Me: Why don't you just buy a bigger desk NPR: It's... that's not the point Me: It's only tiny because you bought a tiny one
Bob Smietana
@bmietana.bsky.social
National writer Religion News Service. New grandad. Author of Reorganized Religion. Enthusiastic Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Sci-Fi fan. Ridiculously Gregarious
Short stories can be amazing and life-transforming and for some writers (raises hand) it's easier to write an 80,000 word novel than an 8,000 word short story. With the novel you have so much more time and space and margin to get things right. With a short story you have to nail it all, fast.
Heather Hill@rollin-academic.bsky.social · yesterdayI remember reading it in high school but had forgotten the title. It amazes me how powerful something so short can be
I saw something about this over on Threads and, uh, yeah, I'm not sure where that nonsense came from, you can't get us authors to shut up about what's going on with us and our industry, that gate's right off the hinges if you ask me
Antony Johnston@antonyjohnston.bsky.social · 2d agoSeeing complaints online that authors 'gatekeep' information…! Absolute nonsense. There is no industry or craft in the world which is so comprehensively written about, studied, and discussed as fiction writing, and every author I know welcomes new writers who are serious about giving it a go.
A mayor's anti-mosque email helped lead to a lawsuit religionnews.com/2026/08/03/b...
Broken Arrow mosque leaders sue over alleged discrimination
(RNS) — 'They did not want Muslims here, so they made up a reason, and in doing so, they violated the law,' said Meghan Murphy, an attorney with CAIR's Legal Defense Fund.
religionnews.com
“None of us wanted to be here announcing a lawsuit,” said Aslam Syed, a leader with the mosque. “We wanted to build a place of worship for community members who already lived and contributed to the fabric of Broken Arrow.” Story w/ @bmietana.bsky.social religionnews.com/2026/08/03/b...
Broken Arrow mosque leaders sue over alleged discrimination
(RNS) — 'They did not want Muslims here, so they made up a reason, and in doing so, they violated the law,' said Meghan Murphy, an attorney with CAIR's Legal Defense Fund.
religionnews.com
It's a beautiful day and I'm voluntarily sitting outside of my own accord instead of being in my darkened office, who even am I and what have I become
I’m generally in the “make big moves” camp for a contending team at the deadline. But with this particular Red Sox team I wonder if some improvements around the edges would suffice. They obviously have something special happening and might not want to change the tram chemistry too much.
Fun watching Ceddanne Rafaela and Andy Pages in center field last night. Along with PCA, the best at that spot. Rafaela leads the Sox with 4.7 bWAR. He's going to get down-ballot MVP votes the way he's going.
“Brian Doerksen gave evangelicalism its soundtrack but not its current theology” - Yours Truly on how the “Jesus is my boyfriend” sounds of Doerksen & the Vineyard gave way to the rock ‘em sock ‘em militarism of top-selling worship music today: religionnews.com/2026/07/30/b...
Brian Doerksen gave evangelicalism its soundtrack but not its current theology
(RNS) — Today's evangelical worship culture often reflects a very different vision of God than the one Doerksen’s songs proclaimed.
religionnews.com
religionnews.com/2026/07/17/h... @bmietana.bsky.social
Hindu group sues Chicago suburb to build temple, citing 1967 legal barrier
(RNS) — Umiya Mataji Sanstha, a Hindu community in Chicago's western suburbs, hopes to build a temple and homes for community members. But a 1960s-era consent decree stands in their way. Will a religi...
religionnews.com
Nationals people talk about Mead's baseball IQ with a lot of reverence, noting that he is a consistent voice in hitters' meetings and very attuned to what is going on in the game.
I was reminded today that there's a tranche of right-wing SFF writers and fans who are certain I am the second coming of Karl Marx, which I am certain would get at least a small giggle from everyone left of, say, Barack Obama
SBC leaders have claimed that the denomination's abuse scandal was a hoax. Now survivors want an apology religionnews.com/2026/07/21/s...
