Joshua J. Friedman
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joshuajfriedman.com
Joshua J. Friedman
@joshuajfriedman.com
190K followers 3.9K following 63K posts
Freelance writer and editor. Formerly of The Atlantic, Boston Review. Copy chief at Columbia Magazine.
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joshuajfriedman.com
There are dancing liquorice allsorts!
A line of four smiling children dancing onstage while wearing striped leggings and tops, candy pieces around their middles, and matching colorful hats, looking very much like liquorice allsorts.
December 17, 2025 at 2:43 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
Weird, this is all I can see
Bluesky warning tag, except it's just a string of question marks.
December 16, 2025 at 6:03 PM
joshuajfriedman.com
Pretty endpapers too
A photo of the back endpapers of the new one-volume collected Ferrante: horizon at center, variegated pink sky at top, blue sea at bottom, with the typeset words "the best of all, boys and girls" hovering midair.
December 16, 2025 at 5:47 PM
joshuajfriedman.com
It's very funny to think about preparing a document to prove to USPS that you really used GenAI
Pre-Approval Submission Requirements: • A digital file (e.g., PDF) containing prompt and the Al tool's output • Prompt must be visible alongside output in an unedited file • Optional: Include link to prompt and output • A short description of how tool was used • If incorporated copy or image does not entirely match Al-generated output, explain what changes were made to the output and why • Clear relationship between the prompt and the output • Mailpiece imagery or copy entirely matches the Al tool's output, unless edits are explained
December 16, 2025 at 12:16 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
SIGH
Mailpiece examples Al prompt for copy: "Create a call to action for a direct mailpiece that grabs recipients' attention by highlighting new product XYZ'S features and encourages them to visit my website" Al prompt for image: "I'm sending a mailpiece to 22-30-year-olds who like reading. Generate an image that has a 22 to 30-year-old relaxing on vacation with a book to encourage recipients to buy books from my bookstore."
December 16, 2025 at 12:14 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
Here's a fun thing I just learned: If you're a magazine or catalog or other bulk mailer who is willing to add AI-generated content to your mailing, USPS will reward you with a 5% discount—potentially many thousands of dollars!

How on earth does this benefit USPS? www.usps.com/business/pro...
NEW! 2025 INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGY PROMOTION PROMOTION DETAILS Leverage Artificial Intelligence to simplify the process of creating an exciting, impactful mailpiece. Use Al to efficiently generate unique copy and images to craft a message that resonates with recipients. Must Include The mailpiece must include copy or images that were created by leveraging generative Al tools. These tools may include, but are not limited to: Adobe Firefly ChatGPT Microsoft Copilot There are two ways to qualify: Option 1: Mailpiece copy generated using Al tools This can include Al-generated: Call to action / Directional copy Supporting text (minimum one complete sentence) Option 2: Mailpiece images generated using Al tools Minimum of one Al-generated image Image(s) must be clearly related to mailpiece messaging
December 16, 2025 at 12:11 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
Lizza Nuzzi part 6: 'Bobby was behind the whole thing.'
gofile.io/d/ycgOQR
www.telos.news/p/part-6-bob...
During their fateful conversation in late September-when Olivia and Bobby plotted ways to block my reporting for Politico and kill a Wall Street Journal article he feared could cost him his marriage and a Trump cabinet post-Bobby instructed Olivia to go to Washington, D.C's domestic violence court and file a restraining order against me based on false allegations. I know this because Olivia immediately told a mutual friend about the conversation with Bobby, and the friend called me and gave me a detailed readout of the call so I could prepare, including by retaining a lawyer. "Bobby is the one who told her to do the protective order," Olivia's friend said. A second person who is close to both Olivia and Bobby corroborated this version of events. "Bobby was behind the whole thing," this person told me.
December 15, 2025 at 11:49 PM
joshuajfriedman.com
I totally forgot I made a DELETED X feed! bsky.app/profile/did:...
From the DELETED X feed: Keem Da Dream 28 * @dadream26.bsky.social • 3h I deleted my x page, that shit to much for my liking. Everyday is drama Brian Box Brown @boxbrown.bsky.social • 4h My son made me finally delete x off my phone be he saw the app and was like "why is that app just an X?? Delete this!" and we deleted it. Michael Novack @kainseth.bsky.social • 5h Took the plunge and deleted my X account. It felt pretty liberating. Niko Alokin @nikoalokin.bsky.social • 6h No more X! today i deleted my twitter account!
December 15, 2025 at 6:45 PM
joshuajfriedman.com
NEW: Police say they're releasing the "person of interest" held in Brown University shooting; they say the evidence now points "in another direction." www.wpri.com/news/local-n...
Screenshot from press conference.
December 15, 2025 at 4:12 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
NEW: WaPo and NBC identify the Brown University shooting suspect as Benjamin Erickson, a 24-year-old originally from Wisconsin.
The person of interest authorities took into custody in connection with the shooting at Brown University is Benjamin Erickson, a 24-year-old originally from Wisconsin, two people briefed on the investigation told The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity. He was taken into custody at a hotel about 15 miles from campus in Providence, authorities said.
December 14, 2025 at 9:31 PM
joshuajfriedman.com
TO BOLOLY GO
December 14, 2025 at 6:18 PM
joshuajfriedman.com
It's never too late to discover the best Hanukkah song on the best Christmas album! ("8 Days (of Hanukkah)," by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings) www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT2_...
December 14, 2025 at 5:28 PM
joshuajfriedman.com
Newly available on Netflix Canada but not newly made, I’m afraid! Seasons 4–6 will join 1–3
January 1: Schitt's Creek: S4-6 JANUARY 2026 → NEXT ON NETFLIX CANADA
December 14, 2025 at 6:37 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
Yeah, some people remember him like this, but that was before his glow-up
Detail of 1971–1987 Starbucks logo. It's a brown-and-white illustration of a topless mermaid, again spreading her fishlike legs in a way that seems highly improbable.
December 14, 2025 at 5:26 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
He doesn't make many public appearances, but he looks like this
Detail of 1987–1992 Starbucks logo, showing a mermaid wearing a crown and spreading her fishlike legs, even though I'm pretty sure that's not how mermaid anatomy works.
December 14, 2025 at 5:23 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
"Friedberg visited Rhode Island Hospital on Saturday night, where she said she spoke with her teaching assistant, who had traveled there to support several of their injured students. ... 'I don’t know if [the two killed] were my students. ... Just horrible.'" www.oceanstatemedia.org/news-and-cul...
Friedberg visited Rhode Island Hospital on Saturday night, where she said she spoke with her teaching assistant, who had traveled there to support several of their injured students. Friedberg said she still does not know the names of the two people that university officials say were killed in the shooting. "I don't know if they were my students. It's really surreal to think about," Friedberg said. "Just horrible."
December 14, 2025 at 4:26 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
NEW: Brown econ prof Rachel Friedberg says the shooting happened in a finals review session:

