Ted Anthony
@anthonyted.bsky.social
Writer. Editor. Director of new storytelling and newsroom innovation at AP. Aspiring innovator, always. Interests: American culture, life’s miscellany, China, baseball, Star Trek, highway rest stops, kindness. PGH/NYC. unsortedbutsignificant.substack.com
Pinned
Ted Anthony
@anthonyted.bsky.social
· May 19
There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be
Popes -- they’re just like us? Not exactly, but you wouldn’t know that by the American fanfare surrounding the newly minted Pope Leo XIV.
apnews.com
The pope, the Chicago beef sandwich and the cult of the regular guy in America. My latest.
apnews.com/article/pope...
apnews.com/article/pope...
When I researched the book, I had to go to the Library of Congress to find that recording. I love that she can be heard by everyone now.
November 25, 2025 at 3:17 PM
When I researched the book, I had to go to the Library of Congress to find that recording. I love that she can be heard by everyone now.
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. As I say in the book, don’t ever try to write something of that length without being obsessed with it. I still remember that moment where I rolled down the passenger window.
November 25, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. As I say in the book, don’t ever try to write something of that length without being obsessed with it. I still remember that moment where I rolled down the passenger window.
Today, on the 50th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I unpack what makes the song work from a storytelling perspective. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
The Edmund Fitzgerald and the 'Ladder of Abstraction'
How a renowned shipwreck produced an almost perfect lesson in storytelling.
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Today, on the 50th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I unpack what makes the song work from a storytelling perspective. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Reposted by Ted Anthony
@anthonyted.bsky.social As seen in Minnesota.
September 9, 2025 at 1:25 AM
@anthonyted.bsky.social As seen in Minnesota.
My father died 10 years ago this morning. Today, my grief evolves — finally. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
The Mask of Life
Notes on a father dead for a decade.
open.substack.com
July 12, 2025 at 6:37 PM
My father died 10 years ago this morning. Today, my grief evolves — finally. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
A July 4 weekend special. In 2015, living in Bangkok, I was struck by my sons’ Thai school’s invitation for them to wear their “national costume.” It got me thinking.
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
I See By Your Outfit that You Are a Cowboy
My American sons’ Thai school invited them to show off their ‘national costume’. What to wear?
open.substack.com
July 6, 2025 at 1:19 AM
A July 4 weekend special. In 2015, living in Bangkok, I was struck by my sons’ Thai school’s invitation for them to wear their “national costume.” It got me thinking.
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Happy Father's Day. Here's a little story about my dad and chewing tobacco.
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
I Didn't Know Spit
Baseball, chewing tobacco and 1970s parenting. A Father's Day story.
open.substack.com
June 15, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Happy Father's Day. Here's a little story about my dad and chewing tobacco.
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Whatever political allegiance you claim, this has been one bizarre week in American life. Here, I try to break it down a bit. apnews.com/article/prid...
Protests, parades and Pride: One week in June 2025 is drawing stark American fault lines
On the first weekend: a vision of the nation built upon inclusivity and the tenets of liberalism — a conception of country that incorporates generations of fights for equity, for compassion, for expan...
apnews.com
June 14, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Whatever political allegiance you claim, this has been one bizarre week in American life. Here, I try to break it down a bit. apnews.com/article/prid...
The story of a plastic donut and a mother’s gift — my mother’s gift. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
The Donut and the Dark
My mother’s gift of light, it turned out, could illuminate even the darkest places.
open.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 3:20 AM
The story of a plastic donut and a mother’s gift — my mother’s gift. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Bruce Springsteen’s lyrical view of America has long included politics — even more so as he ages (my latest from @apnews.com)
apnews.com/article/bruc...
apnews.com/article/bruc...
