Michael Socolow
@michaelsocolow.bsky.social
Communication & Journalism, University of Maine.
2019 Fulbright Scholar, University of Canberra.
Posts speak only for myself, not my employer
https://cmj.umaine.edu/faculty-staff/michael-j-socolow/
2019 Fulbright Scholar, University of Canberra.
Posts speak only for myself, not my employer
https://cmj.umaine.edu/faculty-staff/michael-j-socolow/
Reposted by Michael Socolow
On Nov. 25, 1783, the British evacuated New York City.
Gov. Clinton hosted a dinner at Fraunces Tavern for Gen. Washington & his staff. They drank 13 toasts to commemorate the occasion.
The 11th toast: "May America be an Asylum to the persecuted of the Earth."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuat...
Gov. Clinton hosted a dinner at Fraunces Tavern for Gen. Washington & his staff. They drank 13 toasts to commemorate the occasion.
The 11th toast: "May America be an Asylum to the persecuted of the Earth."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuat...
Evacuation Day (New York) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
September 24, 2025 at 6:57 PM
On Nov. 25, 1783, the British evacuated New York City.
Gov. Clinton hosted a dinner at Fraunces Tavern for Gen. Washington & his staff. They drank 13 toasts to commemorate the occasion.
The 11th toast: "May America be an Asylum to the persecuted of the Earth."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuat...
Gov. Clinton hosted a dinner at Fraunces Tavern for Gen. Washington & his staff. They drank 13 toasts to commemorate the occasion.
The 11th toast: "May America be an Asylum to the persecuted of the Earth."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuat...
For the "entirely predictable yet still ironic" file:
A "Research Integrity" conference call for papers focusing on "the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence for research integrity" is flooded with "off-topic abstracts" likely composed by generative AI.
retractionwatch.com/2025/11/18/r...
A "Research Integrity" conference call for papers focusing on "the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence for research integrity" is flooded with "off-topic abstracts" likely composed by generative AI.
retractionwatch.com/2025/11/18/r...
Research integrity conference hit with AI-generated abstracts
The first of three themes for next year’s World Conference on Research Integrity will be the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence for research integrity. In an ironic and possibly predicta…
retractionwatch.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:16 PM
For the "entirely predictable yet still ironic" file:
A "Research Integrity" conference call for papers focusing on "the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence for research integrity" is flooded with "off-topic abstracts" likely composed by generative AI.
retractionwatch.com/2025/11/18/r...
A "Research Integrity" conference call for papers focusing on "the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence for research integrity" is flooded with "off-topic abstracts" likely composed by generative AI.
retractionwatch.com/2025/11/18/r...
A 59-year-old African man named Adolf Hitler is predicted to win re-election in Namibia.
"The politician said his father likely didn't understand who Hitler was when he named him after the infamous German dictator."
www.jpost.com/omg/article-...
"The politician said his father likely didn't understand who Hitler was when he named him after the infamous German dictator."
www.jpost.com/omg/article-...
Namibian politician Adolf Hitler likely to win election | The Jerusalem Post
The politician said his father likely didn't understand who Hitler was when he named him after the infamous German dictator.
www.jpost.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:50 AM
A 59-year-old African man named Adolf Hitler is predicted to win re-election in Namibia.
"The politician said his father likely didn't understand who Hitler was when he named him after the infamous German dictator."
www.jpost.com/omg/article-...
"The politician said his father likely didn't understand who Hitler was when he named him after the infamous German dictator."
www.jpost.com/omg/article-...
That BlueSky (4%) and Truth Social (3%) are used by about the same perentage of Americans is a depressing fact in the new @pewresearch.org report.
Will BlueSky's userbase reflect on why it failed to attract new users (like Reddit has) recently?
Probably not.
www.pewresearch.org/internet/202...
Will BlueSky's userbase reflect on why it failed to attract new users (like Reddit has) recently?
Probably not.
www.pewresearch.org/internet/202...
Americans’ Social Media Use 2025
YouTube remains the most popular, but adults are increasingly using Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and Reddit. Use of some platforms varies by age, gender, and race and ethnicity.
www.pewresearch.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:42 PM
That BlueSky (4%) and Truth Social (3%) are used by about the same perentage of Americans is a depressing fact in the new @pewresearch.org report.
Will BlueSky's userbase reflect on why it failed to attract new users (like Reddit has) recently?
