A. Brad Schwartz
@abradschwartz.bsky.social
Historian of Media, Fake News, and Propaganda. Author/Co-Author of BROADCAST HYSTERIA; SCARFACE AND THE UNTOUCHABLE; ELIOT NESS AND THE MAD BUTCHER. Michigan Wolverine with a Princeton PhD.
Pinned
UPDATE: They passed me!
All thanks to my PhD committee—@zelizer.bsky.social, Paul Starr, @kevinmkruse.bsky.social, and Sam Freedman (not pictured)—for their probing questions and excellent feedback as I work to tell Edward R. Murrow’s story.
(And to Mr. Clooney, for his moral support…)
All thanks to my PhD committee—@zelizer.bsky.social, Paul Starr, @kevinmkruse.bsky.social, and Sam Freedman (not pictured)—for their probing questions and excellent feedback as I work to tell Edward R. Murrow’s story.
(And to Mr. Clooney, for his moral support…)
I suspect the losers from this tantrum will also include every Michigan Republican running for statewide office in November…
Trump is threatening to extort Canada by holding up opening of Gordie Howe Bridge. The losers will be the American people and US businesses, particularly in Michigan.
www.mlive.com/politics/202...
www.mlive.com/politics/202...
Trump threatens to block Gordie Howe Bridge opening unless Canada pays up
In a 290-word post on Truth Social Monday, the president aired a list of grievances about the U.S.'s economic relationship with its northern neighbor.
www.mlive.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:44 PM
I suspect the losers from this tantrum will also include every Michigan Republican running for statewide office in November…
Like Buster Keaton, I’d rather let someone else enjoy the football.
February 8, 2026 at 7:50 PM
Like Buster Keaton, I’d rather let someone else enjoy the football.
If you understand the last 50 years of the conservative movement as a backlash against the downfall of Richard Nixon, then it’s less surprising—but no less tragic—to see the ongoing destruction of the two news organizations best remembered for covering Watergate.
I hate newsroom layoffs, but they did this to themselves
CBS News and Washington Post choose worst possible moment to lay off reporters, stress punditry - right as the streets of Minneapolis are showing how journalism can beat back government lies
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/cbs-...
CBS News and Washington Post choose worst possible moment to lay off reporters, stress punditry - right as the streets of Minneapolis are showing how journalism can beat back government lies
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/cbs-...
CBS, Post blind themselves when America needs eyes on the ground |Will Bunch
Two iconic U.S. newsrooms slash reporting and stress opinion writing even as Minnesota proves the need for factual journalism.
www.inquirer.com
February 4, 2026 at 5:00 PM
If you understand the last 50 years of the conservative movement as a backlash against the downfall of Richard Nixon, then it’s less surprising—but no less tragic—to see the ongoing destruction of the two news organizations best remembered for covering Watergate.
I ran into this issue the other day and couldn’t figure out why Google Books searches suddenly became worthless. Now I know.
An excellent, even essential research tool, gone without explanation.
An excellent, even essential research tool, gone without explanation.
February 3, 2026 at 7:17 PM
I ran into this issue the other day and couldn’t figure out why Google Books searches suddenly became worthless. Now I know.
An excellent, even essential research tool, gone without explanation.
An excellent, even essential research tool, gone without explanation.
Settling in for one of the great American films… #GroundhogDay
February 3, 2026 at 12:37 AM
Settling in for one of the great American films… #GroundhogDay
This article, examining the AMBERSONS AI project in all its facets, is well worth your time.
But I’m reminded that Orson Welles identified as a “maverick” because, he said in 1975, films made someone else’s way “might have been better. But certainly they wouldn’t have been mine.”
But I’m reminded that Orson Welles identified as a “maverick” because, he said in 1975, films made someone else’s way “might have been better. But certainly they wouldn’t have been mine.”
February 3, 2026 at 12:33 AM
This article, examining the AMBERSONS AI project in all its facets, is well worth your time.
But I’m reminded that Orson Welles identified as a “maverick” because, he said in 1975, films made someone else’s way “might have been better. But certainly they wouldn’t have been mine.”
But I’m reminded that Orson Welles identified as a “maverick” because, he said in 1975, films made someone else’s way “might have been better. But certainly they wouldn’t have been mine.”
Wishing a happy Groundhog Day to all who celebrate.
February 2, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Wishing a happy Groundhog Day to all who celebrate.
TRAIN DREAMS really is a beautifully made piece of cinema. And if you’ve read the book, it’s fascinating how they left some things in and other things out to ultimately leave you with a very different mood. #HATM slate.com/culture/2025...