Bruce Springsteen's lyrical view of America has long included politics — even more so as he ages
Even as his fame and wealth have soared over the decades, Bruce Springsteen has retained the voice of the working class’ balladeer.
apnews.com
May 25, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Bruce Springsteen’s lyrical view of America has long included politics — even more so as he ages (my latest from @apnews.com)
apnews.com/article/bruc...
apnews.com/article/bruc...
Reposted by Ted Anthony
apnews.com/article/pope...
"There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be"
Thanks to @anthonyted.bsky.social for citing me, and crafting an excellent piece of cultural interrogation:
"There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be"
Thanks to @anthonyted.bsky.social for citing me, and crafting an excellent piece of cultural interrogation:
There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be
Popes -- they’re just like us? Not exactly, but you wouldn’t know that by the American fanfare surrounding the newly minted Pope Leo XIV.
apnews.com
May 19, 2025 at 8:45 PM
apnews.com/article/pope...
"There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be"
Thanks to @anthonyted.bsky.social for citing me, and crafting an excellent piece of cultural interrogation:
"There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be"
Thanks to @anthonyted.bsky.social for citing me, and crafting an excellent piece of cultural interrogation:
Reposted by Ted Anthony
I recently spoke to the Associated Press about reality TV… and the Pope?! @apnews.com @anthonyted.bsky.social
apnews.com/article/pope...
apnews.com/article/pope...
There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be
Popes -- they’re just like us? Not exactly, but you wouldn’t know that by the American fanfare surrounding the newly minted Pope Leo XIV.
apnews.com
May 20, 2025 at 1:00 PM
I recently spoke to the Associated Press about reality TV… and the Pope?! @apnews.com @anthonyted.bsky.social
apnews.com/article/pope...
apnews.com/article/pope...
The pope, the Chicago beef sandwich and the cult of the regular guy in America. My latest.
apnews.com/article/pope...
apnews.com/article/pope...
There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be
Popes -- they’re just like us? Not exactly, but you wouldn’t know that by the American fanfare surrounding the newly minted Pope Leo XIV.
apnews.com
May 19, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The pope, the Chicago beef sandwich and the cult of the regular guy in America. My latest.
apnews.com/article/pope...
apnews.com/article/pope...
My Radio Shack memories. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Shack Love
Watching the first shots of the digital revolution from a front-row seat in the suburbs.
open.substack.com
April 24, 2025 at 2:03 PM
My Radio Shack memories. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Reposted by Ted Anthony
@anthonyted.bsky.social and I are so aligned it's just crazy!!!
There is No Sauce Like Hunger open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
There is No Sauce Like Hunger open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
There is No Sauce Like Hunger
Heinz 57 Sauce: On my 57th birthday, a brief taste-imonial.
open.substack.com
April 16, 2025 at 9:30 PM
@anthonyted.bsky.social and I are so aligned it's just crazy!!!
There is No Sauce Like Hunger open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
There is No Sauce Like Hunger open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
It's my 57th birthday, so naturally I'm thinking about Heinz 57 Sauce. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
There is No Sauce Like Hunger
Heinz 57 Sauce: On my 57th birthday, a brief taste-imonial.
open.substack.com
April 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM
It's my 57th birthday, so naturally I'm thinking about Heinz 57 Sauce. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Four months after 9/11, I took a photograph of a waiter in Afghanistan. Find out why this might matter. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
First Exposure
He implored me to take his picture, even though he knew he couldn't get a copy. A post-9/11 story of Afghanistan.
open.substack.com
April 14, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Four months after 9/11, I took a photograph of a waiter in Afghanistan. Find out why this might matter. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Yesterday I ate lunch somewhere in central Pennsylvania, looked up and saw crutches on the wall. It got me thinking. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Your Americana is Freaking Me Out
Found Objects, Vol. 9: Crutches on the restaurant wall.
open.substack.com
March 31, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Yesterday I ate lunch somewhere in central Pennsylvania, looked up and saw crutches on the wall. It got me thinking. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Some weeks back, I was fortunate to join 2 members of the Pittsburgh Pirates family, Greg Brown and Michael McKenry, on their baseball/Pittsburgh/culture podcast "Hold My Cutter." We talked about life and baseball, China and baseball, journalism and baseball, Pittsburgh and baseball, and baseball.
