Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 11h

That part of Good Hang with Amy Poehler where they talk about content to make them happy - it’s really
Interesting because it reflects this hopelessly optimistic belief about content we all have. We know social media is a drug but we consume it hoping that it can be medicine

Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 11h

I wrote a guide to sandwiches on my newsletter, Lunch Box, and I'm pretty sure I've solved this whole thing. Looking forward to seeing the internet move on to some new topics after this.

Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 11h

I have a lot of complaints about the Bay Cities Godmother but I still put it on the list because LA loves the frontrunners. Order it fresh

Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 12h

Wrote a guide to sandwiches on Lunch Box and I'm pretty sure I've solved the sandwich debate here.

Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 12h

Learning to love LA's sandwiches is a lot like learning to love LA. A good sandwich supports it own weight, moves well, maintains structure through a bite and doesn't get soggy. On Lunch Box I wrote a guide to 10 sandwiches I've been eating for a while. open.substack.com/pub/frankbea...

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 2d

the thing that sucks about the proliferation of AI content is that we don’t even have a way to downvote it or signal our conscious dislike of it. All of this is being decided on the subconscious level - if it tricks our brain, it gets to stay. That can’t be how a civil society makes decisions.

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 3d

This plastic scrape graffiti virgin guadalupe on the menu of Super Tortas DF goes so hard

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Reposted by Frank Shyong

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 5d

eventually politicians need to start advocating for criminal and civil penalties for people involved in fabricating stories to get citizens incarcerated.

or, put another way: a society that would like to keep functioning has to discourage baldfaced lying, especially by authorities

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 5d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

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Reposted by Frank Shyong

David Sirota @davidsirota.com · 6d

This is the best analysis of news media and social media I've read in a long time - with some very good news for the relatively few news outlets taking the much harder path of building subscription businesses instead of attention businesses (yes, there is a big difference).

The Desire Distribution

Substack’s revenue curve, the end of the winner-take-all media markets, and the cleansing power of money.

components.news

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Reposted by Frank Shyong

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 12d

SCOOP / UPDATE — Disney saw more than 1.7 million total paid streaming cancelations during the period 9/17-9/23, a Disney source confirms to me. The total includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN.

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 18d

NEW — I wrote about my confirmed scoop from last night that Disney hastened Kimmel's return because of a planned Disney+ streaming price increase announcement coming on Tuesday:

Kimmel reinstatement preempted Disney+ price increase

The Handbasket reported first Monday evening on Bluesky

www.thehandbasket.co

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 12d

Being a columnist is a hell of a drug. But I would also argue that the discourse that has arisen from Klein’s exhortations has been worthwhile

Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 12d

He’s stuck on this weird, impractical fantasy of national reconciliation via columnists. Coates keeps talking about history because it is a guide to what politics are possible, but klein keeps going burr too negative.

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 12d

Ezra Klein wants everyone to be as alarmed as he is and start strategizing and playing political war games. Coates keeps pointing how that he’s set up the board wrong. Respect to klein for inviting Coates on and holding this L. His desire for dialogue seems sincere, but he’s not listening to anyone

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 12d

I wrote about the surprising story behind a 127 year old ham sandwich ekiben, the history of Asian sandwiches and how none of it would be possible without a beautiful tea house waitress named Kane open.substack.com/pub/frankbea...

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 12d

I wrote about the surprising story behind a 127 year old ham sandwich ekiben, the history of Asian sandwiches and how none of it would be possible without a beautiful tea house waitress named Kane

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 15d

Mt. Whitney hikers love this Chinese restaurant pitstop that looks like a merry-go-round www.latimes.com/environment/...

Mt. Whitney hikers love this Chinese restaurant pitstop that looks like a merry-go-round

Once a fancy steakhouse, a carousel-shaped restaurant located in the Eastern Sierra town of Lone Pine feeds famished hikers and locals — charming them with family hospitality and yummy American-style ...

www.latimes.com

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Reposted by Frank Shyong

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 18d

"Common decency stigmatizes people that do not participate in it—removes them from voluntary association. We indeed have to live with one another, but terms and conditions apply."

me on why Ezra Klein should be ashamed / why shame is Good Actually

www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...

How Can We Live Together? - Boston Review

Ezra Klein is wrong: shame is essential.

www.bostonreview.net

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 18d

My brain melted halfway through. can someone tell me how it ends? nymag.com/intelligence...

The AI Kids Take San Francisco

Brilliant, workaholic teenagers are flooding the city — and reshaping our future in their image.

nymag.com

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 18d

I wrote about losing my cat, then losing faith in society, and how getting my cat back motivated me to try to make things different open.substack.com/pub/frankbea...

Charlie Kirk's death and the time I lost my cat

open.substack.com

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 18d

New piece: I write about losing my cat and how helpless I felt when I had to depend on the average benevolence of strangers; how we’re all in this situation now, in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s death.

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Reposted by Frank Shyong

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 22d

ben smith, boy, i dunno

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 23d

Ben Smith: "What you saw with Mahmoud Khalil is that in some ways he is *less* vulnerable than Jimmy Kimmel. The people who are most vulnerable are the employees of big consolidated megacorporations—"

Chris Hayes: "Yeah, although he's about to get deported."

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 23d

This is a useful read that helped crystallize the insidious danger of our desire for normalcy, which paralyzes us as our democracy is taken away: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/o...

Opinion | The Beautiful Danger of Normal Life During an Autocratic Rise

David Leonhardt sits down with M. Gessen to unpack this new phase of the Trump era.

www.nytimes.com

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 24d

Keep reading Charlie Kirk stuff and thinking: this is all for money. not saying that makes it evil, but that requires us to analyze it not in the cozy old traditions of liberal dissent, but as a market. It’s something we’ve gotten very used to doing for movies, music, books, etc

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 24d

that calling for civility is about as effective as telling the other person in a heated argument to calm down. All you’ve done is position yourself as the only rational one while throwing everyone else under the bus.

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Frank Shyong @frankshyong.bsky.social · 24d

Thinking that you alone will resurrect civility with your brilliant words is a megalomania unique to columnists, but a well meaning one. It happens eventually when you write with the laudable goal of doing something responsible with your platform. But trouble is

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