So we’re just going to have to live in a world where in every public space we’re forever going to have to listen to the murmurs of 15-30 second video snippets of whatever some stray person is scrolling through on their phone huh. Anything we can do to stop this?

Shout out to Gonzaga for making it mandatory that every student sit in a room for an hour their senior year as they turn 18 to show us how to respond to the selective service draft card to bolster proof you’re a conscientious objector and won’t have to go to war

Seeing a bunch of idiots arguing with a priest, offering flaccid appeals to just war theory is giving me flashbacks to sitting in my Catholic high school, Jesuit-taught philosophy class in 2003 hearing patient explanations to a bunch of Republicans’ kids why it wasn’t applicable to the war on terror

Music world in all sectors is pretty rotten right now but what the rise of AI has reminded me is that you should be human forward (sucks to have to remind oneself of that but still). Don’t make fake fans, don’t hire tech companies to prop you up, don’t play into forces that devalue artistic scenes

If an artist is upfront about their ethical considerations for themselves as a product as flexible and they want to enter into the world as a meme and sound yet to seed their fame, go for it. But it deserves questions and judgement and it deserves the artist not hide that fact.

Astroturfing is looked down on because it’s sweaty and it doesn’t have faith in its product and the practice does that, it commodifies something. This approach explicitly did, putting music and clips into the background noise of a increasingly context-less social and media ecosystem

Ted as sharp as always on this. I came to Geese through consensus- “a lot of people are into this, might as well check it out” & to learn that part of this was astroturfing just feels gross. It feels like a marketing team manipulated the market and not actual community of fans and that’s loser shit

Navigating Public Media Music Licensing After the Loss of CPB NPR and PBS jointly launched a new portal to handle performing rights agreements for public media stations nationwide, with plans to continue supporting future licensing negotiations

My first 2026 story was a positive addendum to the year end batch on the after effects of losing CPB: documenting the work @npr.org did to pick up slack negotiating and executing the not terribly exciting but vitally important work of public media music licensing noncommusic.org/stories/musi...

In the Long Wake of Helene, Blue Ridge Public Radio is a Lifeline When Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, Blue Ridge Public Radio (BPR) was a vital lifeline. Providing 24-hour coverage when no one else could, BPR kept the community safe and informed...

Should be better about sharing my writing so will start with one I missed from 2025- a short piece exploring when @blueridgepublic.bsky.social became an ad-hoc emergency hub after Hurricane Helene, the kind of rural community action made harder by the loss of the CPB ruralpublic.org/blog-and-new...

MILE END KICKS | Official Trailer YouTube video by Elevation Pictures

You say that and yet we have this hard hitting documentary about Quebec and music coming out soon youtu.be/mzaCmw_VrlI?...

Has there ever been a person who has done politics this well

This wasn’t told to me but I’ll never forget it from another similar thread: “If there is a dog in your story- name the dog.” It has honestly become a mantra for me as a way to think about and dig into details you otherwise wouldn’t consider.

“Name the dog”

Encounter on the Bund by Mimi Wong — KWELI / Truth From the Diaspora's Boldest Voices He watched as his companion for the past hour left, not bothering to cast even a backwards glance as she exited the bar arm in arm with another man.

I’m excited to share I have a work of short fiction published in @kwelijournal.bsky.social. The story is excerpted from my novel set in mid-2000s Shanghai. I’m so honored the story found a home in a journal whose contributions the community I admire so much.

www.kwelijournal.org/fiction/2025...

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (9/12) Movie CLIP - Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season (2001) HD YouTube video by Movieclips

honestly I know this scene because of it being referenced in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back so there's that youtu.be/nnESedN4vSI?...

After the Cut, Public Radio Stations Are Solidifying Trust, Audiences, and Their Future Public Radio Music Day spotlights a public media ecosystem amidst a time of huge change, and the shared work of keeping music discovery, curation, performance, and community essential.

But the most important and inspiring story with talking to a stations @wxpnfm.bsky.social, Delmarva Public Media, & @wvpublic.bsky.social about the very real future of new income streams, further community commitment, and what hope helps bolster the work to come noncommusic.org/stories/prmd...

After Public Media Rescission, the Music Industry Focuses on What’s to Be Done Venues, labels, and artists are doing work to help public radio chart both local and national plans to keep essential services and local culture alive, from the grassroots to the big ideas

After taking time to regroup, refocus, and listen to the stations after the rescission vote, we wanted to chat with the industry, including friends and colleagues @co-sign.bsky.social, @heyrobwilcox.bsky.social, as well as NIVA and Radio Rescue about what was next noncommusic.org/stories/musi...

