Sam Adams
@samadams.bsky.social
Culture writer at Slate, published in LA Times, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Variety, THR, and points south. Member: New York Film Critics Circle, National Society of Film Critics, WGA East
Pinned
Sam Adams
@samadams.bsky.social
· Dec 23
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the posts of our lives. Here are the ones I'm proudest of from this absolute monster of a year:
Reposted by Sam Adams
I wrote about Colbert, Carr, and why banning a late-night interview might be a win for both sides.
Stephen Colbert Just Gave the FCC a Free Lesson About the Streisand Effect
CBS and the FCC are once again trying to control the Late Show host. So far, it's backfiring spectacularly.
slate.com
February 18, 2026 at 10:53 PM
I wrote about Colbert, Carr, and why banning a late-night interview might be a win for both sides.
Middlebrow culture was aspirational, and aspirations are good.
One thing I'm getting from rooting around in early postwar periodicals is that middlebrow culture was good, actually and we're impoverished for its demise.
February 19, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Middlebrow culture was aspirational, and aspirations are good.
I mean, if one of those guys wanted to geek out about Bernini, at least we'd have something to talk about
The decline of right wing cultural production is just due to the fact that they don’t like culture, they like the signifiers of culture, ie “classic sculpture means white people are better.” They don’t like art at all except for this purpose. They don’t even like the nerd stuff they whine about
February 18, 2026 at 11:25 PM
I mean, if one of those guys wanted to geek out about Bernini, at least we'd have something to talk about
What if they go to a movie in the second movie
Y’know when the characters in a movie go to see a movie and it feels really meta? Well, with an “Ultimate Double Feature,” we play the first movie up until the point when they enter a cinema to watch a different film… then we play that film… then we go back to the first film to finish that story.
February 18, 2026 at 11:10 PM
What if they go to a movie in the second movie
I wrote about Colbert, Carr, and why banning a late-night interview might be a win for both sides.
Stephen Colbert Just Gave the FCC a Free Lesson About the Streisand Effect
CBS and the FCC are once again trying to control the Late Show host. So far, it's backfiring spectacularly.
slate.com
February 18, 2026 at 10:53 PM
I wrote about Colbert, Carr, and why banning a late-night interview might be a win for both sides.
so many insane responses to this, but the most insane are the people who seem to believe it's impossible to clean yourself with bar soap, like not stinking was invented in the 2010s
“You can keep your body washes with their magnesium or their tea tree oil, their exfoliants and emollients. I’m a bar-soap user. It’s how I smell. It’s who I am.” slate.com/life/2026/02...
February 18, 2026 at 9:14 PM
so many insane responses to this, but the most insane are the people who seem to believe it's impossible to clean yourself with bar soap, like not stinking was invented in the 2010s
Reposted by Sam Adams
Frederick Wiseman changed the way we see the world.
From the classrooms of High School to the corridors of Hospital, he turned his camera on the institutions that shape us — inviting us to look closer, sit longer & confront truth with empathy.
May his memory be a blessing.
February 18, 2026 at 3:31 AM
Frederick Wiseman changed the way we see the world.
From the classrooms of High School to the corridors of Hospital, he turned his camera on the institutions that shape us — inviting us to look closer, sit longer & confront truth with empathy.
May his memory be a blessing.
Reposted by Sam Adams
Elon posted this yesterday. Just for fun I did it with my before/after cancer PET scans that I had already posted online. In the "before" scan Grok missed the massive tumor lighting up my liver, and in both scans it flagged a non-existent "area of concern" in my chest. Other than that, works great!
February 18, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Elon posted this yesterday. Just for fun I did it with my before/after cancer PET scans that I had already posted online. In the "before" scan Grok missed the massive tumor lighting up my liver, and in both scans it flagged a non-existent "area of concern" in my chest. Other than that, works great!
Reposted by Sam Adams
Wishing a meaningful & reflective Mark Wahlberg 40 Day Challenge to all who observe.
February 18, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Wishing a meaningful & reflective Mark Wahlberg 40 Day Challenge to all who observe.
