Matt Alston
@mcribsisback.bsky.social
I'm Matt. Writer with bylines with Business Insider, The Nation, GQ, Wired. Copywriter for work-work. Weirdly good at Etch-a-Sketch. Not bad at disc golf.
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/super-bowl-60-gaming-prediction-markets/
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/super-bowl-60-gaming-prediction-markets/
post a banger that's not in english
youtu.be/unYu22Ign1E
youtu.be/unYu22Ign1E
February 10, 2026 at 4:28 AM
post a banger that's not in english
youtu.be/unYu22Ign1E
youtu.be/unYu22Ign1E
missed my daughter's first-ever flip turn at swim practice tonight because me and another dad got distracted talking about the film grain on the new Eyes Wide Shut Blu-ray, thanks @criterion.bsky.social
February 10, 2026 at 3:26 AM
missed my daughter's first-ever flip turn at swim practice tonight because me and another dad got distracted talking about the film grain on the new Eyes Wide Shut Blu-ray, thanks @criterion.bsky.social
In my father-in-law's workshop he writes the year he bought machines in black sharpie right on them (lathe, drill press, etc.)
At some point he carried the practice over to his home, and frankly it rocks to know that his Bose CD player is from 1998 or his toaster is from 2004. Good shit.
At some point he carried the practice over to his home, and frankly it rocks to know that his Bose CD player is from 1998 or his toaster is from 2004. Good shit.
USPS blue mailboxes are stamped with year of manufacture. This is one of the oldest ones I've seen in a while. I am lots of fun at parties.
February 6, 2026 at 7:27 PM
In my father-in-law's workshop he writes the year he bought machines in black sharpie right on them (lathe, drill press, etc.)
At some point he carried the practice over to his home, and frankly it rocks to know that his Bose CD player is from 1998 or his toaster is from 2004. Good shit.
At some point he carried the practice over to his home, and frankly it rocks to know that his Bose CD player is from 1998 or his toaster is from 2004. Good shit.
Wrote about prediction markets and gambling for @thenation.com
Yes, obvious moral hazard and arena for fraud, but also, turning every second of life a betting asset is a gross mutation of Attention-Capture Economy.
(Quoted @chrislhayes.bsky.social twice, duh)
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Yes, obvious moral hazard and arena for fraud, but also, turning every second of life a betting asset is a gross mutation of Attention-Capture Economy.
(Quoted @chrislhayes.bsky.social twice, duh)
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
How Big Gaming Is Swallowing Up the Big Game
The Super Bowl will showcase the lords of legalized betting, even as they’ve already colonized every other reach of human experience.
www.thenation.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Wrote about prediction markets and gambling for @thenation.com
Yes, obvious moral hazard and arena for fraud, but also, turning every second of life a betting asset is a gross mutation of Attention-Capture Economy.
(Quoted @chrislhayes.bsky.social twice, duh)
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Yes, obvious moral hazard and arena for fraud, but also, turning every second of life a betting asset is a gross mutation of Attention-Capture Economy.
(Quoted @chrislhayes.bsky.social twice, duh)
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
by far the biggest difference between my own childhood and my 6-year-old daughter’s is the status and cultural footprint of the axolotl
February 3, 2026 at 8:49 PM
by far the biggest difference between my own childhood and my 6-year-old daughter’s is the status and cultural footprint of the axolotl
Reposted by Matt Alston
The Washington State cheese can + box of triscuits is also one of the coolest things to bring to a party. Better than a bottle of wine by a factor of 10.
it brings me no joy to confirm this, but @proptermalone.bsky.social is correct and Washington State University makes a good cheese
January 30, 2026 at 1:27 AM
The Washington State cheese can + box of triscuits is also one of the coolest things to bring to a party. Better than a bottle of wine by a factor of 10.
I like that criterion channel‘s collections will be, like, ”Italian pulp noir, 1962-67” or “the hottest day of the year” and then they’ll throw in one that’s just “we have five movies right now with Ben Whishaw in them 😏”
January 22, 2026 at 3:23 AM
I like that criterion channel‘s collections will be, like, ”Italian pulp noir, 1962-67” or “the hottest day of the year” and then they’ll throw in one that’s just “we have five movies right now with Ben Whishaw in them 😏”
This is a lovely interview with Richard Maltby. I cannot believe that he has been writing the cryptic crosswords for @harpers.bsky.social for FIFTY years. They are one of the highlights of my month going back for two decades now, a world unto themselves on the back page: harpers.org/2026/01/gene...