A Beloved, Seemingly Unadaptable Book Has Been Transformed Into a Gorgeous Netflix Movie and Oscar Hopeful
Denis Johnson’s novella Train Dreams was always going to be difficult to adapt.
slate.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:43 AM
TRAIN DREAMS really is a beautifully made piece of cinema. And if you’ve read the book, it’s fascinating how they left some things in and other things out to ultimately leave you with a very different mood. #HATM slate.com/culture/2025...
I devoured THE COLD MILLIONS when reading up on the IWW (who were another formative influence on Ed Murrow’s childhood in the Pacific Northwest).
Also got a bunch of old Wobbly songs stuck in my head for a while… #HATM
Also got a bunch of old Wobbly songs stuck in my head for a while… #HATM
An excellent read that covers some of the same time period and region is The Cold Millions, by Spokane author Jess Walter. The struggles of labor in the early 20th Century.
#HATM
#HATM
February 2, 2026 at 2:41 AM
I devoured THE COLD MILLIONS when reading up on the IWW (who were another formative influence on Ed Murrow’s childhood in the Pacific Northwest).
Also got a bunch of old Wobbly songs stuck in my head for a while… #HATM
Also got a bunch of old Wobbly songs stuck in my head for a while… #HATM
As a kid, I got a Christmas ornament of John Glenn’s Friendship 7 capsule that plays “Zero G and I feel fine” *really loud.*
Whenever I hear it, as we just did in TRAIN DREAMS, I feel like I just turned on the Christmas tree. #HATM
Whenever I hear it, as we just did in TRAIN DREAMS, I feel like I just turned on the Christmas tree. #HATM
February 2, 2026 at 2:37 AM
As a kid, I got a Christmas ornament of John Glenn’s Friendship 7 capsule that plays “Zero G and I feel fine” *really loud.*
Whenever I hear it, as we just did in TRAIN DREAMS, I feel like I just turned on the Christmas tree. #HATM
Whenever I hear it, as we just did in TRAIN DREAMS, I feel like I just turned on the Christmas tree. #HATM
That’s how they did it in Ed Murrow’s day!
The fallers would work a dozen or more feet off the ground on springboards, passing a crosscut saw (or “misery whip”) back and forth until they heard cracking.
Then they’d jump and run for their lives. #HATM
The fallers would work a dozen or more feet off the ground on springboards, passing a crosscut saw (or “misery whip”) back and forth until they heard cracking.
Then they’d jump and run for their lives. #HATM
Unlike a tree that requires a spring board. At Lake Quinault I saw some notches that would have lumberjacks standing above a rocky creek 20-30 feet below.
February 2, 2026 at 2:18 AM
That’s how they did it in Ed Murrow’s day!
The fallers would work a dozen or more feet off the ground on springboards, passing a crosscut saw (or “misery whip”) back and forth until they heard cracking.
Then they’d jump and run for their lives. #HATM
The fallers would work a dozen or more feet off the ground on springboards, passing a crosscut saw (or “misery whip”) back and forth until they heard cracking.
Then they’d jump and run for their lives. #HATM
If this film hasn’t made it obvious by now, Will Patton is a terrific audiobook reader. #HATM www.audiofilemagazine.com/narrators/wi...
AudioFile Magazine Spotlight on Narrator Will Patton
Information about narrator Will Patton
www.audiofilemagazine.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:11 AM
If this film hasn’t made it obvious by now, Will Patton is a terrific audiobook reader. #HATM www.audiofilemagazine.com/narrators/wi...
Loggers’ spiked boots, known as “caulks,” were an emblem of the job, so it’s a fitting way to memorialize these men.
Caulks cost more than any other piece of kit, and your life depended on them, so you took care of them.
(And you can always identify a loggers’ bar by looking at the floor.) #HATM
Caulks cost more than any other piece of kit, and your life depended on them, so you took care of them.
(And you can always identify a loggers’ bar by looking at the floor.) #HATM
What’s with the boots on the tree? #hatm
February 2, 2026 at 2:04 AM
Loggers’ spiked boots, known as “caulks,” were an emblem of the job, so it’s a fitting way to memorialize these men.
Caulks cost more than any other piece of kit, and your life depended on them, so you took care of them.
(And you can always identify a loggers’ bar by looking at the floor.) #HATM
Caulks cost more than any other piece of kit, and your life depended on them, so you took care of them.
(And you can always identify a loggers’ bar by looking at the floor.) #HATM
Ed Murrow almost died in a forest fire while working on the Olympic Peninsula in 1929 or thereabouts.
(The smoke damage to his lungs didn’t stop him from becoming desperately addicted to cigarettes in later years, unfortunately.) #HATM
(The smoke damage to his lungs didn’t stop him from becoming desperately addicted to cigarettes in later years, unfortunately.) #HATM
Forest Fires are frightening on so many levels. Here's a bit on the 1910 fires
This he just went through would be much later... #HATM
museumofidaho.org/the-big-blow...
