Ben Wurgaft
@benwurgaft.bsky.social
2K followers 690 following 3.9K posts
writer, historian, appetite! there is a humanistic equivalent to innumeracy besides "illiteracy." https://benwurgaft.org/
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
benwurgaft.bsky.social
I have a new cool guy thing I do which is, when I see a driver weaving across lanes of highway traffic, I say "whoa check out Anni Albers over there."
a weaving in blue and red by the great artist Anni Albers, in which contrasting thread weaves in and out not unlike a poorly driven car moving across highway lanes.
benwurgaft.bsky.social
Ah yes we have achieved the stage of language learning (Japanese) where I sound just good enough to get into trouble.
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
daeganmiller.bsky.social
Fellow #HannahArendt heads--help! I'm trying to track down source of her quotation, "what is most difficult is to love the world as it is, with all the evil and suffering in it." Kohn quotes in *Thinking w/out Bannister* as does Hill in one of her essays, but neither cite it.
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
elizabethjacobs.bsky.social
The editors of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) were apparently fired today.

The precursor to MMWR began in 1878 to address emerging public health threats rapidly.

We are not “great” without it. We are vulnerable to threats from sporadic foodborne illness to bioterrorism.
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
portersqbooks.bsky.social
Happy Honk! day to all who celebrate! Get you some marching band joy and then come visit us for book joy! Or start with book joy & get marching band joy! You worked this week. You deserve two joys! honkfest.org
HONK! – Festival of Activist Street Bands
honkfest.org
benwurgaft.bsky.social
In addition to no-one I dislike receiving a peace prize, no-one I dislike received a MacArthur, as far as I know. This is great.
benwurgaft.bsky.social
And on the other side of the world
benwurgaft.bsky.social
Asked my Mom if I ever graduate from being ”Ben-Chan” and she said “absolutely not.”
benwurgaft.bsky.social
A trained falcon, at the train station, trainer in her train.
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
emilyhughes.bsky.social
periodic reminder that if you write stuff that's published on the web for a publication you yourself do not own, PDF that shit as soon as it goes live
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
nickfleisher.bsky.social
Exactly. A contract binds both parties. "Assurances" from this administration are always revocable. You don't keep your lunch money through negotiation.
ryanenos.bsky.social
Nothing shows the dangerous tendency to normalize authoritarianism like the New York Times coverage of the extortion of Harvard. One could read this article and think it is about a free agent inking a contract with the Yankees. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...
Harvard Seeks Assurances as Talks Restart in Washington
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
carlzimmer.com
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
benwurgaft.bsky.social
And none more interested in classic sauces than rouxsseau
benwurgaft.bsky.social
No philosopher of the Italian Enlightenment was more interested in cardamom buns than Giambatista Fica.
benwurgaft.bsky.social
These are the underexplored problems of gentrification
benwurgaft.bsky.social
Yes, that’s a prime day, but a Prine day is when you make me an Angel who flies from Montgomery.
benwurgaft.bsky.social
Like you don’t want to appear to be currying favor or something
benwurgaft.bsky.social
Understory is lsonmuch this, but they seem nice
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
opinionhaver.bsky.social
If someone drops out of your grad school cohort you have to talk about them like they died. If they drop out to go to law school you talk about them like they killed someone.
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
elisewang.bsky.social
One of the more incredible stories out of LA this year has been how a taco review blog became the best on-the-ground coverage of ICE raids in the city.

They do a dispatch every day, follow-up on the kidnapped people (which almost no media outlet has done), and fact-check government claims.
motherjones.com
@lataco.bsky.social first began as a blog documenting local Mexican cuisine. Now, it’s an essential reporting powerhouse to the city as Trump’s mass deportation plot unfolds.

Check out the latest from our friends at Reveal: tinyurl.com/4cm2bsdr
benwurgaft.bsky.social
Few know Oscar Wilde’s recipe for tempura’d vegetables, but it remains loved by the cognoscent: “the salad of breading kale.”