Word Collision, by Richard E. Maltby Jr., Roddy Howland Jackson
Richard E. Maltby Jr. on his fifty years of writing puzzles for Harper’s Magazine, his side hustle as a musical lyricist and Tony Award–winning director, and the crossword’s place in contemporary Amer...
harpers.org
January 12, 2026 at 2:39 PM
This is a lovely interview with Richard Maltby. I cannot believe that he has been writing the cryptic crosswords for @harpers.bsky.social for FIFTY years. They are one of the highlights of my month going back for two decades now, a world unto themselves on the back page: harpers.org/2026/01/gene...
They become automatically less dangerous to society by being civilians that don't have police unions protecting their indiscreet firearm use? Also I'm not a cop but I've been laid off 3 times in 6 years and am doing fine so like, they can deal.
January 7, 2026 at 9:57 PM
They become automatically less dangerous to society by being civilians that don't have police unions protecting their indiscreet firearm use? Also I'm not a cop but I've been laid off 3 times in 6 years and am doing fine so like, they can deal.
The worst value in all of dining is a menu cocktail at a fancy restaurant, where some bar manager has added, like, allspice dram to a classic cocktail, making it worse, and the bartender has only actually made the drink a couple dozen times. Just get a Negroni!
This place needs some Innocuous Discourse pronto. Quote this with a take that’s not political or aggressive
January 6, 2026 at 11:47 PM
The worst value in all of dining is a menu cocktail at a fancy restaurant, where some bar manager has added, like, allspice dram to a classic cocktail, making it worse, and the bartender has only actually made the drink a couple dozen times. Just get a Negroni!
Me kicking it with my daughter in the heated kids' pool at the Y
Here's Eve the 3 month old capybara at the Miami Zoo demonstrating one of the OTHER many ways capys have of moving through the water: half-hearted bipedalism.
Note that eyes, ears and nostrils are fully above the water line.
Note that eyes, ears and nostrils are fully above the water line.
a frog is swimming in a body of water and looking at something
Alt: Eve the Capybara from the Miami Zoo is walking on hind legs in water that rises to her nostrils.
media.tenor.com
January 6, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Me kicking it with my daughter in the heated kids' pool at the Y
if I woke up a billionaire, I'd simply start an A24 or Blumhouse type production/distro company and run it like the only goal we have to make cool shit and break even. give every cool indie artist the biggest budget they've ever had, pay your employees a good wage, pocket $0, become a hero to all
one of the things that makes me so upset about billionaires embracing AI is.... when I have a great idea, like "there should be a manga where Tora-san, star of the long-running Japanese comedy series 'Otoko wa Tsurai yo,' goes to San Francisco, is accused of murder and meets Lt. Columbo" -
December 27, 2025 at 2:34 AM
if I woke up a billionaire, I'd simply start an A24 or Blumhouse type production/distro company and run it like the only goal we have to make cool shit and break even. give every cool indie artist the biggest budget they've ever had, pay your employees a good wage, pocket $0, become a hero to all
Hi, I’m a seasonal worker at “Gimbal’s“ in New York City, and I am very willing to accept that a man I’ve never seen before, wearing an elf costume, is a coworker in my department. My manager does not know this man’s name but also broadly assumes he works here. We are the most credulous people alive
December 24, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Hi, I’m a seasonal worker at “Gimbal’s“ in New York City, and I am very willing to accept that a man I’ve never seen before, wearing an elf costume, is a coworker in my department. My manager does not know this man’s name but also broadly assumes he works here. We are the most credulous people alive
it's such weak shit to cast about for blame in this way; part of "being a writer" in quotes is always blaming yourself for your near-misses and complete failures.
it's your *duty* to be like, "i had the SAME idea as the tv show GLOW YEARS ago" and be weird about it while people's eyes glaze over
it's your *duty* to be like, "i had the SAME idea as the tv show GLOW YEARS ago" and be weird about it while people's eyes glaze over
One problem with this take is the number of high profile white millennial men in the media...
