Aarik Danielsen
@aarikdanielsen.bsky.social
Debut essay collection PIECES OF THE NIGHT forthcoming (Cornerstone Press, 2027)
Recovering newspaperman
“Realist of a larger reality”
In love w/a Nebraska girl
Wants to be with you alone and talk about the weather
He/him
https://aarikdanielsen.com
Recovering newspaperman
“Realist of a larger reality”
In love w/a Nebraska girl
Wants to be with you alone and talk about the weather
He/him
https://aarikdanielsen.com
"we'll add character ... b/c we are characters,"
my partner, as we do some preliminary house hunting
my partner, as we do some preliminary house hunting
February 6, 2026 at 1:38 AM
"we'll add character ... b/c we are characters,"
my partner, as we do some preliminary house hunting
my partner, as we do some preliminary house hunting
my girl knows her shit. she's guided me to so many new(-to-me) favorite writers.
if you’re in a reading slump, i love to make custom reading lists. free of charge! just tell me what you’ve enjoyed and what you’re in the mood for next and i would love to collect some titles for you
February 5, 2026 at 1:22 AM
my girl knows her shit. she's guided me to so many new(-to-me) favorite writers.
today's journalism news = another reminder of one of the most important lessons I've learned as an adult:
you can love the institution but, brother, the institution doesn't have to love you back (and probably never will)
you can love the institution but, brother, the institution doesn't have to love you back (and probably never will)
February 4, 2026 at 9:41 PM
today's journalism news = another reminder of one of the most important lessons I've learned as an adult:
you can love the institution but, brother, the institution doesn't have to love you back (and probably never will)
you can love the institution but, brother, the institution doesn't have to love you back (and probably never will)
sitting around watching people post ai-generated caricatures of themselves at work while tech companies are using ai to make caricatures of our work.
February 4, 2026 at 7:49 PM
sitting around watching people post ai-generated caricatures of themselves at work while tech companies are using ai to make caricatures of our work.
Reposted by Aarik Danielsen
It’s a bad day to be someone who wants to believe in the power of good writing.
February 4, 2026 at 6:01 PM
It’s a bad day to be someone who wants to believe in the power of good writing.
Reposted by Aarik Danielsen
It's not, though. To do their best work, amazing reporters need not only stuff like health insurance, but also editors, fact-checkers, IT support, equipment, security and training in hostile environments, lawyers, brilliant colleagues of every stripe... losing that infrastructure is devastating.
February 4, 2026 at 5:34 PM
It's not, though. To do their best work, amazing reporters need not only stuff like health insurance, but also editors, fact-checkers, IT support, equipment, security and training in hostile environments, lawyers, brilliant colleagues of every stripe... losing that infrastructure is devastating.
my journalism school mentor posited that journalism *should* inherently be a liberal pursuit not because of partisan politics but bc it’s meant to challenge the status quo.
spent most of school and my career and now noticing how often it doesn’t live up to that (primarily bc of capitalism …
spent most of school and my career and now noticing how often it doesn’t live up to that (primarily bc of capitalism …
Any successful news operation that emerges going forward will have to be unabashedly left wing. Landlords fucking people over? That's a left wing cause. Businesses polluting? Left wing. City councilor is corrupt? Left wing. Workers being mistreated? Sports stadium displacing housing? Buddy,
February 4, 2026 at 5:45 PM
my journalism school mentor posited that journalism *should* inherently be a liberal pursuit not because of partisan politics but bc it’s meant to challenge the status quo.
spent most of school and my career and now noticing how often it doesn’t live up to that (primarily bc of capitalism …
spent most of school and my career and now noticing how often it doesn’t live up to that (primarily bc of capitalism …
she just duct-taped the soppressata package back together.
*swoon*
*swoon*
February 3, 2026 at 8:04 PM
she just duct-taped the soppressata package back together.
*swoon*
*swoon*
I know the world’s on fire, but I had the best day’s work I’ve had yet in Omaha, and now I get to come home to my favorite person. Don’t diminish the small triumphs. Let the really human moments count.
February 2, 2026 at 11:22 PM
I know the world’s on fire, but I had the best day’s work I’ve had yet in Omaha, and now I get to come home to my favorite person. Don’t diminish the small triumphs. Let the really human moments count.
first time in 15 (?) years I'm not covering true/false. life, she changes.
deadline.com/2026/02/true...
deadline.com/2026/02/true...
