once a man i knew told me “you write books, i have an idea for a book” and spent 20 minutes telling me an absolutely insane thriller plot, i was really into it, advised him to write it, he said he lay awake at night thinking about it, but then it turned out the whole thing was due to a brain tumor

Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans)@iwriteok.bsky.social · yesterday

the idea phase is the easiest and least valuable part of professional creativity. read the first draft of the first Star Wars if you doubt me Great art is made in the grinding, often miserable collision between the ethereal substance of an idea and the mud and blood and friction of reality

Esperanza by Rupert Reyes Esperanza Productions October 15 - 24, 2026 Trinity Street Players Black Box Theatre First Baptist Church 901 Trinity Street Austin, TX, 78701 #TonightsBill #TheatreProgramShots #CTXtheatre #ATXtheatre #AustinArts #SupportLiveTheatre #Theatre #ShowPeople #ShowBiz

As we approach the midterms, remember that the Alt National Park Service is a merch sales operation claiming without evidence to be a group of federal employees, and is not a genuine source of news about elections of any kind. Please get your election info from a local, reputable source.

unbelievably great reporting from @documentedny.bsky.social and Sam Rabiyah:

TikTok Lawyers Face Their AI Clones

Documented found swarms of fake immigration attorney TikTok accounts and bots targeting immigrants in an analysis of tens of millions of posts.

documentedny.com

record early vote turnout in travis co (austin) yesterday; today, day 2 of EV, I waited in line for 90 minutes to vote at a place I've never waited more than 10, including day-of presidential voting. Sudden thrilling vision of all those people who came for Talarico just pressing DEM DEM DEM like me

Now is the time to care about everyone, not “once we win” The time to care about everyone is always always always now

there’s no middle ground position on this. either musk is forcibly rooted out of government infrastructure or every war proceeds at the whims and dictates of a generational buffoon

The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 3d ago

Breaking: Elon Musk ordered the Starlink slowdown that blindsided Ukraine on.wsj.com/4sgcxkt

A slight digression but this is how you all sound when you ask every fucking Jew you meet to immediately state if they disavow Israel.

Abdul El-Sayed@abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 5d ago

This is Tommy. Tommy had a question about my allegiances. Listen to the end to hear about his.

I need you to all understand just how much racism, sexism and other biases shapes how people hear tone, framing, and affective stance in other people’s language: if you ever hear someone’s speech being described with affective language (“angry,” “diatribe,” etc) NEVER take that at face values

Steve Vladeck@stevevladeck.bsky.social · 5d ago

This is a really striking tweet.

y’all i get the impulse to say not all gentiles or not all white people but based on the low key rage i feel when i’m going off on misogyny and hear not all men i can tell you it is not the time, use your heads, jesus

Erin Biba@erinbiba.bsky.social · 5d ago

“Not all men” but gentiles doing antisemitism version I’m so glad you’ve given me permission to be upset🙄 bsky.app/profile/mikl...

And here's the kicker: Microsoft has terminated the M365 and Outlook access of international public officials whose official acts made Trump angry.

Has anyone more fully embraced short king energy

Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · last wk.

El-Sayed: JD Vance called me a little weasel today. No, what you’re talking about is a fucking wolverine.

Authorities Investigate Collision Between Trains From Chicago Traveling 80 MPH, DC Traveling 75 MPH The Onion https://theonion.com/authorities-investigate-collision-between-trains-from-chicago-traveling-80-mph-dc-traveling-75-mph/ Support →

that’s right

Truthout@truthout.org · last wk.

Rep. Delia C. Ramirez has introduced a bill that would abolish not just ICE, but the DHS altogether, repealing the 2002 law establishing the agency and replacing it with one focused on protecting civil and human rights.

Attack on Pearl Harbor raises questions about the Japanese Empire's commitment to peace in the Pacific

StayFHomekina podcast is a pleasant comfort listen for me but today i had to sit down i was laughing so hard at @janiehaddad.bsky.social ‘s indignant, stop PUNKING ME response to @pftompkins.bsky.social trying to explain Koyaanisqatsi

this is a brilliant idea, I really like Raskin

Hyperallergic@hyperallergic.com · 2w ago

Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland has proposed a bill calling on the Smithsonian to preserve and permanently exhibit artifacts related to the Trump administration’s escalating aggression against the institution’s museums and research centers.

jesus christ

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Pentagon says it will livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan

This is a good illustration of how so much of AI theft isn't indirect (ie, data sucked into a model to train the chatbot) - it's actually **direct** copying, but *enabled* by GenAI. Of course it is: chatbots absolutely suck at creating good, new stuff.

i also read his op ed on originalism in the WSJ and i would love to know how presidential criminal immunity emerges from the structure of the constitution, especially when the literal authors of that constitution insisted that a president could he tried and even straight up executed

"Against edgelordism in all its forms" is becoming a foundational principle for me. Civilization is impossible without an unflinching commitment to pro-social behavior and a willingness to marginalize any deviation.

Right. According to most surveys it’s the Out of Staters keeping Texas red. Most native Texans vote blue. Ken Paxton and W in fact aren’t native Texans.

I don’t think I’m ever going to get the appeal of pivoting to video for podcasts. I’ve been listening to podcasts for 20 years, and never once have I thought, my God, I need to SEE these people! I’m on a walk or doing the dishes, I don’t need video. 

Directing DOJ to slow-walk politically damaging decisions until after people vote would be a major scandal under any normal administration. Here, it’s just Friday.

MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com · 3w ago

The White House is coordinating with the Justice Department to hide its abortion agenda from voters until after they've voted in order to try to influence the results of the election.

This is the funniest thing I've seen today, possibly ever

not that you should expect anything more than rank idiocy from this pair of racists, but the idea that whiteness means a "high trust" society of "social cohesion" is some of the stupidest shit i have ever heard. these people live in a fantasy land that you could dispel by simply opening a book.

Chris Rufo — Known For ‘DEI’ and ‘CRT’ Panics — Tries to Make ‘the Indian Question’ a Thing

To the degree that a “respectable” or “moderate” right exists today in...

talkingpointsmemo.com

I get that this story must be particularly ghastly to NYCers but why is it breaking anew every 30 minutes, as if the newsroom simply can't believe it

"The sources added that Patel consistently kept Bailey at arm's length and cut him out of meetings the deputy FBI director should attend because Bailey was constantly flagging things that were unconstitutional." www.cbsnews.com/news/top-fbi...

Top FBI official Andrew Bailey, who was once widely seen as Patel successor, resigns

Bailey was originally brought in to help ease tensions between former Attorney General Pam Bondi and former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.

cbsnews.com

Finding Backrooms frightening largely due to all the unanchored furniture.