Brian PJ Cronin
@brianpjcronin.bsky.social
Environmental Reporter for The Highlands Current: An award-winning, non-profit, independent newspaper in New York's Hudson Valley. (https://highlandscurrent.org/author/bcronin/) Also teaching journalism at Marist University. He/Him.
Serious question: is there any aspect of American society that is not in crisis mode right now?
November 25, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Serious question: is there any aspect of American society that is not in crisis mode right now?
Reposted by Brian PJ Cronin
"My mentor always tells me, 'Kim, dogs don’t bark at parked cars." They’re coming after critical race theory, 1619, intersectionality because these ideas mobilized people. They gave them the language to actually articulate what they were seeing with their own eyes," says Kimberlé Crenshaw.
November 25, 2025 at 1:26 PM
"My mentor always tells me, 'Kim, dogs don’t bark at parked cars." They’re coming after critical race theory, 1619, intersectionality because these ideas mobilized people. They gave them the language to actually articulate what they were seeing with their own eyes," says Kimberlé Crenshaw.
Look if you hate Americans you should keep calling it an Americano because the thing about Americanos is that they absolutely suck
November 25, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Look if you hate Americans you should keep calling it an Americano because the thing about Americanos is that they absolutely suck
I often think about when Ta-Nehisi Coates filled in for someone on book leave in the NYT Opinion section, wrote nothing but bangers for two months, and when they offered him the gig full time he turned it down because he was starting to see how writing op-eds 2x/week eventually leads to self-parody.
At this point, the Washpost edit page is just trolling its readers.
This is today's actual house editorial.
This is today's actual house editorial.
November 25, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I often think about when Ta-Nehisi Coates filled in for someone on book leave in the NYT Opinion section, wrote nothing but bangers for two months, and when they offered him the gig full time he turned it down because he was starting to see how writing op-eds 2x/week eventually leads to self-parody.
GEOLOGIST: *cracks knuckles*
November 25, 2025 at 2:52 AM
GEOLOGIST: *cracks knuckles*
Someone posted earlier today that there's Civil War dads and WWII dads, but this is the kind of dad I am, the one who let out an audible "yesssssss" upon learning this.
By the way, Ken Burns’ next documentary series is apparently in the can — LBJ & The Great Society
kenburns.com/films/lbj-th...
kenburns.com/films/lbj-th...
LBJ & the Great Society - Ken Burns
This three-part, six-hour series will chronicle the life and times of Lyndon B. Johnson, one of the most capable, colorful, and controversial men ever to occupy the White House. A figure of extraordin...
kenburns.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Someone posted earlier today that there's Civil War dads and WWII dads, but this is the kind of dad I am, the one who let out an audible "yesssssss" upon learning this.
What if instead of bailing out the AI companies we all got free fries forever
November 24, 2025 at 11:35 PM
What if instead of bailing out the AI companies we all got free fries forever
Lotta people currently fucking around (posting/sharing a piece without reading the whole thing) and finding out (reading the whole piece later and finding out they just low-key advocated for some total bullshit.)
November 24, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Lotta people currently fucking around (posting/sharing a piece without reading the whole thing) and finding out (reading the whole piece later and finding out they just low-key advocated for some total bullshit.)
Reposted by Brian PJ Cronin
This should have been an instructive moment in people’s understanding of just how much people are willing to pay economically for racism and xenophobia.
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
siepr.stanford.edu
November 24, 2025 at 3:27 PM
This should have been an instructive moment in people’s understanding of just how much people are willing to pay economically for racism and xenophobia.
Had a chance to go through the whole list and out of the 384 books from this year I’ve read…..1. And am partway through a second one.
Lots to discover here!
Lots to discover here!
Books We Love is back with a brand new batch of hand-picked titles. Mix and match tags like “Book Club Ideas” and “Eye-Opening Reads.” Find 380+ new 2025 reads, and stick around to browse more than 4,000 books from the last 13 years.
Books We Love
Here are 380+ great reads from 2025 handpicked just for you by NPR staffers and trusted critics.
n.pr
November 24, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Had a chance to go through the whole list and out of the 384 books from this year I’ve read…..1. And am partway through a second one.
Lots to discover here!
Lots to discover here!
I know this is specifically about finding out that so many of the MAGA accounts posting ragebait on Twitter were based overseas but if you take a step back it pretty much sums up the majority of social media these days and a big chunk of “regular” media as well.
It produces a performative ecosystem. Actors aren’t communicating; they’re staging provocations for yield. The result is disordered discourse: signals detached from truth, identity shaped by escalation, and a feedback loop where the performance eclipses reality itself.
November 24, 2025 at 6:45 PM
I know this is specifically about finding out that so many of the MAGA accounts posting ragebait on Twitter were based overseas but if you take a step back it pretty much sums up the majority of social media these days and a big chunk of “regular” media as well.
Reposted by Brian PJ Cronin
they are not playing 3D chess. they are fucking idiots.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Judge dismisses cases against James Comey and Letitia James after finding that prosecutor was illegally appointed.
November 24, 2025 at 5:45 PM
they are not playing 3D chess. they are fucking idiots.
