Happy National Library Workers Day and especially thanks to them and anyone who helps sustain “third places” in communities.

Always so important to look behind the curtain.

Super cool

Dreams for Tennessee

Making events into public memory is a cultural technology you have to do on purpose and repeat over and over. The fight to keep hold of the truth never ends it's generational and idk, maybe we're bound to lose in the end. But I have to believe we can do better than we did in the last six years.

Pro-tip for the Swalwell campaign staff now maligning the women accusing their boss of sexual misconduct: it's not worth it. There will be other campaigns and other candidates but there will never be another time that you won't regret behaving this way towards survivors.

FUCKING THIS.

EVERY DAMN DAY we have to deal with a whole bunch of putting some man's "value to society" over our basic humanity. EVERY DAY. "But he'll be a good president." Find someone else. "But he's a good comedian." So will someone else be. "But he catches footballs good." FUCK OFF WITH THAT.

Despite Apocalyptic Warnings, California Fast Food Wage Hike Didn’t Kill Jobs UC Berkeley study finds employment held steady — and only pennies were added to menu prices.

So it turns out paying people a living wage doesn’t collapse the economy; it’s almost like the rich have been lying to us to maintain their power over our lives.

Everybody needs to know this

a close up of a gollum from the lord of the rings with a very angry look on his face Alt: a close up of a gollum from the lord of the rings with a very angry look on his face

Social media apps as Lord of the Rings characters, a thread:

Twitter: Twitter is Gollum. Began as a normal halfling. Overexposure to evil left it thin and stretched and bitter.

"AI is garbage, bro, it gives you wrong answers like half the time and the other half the time makes you stupid."

Overheard a middle schooler chastising a fellow student for suggesting they use AI. Whole middle school herd started mocking the AI kid.

...We need to let these kids at the tech bros.

Chicago Turns All Public School IDs Into Library Cards To Boost Student Access Chicago Public Library and CPS announced the expansion of The 81 Club, building on a pilot launched in 2022 to give students access to the library system's vast collection and databases.

This is such a good idea. We should do this in NYC.

"All Chicago Public Schools students now have access to nearly everything the city’s libraries have to offer — including physical items like books as well as extensive digital resources."

blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/08/c...

Boise took its Pride flag down. But new art has popped up at City Hall. What it cost “The flag is not our only form of expression,” a Council Member previously said.

The famous Andor line is that "tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle." Here is a perfect example of that through malicious compliance: Idaho forced the city of Boise to remove its Pride flags. So the city painted rainbows everywhere else.

I couldn't breathe because I was laughing so hard. That bird's an asshole! 😂😂😂😂😂
Best with volume up.

Local races matter

By choosing to write it in the first time, The Times is getting readers to think about a world where women can't vote. It doesn't really matter if they're critical of it, just by getting NYT coverage, it becomes "an issue worthy of debate."

Great tip from @craigsilverman.bsky.social -

adding &udm=14 to a Google results URL strips out the AI Overview and returns traditional web results.

Adding -AI to your query does something similar.

New research shows Covid vaccines may boost cancer treatment, helping the immune system fight tumors and nearly doubling patient survival compared with those unvaccinated.
theintellectualistofficial.substack.com/p/mrna-covid...

Again, the first Tea Party rallies in April 2009 -- heavily promoted in advance by Fox News -- only had about 300,000 attendees across 750 cities, but the media treated it like the Second American Revolution.

There will be multiple *individual* No Kings rallies today that have more people at them.

We can make things nicer

TOMORROW: Be a part of history! Show the world that the majority of Americans oppose the most corrupt, inept, criminal, orange "president" in U.S. History.

NO KINGS. Also: NO SERIAL LIARS/CONVICTED FELONS/ADJUDICATED RAPISTS & NO ILLEGAL WAR IN IRAN

Be there. Make your voices heard! 🇺🇸 ✊

#NO_KINGS

Nonfiction Publishing, Under Threat, Is More Important Than Ever Cuts in publishing and book reviewing imperil the future of narrative nonfiction, and our understanding of the world around us.

‘Nonfiction books are a crucial bulwark against the surging public culture of “alternative facts,” outright lies, and the brazen embrace of ignorance.‘
newrepublic.com/article/2076...

So awesome. This is the kind of thing that all statues should be commemorating

Sisyphus but every day he unsubscribes from marketing and promotion emails.

Beyond Social Support We need more from each other than just comfort when we are distressed

Social support is all well and good when you need it, but what else do we need from people to put together the pieces of a good life? Check out my latest Substack, Beyond Social Support. #science #academicsky #resilience #trauma

Ever wonder why ants build colonies that last generations without trashing their habitat? Or how bees pollinate without poisoning the flowers? No intelligent species will destroy their environment in the disguise for development and profit—nature proves it.

Bilbo Baggins looking down at his phone screen, the phone shows him asking ChatGPT “After all, why not? Why shouldn’t I keep it?” ChatGPT responds “You're absolutely right - you found it, it's been with you a long while, and it's only natural to feel fond of something that's served you so well, especially when someone like Gandalf suddenly seems to want it for himself”

The TSA union criticizes the deployment of ICE agents to airports across the U.S. "Our officers, they're not getting paid, and having people that come in that are getting paid just feels like an insult,” says Cameron Cochems, vice president of AFGE TSA Local 1127.

A One-Page Primer on: Statistical Power from @carlislerainey.bsky.social www.carlislerainey.com/blog/2025-08...

We Are All Dolores Huerta We’ve all been saddened to hear how Dolores Huerta and other women were sexually assaulted by César Chávez.

The responses to Dolores Huerta's story show that we still have not fully integrated what scientists have learned about trauma and resilience.
open.substack.com/pub/sherryha...