SBC leaders called an abuse crisis a hoax. Abuse survivors want an apology.
(RNS) — In an open letter, a group of survivors and advocates say that comments by SBC President Willy Rice and Texas pastor Jack Graham make it harder to address the issue of abuse in churches.
religionnews.com
A baseball miracle is happening right now with the Red Sox www.wsj.com/sports/baseb...
The Miraculous Winning Streak That Transformed the Red Sox Into a Juggernaut
Four weeks ago, the Red Sox had the worst record in the American League and were preparing to sell at the upcoming trade deadline. Now they’ve won 14 straight and resurrected their season.
wsj.com
The Red Sox have won 15 of 17 games since June 25, and Aroldis Chaman has appeared in only seven of those games. He has pitched 11 times in the last 47 calendar days, 12 if you count the two batters in the All-Star game.
Aaaand once again, Maria Bartiromo has emerged as a key figure in getting the Fox News network sued for defamation. This time it’s for helping Kevin O’Leary spread lies about Utahns opposed to a huge, energy-gobbling data center. Probably won’t cost Fox $787 million this time. But it’s bad.
Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · last mo.Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary—the main proponent of Utah’s massive, controversial data center—had told Fox News that the opponents were “proxies for the Chinese government.” Now he admits he made the whole thing up. www.sltrib.com/news/2026/06...
Fun fact: I had lunch with Tom Hanks right before it was reported he got Covid. I was on a cruise when I found out he had it. There was a very nervous counting of days to see if I was outside the exposure penumbra. I was. Barely.
Jane Espenson@janeespenson.bsky.social · 3w agoRemember when Tom Hanks was one of the first well-known people with Covid?! Who's gonna be the Celebrity Diarrhea First Adopter?
Very important corn update: It may now be, in fact, as high as an elephant's eye
The Oxford comma is fine if you're too lazy, or simply not competent, to make a sensible ordering in your sentences
Athena Scalzi@athenascalzi.com · 3w ago@scalzi.com just admit your stance on the Oxford comma is wrong
A federal judge ruled that a 5-year-old girl should be returned to her mom, a Christian Iranian refugee living in Turkey. The girl's dad, Pastor Saeed Abedini, took her out of the country with permission and kept her from her mom for over a year. religionnews.com/2026/07/14/i...
Iranian Christian refugee wins custody battle against Pastor Saeed Abedini, former political prisoner
(RNS) — Niloofar Aragh, an Iranian refugee living in Turkey, said Pastor Saeed Abedini abducted her 5-year-old daughter and fled the country in violation of international law. A federal judge in Virgi...
religionnews.com
It was a lot of fun! Also I learned 1. There are more people who think they are funny than actually are 2. How to give edits to people whose work was almost funny to get it over the humor line 3. Editing other people's work makes you a lot less precious about your own work, which is a GOOD thing
Butt teeth! Butt teeth! Butt teeth!@panic.gay · 3w agoOoo I'm so curious about what editing a humor area for AOL was like
The only other 9-0 road trip in Red Sox history was in 1977 when Don Zimmer and Co. had a perfect swing through Anaheim, Seattle, and Oakland.
Two weeks ago the Red Sox were on pace to lose 100 games Now they are 2 games under 500 and tied for the 3rd Wild Card Crazy
Red Sox 3, Mets 2 (10) Sox finish a 9-0 road trip and have won 14 of 16. They are 46-48 and the hottest team in baseball going into the break. Anybody who says they saw this coming is lying.
Nothing says Red Sox 2026 like Andruw Monasterio sacrificing in the second inning, then hitting a two-run homer in the fourth. "Let's go Red Sox" chants at Citi Field.
Sonny Gray among AL starters (minimum 10 starts) Wins: 1st (11) ERA: 2nd (2.54) Quality starts: T1st (12) ERA+: 5th (159) W/L%: 1st (.917) IP: 31st (95.2) K: 31st (85) WHIP: 15th (1.09) Hard to see why he's not an All-Star.