Chris Colin
@chriscolin3000.bsky.social
Stories for Atlantic, NYT, Pop-Up Magazine (RIP), 99% Invisible, NewYorker, Outside. Contributing writer Afar, California Sunday (RIP). Make José Andrés's podcast. Make music for other podcasts. Editor @ Stanford. I dunno. http://www.chriscolin.com
Pinned
‘You’re Going to Lose Your Mind’: My Three-Day Retreat in Total Darkness
www.nytimes.com
Who turned out the lights? (Me.) Thanks to the nature of existence and Seth Meyers slicing blue cheese for the cameos. In this Sunday’s NYT Magazine. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/m...
Thanks Anna! Admin foreva!
props to WSJ for once on a useful notion, ADMIN PARTY for everybody
November 15, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Thanks Anna! Admin foreva!
I invented a thing called Admin Night and I've come to recruit for it. Get hip to the tiny obligations grinding us down, isolating us and stealing our time! Wake up to the structural reasons why! Get shit done! Admin Night is fun and funny and helpful! Start your own!
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
Essay | How to Turn the Bureaucratic Grind of Life into a Party
We all feel it: the growing stream of administrative tasks sapping our time, spirits and social lives. Admin Night represents a tiny, nerdy resistance.
www.wsj.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:02 PM
I invented a thing called Admin Night and I've come to recruit for it. Get hip to the tiny obligations grinding us down, isolating us and stealing our time! Wake up to the structural reasons why! Get shit done! Admin Night is fun and funny and helpful! Start your own!
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
Reposted by Chris Colin
The Post editorial page may be falling apart, but their coverage of administrative problems in Social Security has been excellent.
"One Social Security worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said many of those she has called back don’t even answer the phone because it has been hours or even weeks since their initial call..."
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
Callers to Social Security wait for hours to get help. Hear their ordeals.
Millions of seniors and disabled people call Social Security’s 1-800 number every month. What they experience is often maddening.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 31, 2025 at 5:51 PM
The Post editorial page may be falling apart, but their coverage of administrative problems in Social Security has been excellent.
Reposted by Chris Colin
The brazenness with which they lie is something that is hard to metabolize, even now
Kristi Noem: "No American citizens have been arrested or detained. We focus on those who are here illegally. And anything you would hear or report that would be different than that is simply not true and false reporting."
October 30, 2025 at 11:44 PM
The brazenness with which they lie is something that is hard to metabolize, even now
Hear @romanmars.bsky.social and me discuss sludge, sabotage and the state of Fuck It. Bonus life-improving idea at the end!
October 29, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Hear @romanmars.bsky.social and me discuss sludge, sabotage and the state of Fuck It. Bonus life-improving idea at the end!
Reposted by Chris Colin
"Moonlight poured through a hole in the roof, bathing the floor in a pale blue and illuminating a column of dust. In normal life, I struggle to summon visuals in my head; here I was Rembrandt."
@chriscolin3000.bsky.social for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/m...
@chriscolin3000.bsky.social for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/m...
‘You’re Going to Lose Your Mind’: My Three-Day Retreat in Total Darkness
www.nytimes.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:26 PM
"Moonlight poured through a hole in the roof, bathing the floor in a pale blue and illuminating a column of dust. In normal life, I struggle to summon visuals in my head; here I was Rembrandt."
@chriscolin3000.bsky.social for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/m...
@chriscolin3000.bsky.social for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/m...
Who turned out the lights? (Me.) Thanks to the nature of existence and Seth Meyers slicing blue cheese for the cameos. In this Sunday’s NYT Magazine. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/m...
‘You’re Going to Lose Your Mind’: My Three-Day Retreat in Total Darkness
www.nytimes.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Who turned out the lights? (Me.) Thanks to the nature of existence and Seth Meyers slicing blue cheese for the cameos. In this Sunday’s NYT Magazine. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/m...
Reposted by Chris Colin
ICE has been deployed to *provoke* civilians, not to protect them. They want to throw tear gas canisters and get people on the streets riled up, all to create footage for Fox News and Newsmax, et al., that will be used as a pretext for imposing martial law to lower voting rates in Democratic cities.
The only violence I’ve been seeing in Portland is from the so-called Feds!!!
Keep sharing these videos; it’s evidence.
Keep sharing these videos; it’s evidence.
October 13, 2025 at 6:29 PM
ICE has been deployed to *provoke* civilians, not to protect them. They want to throw tear gas canisters and get people on the streets riled up, all to create footage for Fox News and Newsmax, et al., that will be used as a pretext for imposing martial law to lower voting rates in Democratic cities.
