Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

J.D. Porter @jdporter.bsky.social · 14d

It’s so clear he didn’t write this: the fanfic cadence, coherent narrative, diverse (for him) vocab, topical focus, quotations, a sense of other people’s experience, the notion that he spoke to Melania. These Potemkin ramblings show that even his old delights (griping online) are beyond him now.

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 14d

“A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not one, not two, but three very sinister events! First, the escalator going up to the Main Speaking Floor came to a screeching halt…”

Trump: A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not one, not two, but three very sinister events! First, the escalator going up to the Main Speaking Floor came to a screeching halt. It stopped on a dime. It's amazing that Melania and I didn't fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first. It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster. This was absolutely sabotage, as noted by a day's earlier
"post" in The London Times that said UN workers
"joked about turning off an escalator." The people that did it should be arrested! Then, as I stood before a Television crowd of millions of people all over the World, and important Leaders in the Hall, my teleprompter didn't work. It was stone cold dark. I immediately thought to myself, "Wow, first the escalator event, and now a bad teleprompter. What kind of a place is this?" I then proceeded to make a Speech without a teleprompter, which kicked in about 15 minutes later. The good news is the Speech has gotten fantastic reviews. Maybe they appreciated the fact that very few people could have done what I

fact that very few people could have done what I did. And third, after making the Speech, I was told that the sound was completely off in the Auditorium where the Speech was made, that World Leaders, unless they used the interpreters' earpieces, couldn't hear a thing. The first person I saw at the conclusion of the Speech was Melania, who was sitting right up front. I said,
"How did I do?" And she said, "I couldn't hear a word you said." This wasn't a coincidence, this was triple sabotage at the UN. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. I'm sending a copy of this letter to the Secretary General, and I demand an immediate investigation. No wonder the United Nations hasn't been able to do the job that they were put in existence to do. All security tapes at the escalator should be saved, especially the emergency stop button. The Secret Service is involved. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
4 ReTruths 13 Likes
9/24/25, 2:46 PM

1 1

J.D. Porter @jdporter.bsky.social · 29d

If eating road kill were just a little more dangerous, I wouldn't have COVID right now.

2

J.D. Porter @jdporter.bsky.social · Aug 22

Really excited to see this piece come out! Studying eclectic readers has been a fascinating and extremely rewarding challenge. We wound up operationalizing both genre and eclecticism in ways that (classic DH stuff here) point to the limits of both concepts.

culturalanalytics.org/article/1429...

The Eclectic Reader | Published in Journal of Cultural Analytics

By James English, J. D. Porter. Using Goodreads data, this study explores the overlooked eclecticism of readers, revealing both patterns of cultural hierarchy and the conceptual limits of eclecticism ...

culturalanalytics.org

2 5

J.D. Porter @jdporter.bsky.social · Jul 28

These were the best donuts in the world, and really good kolaches, too. Now we're a year from them being as bad as Krispy Kreme, <5 years until they're gone entirely.

Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · Jul 28

literally devastating

www.khou.com/article/news...

Beloved Texas doughnut chain sold to California equity firm

After years of growth, this Texas favorite is entering a new era.

www.khou.com

1

J.D. Porter @jdporter.bsky.social · Jul 25

Dorothy Ashby
Lee Konitz
Yosuke Yamashita
Andrew Hill

1

J.D. Porter @jdporter.bsky.social · Jul 2

I realized I forgot about Paterson, because I was on a bus, and that's the kind of movie that permanently colors certain experiences, not least: riding a city bus. Anyway I'd put it roughly 6th on this list.

J.D. Porter @jdporter.bsky.social · Jun 28

Out of the cradle, endlessly boppin

Dave Parker in a shirt he designed. It says “If you hear any noise, it’s just me and the boys boppin”. He’s also wearing what sort of looks like a cool version of a gardening hat.

A youngish Walt Whitman, as depicted in Leaves of Grass.

2

J.D. Porter @jdporter.bsky.social · Jun 26

That sequence (especially the Louis Armstrong, imo) and the ending (including the closing credits) are genuinely sublime. Oddly inspiring to hear that your kid sees something in it, too!

1

J.D. Porter @jdporter.bsky.social · Jun 26

I will pretty much always participate in a ranking exercise—a habit that has been weirdly vital to my career.

The big caveat here is I only did one film per director, so this wouldn't just be a list of Kelly Reichardt films.

The NY Times movie ballot image that everyone was sharing several days ago, showing that my ten favorite movies of this century so far are Certain Women, In the Mood for Love, Beau Travail, The Royal Tenenbaums, Ocean's 11, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Wall-E, Moonlight, Nomadland, and Inglourious Basterds.

2 5

J.D. Porter @jdporter.bsky.social · Jun 25

This is an incredible dataset, and it's a lot of fun to play around with it on the Post45 site!

Post45 Data Collective @post45data.bsky.social · Jun 25

Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower was published in 1993 and starts in 2024—a 31-year leap. Are creators imagining futures that are closer or further away?

Explore a *new* dataset of 2.5k narrative works set in the future, each tagged with its release year and setting.

doi.org/10.18737/552...