Mark Athitakis
@mathitak.bsky.social
Writer, mostly about books.
CBS once paired Walter Cronkite with a puppet named Charlamagne the Lion, but they had the good sense to stop.
January 13, 2026 at 11:39 PM
CBS once paired Walter Cronkite with a puppet named Charlamagne the Lion, but they had the good sense to stop.
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
A lot of non-Minnesotans are asking how they can help people in the Twin Cities. Here's a very easy way that will cost you absolutely nothing.
Do not vent in the replies to videos or other posts from Minnesotans.
We're all on edge, and your rageposting and doomposting isn't what we need right now.
Do not vent in the replies to videos or other posts from Minnesotans.
We're all on edge, and your rageposting and doomposting isn't what we need right now.
January 13, 2026 at 2:21 PM
A lot of non-Minnesotans are asking how they can help people in the Twin Cities. Here's a very easy way that will cost you absolutely nothing.
Do not vent in the replies to videos or other posts from Minnesotans.
We're all on edge, and your rageposting and doomposting isn't what we need right now.
Do not vent in the replies to videos or other posts from Minnesotans.
We're all on edge, and your rageposting and doomposting isn't what we need right now.
Excited to launch my sideline as a Chicago brick enthusiast when this book comes out in the spring. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Fire and Clay
A remarkable exploration of Chicago’s architectural history through the humble brick. By the late 1920s, at its peak of brick making and consumption, Chicago was making over a billion bricks a year ...
press.uchicago.edu
January 13, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Excited to launch my sideline as a Chicago brick enthusiast when this book comes out in the spring. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
We're looking for a news reporter to help us tell important, timely and engaging stories about the Valley. 💼
Think you've got the chops? Email a cover letter, resume and links to three to five clips that show your skills and range to [email protected].
Think you've got the chops? Email a cover letter, resume and links to three to five clips that show your skills and range to [email protected].
January 12, 2026 at 11:46 PM
We're looking for a news reporter to help us tell important, timely and engaging stories about the Valley. 💼
Think you've got the chops? Email a cover letter, resume and links to three to five clips that show your skills and range to [email protected].
Think you've got the chops? Email a cover letter, resume and links to three to five clips that show your skills and range to [email protected].
Me: Hey, neat, slow day today. All I really have to do is make this one call to the home warranty company to schedule service for the balky garage door...
Universe:
Universe:
January 12, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Me: Hey, neat, slow day today. All I really have to do is make this one call to the home warranty company to schedule service for the balky garage door...
Universe:
Universe:
The Des Plaines. My profile background image is of a statue in my hometown of Lyons, Ill., of Marquette and Joliet and Natives portaging from the Des Plaines to what's now Chicago.
My favorite Twitter prompt was "RT this with your home river," so reskeet this with your home river.
Mine is the Patuxent.
Mine is the Patuxent.
January 12, 2026 at 8:45 PM
The Des Plaines. My profile background image is of a statue in my hometown of Lyons, Ill., of Marquette and Joliet and Natives portaging from the Des Plaines to what's now Chicago.
NFL party weekend? More like NFL *parity* weekend, amirite?
January 12, 2026 at 12:41 AM
NFL party weekend? More like NFL *parity* weekend, amirite?
All over this for the cover alone.
My new LP with The Night Bird Singing Quartet is out March 13.
Pre-order @hellomerch.com: www.hellomerch.com/products/jas...
Listen to "Get To Meet Them" & "When I Get Lonesome (Again)" wherever but I recommend @bandcamp.com above all:
alwayshappeningrecords.bandcamp.com/album/jason-...
Pre-order @hellomerch.com: www.hellomerch.com/products/jas...
Listen to "Get To Meet Them" & "When I Get Lonesome (Again)" wherever but I recommend @bandcamp.com above all:
alwayshappeningrecords.bandcamp.com/album/jason-...
January 11, 2026 at 4:25 PM
All over this for the cover alone.
My wife's aunt knows all the lyrics to the Bears fight song. You think you know a person for a couple of decades, and then...
January 11, 2026 at 4:52 AM
My wife's aunt knows all the lyrics to the Bears fight song. You think you know a person for a couple of decades, and then...
