America’s Greatness: A Guest Commentary
The Vibecession and the AI bubble
America’s got a Jenga economy
Citizens United and the Decline of US Democracy: Assessing the Decision’s Impact 15 Years Later
A Vast Camera System Now Feeds Police Information on Drivers Across the US. They have been called invasive, insecure, and unconstitutional.
Public Media: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
America is sliding toward illiteracy
Veterans Charities to Avoid
Panel discussion at Hampshire College’s 55th anniversary celebration: “Urgent and Unbounded: The Role of Liberal Arts Education in an Age of Rising Authoritarianism,” featuring filmmaker and historian Ken Burns, 71F, AI expert and author Gary Marcus, 86F, and Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, P08, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
The Wonderful Public Domain of Oz
Boss preppers: What does a captain of industry have to offer after the sh*t hits the fan?
Disney has lost Roger Rabbit.
Terrible Maps and a very tall garden shed
How a humble weed became a superstar of biology
What’s a capitonym? It is a prime example of the power of capitalization: a single letter can transform a regular noun, such as “turkey,” into a proper noun with a different meaning — “Turkey.”
Building a Book Lamp – actually, building a lamp made out of books
The Chinese Ban on “Fried Rice” and The Lake That Killed Its Neighbors, and At Least He Was Right About the Cake Thing? and Does This Expensive Coffee Taste Like Poop?
Relations
Because I was asked: Second Cousin or Once Removed? Untangling the Family Tree. The Kennedy example: Caroline, JFK’s daughter, and RFK Jr, RFK’s son, are first cousins.
Caroline’s son, Jack Schlossberg (who’s running for Congress in NYC), is RFK Jr.’s first cousin once removed. “If someone is your cousin ‘once removed,’ that means they’re one generation above or below you. For example, your mother’s cousin is your first cousin once removed.” Jack’s sister, Tatiana Schlossberg, also RFK Jr.’s first cousin once removed, announced she has a rare terminal cancer. She noted: “Throughout my treatment, he had been on the national stage… mostly as an embarrassment to me and the rest of my immediate family.”
Metamucilini and company
Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: He Faces Realities of Aging in Office
In Courting Saudi Arabia, He Emulates MBS’s Authoritarianism
The FDA Commissioner Is Missing the Point of Advisory Committees — Makary’s hand-picked panels lack diversity of opinion, robust evidence reviews, and credibility
Swastikas and Nooses Are No Longer Hate Symbols Under New Coast Guard Rules
Soldiers Must Disobey Unlawful Orders — It’s Their Legal Duty
List of Degrees Not Classed As ‘Professional’ by Regime
Marjorie Taylor Greene resigns: Read her statement in full. I’m oddly annoyed that he chooses to misspell her last name as Green.
MUSIC
Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff dies, aged 81. The Harder They Come; Many Rivers To Cross
Robert Plant: Tiny Desk Concert, Nov 21, 2025
J. Eric Smith’s Genre Delve: British Folk Rock and Metal vs Hard Rock
Coverville 1558: The Neil Young Cover Story IV
MTG Has Broken Cover – Marsh Family parody of “Billie Jean” by MJ about Marjorie Taylor Greene
Tomorrow Never Knows – The Beatles
The Beatles Songbook – Christine Pedi
Heaven -James McCartney
Vltava (The Moldau) by Bedrich Smetana
Spill The Wine – Eric Burdon & War
Waterways by Ludovico Einaudi
Not One Of Us – Peter Gabriel
The Hunt for Red October suite by Basil Poledouris
Bach Fugue -The Newfangled Four | GWC 50th Anniversary Show
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald – Born Free
White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane
Long May You Run – The Stills-Young Band
Time Of The Season– The Zombies
My Fair Lady overture
Take Me or Leave Me – Idina Menzel · Tracie Thoms from RENT OST
Table for Two, Away from the Band, Please – Road Work Ahead
Organist John Jasper McClellan (1874-1925) performs the Overture from Tännhauser (1845) by Richard Wagner (1813-1883). It’s one of the oldest acoustic (church) pipe organ recordings ever made, from late August and early September 1910 in the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah. Given the label print from the disc, this must have been a later production run of this record.
We Built This City – Starship
Blame It on the Record Label