Reposted by Sam Adams
Robert Polito on Jim Thompson www.loa.org/news-and-vie...
Dime Stores & Bus Stations: Robert Polito on the Savage Art of Jim Thompson - Library of America
Jim Thompson lived hard and wrote with rawness, intensity, and a diabolical zeal for experimentation. His noirs—charged with psychological complexity, gut-wrenching twists, and lurid detail—leaped off...
www.loa.org
February 18, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Robert Polito on Jim Thompson www.loa.org/news-and-vie...
Reposted by Sam Adams
of course I don’t hate technology, I love modern plumbing, love not having to shit in a hole in the ground. big fan of the stove! but when our stove exploded last year and nearly killed us, no one was like “why do you hate technology” because I said a bunch of curse words about it
February 18, 2026 at 1:50 PM
of course I don’t hate technology, I love modern plumbing, love not having to shit in a hole in the ground. big fan of the stove! but when our stove exploded last year and nearly killed us, no one was like “why do you hate technology” because I said a bunch of curse words about it
Reposted by Sam Adams
“Is there a technology the left is excited about?”
High-speed rail! MRNA vaccines! New cancer treatments! Solar and wind energy collection! Better and longer-range EVs! That wood that's harder than steel! New apples! Fibermaxxing! Buldak Swicy ramen! Muppets! Muppets are too a technology, shut up!
High-speed rail! MRNA vaccines! New cancer treatments! Solar and wind energy collection! Better and longer-range EVs! That wood that's harder than steel! New apples! Fibermaxxing! Buldak Swicy ramen! Muppets! Muppets are too a technology, shut up!
February 18, 2026 at 1:40 PM
“Is there a technology the left is excited about?”
High-speed rail! MRNA vaccines! New cancer treatments! Solar and wind energy collection! Better and longer-range EVs! That wood that's harder than steel! New apples! Fibermaxxing! Buldak Swicy ramen! Muppets! Muppets are too a technology, shut up!
High-speed rail! MRNA vaccines! New cancer treatments! Solar and wind energy collection! Better and longer-range EVs! That wood that's harder than steel! New apples! Fibermaxxing! Buldak Swicy ramen! Muppets! Muppets are too a technology, shut up!
Reposted by Sam Adams
It’s a fascistic, pernicious question and everyone should know the constitutional answer is no.
BARTIROMO: Could the president just implement an executive order to get the SAVE Act across the finish line going into the midterms?
REP. MARK HARRIS: That's a great question. I don't know the answer to that, quite frankly.
REP. MARK HARRIS: That's a great question. I don't know the answer to that, quite frankly.
February 18, 2026 at 1:43 PM
It’s a fascistic, pernicious question and everyone should know the constitutional answer is no.
“Is there a technology the left is excited about?”
I just bought a new toaster oven and air fryer because it seems like it will be fun to play with and does something that might make my life a little more enjoyable.
When LLMs seem as useful as a toaster oven, I’m in.
I just bought a new toaster oven and air fryer because it seems like it will be fun to play with and does something that might make my life a little more enjoyable.
When LLMs seem as useful as a toaster oven, I’m in.
February 18, 2026 at 1:31 PM
“Is there a technology the left is excited about?”
I just bought a new toaster oven and air fryer because it seems like it will be fun to play with and does something that might make my life a little more enjoyable.
When LLMs seem as useful as a toaster oven, I’m in.
I just bought a new toaster oven and air fryer because it seems like it will be fun to play with and does something that might make my life a little more enjoyable.
When LLMs seem as useful as a toaster oven, I’m in.
Reposted by Sam Adams
RIP Tom Noonan, a friend for 18 years. Often typecast as villains, he was an actor's actor, a unique playwright & filmmaker, a gifted composer, and a pianist with a sweet voice. My kids & I used to go to his tiny apartment for dinner (pizza). We'd have a few drinks & he'd start to play. Magic.
February 18, 2026 at 5:31 AM
RIP Tom Noonan, a friend for 18 years. Often typecast as villains, he was an actor's actor, a unique playwright & filmmaker, a gifted composer, and a pianist with a sweet voice. My kids & I used to go to his tiny apartment for dinner (pizza). We'd have a few drinks & he'd start to play. Magic.
