Ryan Benk
@ryanbenk.bsky.social
Producer/reporter for NPR's Weekend Edition. Horror, punk, pop-punk or anything by Sturgill Simpson. Lift heavy things. Cats are rad. SAGAFTRA. DC is a real place.
https://www.npr.org/people/942414025/ryan-benk
https://www.npr.org/people/942414025/ryan-benk
Pinned
Ryan Benk
@ryanbenk.bsky.social
· Dec 13
Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason reflects on 50 years of 'Wish You Were Here'
NPR's Rob Schmitz speaks with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason about the band's epic album "Wish You Were Here" as it's reissued 50 years after its release.
www.npr.org
50 years after the release of Pink Floyd's WISH YOU WERE HERE, drummer Nick Mason is still a bit shocked by its resonance.
"I left college to spend a year in a band. How was I to know that 50 years later I'd still be in that band?"
He spoke w/ @robschmitz.bsky.social
www.npr.org/2025/12/13/n...
"I left college to spend a year in a band. How was I to know that 50 years later I'd still be in that band?"
He spoke w/ @robschmitz.bsky.social
www.npr.org/2025/12/13/n...
Reposted by Ryan Benk
Is your family affected by the Trump administration’s travel ban or recent decision to pause immigrant visa processing for 75 countries?
We want to hear from you as part of our reporting on this topic: https://bit.ly/49EMfzt
We want to hear from you as part of our reporting on this topic: https://bit.ly/49EMfzt
January 20, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Is your family affected by the Trump administration’s travel ban or recent decision to pause immigrant visa processing for 75 countries?
We want to hear from you as part of our reporting on this topic: https://bit.ly/49EMfzt
We want to hear from you as part of our reporting on this topic: https://bit.ly/49EMfzt
"appears" is quite a choice when you can literally see it. In the same post
A video in Minneapolis appears to show a federal agent kneeing a man in the face while he is being arrested.
January 17, 2026 at 1:49 PM
"appears" is quite a choice when you can literally see it. In the same post
Reposted by Ryan Benk
"I don't think this show could have been made in the U.S.," François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter, told CBS Mornings.
www.jezebel.com/shane-and-il...
www.jezebel.com/shane-and-il...
Shane and Ilya Wouldn't Have Kissed Until Episode FIVE If It Were Up to U.S. Streamers
"I don't think this show could have been made in the U.S.," François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter, told CBS Mornings.
www.jezebel.com
January 14, 2026 at 8:50 PM
"I don't think this show could have been made in the U.S.," François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter, told CBS Mornings.
www.jezebel.com/shane-and-il...
www.jezebel.com/shane-and-il...
Reposted by Ryan Benk
The Washington Post Guild is alarmed and appalled by federal law enforcement’s search and seizure of reporter Hannah Natanson’s property and personal devices. Hannah is a valued member of our union whose work covering the federal workforce has been essential (1/3)
January 14, 2026 at 5:52 PM
The Washington Post Guild is alarmed and appalled by federal law enforcement’s search and seizure of reporter Hannah Natanson’s property and personal devices. Hannah is a valued member of our union whose work covering the federal workforce has been essential (1/3)
Reposted by Ryan Benk
I LOVED editing this @theflytrapmedia.com piece by Justin A. Davis about Kendrick Lamar’s “squabble up” video and Black interior design as a space for radical imagination and pushback against displacement.
These are the kinds of pop culture analyses I most enjoy reading, editing, and publishing.
These are the kinds of pop culture analyses I most enjoy reading, editing, and publishing.
What Black Homes Remember
From plastic-covered couches to Black Jesus portraits, Black interior design preserves history amid rampant displacement.
www.theflytrapmedia.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:56 PM
I LOVED editing this @theflytrapmedia.com piece by Justin A. Davis about Kendrick Lamar’s “squabble up” video and Black interior design as a space for radical imagination and pushback against displacement.
These are the kinds of pop culture analyses I most enjoy reading, editing, and publishing.
These are the kinds of pop culture analyses I most enjoy reading, editing, and publishing.