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
December 16, 2025 at 2:56 PM
it's such weak shit to cast about for blame in this way; part of "being a writer" in quotes is always blaming yourself for your near-misses and complete failures.
it's your *duty* to be like, "i had the SAME idea as the tv show GLOW YEARS ago" and be weird about it while people's eyes glaze over
it's your *duty* to be like, "i had the SAME idea as the tv show GLOW YEARS ago" and be weird about it while people's eyes glaze over
Learned a few years back that I'm bizarrely good at Etch-a-Sketch and the most common response is asking how I might monetize it. Disregarding that you cannot sell one without considerable effort (taking the thing apart, magnets, etc), it's so wonderful to only be able to do a thing for its own sake
December 15, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Learned a few years back that I'm bizarrely good at Etch-a-Sketch and the most common response is asking how I might monetize it. Disregarding that you cannot sell one without considerable effort (taking the thing apart, magnets, etc), it's so wonderful to only be able to do a thing for its own sake
Immediately after enjoying ROOFMAN, which is terrific, my wife and I threw on the first act of PLACE BEYOND THE PINES, and I'm here to say (probably uncontroversially) that I didn't recall Ben Mendelsohn's performance hitting so hard but MY GOD does he steal the show
December 14, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Immediately after enjoying ROOFMAN, which is terrific, my wife and I threw on the first act of PLACE BEYOND THE PINES, and I'm here to say (probably uncontroversially) that I didn't recall Ben Mendelsohn's performance hitting so hard but MY GOD does he steal the show
Reposted by Matt Alston
This is a good piece; it’s frustrating that my cited post resonates beyond the bubble of people who like my work & yet that resonance will not, cannot, move the tech people actively making things worse. Not one of them cares. Their vision of the future is “we make more money.”
For @thenation.com I wrote about the hideous AI Slop advert that Mickey D's had to pull, and why the collective immune response is the only normal and good reaction to slop
(also got to call Jimmy Fallon "feckless" and quote a @themountaingoats.bsky.social post)
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
(also got to call Jimmy Fallon "feckless" and quote a @themountaingoats.bsky.social post)
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
The Slop of Things to Come
This past week boasted many overhyped AI breakthroughs, but the healthiest one was the fierce repudiation of a contemptuous McDonald’s ad.
www.thenation.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:06 PM
This is a good piece; it’s frustrating that my cited post resonates beyond the bubble of people who like my work & yet that resonance will not, cannot, move the tech people actively making things worse. Not one of them cares. Their vision of the future is “we make more money.”
For @thenation.com I wrote about the hideous AI Slop advert that Mickey D's had to pull, and why the collective immune response is the only normal and good reaction to slop
(also got to call Jimmy Fallon "feckless" and quote a @themountaingoats.bsky.social post)
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
(also got to call Jimmy Fallon "feckless" and quote a @themountaingoats.bsky.social post)
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
The Slop of Things to Come
This past week boasted many overhyped AI breakthroughs, but the healthiest one was the fierce repudiation of a contemptuous McDonald’s ad.
www.thenation.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:30 PM
For @thenation.com I wrote about the hideous AI Slop advert that Mickey D's had to pull, and why the collective immune response is the only normal and good reaction to slop
(also got to call Jimmy Fallon "feckless" and quote a @themountaingoats.bsky.social post)
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
(also got to call Jimmy Fallon "feckless" and quote a @themountaingoats.bsky.social post)
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
TIFU by entering my salary into an inflation calculator
December 9, 2025 at 3:05 PM
TIFU by entering my salary into an inflation calculator
thanksgiving take #2 is that Knives Out movies should drop on streaming for thanksgiving, not christmas, this goes against all my beliefs in theater supremacy etc, but I just think it would be lovely to put Wake Up Dead Man on tomorrow night!
November 25, 2025 at 1:47 PM
thanksgiving take #2 is that Knives Out movies should drop on streaming for thanksgiving, not christmas, this goes against all my beliefs in theater supremacy etc, but I just think it would be lovely to put Wake Up Dead Man on tomorrow night!
my yearly thanksgiving take is "i wanna be able to see the ridges from the can" cranberry sauce people are annoying. making your own is objectively better! get that "we used to drink from the hose" shit outta here.
November 25, 2025 at 1:42 PM
my yearly thanksgiving take is "i wanna be able to see the ridges from the can" cranberry sauce people are annoying. making your own is objectively better! get that "we used to drink from the hose" shit outta here.
there’s no way Trump knows the price of milk but there’s also no way David Brooks knows the price of milk and tbh I’m not sure I would pass a milk price quiz myself
November 21, 2025 at 7:08 PM
there’s no way Trump knows the price of milk but there’s also no way David Brooks knows the price of milk and tbh I’m not sure I would pass a milk price quiz myself
The US state closest to Africa is Maine
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 5:24 PM
The US state closest to Africa is Maine