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Ben Madeska
@benmadeska.bsky.social
· Nov 12
I'm primarily an oil painter, making paintings like these of steaks, fish, oysters, and fruit
"A kid who is now where I was at the time of my diagnosis, lost and confused and struggling for an identity to guide them through all of that, will live out their life in the shadow of Kennedy’s hateful rhetoric and policies regardless of what happens next."
Another great piece by @gonebabygone.bsky.social on RFK and Trump's efforts to claw back all of the progress made by people with autism over the years.
www.welcometohellworld.com/i-will-not-g...
www.welcometohellworld.com/i-will-not-g...
I will not give up that which I have tasted
Promotion of the myth
www.welcometohellworld.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:58 PM
"A kid who is now where I was at the time of my diagnosis, lost and confused and struggling for an identity to guide them through all of that, will live out their life in the shadow of Kennedy’s hateful rhetoric and policies regardless of what happens next."
Reposted by Ben Madeska
Chicago's Essential Dive Bars Vol. 2: The History And Legacy Of 12 More Iconic Watering Holes blockclubchi.co/3XzrHDf
November 24, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Chicago's Essential Dive Bars Vol. 2: The History And Legacy Of 12 More Iconic Watering Holes blockclubchi.co/3XzrHDf
Reposted by Ben Madeska
Several Chicago restaurants have been ranked in a new list featuring the 100 greatest American restaurants of the 21st century, with one being named the best of the century.
Read more: https://tinyurl.com/2cep4x2w
Read more: https://tinyurl.com/2cep4x2w
November 22, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Several Chicago restaurants have been ranked in a new list featuring the 100 greatest American restaurants of the 21st century, with one being named the best of the century.
Read more: https://tinyurl.com/2cep4x2w
Read more: https://tinyurl.com/2cep4x2w
A friend once said there are three types of people in the wine industry: people who started in restaurants and never left, failed academics, and lawyers looking for a career change
November 23, 2025 at 12:36 AM
A friend once said there are three types of people in the wine industry: people who started in restaurants and never left, failed academics, and lawyers looking for a career change
Reposted by Ben Madeska
“It’s a kick in the gut for beer history and Chicago," said Liz Garibay of the Beer Culture Center. "It’s the oldest brewing school in the United States and has taught many of the beer pioneers of the past and certainly of the modern era.”
Siebel Institute announces last call in Chicago — one that 'hurts' says Chicago brewer
chicago.suntimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:04 AM
“It’s a kick in the gut for beer history and Chicago," said Liz Garibay of the Beer Culture Center. "It’s the oldest brewing school in the United States and has taught many of the beer pioneers of the past and certainly of the modern era.”
Reposted by Ben Madeska
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
Iran president says capital move now a necessity as water crisis deepens
Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has mad...
www.iranintl.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:52 AM
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
Citizen Kane but he's told he was right and brilliant to give up his sled
In a world in which people with too much power and influence desperately need to be told and to understand when they are wrong, we are suddenly all inescapably drowning in sycophancy machines.
November 21, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Citizen Kane but he's told he was right and brilliant to give up his sled
A drawing professor told us "Don't worry about your style, just make the work. Then, after ten years, you'll see your style has emerged"
What’s the most significant advice you received from a teacher?
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
November 21, 2025 at 3:54 AM
A drawing professor told us "Don't worry about your style, just make the work. Then, after ten years, you'll see your style has emerged"
Reposted by Ben Madeska
A Trump supporter started murdering his way through an assassination list of Democratic law makers FIVE MONTHS AGO. He murdered my colleague Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark — and attempted to assassinate my dear friend John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. I was also on the hit list. WTF
November 20, 2025 at 5:56 PM
A Trump supporter started murdering his way through an assassination list of Democratic law makers FIVE MONTHS AGO. He murdered my colleague Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark — and attempted to assassinate my dear friend John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. I was also on the hit list. WTF
Reposted by Ben Madeska
Shit. We’ve lost the beer school.
NEW: Today the Siebel Institute—the US' oldest/most prestigious brewing school & a cornerstone of the industry globally—announced its relocation from Chicago to Montreal, citing "[r]ecent regulatory changes in the US [that] have made it much more challenging for many of our international students."
November 21, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Shit. We’ve lost the beer school.
There are cathedrals everywhere
November 20, 2025 at 4:28 PM
There are cathedrals everywhere
I took Benadryl in the middle of the day once to deal with allergies, and woke up on the couch with bags of groceries on the counter and no recollection whatsoever of having left the house or going shopping
Deliriants like Benadryl can bring on terrifying hallucinations in high doses. Some Gen Z-ers are taking at least a dozen pills at a time—and challenging others to do the same.
