I’d read a couple thousand words on the people who gamble on Tiny Desk

I love these Wald stories, and the Van Ronkified "Gambler" is a fun listen

Don Schlitz, Prolific Writer of Country Music Hits, Dies at 73

TIL that Don Schlitz, who wrote "The Gambler" (among many other songs) was from Durham: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/o...

Yep. This is it.

My son just asked me to define “oscillate,” “rhomboid,” and “burnish.”

It turns out he’s reading Colin Meloy’s book

Yeah - time and again people have merely asked the court to maintain the status quo while the court decides the merits of an issue. And the court has decided time and again that the greater damage would not be to allow Trump to dismantle your government before they rule on its illegality. It’s nuts

The Film That Explains Contemporary America The Sorrow and the Pity has lessons for how authoritarianism takes root—and how to fight against it.

A four-hour documentary from 1969 about life in Nazi-occupied France chronicles the way that many ordinary citizens simply lived their lives as if nothing had changed, @dgraham.bsky.social writes. "The Sorrow and the Pity" is more relevant than ever:

The Film That Explains Contemporary America The Sorrow and the Pity has lessons for how authoritarianism takes root—and how to fight against it.

The 1969 French documentary that explains contemporary America www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Yeah, respect your position’s tradition and blackmail them instead

Kash Patel’s Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job The FBI director has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.

This is a big one. Stellar reporting from Sarah Fitzpatrick. To call it a must-read is an understatement: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

A silly goose

The Donald J. Trump Guide to Classic Fairy Tales Has the president failed to learn the lessons of classic cautionary fables—or does he just understand them in his own novel ways?

The Donald J. Trump Guide to Classic Children's Fairytales www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

Terrified to learn that maybe bears don't shit in the woods, either

All this time I thought that "is the pope a Catholic?" was a rhetorical question, but it seems to be a live one for some people

(And like the Yankees, I can really do without it)

Jazz Chisholm Jr. Blames Early Struggles on Cold Weather The Yankees second baseman claims the cold weather has been the reason for his offensive struggles to start the season.

Well look, everyone knows that Cool Jazz is a West Coast thing, not a New York one www.si.com/mlb/jazz-chi...

Immanuel Wilkins Quartet - Live At The Village Vanguard, Vol. 2 Listen to content by Immanuel Wilkins.

Vol. 2 out now

@bartsmith.bsky.social Am I gonna see you tonight at Motorco?

FERC orders American Efficient to pay $1.1B for ‘brazen fraud’ “American Efficient’s years-long fraud profoundly disrupted the organized capacity markets and ultimately increased costs for ordinary Americans,” FERC Chairman Laura Swett said.

FERC fines Durham company $1.1 billion for "a scam for the history books." The company is led by Ben Abram, husband of NC state Senator Sophia Chitlik #ncpol
www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-am...

The Scribe of Surprise Whitney Balliett at 100.

Happy 100 to Whitney Balliett, one of jazz's greatest chroniclers. Here's my centennial tribute.

Honestly this seems like one they could crack

What Donald Trump’s Social-Media Posts Say About His Views on Religion YouTube video by The Atlantic

www.youtube.com/shorts/jZV8x...

Yeah, this is nice. (They often are, though ... it's a good song!)

Ted Cruz quote tweet says: "Tucker Carlson has turned into a deranged, Leftist psycho. Who loves sharia." original Tucker Carlson Network tweet: "The people in charge don't want you to know this, but Muslims love Jesus. Islam reveres Him as a major prophet and messenger of the Lord, believes He performed miracles, and states that He will return to Earth go defeat the Antichrist. that's why Donald Trump's painting..."

imagine trying to sustain a serious intellectual culture in the midst of this

Does the world really need any (more) "Fade Into You" covers? The original song is (1) basically perfect and (2) only three chords, so there's not a lot of reinvention to do

Trump Doesn’t Have the Power to Enact His Latest Elections Scheme The president’s attempts to interfere with the midterms demand vigilance, but a recent flimsy gambit is an argument against despair.

The case against midterm doomerism www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

The President vs the Pope - ABC listen What’s behind US President Donald Trump’s attack on Pope Leo? After the leader of the Catholic Church criticised Trump’s threats to destroy Iranian civilisation, the president unleashed.  Trump dism...

In which I attempt to explain the last few days of American politics to Australians, and worry that I sound insane www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

You know they mean it when they won’t put a name to it

Was he trying to establish an Alien Ant Farm?

Nice?