I confronted Benioff in 2019 about Salesforce not paying taxes, and lobbying for the Trump tax cuts. Maybe he was chipping in for the Nat'l Guard on the side? www.wired.com/story/gospel...
October 12, 2025 at 5:25 PM
I confronted Benioff in 2019 about Salesforce not paying taxes, and lobbying for the Trump tax cuts. Maybe he was chipping in for the Nat'l Guard on the side? www.wired.com/story/gospel...
IN!
“California, and the country, cannot await the outcome of the midterms to repel Trump’s siege on democracy. More drastic action is required.”
My piece exploring "soft secession": www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
My piece exploring "soft secession": www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
It’s time for soft secession
How blue states can use their economic clout to stand up to Trump’s agenda—starting with California.
www.motherjones.com
October 6, 2025 at 9:20 PM
IN!
Thinking today of this old Tobias Wolff story, and a bitter man seeing for a split second all the ways his life veered off-course.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...
Bullet in the Brain
A 1995 short story about what “passes before” a literary critic’s eyes—“a phrase he would have abhorred”—when he is shot at the bank.
www.newyorker.com
September 10, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Thinking today of this old Tobias Wolff story, and a bitter man seeing for a split second all the ways his life veered off-course.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...
Zillion $ idea: A special edition of the @nytimes.com featuring only boring and unworrisome news, available 1-4am.
August 30, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Zillion $ idea: A special edition of the @nytimes.com featuring only boring and unworrisome news, available 1-4am.
Am certified serious grownup, need proper headshot. Otherwise unreserved about sharing this interview I did with the swell @jimrutt.bsky.social, who among other things let me curse on his show.
🎙️ w/ @chriscolin3000.bsky.social on "That Dropped Call with Customer Service? It Was on Purpose."
Customer service hell, sludge, intentional friction, call center tactics, the psychological toll of poor service, enshittification, responses to the article, & more.
www.jimruttshow.com/chris-colin/
Customer service hell, sludge, intentional friction, call center tactics, the psychological toll of poor service, enshittification, responses to the article, & more.
www.jimruttshow.com/chris-colin/
EP 313 Chris Colin on Why Customer Service Sucks - The Jim Rutt Show
Jim talks with Chris Colin about his recent Atlantic article "That Dropped Call with Customer Service? It Was on Purpose."
www.jimruttshow.com
July 28, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Am certified serious grownup, need proper headshot. Otherwise unreserved about sharing this interview I did with the swell @jimrutt.bsky.social, who among other things let me curse on his show.
Just passed a distressed-seeming person walking east out onto the Bay Bridge, on the skinny shoulder. Watched three cops pass. Tried to flag one down, he drove right past. (Then tried flashing lights behind him, nothing.) Got thru to highway patrol and they took down the info. I have questions!
July 28, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Just passed a distressed-seeming person walking east out onto the Bay Bridge, on the skinny shoulder. Watched three cops pass. Tried to flag one down, he drove right past. (Then tried flashing lights behind him, nothing.) Got thru to highway patrol and they took down the info. I have questions!
Reposted by Chris Colin
Really good, and really important.
If you had a sense that kicking people off of Medicaid would be bad for their health, that is only scratching the surface of how bad Trump's policies will be for public health in America.
@jbarofsky.bsky.social & @pamherd.bsky.social do a deep dive. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/how-trumps...
@jbarofsky.bsky.social & @pamherd.bsky.social do a deep dive. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/how-trumps...
How Trump’s Big Bad Bill Will Kill Americans
What research tells us about how Trump policies are bad for your health
donmoynihan.substack.com
July 21, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Really good, and really important.
Probably the hottest convo about administrative friction and average handle times you'll hear all day.
🎧Listen to the podcast:
Journalist @chriscolin3000.bsky.social spoke with @alexis-madrigal.bsky.social about poor customer service "sludge" and how it's become a feature of many business models.
🔗:
Journalist @chriscolin3000.bsky.social spoke with @alexis-madrigal.bsky.social about poor customer service "sludge" and how it's become a feature of many business models.
🔗:
Is Customer Service a Bad Model?
KQED's Forum · Episode
buff.ly
July 15, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Probably the hottest convo about administrative friction and average handle times you'll hear all day.
Sometimes sludge is an explicit policy, sometimes it’s just a handy confluence of decisions and agenda. When FEMA fires call center workers, people lose faith in the federal government, which is always Trump’s play.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/c...
