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John Williams

@johnwilliams.bsky.social

I write about books and edit others’ writing about books, previously for NY Times and Washington Post. Apollonian/Order Muppet. Highly sociable misanthrope. (Photo: Larry McMurtry's Booked Up, 2018.)

912 Posts3689 Follower818 Folgt
John Self@john-self.bsky.social · 4h ago

I completed my ‘Booker decades’ overview by writing about ten of the best long- and shortlisted novels from the 2010s - featuring memories from shortlisted authors and judges from the decade, inc Tan Twan Eng, Sunjeev Sahota and Robin Robertson:

The Booker Prize in the 2010s: 10 novels that are well worth rediscovering | The Booker Prizes

This decade in Booker Prize history belonged to the heavyweights with wins by Hilary Mantel and Marlon James. But it was also a time of innovation, with plenty of bold, boundary-pushing books to add t...

thebookerprizes.com

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 3d ago

It's World Homeless Day, and I'll just say: Homelessness isn't some great unsolvable mystery. People are homeless because they don't have homes. This suffering persists not for lack of solutions, but because enormous wealth and power are invested in maintaining the very structures that produce it.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 7d ago

Eva Marie Saint, star of North by Northwest and On the Waterfront, dies aged 102

Eva Marie Saint, star of North by Northwest and On the Waterfront, dies aged 102

Landmark roles were in 50s classics directed by Elia Kazan and Alfred Hitchcock, before going on to play Superman’s adoptive mother in later life Eva Marie Saint, one of the last survivors of Hollywood’s golden age of the 1940s and 50s, has died aged 102. Her screen work spanned six decades: Saint made her screen debut opposite Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s celebrated thriller North by Northwest, and in one of her last screen appearances played Superman’s adoptive mother Martha Kent in the 2006 superhero film Superman Returns. A family spokesman said on Tuesday that Saint had died of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Jake Casella Brookins@casella.bsky.social · 7d ago

Whenever I visit, always struck by the disjunction between "Washington" the synecdoche for US empire and "Washington" the beautiful city for the people, just packed with public good and beauty, a promise to be something better. It's good to be upset about the latter's destruction.

Louisa@louisathelast.bsky.social · 7d ago

I think if you’re not local to DC it’s difficult to comprehend how fucking sad it is to watch all this happening to this beautiful city. I’m barely local, as a transplant to northern Virginia, and I’m very sad

Linda Holmes@lindaholmes.bsky.social · last wk.

“Players can’t be in bed with gambling outfits” should be perfectly and completely obvious to anyone with a shred of sense and integrity, but so should “leagues can’t be in bed with gambling outfits.”

The New York Times@nytimes.com · last wk.

From @theathletic.com: LeBron James will make nearly four times as much promoting the Polymarket prediction market as he will from playing basketball. The deal may not break NBA rules, but it raises uncomfortable questions.

John Williams@johnwilliams.bsky.social · 2w ago

I have a fix for the MLB playoff system, but it involves severely punishing wild card teams and ensuring all other rounds are best of 7, things the league probably doesn’t want to do because those things are good and smart and baseball-centric.

Apoorva Mandavilli@apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 2w ago

I’ve been reporting on the CDC for years, and have written about many of its troubles over the past year. I was still shocked by the extent of the staff losses and political interference I found when reporting this one. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/h...

‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission (Gift Article)

The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control.

nytimes.com

John Williams@johnwilliams.bsky.social · 3w ago

I made room for two more here by leaving off The Wire and 30 Rock, which transcend the exercise; those are my two best, easily. Wasn't shocked but still sad to see RECTIFY not only miss the list but, as far as I can tell, not be named on a single ballot. For shame!

Succession, Fleabag, Rectify, The Office (UK), Friday Night Lights, Happy Valley, Girls, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Joel Pinckney@jpinckney.bsky.social · 3w ago

On a walk this morning, my kid and I watched from the sidewalk as an unmarked car cut off a driver, another unmarked car behind, three masked ICE agents got out, removed the driver from his car and put him in theirs, left his car on the side of the road. As if nothing had happened in five minutes.