"The room has stadium seating with doors that enter at the top. [The TA] said that the shooter came in the doors, yelled something ... and started shooting." www.oceanstatemedia.org/news-and-cul...
Rachel Friedberg, a Brown economics professor, said the mass shooting happened in a review session for the final exam of her Principles of Economics course. She said she learned what happened from a teaching assistant who led the session. Friedberg herself was not present. "The room has stadium seating with doors that enter at the top," Friedberg said. "He said that the shooter came in the doors, yelled something — he couldn't remember what he yelled — and started shooting." "Students started to scramble to try to get away from the shooter, trying to get lower down in the stadium seating, and people got shot," Friedberg said. "I don't know if they're the only ones who got shot or not."
December 14, 2025 at 4:21 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
NEW: Here's the video of the Brown University shooting suspect released by the City of Providence.
December 14, 2025 at 3:51 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
Brown University president Christina Paxson alludes to the two "students" killed and the eight or nine additional "students" in the hospital.

This is the first time we've heard it confirmed that the killed and injured people were students.
Screenshot of Brown president speaking at press conference.
December 14, 2025 at 2:47 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
Rhode Island governor Dan McKee says that FBI director Kash Patel and President Trump have both called to offer help in aftermath of Brown shooting.
Screenshot of governor at press conference.
December 14, 2025 at 2:42 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
At 9:30 p.m. press conference, Providence mayor Brett Smiley gives update on Brown University shooting:
—Found another person injured (#9) but expected to have full recovery. Realized after evacuating that they had been hit with "fragments."
—Police now have a video of the suspect to distribute.
Screenshot of Providence mayor Brett Smiley speaking at press conference.
December 14, 2025 at 2:40 AM
joshuajfriedman.com
Tim O'Hara, deputy chief of Providence Police, says that "preliminarily, all we have" is that the shooter was "a male dressed in black."
Screenshot of Tim O'Hara speaking at press conference.
December 13, 2025 at 11:45 PM
joshuajfriedman.com
Press conference now via @wpri12.bsky.social (stream via its website at wpri.com)

Providence mayor Brett Smiley gives update on Brown University shooting:
—2 dead
—8 critical but stable at Rhode Island Hospital

These are the only injuries or casualties we know at this time. No shooter in custody.
Screenshot from WPRI of mayor speaking to press.
December 13, 2025 at 11:38 PM
joshuajfriedman.com
Longer statement from Brown University:

"We are very sorry to share that we have confirmed reports of multiple shooting victims, but we are not able to share their condition. They have been transported to local hospitals."
DECEMBER 13, 6:05PM: At 4:22 p.m., we alerted our campus to an active shooter incident near Barus & Holley Engineering. We informed our community to shelter in place by locking doors, silence phones and stay hidden until further notice. This remains an active crime scene, and law enforcement continues to search for the suspect. The situation is ongoing, and all members of the community should continue to shelter in place. We are very sorry to share that we have confirmed reports of multiple shooting victims, but we are not able to share their condition. They have been transported to local hospitals. Our first priority is the safety of our community and coordinating closely with local law enforcement and medical personnel to ensure their safety. We are working immediately to determine who was in the building at the time of the shooting. We had multiple exams scheduled in that building from 2 pm to 5 pm. We can confirm that support services are on site. Senior administrative leaders from across the university are convened in emergency command to mobilize ongoing response and support for our community. We are establishing support for our community and families. We have been and continue to be very grateful to law enforcement and emergency medical personnel. We have relocated students to get support services at a secure location. Please continue to take all steps to remain safe. Follow the instructions of law enforcement personnel and avoid the area.
December 13, 2025 at 11:16 PM
joshuajfriedman.com
As I suspected, the tentative report of a second related shooting (at Governor Street) turned out to be unfounded
DECEMBER 13, 6:10PM: BrownUAlert: Active Shooter: The earlier report of a secondary shooting incident near Governor Street is unfounded. However, it remains critical to continue to shelter in place due to the original situation. Stay tuned for further safety information.
December 13, 2025 at 11:14 PM