How it started/how it's going
January 10, 2026 at 9:26 PM
How it started/how it's going
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
Did you resolve to read more in 2026? Whether you're on track or need a jump start, here are some books coming out in the next few months to considering adding to your list.
10 books we're looking forward to in early 2026
Did you resolve to read more in 2026? Whether you're on track or need a jump start, here are some books coming out in the next few months to considering adding to your list.
www.kjzz.org
January 8, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Did you resolve to read more in 2026? Whether you're on track or need a jump start, here are some books coming out in the next few months to considering adding to your list.
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
MAHA cranks: we didn't have ADHD and autism and all these other non-neurotypical conditions in the olden days
Herman Melville: here is a new taxonomy for whales that is based on book printing formats. I also have many other whale facts to share! First... 🐋
Herman Melville: here is a new taxonomy for whales that is based on book printing formats. I also have many other whale facts to share! First... 🐋
January 8, 2026 at 2:52 PM
MAHA cranks: we didn't have ADHD and autism and all these other non-neurotypical conditions in the olden days
Herman Melville: here is a new taxonomy for whales that is based on book printing formats. I also have many other whale facts to share! First... 🐋
Herman Melville: here is a new taxonomy for whales that is based on book printing formats. I also have many other whale facts to share! First... 🐋
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
The two days of Christmas
January 7, 2026 at 8:42 PM
The two days of Christmas
Some nonsense in the 🐝 to start the day. cc @bcdreyer.social.
January 7, 2026 at 11:54 AM
Some nonsense in the 🐝 to start the day. cc @bcdreyer.social.
"To memorialize what happened, Bennett says the two letters have been framed in their respective offices in Toronto and B.C., both mounted in iridescent, bedazzled frames." www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti...
‘Stop sending butt plugs to Bahrain’: Toronto sex store receives letters from U.S. Department of War
Not one, but two letters were sent from the Pentagon to a Toronto-based sex toy store, found inside the boxes of returned adult items that had somehow made their way to a U.S naval base in Bahrain.
www.ctvnews.ca
January 6, 2026 at 11:16 PM
"To memorialize what happened, Bennett says the two letters have been framed in their respective offices in Toronto and B.C., both mounted in iridescent, bedazzled frames." www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti...
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
Tell me when you see it...
January 6, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Tell me when you see it...
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
January 6, 2026 at 7:41 PM
I get lots of "me promote your book good" emails, but this one is the very best: "When I came across your book, I didn’t skim it, I spent time on your Amazon page, including the description and author bio, to understand the voice behind it."
January 6, 2026 at 6:53 PM
I get lots of "me promote your book good" emails, but this one is the very best: "When I came across your book, I didn’t skim it, I spent time on your Amazon page, including the description and author bio, to understand the voice behind it."
Connections, the "Christ, what an asshole" of online games.
January 6, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Connections, the "Christ, what an asshole" of online games.
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
What a pleasure it was to write the epic story of plate tectonics - and the woman who brought the theory from the ocean to the land - with the fabulous editors at @highcountrynews.org. Give a read! #womeninstem #science #geology #scicomm
The discovery that the continents are in continuous motion is fairly recent—dating back only to the late 1960s — and one woman was responsible for decoding what it meant for California and much of the West Coast.
buff.ly/2vAwspH
buff.ly/2vAwspH
Drifters and the introduction of plate tectonics - High Country News
How the San Andreas fault and Tanya Atwater’s theory changed geology.
www.hcn.org
January 5, 2026 at 5:43 PM
What a pleasure it was to write the epic story of plate tectonics - and the woman who brought the theory from the ocean to the land - with the fabulous editors at @highcountrynews.org. Give a read! #womeninstem #science #geology #scicomm
Dustin Shuler, "Pinto Pelt" (1988)
January 5, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Dustin Shuler, "Pinto Pelt" (1988)
Assembling a playlist for my son with the tentative title "150 Songs That Sure Would Be a Whole Lot More Fun to Learn on Guitar Than Nickelback's 'Photograph.'"
January 5, 2026 at 1:35 AM
Assembling a playlist for my son with the tentative title "150 Songs That Sure Would Be a Whole Lot More Fun to Learn on Guitar Than Nickelback's 'Photograph.'"