Reposted by Ryan Benk
Condé Nast forgot to renew the trademark for Gourmet and so a group of journalists grabbed it and are relaunching the food magazine as a worker-owned co-op. Love it. [gourmetmagazine.net]
Gourmet Magazine
Gourmet is a worker-owned publication about food and the people who make and consume it.
gourmetmagazine.net
January 13, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Condé Nast forgot to renew the trademark for Gourmet and so a group of journalists grabbed it and are relaunching the food magazine as a worker-owned co-op. Love it. [gourmetmagazine.net]
The most unhinged story I've read in a long long time. Jfc
January 12, 2026 at 12:57 PM
The most unhinged story I've read in a long long time. Jfc
Same
And I used to work on Up First, so I am EXTRA bitter
NGL, pretty bitter about the fact that, with the exception of Up First, all of the #GoldenGlobes podcast nominees (and the winner) are celebrity-hosted talk shows. Not narrative or investigative podcasts nominated. Nothing that takes actual production or uses the medium in interesting ways.
January 12, 2026 at 3:48 AM
Same
Reposted by Ryan Benk
I see I went to the gym during Tren cough hour
January 11, 2026 at 8:55 PM
I see I went to the gym during Tren cough hour
Reposted by Ryan Benk
As of 1/8, The Trace has identified 15 incidents in which immigration agents shot someone & another 15 in which agents held someone at gunpoint since the crackdown began. Renee Good was one of four people who have been killed. Another five people have been injured.
www.thetrace.org/2025/12/immi...
www.thetrace.org/2025/12/immi...
How Many People Have Been Shot in ICE Raids?
The Trace is tracking gun incidents connected to Trump’s immigration crackdown. Know of one? Please be in touch.
www.thetrace.org
January 11, 2026 at 8:49 PM
As of 1/8, The Trace has identified 15 incidents in which immigration agents shot someone & another 15 in which agents held someone at gunpoint since the crackdown began. Renee Good was one of four people who have been killed. Another five people have been injured.
www.thetrace.org/2025/12/immi...
www.thetrace.org/2025/12/immi...
Reposted by Ryan Benk
"To our major newsrooms, the truth of the matter is a jump ball."
Read @froomkin.bsky.social on the "both sides" bias at the top.
No paywall. presswatchers.org/2026/01/why-...
Read @froomkin.bsky.social on the "both sides" bias at the top.
No paywall. presswatchers.org/2026/01/why-...
January 11, 2026 at 1:09 AM
"To our major newsrooms, the truth of the matter is a jump ball."
Read @froomkin.bsky.social on the "both sides" bias at the top.
No paywall. presswatchers.org/2026/01/why-...
Read @froomkin.bsky.social on the "both sides" bias at the top.
No paywall. presswatchers.org/2026/01/why-...
Reposted by Ryan Benk
lord, give me the strength to not argue at people who basically agree with me
January 7, 2026 at 7:02 PM
lord, give me the strength to not argue at people who basically agree with me
One of my favorite books and one of my favorite interviews to write and produce
This is good…like really good…like good grief! @danielkraus.com 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
January 9, 2026 at 8:36 PM
One of my favorite books and one of my favorite interviews to write and produce
Reposted by Ryan Benk
Here’s how you framed a gain of 266,000 jobs in April 2021 under Biden:
-“Job Gains Disappoint”
-“showed only 266,000 new jobs added in April”
🙄🙄🙄
-“Job Gains Disappoint”
-“showed only 266,000 new jobs added in April”
🙄🙄🙄
January 9, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Here’s how you framed a gain of 266,000 jobs in April 2021 under Biden:
-“Job Gains Disappoint”
-“showed only 266,000 new jobs added in April”
🙄🙄🙄
-“Job Gains Disappoint”
-“showed only 266,000 new jobs added in April”
🙄🙄🙄
Reposted by Ryan Benk
"It’s a flimsy series of contrivances to get a shockingly realistic ape to rip the faces off of stupid human beings in increasingly creative ways. What more do you want, really?” writes @clintworthing.bsky.social about the lean, mean, and chimpanzee-n, PRIMATE.
Primate review: Chimp horror offers gnarly, primal thrills
Lean, mean, and chimpanzee-n.
www.rogerebert.com
January 9, 2026 at 5:28 PM
"It’s a flimsy series of contrivances to get a shockingly realistic ape to rip the faces off of stupid human beings in increasingly creative ways. What more do you want, really?” writes @clintworthing.bsky.social about the lean, mean, and chimpanzee-n, PRIMATE.
Not to sincere-post on here, but man, this kind of stuff fills me with such warmth. The exchange of cultures, the sincerity, the curiosity and the joy -- that's what this whole thing is supposed to be about.
