Kyle Paoletta
@kpaoletta.bsky.social
Author of AMERICAN OASIS: FINDING THE FUTURE IN THE CITIES OF THE SOUTHWEST, out January 14, 2025 from Pantheon. Bylines in Harper's, CJR, The Nation, The Baffler, The New Republic, etc. KPaoletta@gmail.com
It's time to write a new Colorado River Compact. That process will be brutalizing, but as the new Bureau of Reclamation guidelines for managing the river after 2026 make clear, there's really no other choice: kylepaoletta.substack.com/p/river-guide
River Guide
It’s time to rewrite the Colorado River Compact
kylepaoletta.substack.com
Kathleen Kingsbury of the New York Times on Nicholas Kristof and Gaza, her big bet on video, and what makes an opinion piece, with @kpaoletta.bsky.social. www.cjr.org/feature/almo...
Almost persuaded.
Kathleen Kingsbury of the New York Times on Nicholas Kristof and Gaza, her big bet on video, and what makes an opinion piece.
cjr.org
My latest for @columjournreview.bsky.social: a deep dive into the NYT Opinion section, featuring an extensive interview with editor Katie Kingsbury about the brouhaha over Kristof, going all in on video, and what happens to Interesting Times now that Douthat is gone: www.cjr.org/feature/almo...
Almost persuaded.
Kathleen Kingsbury of the New York Times on Nicholas Kristof and Gaza, her big bet on video, and what makes an opinion piece.
cjr.org
Another note this morning from the SABF team—"Recently, the Mayor doubled down on cutting all funding to the San Antonio Book Festival by sending out this letter to the business community." The letter basically asks for philanthropic support so the city is not on the books for funding the festival.
Joel Pinckney@jpinckney.bsky.social · 2mo agoFrom the inbox just now: "The San Antonio Book Festival was singled out at a recent City Council meeting where it was suggested cutting all funding to the San Antonio Book Festival." This would be an immense loss; SABF is one of the great book festivals. Petition here in support of the festival:
Can a fifth-generation logger unseat Susan Collins? @kpaoletta.bsky.social reports from the Maine Democratic Party special state convention, where Troy Jackson introduced himself as a populist ally to the labor movement. https://bit.ly/4fuNggs
The Logger Who Could Unseat Susan Collins
How Troy Jackson rose from wildcat striker to Democratic Senate nominee.
bit.ly
Today @thenation.com, here's my look at how Troy Jackson's deep ties to organized labor powered his ascent to Democratic senate nominee, from his first wildcat strike as a logger in 1998 to helping nurses organize Maine's largest hospital in 2021: www.thenation.com/article/poli...
The Logger Who Could Unseat Susan Collins
How Troy Jackson rose from wildcat striker to Democratic Senate nominee.
thenation.com
This weekend, Democrats in Maine overwhelmingly showed that they believe that Troy Jackson can dethrone GOP Senator Susan Collins. @kpaoletta.bsky.social reports from Maine's Hancock County and explains how Troy Jackson took over Graham Platner's movement energy. https://bit.ly/4yx8eE7
How Troy Jackson Became the Heir to Graham Platner's Movement
This weekend, Democrats in Maine overwhelmingly showed that they believe the former logger and longtime state senator can dethrone GOP Senator Susan Collins.
bit.ly
For @thenation.com, here's my postcard from Hancock County, ME — the improbable center of the political universe — about how Troy Jackson outmaneuvered his opponents and emerged as the only Democrat with a chance to continue what Graham Platner started: www.thenation.com/article/poli...
How Troy Jackson Became the Heir to Graham Platner’s Movement
This weekend, Democrats in Maine overwhelmingly showed that they believe the former logger and longtime state senator can dethrone GOP Senator Susan Collins.
thenation.com
I dropped in on Graham Platner’s primary watch party last night to take in the media circus that has formed around his candidacy and reflect on how a dude from Downeast Maine became the main character of the 2026 midterms. kylepaoletta.substack.com/p/every-elec...