FEMA Didn’t Answer Thousands of Calls From Flood Survivors, Documents Show
www.nytimes.com
July 12, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Sometimes sludge is an explicit policy, sometimes it’s just a handy confluence of decisions and agenda. When FEMA fires call center workers, people lose faith in the federal government, which is always Trump’s play.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/c...
Call in! You’ll get through — no sludge!
🎙️ MON at 9AM:
We're speaking with journalist @chriscolin3000.bsky.social about the practice of "sludge" and hear from you: what’s your sludge story?
❓What's your sludge story? buff.ly/7B9JN1b
We're speaking with journalist @chriscolin3000.bsky.social about the practice of "sludge" and hear from you: what’s your sludge story?
❓What's your sludge story? buff.ly/7B9JN1b
Is Customer Service a Bad Model? | KQED
We talk about how poor customer service has been baked into some businesses.
www.kqed.org
July 12, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Call in! You’ll get through — no sludge!
I'm still gathering sludge stories! Wanna talk about your time working at a call center? Or a memorable battle you waged with some sludgy entity? Perhaps there’s a sludge-like phenomenon adjacent to sludge, which I should know about?? Get in touch!
July 8, 2025 at 11:54 PM
I'm still gathering sludge stories! Wanna talk about your time working at a call center? Or a memorable battle you waged with some sludgy entity? Perhaps there’s a sludge-like phenomenon adjacent to sludge, which I should know about?? Get in touch!
Reposted by Chris Colin
"The bill includes the most aggressive assault on climate action of any legislation in history. In fact, it represents a profound shift in policy. Trump and Republicans are not just ignoring climate change — they’re actually trying to make it worse." — @paulwaldman.bsky.social
The Republican budget is a climate horror
Not content to ignore climate change, they decided to make it even worse.
www.publicnotice.co
July 8, 2025 at 2:37 PM
"The bill includes the most aggressive assault on climate action of any legislation in history. In fact, it represents a profound shift in policy. Trump and Republicans are not just ignoring climate change — they’re actually trying to make it worse." — @paulwaldman.bsky.social
Also, special shout-out to the excellent @pamherd.bsky.social and @donmoyn.bsky.social, who kindly let me interview them *while driving* and *while on spring break.*
I wrote about my car, our collective sanity and the state of Fuck It. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was on Purpose.
Endless wait times and excessive procedural fuss—it’s all part of a tactic called “sludge.”
www.theatlantic.com
June 30, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Also, special shout-out to the excellent @pamherd.bsky.social and @donmoyn.bsky.social, who kindly let me interview them *while driving* and *while on spring break.*
I wrote about my car, our collective sanity and the state of Fuck It. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was on Purpose.
Endless wait times and excessive procedural fuss—it’s all part of a tactic called “sludge.”
www.theatlantic.com
June 29, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I wrote about my car, our collective sanity and the state of Fuck It. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Chris Colin
Remember all the gun humpers who vociferously attacked any hint of a gun registry? Awfully quiet about a registry with *all* your data.
NEW: For the past three days, DOGE and a handful of Palantir reps, along with dozens of IRS engineers, have been collaborating to build a “mega API” that would potentially allow intentionally siloed IRS data to be viewed in one place.
@makenakelly.bsky.social
www.wired.com/story/palant...
@makenakelly.bsky.social
www.wired.com/story/palant...
Palantir Is Helping DOGE With a Massive IRS Data Project
For the past three days, DOGE and a handful of Palantir representatives, along with dozens of career IRS engineers, have been collaborating to build a “mega API,” WIRED has learned.
www.wired.com
April 11, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Remember all the gun humpers who vociferously attacked any hint of a gun registry? Awfully quiet about a registry with *all* your data.
CONGRATS MOJO!!!
1/ THRILLED to announce that we've won two National Magazine Awards!
The big kahuna: General Excellence (in politics, literature, science)
and
Podcasting
We also had nominations in Reporting and Profile.
asme.memberclicks.net/american-soc...
The big kahuna: General Excellence (in politics, literature, science)
and
Podcasting
We also had nominations in Reporting and Profile.
asme.memberclicks.net/american-soc...
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGAZINE EDITORS ANNOUNCES NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARDS 2025 WINNERS
asme.memberclicks.net
April 10, 2025 at 9:08 PM
CONGRATS MOJO!!!
Our flight just landed in Hawaii so shockingly hard that a big piece of plastic broke off over seats, but everyone was so good-natured and relieved to be ok that they just clapped and set about trying to fix the plastic thing.
March 29, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Our flight just landed in Hawaii so shockingly hard that a big piece of plastic broke off over seats, but everyone was so good-natured and relieved to be ok that they just clapped and set about trying to fix the plastic thing.