At NON-COMMvention 2025, Public Radio Rallied Amidst Funding Threats At the noncommercial Triple A gathering, stations focused on the urgent steps that can be taken to protect public media’s unique blend of music, culture, and community service.

The mood in the room as @npr.org's Marta McLellan Ross laid out the stakes of the different reality of what until then was a perennial defunding threat. NON-COMM attendees were at the time feeling some hope, but saw very real stakes and a need for collective planning noncommusic.org/stories/non-...

The last 3 stories I did this year are of a set around the detestable GOP campaign & vote to defund public media in America of billions already set aside and voted on. This sadly might be a new norm for America, and we're worst of for it. But there's a hope this builds new, lasting forms of support

The bummer I’ve felt doing these public media article wrapups on Bluesky the past two years is how few of the stations have accounts. If @npr.org can do it, so can you, local station! Promoters and music folk- do what you can to encourage them. I try to mention it at the end of my interviews now

Inside Maine Public’s Mission to Connect Every Corner of the State Careful planning, local enthusiasm, and federal support come together to give every Mainer a chance to tune in through Maine Public's rural expansion efforts.

When I talked to @mainepublic.org about their efforts to connect more and more of a hugely rural state, what stuck with me was the reminder of the radical nature of public media: it's free for all. The idea of media for and by the people is fundamental to democracy ruralpublic.org/blog-and-new...

How a Kentucky Community Radio Station Found Its Home in an RV After catastrophic flooding hit eastern Kentucky in 2022, WMMT and Possum Radio kept local voices alive from an unorthodox but cozy studio.

I don't like to play favorites but I think talking to WMMT and learning about their Possum Den studio and rebuilding their studio after awful floods was one of my favorites. This is an uplifting, progressive station built on listening to and sharing underserved voices ruralpublic.org/blog-and-new...

A Day in the Life of a Public Radio Promoter From emerging artists to GRAMMY winners, Concord Label Group’s radio strategy contributes to the sound of noncommercial radio.

We continued our "A Day in the Life" series with something near and dear to me: being a radio promoter! The truly exceptional Ayappa Biddanda offered some of his busy schedule helping run Concord's promotions team to share what it means to connect artists to radio noncommusic.org/stories/radi...

Harvest Public Media Is Telling the Heartland’s Stories Harvest Public Media offers coverage of our food system from the heart of the country, rich in detail and regional perspective.

"Everybody eats" was the genius idea that prompted the development of Harvest Public Media, which explores food systems and the worlds around them, showing that public media offers a chance to tell the necessary stories that commercial stations think aren't worth it ruralpublic.org/blog-and-new...

Across Northern Nevada, a One-Woman Station Amplifies Elko’s Voice KNCC's Lori Gilbert blends deep local roots with public radio’s collaborative spirit, connecting even the most remote corners of Nevada.

One person stations aren't that uncommon across public media but Lori Gilbert at KNCC in Elko, NV was inspiring in the way she not only helps run this local affiliate that partners with KUNR but how she's the area's lone reporter championing local stories and causes ruralpublic.org/blog-and-new...

Sunday Mornings Are In Harmony on WXXI’s 'With Heart and Voice' WXXI's 'With Heart and Voice' connects communities across public radio airwaves through a decades-long legacy of sacred choral and organ music.

In talking to @wxxieducation.bsky.social's Peter Dubois, I saw the kind of history that comes with hit shows like "With Heart and Voice" and how what some might see as niche genres find communion across the country (and globe) noncommusic.org/stories/with...

Was my 7th year having the privilege to write for 2 public media support orgs, the noncomMUSIC Alliance & the Alliance of Rural Media. I got to talk to a diverse set of people across the country about the unique joy of public radio. It was heartbreaking year but there is still enough to celebrate:

It Happened to Me: I recognized someone I work with on a company-wide call as a person I first met via an anime message board 26 years ago

Judy, I just want to you be prepared for two different versions of "All The Things She Said" to be remixed into each other across multiple scenes. I wasn't even watching it (this is a @mimiwong.bsky.social show) and I was flabbergasted just listening to it

Supporting The Offing every year has meant I’m exposed to new writers and artists and helping give people the break they deserve. @mimiwong.bsky.social and I are committing this year to matching $500 in donations and we’re halfway there so we hope you can make a tax deductible donation today!