Young People Are Tripping on Benadryl—and It’s Always a Bad Time
Deliriants like Benadryl can bring on terrifying hallucinations in high doses. Some Gen Z-ers are taking at least a dozen pills at a time—and challenging others to do the same.
www.wired.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I took Benadryl in the middle of the day once to deal with allergies, and woke up on the couch with bags of groceries on the counter and no recollection whatsoever of having left the house or going shopping
We need to aggressively develop a stigma for when people ask a question, get an answer, and then immediately "check it with AI"
November 17, 2025 at 1:31 AM
We need to aggressively develop a stigma for when people ask a question, get an answer, and then immediately "check it with AI"
Reposted by Ben Madeska
1/ I’d like to share what’s happened since Sept. 30, the night of the most dramatic raid of the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. Under the cover of darkness, 37 immigrants were taken from an apartment complex …🧵
November 16, 2025 at 3:17 PM
1/ I’d like to share what’s happened since Sept. 30, the night of the most dramatic raid of the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. Under the cover of darkness, 37 immigrants were taken from an apartment complex …🧵
Reposted by Ben Madeska
“The strategy here is to make us afraid. The response from Chicago is a bunch of obscenities and ‘no,’” said Anna Zolkowski Sobor, whose North Side neighborhood saw agents throw tear gas and tackle an elderly man. “We are all Chicagoans who deserve to be here. Leave us alone.”
Immigration crackdown inspires uniquely Chicago pushback that's now a model for other cities
As an unprecedented immigration crackdown enters a third month, a growing number of Chicago residents are fighting back against what they deem a racist and aggressive overreach of the federal governme...
apnews.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:31 PM
“The strategy here is to make us afraid. The response from Chicago is a bunch of obscenities and ‘no,’” said Anna Zolkowski Sobor, whose North Side neighborhood saw agents throw tear gas and tackle an elderly man. “We are all Chicagoans who deserve to be here. Leave us alone.”
Reposted by Ben Madeska
This is what happens when a Pope grows up in Siskel and Ebert country.
Some inspiring words on cinema in the streaming era from the Pope.
Yes, THAT Pope.
Yes, THAT Pope.
November 15, 2025 at 5:54 PM
This is what happens when a Pope grows up in Siskel and Ebert country.
Reposted by Ben Madeska
For two months, the U.S. government has been racial profiling as masked federal agents hunted for immigrants throughout Chicago. They’ve repeatedly snatched up U.S. citizens while traumatizing communities. “I felt like a piece of trash.” Here is our story www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/15/l...
Latino US citizens racially profiled by federal immigration agents in Chicago: ‘I felt like a piece of trash’
The Tribune spoke to U.S. citizens and green card holders who have either been questioned or detained during Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM
For two months, the U.S. government has been racial profiling as masked federal agents hunted for immigrants throughout Chicago. They’ve repeatedly snatched up U.S. citizens while traumatizing communities. “I felt like a piece of trash.” Here is our story www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/15/l...
Reposted by Ben Madeska
For those not on Instagram:
bsky.app/profile/drsh...
bsky.app/profile/drsh...
From her account on FB (text in alt tag).
November 15, 2025 at 6:29 AM
For those not on Instagram:
bsky.app/profile/drsh...
bsky.app/profile/drsh...
A tale of two wormwoods chicagoreader.com/food/food-dr...
A tale of two wormwoods: On absinthe and Malört - Chicago Reader
Exploring the intersecting histories of absinthe and Malört—and why Chicagoans prefer the latter
chicagoreader.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:30 AM
A tale of two wormwoods chicagoreader.com/food/food-dr...
Reposted by Ben Madeska
I spend a lot of time thinking about how to write about Chicago, especially right now, and the late, great Tony Fitzpatrick gave me a perfect metaphor: Chicago is a boxer. dansinker.com/posts/202…
November 14, 2025 at 5:49 PM
I spend a lot of time thinking about how to write about Chicago, especially right now, and the late, great Tony Fitzpatrick gave me a perfect metaphor: Chicago is a boxer. dansinker.com/posts/202…
Reposted by Ben Madeska
NEW: I wrote about attacks on federal oversight of special ed and what it means for families like mine. I went into this thinking maybe MN kids would be ok, but "As I spoke to experts in federal disability education policy, I began to see the cracks."
www.startribune.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:32 PM
NEW: I wrote about attacks on federal oversight of special ed and what it means for families like mine. I went into this thinking maybe MN kids would be ok, but "As I spoke to experts in federal disability education policy, I began to see the cracks."
Reposted by Ben Madeska
when new yorkers all experience something on social media it's like a rat that got ahold of a brazil nut. when upper midwesterners all experience something on social media it's a breathtaking dance of radiant light and color across the entire night sky
November 12, 2025 at 3:35 AM
when new yorkers all experience something on social media it's like a rat that got ahold of a brazil nut. when upper midwesterners all experience something on social media it's a breathtaking dance of radiant light and color across the entire night sky
A little bit of northern lights tonight in Chicago tonight
November 12, 2025 at 3:32 AM
A little bit of northern lights tonight in Chicago tonight
Reposted by Ben Madeska
famous rule of war: never march on Chicago in the winter
"Another source with direct knowledge said the number of Border Patrol agents currently operating in the Chicago area will go from 250 down to 100. But in March, that number could increase to 1,000 agents."
chicago.suntimes.com/public-safet... w/ @jonseidel.bsky.social
chicago.suntimes.com/public-safet... w/ @jonseidel.bsky.social
U.S. Border Patrol boss Greg Bovino, fellow agents expected to leave Chicago soon
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin insists “we aren’t leaving Chicago,” but the feds' immigration campaign is expected to begin winding down. However, one source said they could b...
chicago.suntimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:47 PM
famous rule of war: never march on Chicago in the winter