Probably not.
www.pewresearch.org/internet/202...
Will BlueSky's userbase reflect on why it failed to attract new users (like Reddit has) recently?
Probably not.
www.pewresearch.org/internet/202...
CBS News "Sunday Morning" visits the Villager Cafe - the coffee shop/restaurant that's subsidizing a local Maine newspaper.
A replicable model for other areas in USA? I'm not sure.
But it's a model that's almost 400 years old - newspapers began in coffee shops.
www.cbsnews.com/news/village...
A replicable model for other areas in USA? I'm not sure.
But it's a model that's almost 400 years old - newspapers began in coffee shops.
www.cbsnews.com/news/village...
Extra! Extra! In Maine, a cafe helps subsidize a community newspaper
In the Midcoast Maine town of Camden, the Villager Cafe helps support a weekly newspaper, the Midcoast Villager – dishing up sustainable journalism while sustaining the community.
www.cbsnews.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:02 PM
CBS News "Sunday Morning" visits the Villager Cafe - the coffee shop/restaurant that's subsidizing a local Maine newspaper.
A replicable model for other areas in USA? I'm not sure.
But it's a model that's almost 400 years old - newspapers began in coffee shops.
www.cbsnews.com/news/village...
A replicable model for other areas in USA? I'm not sure.
But it's a model that's almost 400 years old - newspapers began in coffee shops.
www.cbsnews.com/news/village...
Where can you read Dominick Dunne's notes on the OJ Simpson trial, and an 1851 letter of consent for two enslaved people to marry?
I wrote about the The Briscoe Center's digitized U.S. history treasures in The Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/the-brisco...
I wrote about the The Briscoe Center's digitized U.S. history treasures in The Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/the-brisco...
The Briscoe Center for American History: Diverse and Fascinating Digital Resources
An amazing array of primary source materials, digitized and publicly available. Photography, Military History, History of Enslaved People, Media History, all in the collection and worth a look.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Where can you read Dominick Dunne's notes on the OJ Simpson trial, and an 1851 letter of consent for two enslaved people to marry?
I wrote about the The Briscoe Center's digitized U.S. history treasures in The Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/the-brisco...
I wrote about the The Briscoe Center's digitized U.S. history treasures in The Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/the-brisco...
Anybody professing surprise at Trump's behavior with Mamdani doesn't understand Trump.
Nothing Trump said yesterday, nor anything he'll say tomorrow, carries any meaning for him.
He exists entirely in the present (as I explained in
@bostonglobe.com in 2016).
web.archive.org/web/20160409...
Nothing Trump said yesterday, nor anything he'll say tomorrow, carries any meaning for him.
He exists entirely in the present (as I explained in
@bostonglobe.com in 2016).
web.archive.org/web/20160409...
Trump is trapped in the moment - The Boston Globe
He disregards the past and promises a future that will never arrive.
web.archive.org
November 21, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Anybody professing surprise at Trump's behavior with Mamdani doesn't understand Trump.
Nothing Trump said yesterday, nor anything he'll say tomorrow, carries any meaning for him.
He exists entirely in the present (as I explained in
@bostonglobe.com in 2016).
web.archive.org/web/20160409...
Nothing Trump said yesterday, nor anything he'll say tomorrow, carries any meaning for him.
He exists entirely in the present (as I explained in
@bostonglobe.com in 2016).
web.archive.org/web/20160409...
Yet another rock musician from my youth is gone - RIP Mani, the bassist of the Stone Roses.
"Second Coming" was an astonishing, indulgent, messy, over-the-top piece of brilliant musical artistry that landed perfectly in 1994.
Then the band broke up.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct-q...
"Second Coming" was an astonishing, indulgent, messy, over-the-top piece of brilliant musical artistry that landed perfectly in 1994.
Then the band broke up.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct-q...
The Stone Roses - Love Spreads
YouTube video by StoneRosesVEVO
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Yet another rock musician from my youth is gone - RIP Mani, the bassist of the Stone Roses.
"Second Coming" was an astonishing, indulgent, messy, over-the-top piece of brilliant musical artistry that landed perfectly in 1994.
Then the band broke up.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct-q...
"Second Coming" was an astonishing, indulgent, messy, over-the-top piece of brilliant musical artistry that landed perfectly in 1994.