Every Election Needs a Maine Character
A dispatch from the Graham Platner media circus
kylepaoletta.substack.com
My latest for @columjournreview.bsky.social 's Access issue: I surveyed local news and found politicians reluctant to work with journalists all over the map, with some particularly alarming examples in the Kansas legislature, the mayor of Chicago, and Texas Hill Country: www.cjr.org/feature/go-p...
Go Pound Sand! Local journalists feel the doors closing to public officials who “are taking their cues from President Trump.”
Local journalists feel the doors closing to public officials who “are taking their cue from President Trump.”
cjr.org
NEWS --> The Democratic National Committee just posted the long-suppressed autopsy into the 2024 loss: democrats.org/wp-content/u...
democrats.org
Some writers are great at being public figures but others write, a solitary profession, exactly because we aren’t good at that. Even a fantastic sum of money might not be enough to make you change your basic nature. What to do? If you’re Helen DeWitt you write something funny & honest.
Vajra Chandrasekera@vajra.me · 5mo agoHelen DeWitt on turning down a $175k Windham-Campbell Prize because she wasn't able to handle the prize's mandatory publicity requirements. Imo a moving, deeply relatable, and darkly funny story about money, obligation, mental health, & executive dysfunction paperpools.blogspot.com/2026/04/we-l...
The Great Salt Lake is now about half as large as it once was. The Aral Sea has almost disappeared entirely. Saving them may be straightforward—but many obstacles stand in the way. @kpaoletta.bsky.social considers the politics of restoration.
Troubled Salt Waters | Kyle Paoletta
Caroline Tracey’s “Salt Lakes” is less the jeremiad of an outraged conservationist than a tender bildungsroman.
thebaffler.com
As the nation's biggest broadcaster, Nexstar is uniquely positioned to profit from deregulation. The FCC has just signed off on its unprecedented acquisition of Tegna. Read our analysis previewing that decision: www.cjr.org/analysis/bre...
The FCC's deregulation blitz is a disaster.
The FCC chairman is clearing the way for Trump and corporate broadcasters to control the airwaves.
cjr.org
In her new book, Caroline Tracey layers queer theory, histories of settler colonialism, and personal anecdote over an imperiled landscape. @kpaoletta.bsky.social reviews “Salt Lakes.”
Troubled Salt Waters | Kyle Paoletta
Caroline Tracey’s “Salt Lakes” is less the jeremiad of an outraged conservationist than a tender bildungsroman.
thebaffler.com
Under Paramount's ownership, CNN could try to appease Trump with “a lot of both-sidesism, false equivalencies, and a lot of boring and uninteresting newscasts where opinions of differing validity are given equal weight,” FPF's Seth Stern told @kpaoletta.bsky.social in @columjournreview.bsky.social.
CNN's missed opportunity.
A promising digital transition is underway. But a Paramount buyout will likely doom the progress being made.
cjr.org
Reviewed @cetracey.bsky.social's debut SALT WATERS for @thebaffler.com. It's a fascinating book, one that pushes us to consider what a land ethic oriented around restoration — rather than conservation — might look like: thebaffler.com/latest/troub...
Troubled Salt Waters | Kyle Paoletta
Caroline Tracey’s “Salt Lakes” is less the jeremiad of an outraged conservationist than a tender bildungsroman.
thebaffler.com
Book #2 is on the way! Thanks to @jonahstraus.bsky.social, David Treuer, and @pantheonbooks.bsky.social for helping me keep a good thing going 🌳🐑🍃
Under Paramount's ownership, CNN could try to appease Trump with “a lot of both-sidesism, false equivalencies, and a lot of boring and uninteresting newscasts where opinions of differing validity are given equal weight,” FPF's Seth Stern told @kpaoletta.bsky.social in @columjournreview.bsky.social.
CNN's missed opportunity.
A promising digital transition is underway. But a Paramount buyout will likely doom the progress being made.
cjr.org
Rest in peace to one of the great bloggers and the de facto mayor of Philadelphia. It was my honor and pleasure to work with him. defector.com/dan-mcquade-...