Reposted by Brian PJ Cronin
BREAKING: Comey case dismissed without prejudice. Halligan invalidly appointed, judge rules. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 24, 2025 at 5:36 PM
BREAKING: Comey case dismissed without prejudice. Halligan invalidly appointed, judge rules. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Brian PJ Cronin
Books We Love is back with a brand new batch of hand-picked titles. Mix and match tags like “Book Club Ideas” and “Eye-Opening Reads.” Find 380+ new 2025 reads, and stick around to browse more than 4,000 books from the last 13 years.
Books We Love
Here are 380+ great reads from 2025 handpicked just for you by NPR staffers and trusted critics.
n.pr
November 24, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Books We Love is back with a brand new batch of hand-picked titles. Mix and match tags like “Book Club Ideas” and “Eye-Opening Reads.” Find 380+ new 2025 reads, and stick around to browse more than 4,000 books from the last 13 years.
I have been laughing for five minutes straight at "It seems like a marvel of financial engineering;” just an incredible way to write “fraud” and get it past the lawyers, will absolutely be stealing this move in the future
"It seems like a marvel of financial engineering: Meta is building a $27 billion data center in Louisiana, financed with debt, and neither the data center nor the debt will be on its own balance sheet."
AI Meets Aggressive Accounting at Meta’s Gigantic New Data Center
Favorable treatment off the balance sheet hinges on some convenient assumptions.
www.wsj.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:31 PM
I have been laughing for five minutes straight at "It seems like a marvel of financial engineering;” just an incredible way to write “fraud” and get it past the lawyers, will absolutely be stealing this move in the future
Just went down a Wikipedia hole and found out that Andrew W.K. is now a motivational speaker and now what I want for Christmas is for Andrew W.K. to follow me around and scream encouraging things at me as I go about my day
November 24, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Just went down a Wikipedia hole and found out that Andrew W.K. is now a motivational speaker and now what I want for Christmas is for Andrew W.K. to follow me around and scream encouraging things at me as I go about my day
The biggest tell that this is fake is that there’s no way these dudes would ever arrange themselves in a non-hierarchical formation.
I've seen this image enough now that I feel like I should point out it's fake.
November 24, 2025 at 4:25 AM
The biggest tell that this is fake is that there’s no way these dudes would ever arrange themselves in a non-hierarchical formation.
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, Charlie Brown
We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold, Charlie Brown
I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure, Charlie Brown
November 24, 2025 at 1:13 AM
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, Charlie Brown
Will be interesting to see who Trump invades first: Our long-hated adversary Venezuela or our long-hated adversary Greenland.
JD Vance and Peter Thiel are running a sustained operation out of the White House designed to acquire Greenland, either voluntarily or by force. Thiel has laid out plans for what he intends to do with the island nation in past writings. It doesn't entail the consent of the Greenlanders for anything.
November 23, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Will be interesting to see who Trump invades first: Our long-hated adversary Venezuela or our long-hated adversary Greenland.
Reposted by Brian PJ Cronin
"The real power of imagination is that it helps us envision something better than raw power."
This is a really good read. Every third line feels quotable, and I felt better after reading it.
This is a really good read. Every third line feels quotable, and I felt better after reading it.
So I was invited to accept an award for "imagination in service to society." This forced me to think a bit about what "imagination," "service" and "society" mean to me.
Here's the speech I delivered last night:
buttondown.com/charliejane/...
Here's the speech I delivered last night:
buttondown.com/charliejane/...
"The Enemy of Imagination": Here's the Speech I Gave Last Night
I had such an incredible day yesterday, y’all. First I was at the Trans Day of Literature at George Mason University, talking with incredible authors...
buttondown.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:54 PM
"The real power of imagination is that it helps us envision something better than raw power."
This is a really good read. Every third line feels quotable, and I felt better after reading it.
This is a really good read. Every third line feels quotable, and I felt better after reading it.
Just thinking about that @greatdismal.bsky.social line about how the future Is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.
Amid a deepening ecological crisis and acute water shortage, Tehran can no longer remain the capital of Iran, the country’s president has said. www.scientificamerican.com/article/iran...
Iran’s Capital Is Moving. The Reason Is an Ecological Catastrophe
The decision to move Iran’s capital is partly driven by climate change, but experts say decades of human error and action are also to blame
www.scientificamerican.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Just thinking about that @greatdismal.bsky.social line about how the future Is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.
CATCH ME IN THE KITCHEN WHERE THE DOPE IS
WITH AN APRON THAT’S WHITER THAN THE POPE’S IS
WITH AN APRON THAT’S WHITER THAN THE POPE’S IS
November 23, 2025 at 3:21 AM
CATCH ME IN THE KITCHEN WHERE THE DOPE IS
WITH AN APRON THAT’S WHITER THAN THE POPE’S IS
WITH AN APRON THAT’S WHITER THAN THE POPE’S IS
Hell was full.
November 23, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Hell was full.
Reposted by Brian PJ Cronin
russia rejecting the peace plan that looks like it was written by russia.
Russia flat out rejects Trump's 28-point peace plan: "Even in a reduced military and territorial form, Ukraine would remain a significant danger, requiring us to keep our forces on the western borders."
November 22, 2025 at 7:45 PM
russia rejecting the peace plan that looks like it was written by russia.