Hi, #boardgame friends! My colleague David Abelson has worked with legendary NY street artist #chrisrwk to produce Concrete Canvas, which is available now on Kickstarter. Please consider backing it! www.kickstarter.com/projects/int...
Back when I was a journalist, we always strove for a "Holy shit!" lede.
This is an entire freaking "Holy shit!" story.
What a fucking hero.
The 2026 Philip K. Dick Award nominees have been announced:
Sunward, William Alexander
Outlaw Planet, M.R. Carey
Casual, Koji A. Dae
The Immeasurable Heaven, Caspar Geon
Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Thomas Ha
Scales, Christopher Hinz
City of All Seasons, Oliver K. Langmead & Aliya Whiteley
Garp does one of my favorite things in literature (when it's done as well as there and in LOTR): Wraps everyone's story up by the end in a sublimely satisfactory way.
Damn but #LoisMcMasterBujold can write:
"Demagoguery, I suppose, is eloquence sliding to some least-moral-energy level." -- Miles Vorkosigan, in "Komarr"
John Irving is one of my favorite writers. "A Prayer for Owen Meany" is a forever book for me. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/s...
#Beekeeping goals. youtu.be/1h6K_cS0m_w?...
People! PEOPLE! @marthawells.com new book Queen Demon comes out tomorrow and I've got the audiobook on preorder and I am SO FREAKIN' EXCITED!!1!
If you haven't read Witch King and love smart fantasy adventure with incredible worldbuilding (and a great narrator if you like audiobooks), try it!
Are you a #webdeveloper? Interested in the #boardgame space? GAMA (the Game Manufacturers Association) has issued an RFP for a web developer to revamp our site. Download the PDF for details. Proposals due Sept. 22. Hope to hear from you! bit.ly/41iLKYI
Great news from my hometown of #NorthLittleRock, #Arkansas! www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/au...
Stealing text from books written by PhDs and using probability-based algorithms to scramble that text up to make answers that *sound* *like* a person with a PhD answered them is not in fact PhD-level intelligence or expertise. It does tell us something about the people selling and using this slop
When I was very little, we had a (poorly trained and socialized) poodle that terrorized us until it ran away. That left a deep dislike of the breed for me until, as an adult, I made friends with a couple who had poodles and they were... wonderful. Just stupendous dogs.
Who is responsible for us living in the worst timeline? I'd like to lodge a complaint.
Congrats @wiswell.bsky.social on your Nebula Award for Best Novel! :) #scifi #reading #books #authors
I love @byjenamiller.bsky.social's newsletter, and this weeks is especially good. Not only for the great take on the AI book review scandal, but her love for two awesome shows: Call the Midwife and Miss Austen. :) jenamiller.com/notes-from-a...
I am privileged to have known @jordanphickey.bsky.social as a journalism colleague and a friend. He's a great writer and a great human being, and this @longreads.com story is a shining example of both.
Rand Paul doesn't come close to being someone I admire, but he is 100% right here: Congress must stop the never-ending "emergency" and the Trump Administration's rule by fiat, and Republicans that refuse to do so are cowards. youtu.be/aOK2NW7Va6E?...
This middle-aged English major word nerd cannot overstate his love for the good works of @ellecordova.bsky.social. youtu.be/ib7jyxfUNMo?...
"The woodpecker could not be reached for comment." #NatureIsMetal www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/u...
I am going on the record as a native white Southerner that "Confederate heritage" is glorifying slavery, Jim Crow, racism, and defiance of the rule of law. Dissenters should examine the articles of succession Southern states passed, which pretty much all state they're seceding to keep slavery.
Great essay!
An excellent op-ed about #Andor and #resistance www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/o...
For $0.00 you can read what Bret Devereaux (of ACOUP fame) called an "absolute banger of a Tolkien essay" and what my mom (of giving birth to me fame) called "very timely and relevant": "What Lies and Threats: Nationalist Myth-Making in The Lord of the Rings" on @speculativeinsight.bsky.social!
pictures of physician Sara Josephine Baker dressed in tweed suit & tie in 1922
Dr. Josephine Baker fought for milk testing in lower Manhattan over a century ago, where babies were 7 times more likely to die than WWI US soldiers in the trenches. Milk was often adulterated with chalk and germ-y water. Today the FDA stopped testing milk due to lack of staff. Shame on you, Trump.
Markets seem to be slowly discovering what close Trump watchers have known for years. Better late than never.
Today's Morning Shots, from @eggerdc.bsky.social and @cathyyoung63.bsky.social:
Bravo to Stonemaier Games and all the other #boardgame publishers pushing back with legal action against the #tariffs. stonemaiergames.com/we-are-suing...