Dan McQuade, 1983–2026 | Defector
Dan McQuade, our friend and colleague, died this week at the age of 43. He is survived by his wife and young son. At the end of 2024, Dan was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer. The news of his diag...
defector.com
Tuesday's Most Read # 3 - At Any Cost: New York is the one American city that only gets more expensive. In culture of predictability, why the demand for a place so unpredictable? link.theoverheadwire.com/734yx Components @kpaoletta.bsky.social
At any cost
New York is the one American city that only gets more expensive. In culture of predictability, why the demand for a place so unpredictable?
link.theoverheadwire.com
Only 9 sales to go to hit that 500 goal! This includes sales through all direct outlets: my website www.ndpdesign.com/store/p/worl... itch ndpdesign.itch.io/the-world-wi... drivethru www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/3... payhip payhip.com/b/2PFSa Thanks!
World Wide Wrestling: Second Edition (Digital) — ndpdesign
Welcome to the award-winning pro wrestling RPG of narrative action! World Wide Wrestling enables you to create your own professional wrestling franchise through play, showcasing satisfying and sur...
ndpdesign.com
ndp 🔥 ndpdesign 🦄 Unwritten Earths Symposium@ndpdesign.com · 9mo agoFor every direct sale of the World Wide Wrestling PDF, I add a free community copy to itch. So far we've added 487 since starting this last year. I'd love to get that to 500 by years end! Regular sales add +1 community copy, tips and bundles add +2. ndpdesign.itch.io/the-world-wi...
The Direct-to-Consumer Playbook: What happens when politicians can get their message out without the press. (@kpaoletta.bsky.social @columjournreview.bsky.social) www.cjr.org/feature/the-...
What happens when politicians can skip the press and talk directly to the public?
What happens when politicians can get their message out without the press.
cjr.org
For @columjournreview.bsky.social's "Journalism 2050" issue, I took a look at how the pivot of so many politicians to social media and other direct-to-consumer platforms is forcing reporters out of their comfort zone, and what we can do to adapt to this new reality www.cjr.org/feature/the-...
What happens when politicians can skip the press and talk directly to the public?
What happens when politicians can get their message out without the press.
cjr.org
In my latest for @columjournreview.bsky.social, I dug into Brendan Carr's efforts to deregulate the local television business. If he gets his way, one company called Nexstar — of Jimmy Kimmel boycott fame — will be able to reach over 80% of American households: www.cjr.org/analysis/bre...
The FCC's deregulation blitz is a disaster.
The FCC chairman is clearing the way for Trump and corporate broadcasters to control the airwaves.
cjr.org
Big news: Components relaunched last week with a barn burner on the economics of Substack. Turns out it isn't a winner-take-all platform (The Free Press be damned), but rather a place where 71% of the revenue comes from publications with fewer than 100k subs components.news/the-desire-d...
The Desire Distribution
Substack’s revenue curve, the end of the winner-take-all media markets, and the cleansing power of money.
components.news
Journalist Mario Guevara faces deportation for "doing his job, reporting the news" at a "No Kings" protest, @seth-stern.bsky.social said on @meidastouch.com. "He might not be as famous as Jimmy Kimmel ... but he is just as worthy a cause for people to get behind."
Trump FCC SMACKED with COMPLAINT after PLAN FAILS
YouTube video by Legal AF
youtu.be
This. This! This! This! It's even worse when people buy into the "left vs. right" spectrum. As if people can be measured entirely on a one-dimensional plane. You, the person reading this right now, are not one-dimensional. Stop perpetuating the garbage that politics is left-right.
Ian Boudreau@ianboudreau.com · last yr.One of the worst academic concepts to break containment and go mainstream is the notion that you can plot political preferences as coordinates on a cartesian line
The Energy Department wants to close as many FOIA requests as it can. It is about to publish a notice in the federal register for all FOIA requests to HQ that predate FY 2025. If you don't respond to StillInterestedFOIA@hq.doe.gov in 30 days, your request is closed. I just FOIA'd DOE about this.
public-inspection.federalregister.gov
