Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 7d

Apologies to all Scriptnotes premium subscribers who got spammed with emails. Supporting Cast, our provider, had a glitch where it treated back episodes as new ones for the last two seasons. They apologize, we apologize. Even Craig is aware this happened!

Zoe Whittall @zoewhittall.bsky.social · 7d

just FYI, Scriptnotes just sent me 81 emails.

3 21

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 9d

“The good kind of annoyance draws you in rather than driving you away. It’s that feeling you get when there’s something you *can* and *must* make right.” www.experimental-history.com/p/thank-you-...

Thank you for being annoying

OR: whack 'em if you got 'em

www.experimental-history.com

1 3

Reposted by John August

Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · 13d

Going independent has meant having the freedom to say that ICE is kidnapping people, to describe our government as authoritarian, and to say more directly when fascism is happening.

I hope we'll start to see this more in large newsrooms before it's too late.

31 480 2.3K

Reposted by John August

Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · 18d

Genuinely one of the biggest problems with politics today is that all the bad stuff is so, so funny

Soraya Nadia McDonald @sorayanadiamcdonald.com · 19d

LMAO WUT

Oklahoma Republicans propose all state colleges must have Charlie Kirk statue

Schools would be required to build memorial plaza and describe slain activist as civil rights leader or face fines

www.theguardian.com

5 57 390

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 19d

Streaming the hell out of Hulu until subscription runs out at the end of the month. Or better yet, Kimmel is back.

Disney+ cancellation notice reading “You have cancelled your plan, and your access will end on October 10, 2025. Any add-ons you've subscribed to will expire at the end of their monthly billing cycles.”

7 5 65

Reposted by John August

Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 21d

Can Jimmy Kimmel sue Brendan Carr, or other federal actors, for violating his First Amendment rights by coercing ABC to suspend his show, and maybe eventually to fire him?

To teal deer it, yes, but without an effective remedy.

/1

100 710 3.6K

Reposted by John August

Ken Tremendous @kentremendous.bsky.social · 22d

Capitulating to bad-faith people who are acting in bad faith is cowardice. It is also never, ever, ever, ever, ever a good idea.

20 300 1.6K

Reposted by John August

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 22d

ah, well

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · Jan 23

a good arbiter of how close we are to bad hybrid regime shit is if the political comedy shows start getting pulled for whatever reason

36 2.9K 12K

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 23d

Only met Redford a handful of times, but I greatly admire what he built with the Sundance Institute. johnaugust.com/2025/robert-...

Robert Redford, RIP

Robert Redford’s remarkable career as an actor and director enabled his biggest triumph, the Sundance Institute. I was lucky to be part of it.

johnaugust.com

5 66

Reposted by John August

Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 24d

I just got the most unintentionally funny legal threat from a guy who sent me a harassing message on LINKEDIN (Lolol) and when I screencapped it and told his employer to “come get your guy” he sent me an email threatening to take me to court for tortious interference

Your conduct squarely constitutes tortious interference with contractual and business relations under New York law. New York courts recognize a claim for tortious interference where: (1) a valid employment relationship exists, (2) the defendant has knowledge of that relationship, (3) the defendant intentionally induces or causes a third party not to continue the relationship, and (4) damages result (see Guard-Life Corp. v. S. Parker Hardware Mfg. Corp., 50 N.Y.2d 183 (1980); NBT Bancorp Inc. v. Fleet/Norstar Fin. Group, Inc., 87 N.Y.2d 614 (1996)).

100 260 2.6K

Reposted by John August

Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · Sep 10

An impulsive liar very obviously lied again and we’re going full CSI on his signature like he hasn’t been impulsively lying for literally decades.

40 340 2.3K

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Sep 8

Owning a home means confronting your feelings about killing things. (Renters outsource the deadly decisions.) open.substack.com/pub/geoffrod...

The Dark Secret No Homeowner Will Tell You

...until it's too late

open.substack.com

2 6

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Sep 5

Today’s Inneresting looks at how heroes’ choices show us who’s a good boy. blog.quoteunquoteapps.com/264-whos-a-g...

Forget Save the Cat - Inneresting 264

How can a story show it has a strong, personal understanding of its audience? Should a story start from there, or find its way?

blog.quoteunquoteapps.com

1 9

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Sep 4

Software development, in short.

Back-to-back slack notifications. The first reads, “Very exciting, and it works!” The second reads, “Got a crash. Sent the report."

1 1 37

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Sep 3

More preorder choices here! scriptnotesbook.com

Scriptnotes

The ultimate guide to writing a great screenplay and building a screenwriting career. By John August and Craig Mazin.

scriptnotesbook.com

1 6

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Sep 3

The Scriptnotes book is available everywhere for pre-order! Through Sept 5th, when you preorder it, B&N Rewards and Premium Members get 25% off. (B&N Premium Members get an additional 10% off physical books.) Coupon code PREORDER25 www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scriptnote...

#BNPreorder

Scriptnotes: A Book About Screenwriting and Things That Are Interesting to Screenwriters|Hardcover

The ultimate guide to writing a great screenplay and building a screenwriting career, from the creators of the hit podcast Scriptnotes—featuring contributions from film and TV legends Christophe...

www.barnesandnoble.com

2 5 50

Reposted by John August

Pete Buttigieg @petebuttigieg.bsky.social · Sep 3

This level of corruption is not normal or acceptable. Even if we are exhausted by each report of it going further and further, we can never grow numb to it.

Trump Family Amasses $5 Billion Fortune After Crypto Launch

The WLFI token traded far above its previous value, confirming—at least on paper—a huge windfall for the president and his sons.

www.wsj.com

150 990 3.6K

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Sep 2

Why do some people hold on so tightly their hopelessness? What does it do for them? www.experimental-history.com/p/use-this-m...

Use this magic bullet to shoot yourself in the foot

OR: Borg vibes

www.experimental-history.com

1 3 5

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Sep 2

It looks great! It’s a lot thicker than the one I’m using.

1 1

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Aug 26

Love this. They’re awesome.

1

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Aug 26

Three of my movies with Tim Burton are playing next week at The Egyptian in Hollywood. Great chance to see them on the big screen if you haven't. www.egyptiantheatre.com/series/tim-b...

The Egyptian Theatre - Tim Burton: A Week of Woe

A Celebration of the Visionary 'Wednesday' Director

www.egyptiantheatre.com

1 1 23

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Aug 22

Great overview of water usage in the US. Not surprisingly, golf courses use a ton of water. www.construction-physics.com/p/how-does-t...

How Does the US Use Water?

Water infrastructure often gets less attention and focus than other types of infrastructure.

www.construction-physics.com

11

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Aug 22

They want lots of continuous cheap power, and nuclear does that. So does solar + batteries. Both are better and cheaper than fossil fuels.

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Aug 21

Great update from @hannahritchie.bsky.social www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/ai-footpri...

What's the carbon footprint of using ChatGPT or Gemini? [August 2025 update]

A new study from Google suggests its Gemini LLM uses around 0.24 Wh per text query. That's the same energy as using a microwave for one second.

www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com

3 2 10

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · Aug 18

A Stuart special is the term we coined for when a script has an opening scene that is revealed to have been a flash forward. So on page two, you'll see something like: "Three days earlier."

My film Go opens with a Stuart special. It's not always a bad thing. It can just be cliché.

1 5