People debate whether or not there’s a great millenial novel, but how can there be one when so many classics begin with a character haphazardly buying a new house in a new town for “reasons” and “just because”

Book people: the following small presses have just lost funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Please consider supporting them!

A Thread.

One of the things that led us to this shitty political moment is the obsession with intent.

I wrote for @baltimorebeat.bsky.social about how the government’s entire case against Abrego Garcia rests on the assertion of a disgraced cop who could not even testify in state court and was suspended 5 days after encounter with Abrego Garcia. baltimorebeat.com/governments-...

“Last year, the arts and culture sector contributed "a whopping $1.102 trillion" to the country's Gross Domestic Product, more, in fact, than the transportation and agricultural industries…So, again, why is the industry under attack?”

jeraldcrook.substack.com/p/this-isnt-...

FORTY remain active. Almost FIFTEEN HUNDRED canceled.

Issue 59 of Baltimore Beat is live. April 19 will mark 10 years since Freddie Gray’s death. This issue looks back on that tumultuous time in our city’s history. Our cover was designed by Wide Angle Youth Media.

my hot take is that if you lost your job to government cuts, you’re allowed to complain about losing your livelihood, full stop, no qualifiers about “and even more, the important work.”

One of the reasons @baltimorebeat.bsky.social is so essential is because it provides features like the multi-page list of community resources for food, rent, health, etc. Critical community information you won’t routinely see in other media outlets serving the City.

The "Book Résumés" initiative from @uabookbans.bsky.social, @slj.com, and publishing partners is a powerful tool to combat censorship.

This free resource includes reviews, accolades, and more info on frequently-challenged books. New titles added regularly! buff.ly/dr3btyt

Children’s shoes are lined up on the street in Washington, DC, representing the 17,400+ Palestinian children killed by Israel

This is just to say friends, if you have a space or platform to talk about NEH, IMLS, and other such agency cuts, my job is subject to them and as of yet I have no gag order

Happy Friday

I’ve worked on something close to 60 grants in various capacities as a Library of Congress task force director. And if we lose NEH that pretty much ends most research and preservation infrastructure, with no backup plan.

How are artists/art workers/museums/galleries mobilizing against Trump? My DMs are open for tips about shows, guerrilla actions, performances, posters, billboards, letters, boycotts, you name it — for a story. Pls share.

Its no secret we as a society place too little monetary value on the humanities. And yet, these spaces and activities persist. They give colour to the places we call home. Make it a place worth living. So yes, these agencies — NEH, NEA, IMLS, is a lifeline in many ways /3

dont just go to professors to do a study.

They keep local museum tickets $10 instead of $50, they pay that kooky neighborhood walking tour, they support that summer music festival.

Its cutting off the reservoir at the head of a very long spout that ends up right in your community. /2

During COVID everyone realized the med industry had its limits, and how agencies like the CDC and NIH or government injection of funds were vital to incentivize pharma and expand public health and…survive.

The NEH is that also. We don’t survive without culture and history, and these grants… /1

I just wrote to all of my congressional representatives to plead them to support the NEH, for everyone, for public history, for scholarship, for teaching, for all of it. I used this widget: very easy, it has a template, and automatically looks up the emails of your representatives. p2a.co/DdtlGIT

Save the NEH, my job, and the jobs of thousands of culture workers who are supported by NEH funds and programming.

This link takes you to a SUPER simple form to email all of your reps.

It took me 15 seconds and I got email replies from my congressman and both senators.

p2a.co/DdtlGIT

What the defunding happening at the National Endowment for the Humanities means—for individual grantees and state humanities councils & their grantees (by Jennifer Schuessler at NYT) tl;dr It’s really bad!!

3/3 FDLP is indexed for full-text search, unlike the regular Wayback Machine. Pages look more like a facsimile than the regular Wayback. Includes full video.

Archive-It link for:
The National Endowment for the Humanities
Federal Depository Library Program Web Archive
archive-it.org/collections/...

hearing that state book festivals funded by National Endowment Humanities are being shuttered — so, no Southern Festival of Books this year...

the Kentucky Book Festival is still on, as its funding comes from sponsors & donors, but the Kentucky Humanities Council is readjusting its budget.