I swear to god if shirtless RFK comes across my feed one more time …
February 18, 2026 at 12:58 AM
I swear to god if shirtless RFK comes across my feed one more time …
Reposted by Sam Adams
I wrote about Frederick Wiseman, for whom most superlatives don't go far enough, and the most important thing he did that wasn't making movies.
America Just Lost Another of Its Great Institutions. This One Was a Filmmaker.
Frederick Wiseman leaves behind a body of work as massive as all the institutions he chronicled.
slate.com
February 17, 2026 at 9:58 PM
I wrote about Frederick Wiseman, for whom most superlatives don't go far enough, and the most important thing he did that wasn't making movies.
God bless journalism.
Why Philly has so many chicken bones lying around
A reader asked through Curious Philly about the discarded drums and flats found on the Philly streets.
share.inquirer.com
February 17, 2026 at 11:42 PM
God bless journalism.
not that I expect James Dolan to grow a soul at this late date, but one great way to commemorate the death of Frederick Wiseman would be to withdraw the legal threats and finally let them release the movie about Madison Square Garden Wiseman shot in 1998
February 17, 2026 at 10:33 PM
not that I expect James Dolan to grow a soul at this late date, but one great way to commemorate the death of Frederick Wiseman would be to withdraw the legal threats and finally let them release the movie about Madison Square Garden Wiseman shot in 1998
serious (if not unbiased) question: Can you name an artist, in any medium, with a body of work equivalent Frederick Wiseman's? 47 films over nearly 60 years, some of the best right at the end, a cumulative portrait of staggering breadth and insight. In movies? Only Scorsese comes close.
February 17, 2026 at 10:28 PM
serious (if not unbiased) question: Can you name an artist, in any medium, with a body of work equivalent Frederick Wiseman's? 47 films over nearly 60 years, some of the best right at the end, a cumulative portrait of staggering breadth and insight. In movies? Only Scorsese comes close.
I wrote about Frederick Wiseman, for whom most superlatives don't go far enough, and the most important thing he did that wasn't making movies.
America Just Lost Another of Its Great Institutions. This One Was a Filmmaker.
Frederick Wiseman leaves behind a body of work as massive as all the institutions he chronicled.
slate.com
February 17, 2026 at 9:58 PM
I wrote about Frederick Wiseman, for whom most superlatives don't go far enough, and the most important thing he did that wasn't making movies.
taking a little trip reception-history jaunt through Frederick Wiseman's career; this is what the NYT's TV critic had to say about The Store in 1983: www.nytimes.com/1983/12/14/m...
February 17, 2026 at 8:51 PM
taking a little trip reception-history jaunt through Frederick Wiseman's career; this is what the NYT's TV critic had to say about The Store in 1983: www.nytimes.com/1983/12/14/m...
the people still mad about Scorsese for criticizing Marvel are going to have a real tough time with him voicing an alien in a Star Wars movie
February 17, 2026 at 4:18 PM
the people still mad about Scorsese for criticizing Marvel are going to have a real tough time with him voicing an alien in a Star Wars movie
Better yet, you can order one copy now, forget about it, and then accidentally order another.
You know, if you preordered my new book right now, you'll forget you did it by the time the book comes out in June, and then it will be like you bought yourself a surprise present! What could be better????
www.bloomsbury.com/us/perfect-m...
www.bloomsbury.com/us/perfect-m...
The Perfect Moment
The prize-winning author of The Method reveals the forgotten origins of America's culture wars-a story of late 20th century art vs. censorship, brimming with in…
www.bloomsbury.com
February 17, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Better yet, you can order one copy now, forget about it, and then accidentally order another.
Reposted by Sam Adams
Yes, we will take our once in a generation satirist with the world’s strongest case of senioritis and challenge him to an internet duel is remarkable thinking, CBS.
February 17, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Yes, we will take our once in a generation satirist with the world’s strongest case of senioritis and challenge him to an internet duel is remarkable thinking, CBS.