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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 1d

“People talk about trying to change society,” a young Bob Dylan said, in 1964. “All I know is that so long as people stay so concerned about protecting their status and protecting what they have, ain’t nothing going to be done.”

What Bob Dylan Wanted at Twenty-three

From 1964: A portrait of the artist trying to move past “finger-pointing” songs, and finding a new voice in the process.

nyer.cm

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Brian Hiatt @hiattb.bsky.social · 1d

10 years ago, I stayed up all night with D’Angelo, two nights in a row. R.I.P. to a straight-up genius.
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

The Second Coming of D'Angelo

How soul's lost superstar D'Angelo reclaimed his mojo and finally released the epic 'Black Messiah.'

www.rollingstone.com

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 6d

“Rip Van Winkle” isn’t just a folktale about a very long nap. It’s a story about the making of America, John Swansburg writes:

America’s Most Famous Nap

How “Rip Van Winkle” became our founding folktale

bit.ly

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Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · 6d

in case you want some non bullshit about antifa here is something i wrote

buttondown.com/theswordandt...

We Keep Us Safe: On Antifa

This past Saturday, Donald Trump announced that his administration would be deploying federal troops to Portland, OR, authorizing the military to use “full...

buttondown.com

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 16d

In a sane country with competent leadership, the 50 highest-ranking Democrats would call a press conference to denounce what just happened as a threat to the republic and demand Trump's immediate impeachment and removal from office.

I don't know he could make his intentions more clear.

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BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 17d

This is my regular reminder to everyone that jstor is open to the general public now; a free account there will give you access to 100 papers a year.

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 17d

regrettably if you try to point this out online you'll get yelled out by 79208 journalists going OH SO YOU WANT JOURNALISTS TO STARVE??? even if you're, say, a journalist yourself, and point out that while there are clearly no easy answers, the status quo isn't exactly working for society

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19d

JD Vance appropriating the term "blood libel" to describe legitimate criticism of ICE agents is one of the most antisemitic things I have heard in US politics in the past few weeks. Yet this administration has somehow managed to convince a lot of people it actually cares about fighting antisemitism.

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 19d

JD Vance is now using the term "blood libel" to describe criticism of ICE, saying, "The Democrats and the media — because they so hate the idea of a real border — are engaging in a kind of blood libel against ICE agents."

Somewhere, our ancestors wept.

"VP Vance tells The Ingraham Angle: "The Democrats and the media — because they so hate the idea of a real border — are engaging in a kind of blood libel against ICE agents. They're accusing them of engaging in crimes, they're accusing them of being part of the Gestapo. They're actually inciting violence against our law enforcement. They know exactly what they're doing, and now it's time to stop.""

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Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · 20d

i maintain that heretics & apostates are much more useful terms than "not real christians"

Alex @watts-the-point.bsky.social · 21d

@swordsjew.bsky.social did an interview on Know Your Enemy where she advocates bringing back the word "heretic" to describe these types of people. Rather than denying their self-proclaimed faith, call out their reading of that faith as being abhorrent

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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 21d

Dana Goodyear’s house burned in the L.A. fires. When she returned to her neighborhood a week later, “it was a mangled, flattened field as far as I could see in every direction,” she writes. “I drove right past my address and had to circle back.”

My House Burned in the L.A. Fires. What Happens Now?

A devastated community fights for rebirth.

www.newyorker.com

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Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · 29d

everything on fire and terrible? time to read queer books! in our first book club installment, @davidswanson.bsky.social and I discuss All the White Spaces, about a transmasc stowaway on an Antarctic expedition, for paid subscribers

buttondown.com/theswordandt...

September Book Club

Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where my editor David Swanson and I discuss what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to, for paid...

buttondown.com

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Lindsey Cormack @dcinbox.bsky.social · Sep 15

Use of the word "evil" in official congressional e-newsletters, over time, by party

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Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · Sep 11

to my mind the woman who dies of sepsis because of antiabortion laws, or the person who dies because they can't afford insulin -- these are just as much victims of political violence as the man shot through the throat while making a racist speech

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Joe Dante @thejoedante.bsky.social · Sep 10

RIP Polly Holliday, a.k.a. Mrs. Deagle.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/a...

Polly Holliday, a Sassy Waitress on the Sitcom ‘Alice,’ Dies at 88

www.nytimes.com

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Andrija Popovic @andrian6.bsky.social · Sep 9

"Because the wolfhound century is on us now, and we have to choose how to face it."

Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · Sep 8

"The country we knew isn’t here anymore except to the extent that we knew it, and if anyone is going to remember what it meant or what it could have been, it will only be because people like you and me find a way to tell them." buttondown.com/theswordandt...

The Struggle of Memory Against Forgetting

Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where David and I discuss what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to, for paid subscribers. As...

buttondown.com

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Moby Dick @mobydickatsea.bsky.social · Sep 8

And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again

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David Swanson @davidswanson.bsky.social · Sep 8

This week @swordsjew.bsky.social spoke to @zachrabiroff.com
about Osip Mandelstam, Bertholt Brecht, Joseph Brodsky, and the persistence of words in a moment of madness.

The Struggle of Memory Against Forgetting

Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where David and I discuss what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to, for paid subscribers. As...

buttondown.com

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Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · Sep 8

In which @zachrabiroff.com and I talk about fascism-induced writer's block, who we write for, how to meet a big moment with your small self, and a bevy of midcentury poets: buttondown.com/theswordandt...

The Struggle of Memory Against Forgetting

Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where David and I discuss what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to, for paid subscribers. As...

buttondown.com

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Siddhartha Mitter @siddharthamitter.bsky.social · Sep 8

New from me:

On Kara Walker's radical transformation of a toppled Confederate memorial — the Stonewall Jackson statue from Charlottesville, Va.

Her piece goes on view next month, part of the big MONUMENTS show at The Brick and MOCA in Los Angeles.

[Gift link]

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/a...

Kara Walker Deconstructs a Statue, and a Myth

www.nytimes.com

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David Swanson @davidswanson.bsky.social · Sep 7

Walt Whitman @skeetsofgrass.bsky.social · Sep 7

Voyaging to every port to dicker and adventure;

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Howl by Allen Ginsberg @howl-bot.bsky.social · Sep 7

Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless! Mental Moloch! Moloch the heavy judger of men!

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Great art on Bluesky @art.feediverse.org · Sep 6

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, 1560 #pieterbruegel #bruegel

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Ben Rothenberg @benrothenberg.bsky.social · Sep 6

More news breaking at Bounces about Donald Trump's visit to the US Open men's final.

The US Open has sent an email to broadcasters, obtained by Bounces, ordering them to censor any reactions or protests from the crowd to Trump's appearance.

Read more here:

www.benrothenberg.com/p/us-open-do...