True/False Film Fest Announces Lineup Stacked With World Premieres, Sundance Prize Winners
The True/False Film Fest has announced its lineup for the 2026 event in Columbia, MO.
deadline.com
February 2, 2026 at 6:43 PM
first time in 15 (?) years I'm not covering true/false. life, she changes.
deadline.com/2026/02/true...
deadline.com/2026/02/true...
two wolves, etc
February 2, 2026 at 3:10 PM
two wolves, etc
sometimes she holds her pencil like a jazz drummer holds their sticks
February 2, 2026 at 1:32 AM
sometimes she holds her pencil like a jazz drummer holds their sticks
Tell me when you find the misprint I just found on the Otis Redding album I’ve had for forever ever
February 1, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Tell me when you find the misprint I just found on the Otis Redding album I’ve had for forever ever
Reposted by Aarik Danielsen
Self-Portrait (c. 1900–02) shows young Hopper as Robert Henri's student. His plain, steady gaze and subdued palette show his early instinct to put careful observation over decorative flourish.
February 1, 2026 at 9:41 PM
Self-Portrait (c. 1900–02) shows young Hopper as Robert Henri's student. His plain, steady gaze and subdued palette show his early instinct to put careful observation over decorative flourish.
Sunday drive, Iowa
February 1, 2026 at 8:06 PM
Sunday drive, Iowa
Reposted by Aarik Danielsen
hindsight is 20/20 but maybe selecting university presidents on their willingness to debase themselves for private donor money is related to the current difficulties in defending academia from fascism
February 1, 2026 at 2:33 AM
hindsight is 20/20 but maybe selecting university presidents on their willingness to debase themselves for private donor money is related to the current difficulties in defending academia from fascism
Reposted by Aarik Danielsen
I worry that as we narrow the range of what we can talk about, think about, spend our time on, our ability to make expansive art and language shrinks, too, and so does our ability then to solve big problems and think creatively - all of which is the terrible point of fascism
February 1, 2026 at 6:45 PM
I worry that as we narrow the range of what we can talk about, think about, spend our time on, our ability to make expansive art and language shrinks, too, and so does our ability then to solve big problems and think creatively - all of which is the terrible point of fascism
I’m driving past the fireworks outlet.
I’m driving past the cigarette shop.
I’m driving past the highly flammable combination fireworks and cigarette shop.
I’m driving past the cigarette shop.
I’m driving past the highly flammable combination fireworks and cigarette shop.
February 1, 2026 at 5:28 PM
I’m driving past the fireworks outlet.
I’m driving past the cigarette shop.
I’m driving past the highly flammable combination fireworks and cigarette shop.
I’m driving past the cigarette shop.
I’m driving past the highly flammable combination fireworks and cigarette shop.
v excited to get back to my partner after two days away for myriad reasons. but right now she’s reading me catcher in the rye before bed (my first time) and the sheer delight in her voice is pulling me down the interstate.
February 1, 2026 at 5:22 PM
v excited to get back to my partner after two days away for myriad reasons. but right now she’s reading me catcher in the rye before bed (my first time) and the sheer delight in her voice is pulling me down the interstate.
Reposted by Aarik Danielsen
This goes for pretty much any profession, actually.
February 1, 2026 at 4:36 PM
This goes for pretty much any profession, actually.
This is actual leadership
Yesterday, five-year-old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning.
Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.
Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.
February 1, 2026 at 4:28 PM
This is actual leadership
no one:
literally no one in human history:
me: once they started writing more about depression and divorce than their dicks, blink-182’s records got pretty good …
literally no one in human history:
me: once they started writing more about depression and divorce than their dicks, blink-182’s records got pretty good …
February 1, 2026 at 4:25 PM
no one:
literally no one in human history:
me: once they started writing more about depression and divorce than their dicks, blink-182’s records got pretty good …
literally no one in human history:
me: once they started writing more about depression and divorce than their dicks, blink-182’s records got pretty good …
Sunday story time
the greatest hater ever seen has to be this one-handed man I met at jury duty last year
February 1, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Sunday story time
"There is a house in New Orleans—
not the one you've heard about. I'm talking about another house."
god, i love/miss David Berman
not the one you've heard about. I'm talking about another house."
god, i love/miss David Berman
January 31, 2026 at 11:52 PM
"There is a house in New Orleans—
not the one you've heard about. I'm talking about another house."
god, i love/miss David Berman
not the one you've heard about. I'm talking about another house."
god, i love/miss David Berman
super-hot take: few songs are better than paul simon's "mother and child reunion"
January 31, 2026 at 11:18 PM
super-hot take: few songs are better than paul simon's "mother and child reunion"