This he just went through would be much later... #HATM
museumofidaho.org/the-big-blow...
The Big Blowup, Pulaski, and wildfire ecology - Museum of Idaho
The Big Blowup, Pulaski, and wildfire ecology How about a little Idaho wildfire history to soothe your lungs on this glorious, smoky day? Hurricane-force winds swept through the Idaho panhandle […]
museumofidaho.org
February 2, 2026 at 1:52 AM
Ed Murrow almost died in a forest fire while working on the Olympic Peninsula in 1929 or thereabouts.
(The smoke damage to his lungs didn’t stop him from becoming desperately addicted to cigarettes in later years, unfortunately.) #HATM
(The smoke damage to his lungs didn’t stop him from becoming desperately addicted to cigarettes in later years, unfortunately.) #HATM
A great, recent book on Pacific Northwest loggers and their relationship to the conservation movement is Steven Beda’s STRONG WINDS AND WIDOWMAKERS. Really helped me understand that world in my own research. #HATM
www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p0...
www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p0...
February 2, 2026 at 1:50 AM
A great, recent book on Pacific Northwest loggers and their relationship to the conservation movement is Steven Beda’s STRONG WINDS AND WIDOWMAKERS. Really helped me understand that world in my own research. #HATM
www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p0...
www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p0...
The depiction of the danger falling timber posed to the loggers is, at least, spot-on.
During WWII, Murrow referred to German bombs as “widowmakers,” a logging term for branches that could fall and kill you without warning. #HATM
During WWII, Murrow referred to German bombs as “widowmakers,” a logging term for branches that could fall and kill you without warning. #HATM
February 2, 2026 at 1:35 AM
The depiction of the danger falling timber posed to the loggers is, at least, spot-on.
During WWII, Murrow referred to German bombs as “widowmakers,” a logging term for branches that could fall and kill you without warning. #HATM
During WWII, Murrow referred to German bombs as “widowmakers,” a logging term for branches that could fall and kill you without warning. #HATM
One odd thing is that the film shows us what appears to be a “high-rigger”—the most dangerous, and respected, job on a logging crew in that era, responsible for rigging up a steam-driven high-lead system—but I haven’t (yet) seen any steam equipment. #HATM
February 2, 2026 at 1:33 AM
One odd thing is that the film shows us what appears to be a “high-rigger”—the most dangerous, and respected, job on a logging crew in that era, responsible for rigging up a steam-driven high-lead system—but I haven’t (yet) seen any steam equipment. #HATM
I recently immersed myself in the historiography of Pacific Northwest logging, in order to better understand how working in the woods in the 1920s shaped Edward R. Murrow’s character.
The depiction in this film is very good in the details, but most of those trees are way, way too skinny. #HATM
The depiction in this film is very good in the details, but most of those trees are way, way too skinny. #HATM
February 2, 2026 at 1:25 AM
I recently immersed myself in the historiography of Pacific Northwest logging, in order to better understand how working in the woods in the 1920s shaped Edward R. Murrow’s character.
The depiction in this film is very good in the details, but most of those trees are way, way too skinny. #HATM
The depiction in this film is very good in the details, but most of those trees are way, way too skinny. #HATM
Journalism is not a crime.
Last week, @washingtonpost.com analyzed hours of Don Lemon's Jan. 18 livestream that featured the protest at Cities Church in St. Paul. w/ @osviz-jarrett.bsky.social. Here's the story, with a gift link: wapo.st/4t7c5VJ
What video shows about Don Lemon’s activities at the church protest
Video shows the journalist’s activities during a protest at Minnesota’s Cities Church that has become a flash point in the debate over an ICE crackdown.
wapo.st
January 30, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Journalism is not a crime.
That beautiful panel looks like a TBM Avenger, which is what my grandfather flew in WWII.
(Last summer, I got see several of them in person and even took a ride in one.)
(Last summer, I got see several of them in person and even took a ride in one.)
January 30, 2026 at 2:56 AM
That beautiful panel looks like a TBM Avenger, which is what my grandfather flew in WWII.
(Last summer, I got see several of them in person and even took a ride in one.)
(Last summer, I got see several of them in person and even took a ride in one.)
Ruin a movie by replacing one word in the title with "Sausage"
A Fistful of Sausage
A Fistful of Sausage
January 30, 2026 at 2:31 AM
Ruin a movie by replacing one word in the title with "Sausage"
A Fistful of Sausage
A Fistful of Sausage
Can’t wait to see the new DICK TRACY reboot!
January 30, 2026 at 2:18 AM
Can’t wait to see the new DICK TRACY reboot!