Then the band broke up.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct-q...
The same anti-Platner Op-ed appears in competing newspapers in Maine.
They're edited *very* slightly differently, which indicates that the author knew what she was doing [multiple submissions] because she needed to approve both.
Editors should always ask if pitched elsewhere!
They're edited *very* slightly differently, which indicates that the author knew what she was doing [multiple submissions] because she needed to approve both.
Editors should always ask if pitched elsewhere!
November 19, 2025 at 3:37 PM
The same anti-Platner Op-ed appears in competing newspapers in Maine.
They're edited *very* slightly differently, which indicates that the author knew what she was doing [multiple submissions] because she needed to approve both.
Editors should always ask if pitched elsewhere!
They're edited *very* slightly differently, which indicates that the author knew what she was doing [multiple submissions] because she needed to approve both.
Editors should always ask if pitched elsewhere!
How did the New York Times Op-ed editor find conservatives to contibrute to the page... in 1970?
They telephoned William F. Buckley, Jr. for advice (and gossip).
The latest in the Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/essay-idea...
They telephoned William F. Buckley, Jr. for advice (and gossip).
The latest in the Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/essay-idea...
Essay Idea Generation in Real Time: Editor Notes from the Op-Ed Page
How Harrison Salisbury of the New York Times asked around for Op-ed Page ideas... before the enormously popular newspaper feature even existed
linttrapofhistory.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:12 PM
How did the New York Times Op-ed editor find conservatives to contibrute to the page... in 1970?
They telephoned William F. Buckley, Jr. for advice (and gossip).
The latest in the Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/essay-idea...
They telephoned William F. Buckley, Jr. for advice (and gossip).
The latest in the Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/essay-idea...
I hate that when there's a truly bizarre official's call in a sporting contest now, my first thought is: Fix is in.
Legal sports betting is really warping perceptions of sport.
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/11/16/s...
Legal sports betting is really warping perceptions of sport.
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/11/16/s...
Horrendous call mars home opener loss for UMaine
Despite Quinnipiac's strong second half, it was a patently incorrect call by the officials that came to define the end of the game.
www.bangordailynews.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:53 PM
I hate that when there's a truly bizarre official's call in a sporting contest now, my first thought is: Fix is in.
Legal sports betting is really warping perceptions of sport.
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/11/16/s...
Legal sports betting is really warping perceptions of sport.
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/11/16/s...
It's called the Technological Imperative. It's the atmospheric feeling that a technology compels its employment, but it's actually fostered by hucksters + corporations.
They're using it to make you feel AI is inevitable.
I explain in The Lint Trap
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/some-thoug...
They're using it to make you feel AI is inevitable.
I explain in The Lint Trap
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/some-thoug...
Some Thoughts on AI and the Technological Imperative
The machines are here. We already have surgery without surgeons, engineering without engineers, accounting without accountants, and journalism without journalists. Does it need to be this way?
linttrapofhistory.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:35 PM
It's called the Technological Imperative. It's the atmospheric feeling that a technology compels its employment, but it's actually fostered by hucksters + corporations.
They're using it to make you feel AI is inevitable.
I explain in The Lint Trap
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/some-thoug...
They're using it to make you feel AI is inevitable.
I explain in The Lint Trap
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/some-thoug...
New term: “AI-washing”:
"When 'AI' is deployed not so much as a technology functionally capable of replacing human labor... but as a logic and an ideological justification for management’s ulterior goals" [like firing people].
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/what-the-h...
"When 'AI' is deployed not so much as a technology functionally capable of replacing human labor... but as a logic and an ideological justification for management’s ulterior goals" [like firing people].
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/what-the-h...
What’s really going on with AI and jobs?
Record-breaking layoff reports, Amazon's mass firings, and a slump in entry level employment. Is AI behind it all?
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:33 PM
New term: “AI-washing”:
"When 'AI' is deployed not so much as a technology functionally capable of replacing human labor... but as a logic and an ideological justification for management’s ulterior goals" [like firing people].
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/what-the-h...
"When 'AI' is deployed not so much as a technology functionally capable of replacing human labor... but as a logic and an ideological justification for management’s ulterior goals" [like firing people].
www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/what-the-h...
On the one hand, it's amazing the Democrats had access to this Epstein info for 4 years & never used it, and that it all surfaces now w/ Presidency, Senate & House are in Republican possession under Trump's leadership.