Tracing Threads Through Time: From China to Pittsburgh
YouTube video by Hold My Cutter
www.youtube.com
March 10, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Some weeks back, I was fortunate to join 2 members of the Pittsburgh Pirates family, Greg Brown and Michael McKenry, on their baseball/Pittsburgh/culture podcast "Hold My Cutter." We talked about life and baseball, China and baseball, journalism and baseball, Pittsburgh and baseball, and baseball.
Reposted by Ted Anthony
This March 2020 poem by @anthonyted.bsky.social is as chilling as a shiver, as haunting as memories of that scary time.
"the [restaurant] tables meant for us sat still,
"their condiment bottles topped off,
"their place settings untouched
"by fingers that suddenly might kill."
"the [restaurant] tables meant for us sat still,
"their condiment bottles topped off,
"their place settings untouched
"by fingers that suddenly might kill."
Freeze Frame
A pandemic poem from March 2020, the week the world stopped.
substack.com
March 10, 2025 at 7:36 PM
This March 2020 poem by @anthonyted.bsky.social is as chilling as a shiver, as haunting as memories of that scary time.
"the [restaurant] tables meant for us sat still,
"their condiment bottles topped off,
"their place settings untouched
"by fingers that suddenly might kill."
"the [restaurant] tables meant for us sat still,
"their condiment bottles topped off,
"their place settings untouched
"by fingers that suddenly might kill."
My dad died almost 10 years ago. Yet here he is as a guest writer on my Substack as baseball season approaches. Take it away, Dad.
Bat Boy
As baseball season approaches, a guest writer (my late father) recalls the stickball games of his 1930s childhood.
open.substack.com
March 6, 2025 at 3:59 AM
My dad died almost 10 years ago. Yet here he is as a guest writer on my Substack as baseball season approaches. Take it away, Dad.
Reposted by Ted Anthony
A longtime journalist raises his spoon to place Campbell's "liquid mashup . . . on the 'why does this exist’ continuum.”
"In the end, it's simply tomato soup. . . . I get more 'grilled cheese' experience from the can's design than I do from the soup inside."
"In the end, it's simply tomato soup. . . . I get more 'grilled cheese' experience from the can's design than I do from the soup inside."
Take a break from the Oscars aftermath and have a look at my latest unsorted but (I think) significant obsession: soup and sandwich, all in the same can.
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
March 3, 2025 at 10:36 PM
A longtime journalist raises his spoon to place Campbell's "liquid mashup . . . on the 'why does this exist’ continuum.”
"In the end, it's simply tomato soup. . . . I get more 'grilled cheese' experience from the can's design than I do from the soup inside."
"In the end, it's simply tomato soup. . . . I get more 'grilled cheese' experience from the can's design than I do from the soup inside."
Take a break from the Oscars aftermath and have a look at my latest unsorted but (I think) significant obsession: soup and sandwich, all in the same can.
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
March 3, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Take a break from the Oscars aftermath and have a look at my latest unsorted but (I think) significant obsession: soup and sandwich, all in the same can.
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Reposted by Ted Anthony
Mr.A.'s view captivates my imagination, by using reality to capture my attention. He's an American worth listening to: "To be an American, I think, you need to vibe with both — the eternal and the disposable, side by side."
thanks @anthonyted.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
thanks @anthonyted.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
Burgers and Bones
My great-great-great-great-great aunt would like to order a Double Whopper with cheese, please.
open.substack.com
February 24, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Mr.A.'s view captivates my imagination, by using reality to capture my attention. He's an American worth listening to: "To be an American, I think, you need to vibe with both — the eternal and the disposable, side by side."
thanks @anthonyted.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...
thanks @anthonyted.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...