Best TikTok thing going is the two dudes trying food from every country without leaving NYC. If you haven’t seen them yet, it’s incredible. My favorite so far is last week’s. Legit got me emotional.
January 9, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Not to sincere-post on here, but man, this kind of stuff fills me with such warmth. The exchange of cultures, the sincerity, the curiosity and the joy -- that's what this whole thing is supposed to be about.
Reposted by Ryan Benk
Right on time, I made a list of songs for 2025 and wrote a little about it for my newsletter, it's the Dad Rock Top 10. www.anxietyshark.ca/2025-in-dad-...
2025 in Dad Rock
I am perfectly on time with this, which is to say I am late.
www.anxietyshark.ca
January 9, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Right on time, I made a list of songs for 2025 and wrote a little about it for my newsletter, it's the Dad Rock Top 10. www.anxietyshark.ca/2025-in-dad-...
Reposted by Ryan Benk
"Focus groups were then asked whether there was anything you could do now to change the outcome. At this point, participants paused. Some tilted their heads. One person laughed, then apologized for laughing. The consensus response was, 'I mean… you could, but you probably won’t.'"
The Best Time to Get Your Life Together Was Five Years Ago, According to Everyone Who Knows You
A comprehensive new survey has concluded that the ideal moment for you to have gotten your life together was roughly five years ago. Not now, not n...
buff.ly
January 9, 2026 at 2:02 PM
"Focus groups were then asked whether there was anything you could do now to change the outcome. At this point, participants paused. Some tilted their heads. One person laughed, then apologized for laughing. The consensus response was, 'I mean… you could, but you probably won’t.'"
Reposted by Ryan Benk
After Minneapolis, now the ICE shooting on Christmas Eve in Maryland is getting some scrutiny from local police: “…county police confirmed The Banner’s reporting that the second person injured in the encounter was already in ICE custody, in one of the agency’s vehicles, when he was hurt.”
Anne Arundel County Police dispute ICE’s account of Glen Burnie shooting
A deadly shooting by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis on Wednesday renewed scrutiny of a violent Christmas Eve incident involving ICE agents in Glen Burnie, with Anne Arundel County ...
www.thebanner.com
January 9, 2026 at 1:46 PM
After Minneapolis, now the ICE shooting on Christmas Eve in Maryland is getting some scrutiny from local police: “…county police confirmed The Banner’s reporting that the second person injured in the encounter was already in ICE custody, in one of the agency’s vehicles, when he was hurt.”
Smells like someone bathed in cigarette smoke on the green line this morning. Happy Friday!
January 9, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Smells like someone bathed in cigarette smoke on the green line this morning. Happy Friday!
Reposted by Ryan Benk
Maxim Naumov, a member of the Skating Club of Boston, returned to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Thursday, where his parents last watched him compete. Less than a year ago, they died in a plane crash over the icy Potomac River. His goal is to make the Olympic team.
Maxim Naumov's emotional return to U.S. Figure Skating Championships after parents' tragic death
Maxim Naumov, a member of the Skating Club of Boston, returned to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Thursday, where his parents last watched him compete. Less than a year ago, they died in a plane...
www.wbur.org
January 9, 2026 at 1:08 PM
Maxim Naumov, a member of the Skating Club of Boston, returned to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Thursday, where his parents last watched him compete. Less than a year ago, they died in a plane crash over the icy Potomac River. His goal is to make the Olympic team.
Reposted by Ryan Benk
NEW: Jonathan Ross is former National Guard and Border Patrol and has been part of ICE's SWAT equivalent, a team leader overseeing FBI, ATF, and IRS agents, and a firearms instructor, according to testimony obtained by WIRED. This is from @hudsongiles.bsky.social and me:
ICE Agent Who Reportedly Shot Renee Good Was a Firearms Trainer, Per Testimony
Jonathan Ross told a federal court in December about his professional background, including “hundreds” of encounters with drivers during enforcement actions, according to testimony obtained by WIRED.
www.wired.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:23 AM
NEW: Jonathan Ross is former National Guard and Border Patrol and has been part of ICE's SWAT equivalent, a team leader overseeing FBI, ATF, and IRS agents, and a firearms instructor, according to testimony obtained by WIRED. This is from @hudsongiles.bsky.social and me:
Reposted by Ryan Benk