On the other hand: It's not that surprising.
Total ineptitude on everyone's part.
On the other hand: It's not that surprising.
Total ineptitude on everyone's part.
November 12, 2025 at 11:47 PM
On the one hand, it's amazing the Democrats had access to this Epstein info for 4 years & never used it, and that it all surfaces now w/ Presidency, Senate & House are in Republican possession under Trump's leadership.
On the other hand: It's not that surprising.
Total ineptitude on everyone's part.
On the other hand: It's not that surprising.
Total ineptitude on everyone's part.
Little-known media history oddity: The Fleischmann's Yeast company started both The New Yorker magazine & the CBS broadcast network... and Theranos?
It's a strange story.
The Latest in The Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/how-fleisc...
It's a strange story.
The Latest in The Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/how-fleisc...
How Fleischmann's Yeast created both CBS and The New Yorker magazine
An odd media history story about big media and yeast, from the 1920s.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Little-known media history oddity: The Fleischmann's Yeast company started both The New Yorker magazine & the CBS broadcast network... and Theranos?
It's a strange story.
The Latest in The Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/how-fleisc...
It's a strange story.
The Latest in The Lint Trap.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/how-fleisc...
I’m going to thread out a story from the last day of World War I, November 11, 1918, that you won’t believe.
But it really did happen. (1/11)
But it really did happen. (1/11)
November 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I’m going to thread out a story from the last day of World War I, November 11, 1918, that you won’t believe.
But it really did happen. (1/11)
But it really did happen. (1/11)
Reposted by Michael Socolow
My piece for @the-independent.com on the BBC crisis
The BBC has crisis in its bones – but this feels much darker
From Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher, the BBC’s entire history has been a story of one crisis after another. But after this week’s double resignation, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that ‘go...
www.independent.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 2:04 PM
My piece for @the-independent.com on the BBC crisis
"Universality is essential to the Web: it looses its power if there are...things to which you can’t link."
[email protected], "Realising the Full Potential of the Web" (1997)
Good daveweigel.bsky.social TPM post on how link removal made X a lot more stupid.
talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/how-e...
[email protected], "Realising the Full Potential of the Web" (1997)
Good daveweigel.bsky.social TPM post on how link removal made X a lot more stupid.
talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/how-e...
How Elon Musk’s Changes to X Made Our Discourse Far Stupider
We don’t know the minute when X started throttling links to news,...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:44 PM
"Universality is essential to the Web: it looses its power if there are...things to which you can’t link."
[email protected], "Realising the Full Potential of the Web" (1997)
Good daveweigel.bsky.social TPM post on how link removal made X a lot more stupid.
talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/how-e...
[email protected], "Realising the Full Potential of the Web" (1997)
Good daveweigel.bsky.social TPM post on how link removal made X a lot more stupid.
talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/how-e...
“Britain and Western Europe are not interested in the unification of Germany. The words written in the NATO communique may sound different, but disregard them."
-Margaret Thatcher to Mikhail Gorbachev, September 23, 1989.
47 days later: Berlin Wall fell
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/a-digital-...
-Margaret Thatcher to Mikhail Gorbachev, September 23, 1989.
47 days later: Berlin Wall fell
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/a-digital-...
November 9, 2025 at 2:46 PM
“Britain and Western Europe are not interested in the unification of Germany. The words written in the NATO communique may sound different, but disregard them."
-Margaret Thatcher to Mikhail Gorbachev, September 23, 1989.
47 days later: Berlin Wall fell
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/a-digital-...
-Margaret Thatcher to Mikhail Gorbachev, September 23, 1989.
47 days later: Berlin Wall fell
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/a-digital-...
In 1951, Edward R. Murrow had an idea to use succinct and memorable 3-minute radio essays, about belief, to heal a polarized nation in a tense political era.
"We do not wish dogma, editorializing, lecturing to the listeners or selling a hobby...”
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/this-i-bel...
"We do not wish dogma, editorializing, lecturing to the listeners or selling a hobby...”
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/this-i-bel...
"This I Believe": Radio Broadcasts to Heal a Polarized Nation (... in 1951)
The radio program originated by Edward R. Murrow featured famous public figures and respected intellectuals "We do not wish dogma, editorializing, lecturing to the listeners," Murrow instructed.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:44 PM
In 1951, Edward R. Murrow had an idea to use succinct and memorable 3-minute radio essays, about belief, to heal a polarized nation in a tense political era.
