’s called TALENT, and I have it”
Favorite is impossible but… Death Comes For the Archbishop, Fortress of Solitude, Midnight’s Children
David Weiskopf believes in you@dave.bzky.team · 10mo agoWhat is your favorite English-language novel? (Free spaces for Middlemarch, Pride and Prejudice, and Moby Dick -- what else you got?)
A good commissioner steps in now before every WNBA game becomes a rightwing performance space, like school board meetings were during peak CRT. You just have to throw the hammer down on this. Do not give them an inch.
taylr@taylordahlin.com · 3d agoriley gaines is at the minnesota lynx vs indiana fever game posing with people courtside as they line up for photos
I'm not sure folks have realized just how crazy the second half of 2026 and 2027 will be for global temperatures – on the back of a record-smashing El Niño event. Here is my latest estimate of where both years will end up compared to global temperatures since 1850.
Am told at the blue ash Ohio ICE office today that a bunch of springfield Haitians were told to just “check in” at are now having ankle monitors put on them, which, uh….. they’re not supposed to be fucking doing that
This story about the admin apparently sending a small fraction of previously promised foreign aid out should maybe mention that this State Dept official saying awful shit was part of DOGE and oversaw USAID's dismantling, and also maybe has had some uh other issues. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/h...
![Jeremy Lewin, the top official for foreign aid at the State Department, said his team continues to be focused on remaking foreign assistance to be leaner and more efficient and to end recipients’ dependence.
“These international organization relationships, we can use them tactically where they’re important, but it doesn’t mean we need to fund them year after year after year [highlight] when they don’t have that same nexus to something that we care about,” [/highlight] Mr. Lewin said.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:u45hqzk7counfbwyg5edhmvi/bafkreicw3ugrpej3s5fey3vankrsgwtpovsovrq7ytrp57yinx3qou5lja)
![According to the magazine: “Police records show he was also once accused of threatening a girl with a knife, asking why ‘he shouldn’t gut [her] and cut [her] right now,’” adding that the girl told police she feared for her life.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:u45hqzk7counfbwyg5edhmvi/bafkreidaxuydahlw26aeilqqucy7ulxjcpum3c6igl2uyaeud6wpwimc4q)
“Only the dumbest racist dipshits want anything to do with us” is very dark and also very funny
Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · 4d agoNot only did they absolutely beg for this, they made it so that “merit” was synonymous with being white so now you’re stuck with precisely the kind of moron who believes that. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
There's the tiniest whiff of Al Capone tax evasion to the reflecting pool shit, in the sense that it is trivial on its face but also just so obviously egregious and awful and appears to resonate in ways that far more serious impeachable crimes clearly don't.
Random movie rec — Redux Redux, a gnarly little sci fi thriller about a woman killing the same dude across multiple universes. Fun. It’s on Hulu at the moment.
The president is going to keep on blatantly lying about this literally forever and face no particular consequence for doing so
Charges Dropped Against Ex-Olympian David Hearn Accused of Damaging Reflecting Pool
A former Olympian will not face trial after federal prosecutors acknowledged that the Trump administration’s claims of vandalism were false.
nytimes.com