Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Matt Carney

Carl Quintanilla

@carlquintanilla.bsky.social

“.. He cared about people deeply ..,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong ..”

@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/national/202...

January 24, 2026 at 10:22 PM

Reposted by Matt Carney

Osita Nwanevu

@ositanwanevu.com

This random online comment from 2018 remains one of the last half-century's most important works of political commentary. crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/l...

Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit:

There must be in-groups whom the law protectes but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.

There is nothing more or else to it, and there never has been, in any place or time.

For millenia, conservatism had no name, because no other model of polity had ever been proposed. “The king can do no wrong.” In practice, this immunity was always extended to the king’s friends, however fungible a group they might have been. Today, we still have the king’s friends even where there is no king (dictator, etc.). Another way to look at this is that the king is a faction, rather than an individual.

As the core proposition of conservatism is indefensible if stated baldly, it has always been surrounded by an elaborate backwash of pseudophilosophy, amounting over time to millions of pages. All such is axiomatically dishonest and undeserving of serious scrutiny. Today, the accelerating de-education of humanity has reached a point where the market for pseudophilosophy is vanishing; it is, as The Kids Say These Days, tl;dr . All that is left is the core proposition itself — backed up, no longer by misdirection and sophistry, but by violence.

January 24, 2026 at 5:42 PM

Matt Carney

@2011prius.bsky.social

We hard launched @thepickupdotcom.bsky.social a year ago today. I’m so proud of it. Thanks to our subscribers, and we’re looking forward to more big stories in Year 2.

January 22, 2026 at 5:25 PM

Matt Carney

@2011prius.bsky.social

The phrase “sentient Ford F-150” rattled around in my brain for months while we were editing this one thepickup.com/whats-so-wro...

January 20, 2026 at 9:40 PM

Reposted by Matt Carney

JP

@jpbrammer.bsky.social

I had no idea there was a "Best Sentences of 2025" piece in the NYT or that I was in it lol that's funny. I do like this sentence @2011prius.bsky.social

In The Pickup, John Paul Brammer took issue with a proposal to build the tallest skyscraper in the United States in flat Oklahoma City: “I don’t mean to say OKC doesn’t deserve iconic architecture. Far from! I simply think that buildings should reflect the character of a place, like how Santa Fe is all adobe and how Dallas looks designed by a sentient Ford F-150.”

January 20, 2026 at 9:18 PM

Reposted by Matt Carney

randy r. potts

@thephatic.bsky.social

it was this story, which I was very proud to be a part of - as local TV news in Oklahoma City lied about Muslims that day, I was able to work with This Land to show what Muslims at the capitol actually looked like - people, beseeching their govt to honor their rights:

January 15, 2026 at 8:10 PM

Matt Carney

@2011prius.bsky.social

Alicia Chesser’s knowledge of the Tulsa arts community is unsurpassed

The Pickup @thepickupdotcom.bsky.social · 9d

What's the state of radical art in Tulsa right now? Here's how Tulsa artists are responding to a political nightmare: thepickup.com/whats-the-st...

What’s The State Of Radical Art In Tulsa Right Now? - The Pickup

For a range of reasons, many of the expressions of resistance happening now in Tulsa look a little different than the ones that get higher visibility at rallies and protests. They’re less about now…

thepickup.com

January 15, 2026 at 4:59 PM

Reposted by Matt Carney

The Pickup

@thepickupdotcom.bsky.social

What's the state of radical art in Tulsa right now? Here's how Tulsa artists are responding to a political nightmare: thepickup.com/whats-the-st...

What’s The State Of Radical Art In Tulsa Right Now? - The Pickup

For a range of reasons, many of the expressions of resistance happening now in Tulsa look a little different than the ones that get higher visibility at rallies and protests. They’re less about now…

thepickup.com

January 15, 2026 at 4:48 PM

Reposted by Matt Carney

Keith Harris

@usefulnoise.bsky.social

Another thing you should know about the Twin Cities, if you're not here, is that while the mayor and governor tell us to stay calm on TV, our council members and other local electeds are on the street patrolling and protecting neighbors, doing mutual aid, and otherwise serving the community.

January 15, 2026 at 2:57 PM

Matt Carney

@2011prius.bsky.social

Daughter just took a big rip out of a jalapeño. Thought it was a green pepper. She’s never known pain like this.

January 15, 2026 at 2:15 AM

Matt Carney

@2011prius.bsky.social

Folks would you believe that this guy’s on Facebook today saying only he and ChatGPT really understand what’s going on here?

Matt Carney @2011prius.bsky.social · 18d

Sometimes you sue somebody, get your suit thrown out and then lose the countersuit to the tune of over a million bucks. Nobody’s doing it like Scott Taylor. thepickup.com/tulsa-artist...

Tulsa Artist Scott Taylor Found Liable For $1.2 Million In Damages - The Pickup

The judgment capped a multiyear legal battle over claims of sexual abuse and predatory behavior made against Taylor.

thepickup.com

January 10, 2026 at 10:32 PM

Reposted by Matt Carney

ceej

@ceej.online

I don't like the death squads

January 8, 2026 at 6:40 PM

Matt Carney

@2011prius.bsky.social

Polymarket futures for Ethan Hawke coming over to Matt’s house to smoke weed and listen to Terry Allen records are up following today’s Lowdown season two announcement

January 8, 2026 at 2:03 AM

Matt Carney

@2011prius.bsky.social

Sometimes you sue somebody, get your suit thrown out and then lose the countersuit to the tune of over a million bucks. Nobody’s doing it like Scott Taylor. thepickup.com/tulsa-artist...

Tulsa Artist Scott Taylor Found Liable For $1.2 Million In Damages - The Pickup

The judgment capped a multiyear legal battle over claims of sexual abuse and predatory behavior made against Taylor.

thepickup.com

January 7, 2026 at 3:10 AM

Matt Carney

@2011prius.bsky.social

👇👇👇

The Pickup @thepickupdotcom.bsky.social · 18d

Taylor became the subject of intense public scrutiny after allegations of predatory sexual behavior began circulating on social media in 2022. He has now been ordered to pay $1.2 million in damages to his adopted daughter. thepickup.com/tulsa-artist...

Tulsa Artist Scott Taylor Found Liable For $1.2 Million In Damages - The Pickup

The judgment capped a multiyear legal battle over claims of sexual abuse and predatory behavior made against Taylor.

thepickup.com

January 7, 2026 at 12:54 AM

Matt Carney

@2011prius.bsky.social

Pickup subs ... scoop incoming

January 7, 2026 at 12:41 AM

Matt Carney

@2011prius.bsky.social

Looking at it from the cold, clear remove of the new year, this is definitely the best thing I wrote in 2025

January 6, 2026 at 4:09 AM

Reposted by Matt Carney

Osita Nwanevu

@ositanwanevu.com

Trumpism is the worst of the last 50 years of Republican politics, amped up, legally unbound, and garnished with some noise and nonsense about tariffs. That's all it is and all it's ever been.

January 3, 2026 at 6:31 PM