"We do not wish dogma, editorializing, lecturing to the listeners or selling a hobby...”
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/this-i-bel...
"We do not wish dogma, editorializing, lecturing to the listeners or selling a hobby...”
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/this-i-bel...
Somewhere, John Peter Zenger's chuckling about the Sandwich guy's acquittal.
It's an All-American outcome.
A nice thing about the U.S.A.: Sometimes the law can be defined by just 12 regular folks... not the President, nor Congress.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcn...
It's an All-American outcome.
A nice thing about the U.S.A.: Sometimes the law can be defined by just 12 regular folks... not the President, nor Congress.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcn...
Jury acquits D.C. 'sandwich guy' charged with chucking a sub at a federal agent
Sean Dunn faced a single misdemeanor after federal grand jurors refused to indict him on the felony charge sought by prosecutors.
www.nbcnews.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Somewhere, John Peter Zenger's chuckling about the Sandwich guy's acquittal.
It's an All-American outcome.
A nice thing about the U.S.A.: Sometimes the law can be defined by just 12 regular folks... not the President, nor Congress.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcn...
It's an All-American outcome.
A nice thing about the U.S.A.: Sometimes the law can be defined by just 12 regular folks... not the President, nor Congress.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcn...
Rep. Jared Golden's career arc in 15 months, in two Bangor Daily News Op-eds.
I wonder if he regrets his Op-ed saying "Democracy will be just fine" if Donald Trump won the 2024 election?
He's apparently quitting now because democracy isn't "just fine" (polarization, violence).
I wonder if he regrets his Op-ed saying "Democracy will be just fine" if Donald Trump won the 2024 election?
He's apparently quitting now because democracy isn't "just fine" (polarization, violence).
November 5, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Rep. Jared Golden's career arc in 15 months, in two Bangor Daily News Op-eds.
I wonder if he regrets his Op-ed saying "Democracy will be just fine" if Donald Trump won the 2024 election?
He's apparently quitting now because democracy isn't "just fine" (polarization, violence).
I wonder if he regrets his Op-ed saying "Democracy will be just fine" if Donald Trump won the 2024 election?
He's apparently quitting now because democracy isn't "just fine" (polarization, violence).
Big news up here: Incumbent Democrat Jared Golden is dropping out of the election for Maine Congressional District 2 (CD-2).
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/11/05/o...
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/11/05/o...
Jared Golden: I won’t seek reelection. Here’s why.
"What I could accomplish in this increasingly unproductive Congress pales in comparison to what I could do in that time as a husband, a father and a son."
www.bangordailynews.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Big news up here: Incumbent Democrat Jared Golden is dropping out of the election for Maine Congressional District 2 (CD-2).
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/11/05/o...
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/11/05/o...
How I discovered Dick Cheney [like many of us] used to pilfer hotel soaps.
The latest in the Lint Trap, with a hat tip to The Smoking Gun website.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/dick-chene...
The latest in the Lint Trap, with a hat tip to The Smoking Gun website.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/dick-chene...
Dick Cheney's "Backstage Rider"
From an old favorite website, The Smoking Gun, a peek inside the required preparations for when Vice President Dick Cheney visited your hotel.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:36 PM
How I discovered Dick Cheney [like many of us] used to pilfer hotel soaps.
The latest in the Lint Trap, with a hat tip to The Smoking Gun website.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/dick-chene...
The latest in the Lint Trap, with a hat tip to The Smoking Gun website.
linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/dick-chene...
I think too many people are dismissing Marjorie Taylor Greene's appearance on "The View" as a joke or oddball curiosity, largely because it's "daytime" (read: women's) programming.
Yet it's a pretty good model of civil interchange and dialogue unavailable elsewhere in 2025.
Yet it's a pretty good model of civil interchange and dialogue unavailable elsewhere in 2025.
November 4, 2025 at 11:48 PM
I think too many people are dismissing Marjorie Taylor Greene's appearance on "The View" as a joke or oddball curiosity, largely because it's "daytime" (read: women's) programming.
Yet it's a pretty good model of civil interchange and dialogue unavailable elsewhere in 2025.
Yet it's a pretty good model of civil interchange and dialogue unavailable elsewhere in 2025.