Caleb Crain
@calebcrain.bsky.social
Into #birding, #CrossFit, & sometimes writing. Wrote the novels "Necessary Errors" and "Overthrow"
More at https://calebcrain.substack.com & https://steamthing.com.
New short story! https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/08/12/clay-fiction-caleb-crain
More at https://calebcrain.substack.com & https://steamthing.com.
New short story! https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/08/12/clay-fiction-caleb-crain
Pinned
Caleb Crain
@calebcrain.bsky.social
· Nov 26
Hi, new followers! I wrote "Necessary Errors," a gay coming-of-age novel set in Prague a year after the Berlin Wall fell, and "Overthrow," a novel about Occupy protesters aswim in surveillance. My short stories have won n+1's Anthony Veasna So prize and the Paris Review's Susannah Hunnewell prize.
Reposted by Caleb Crain
This month's 11th Hour column in the print New Republic is about Trump's threatened sale of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, the "Sistine Chapel of the New Deal." We have since learned Trump is preparing to bypass the GSA and demolish it before sale. Please spread the word.
December 26, 2025 at 5:29 PM
This month's 11th Hour column in the print New Republic is about Trump's threatened sale of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, the "Sistine Chapel of the New Deal." We have since learned Trump is preparing to bypass the GSA and demolish it before sale. Please spread the word.
Reposted by Caleb Crain
ICE detain father shopping on Christmas Eve—then steal his family's groceries.
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
December 25, 2025 at 7:03 PM
ICE detain father shopping on Christmas Eve—then steal his family's groceries.
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
Reposted by Caleb Crain
i sold my antipsychotic meds to buy my ai girlfriend a new model upgrade for christmas. but then i found out she sold her data center to buy me a gun
December 25, 2025 at 9:54 PM
i sold my antipsychotic meds to buy my ai girlfriend a new model upgrade for christmas. but then i found out she sold her data center to buy me a gun
Reposted by Caleb Crain
they don’t tell you when you buy a christmas tree at the christmas tree farm that you could take it home, decorate it, and then be relaxing in your living room seven nights later when A BAT suddenly flies out and starts CRASHING AROUND YOUR HOUSE
December 24, 2025 at 11:43 PM
they don’t tell you when you buy a christmas tree at the christmas tree farm that you could take it home, decorate it, and then be relaxing in your living room seven nights later when A BAT suddenly flies out and starts CRASHING AROUND YOUR HOUSE
Reposted by Caleb Crain
If you’re willing to let me stipulate that most folks’ relationship to art and culture is largely current, reaching back with nostalgia to childhood but mostly attending to what’s going on now:
Is Christmas culture for most people their sole regular engagement with the slightly more distant past?
Is Christmas culture for most people their sole regular engagement with the slightly more distant past?
December 24, 2025 at 1:11 PM
If you’re willing to let me stipulate that most folks’ relationship to art and culture is largely current, reaching back with nostalgia to childhood but mostly attending to what’s going on now:
Is Christmas culture for most people their sole regular engagement with the slightly more distant past?
Is Christmas culture for most people their sole regular engagement with the slightly more distant past?
Reposted by Caleb Crain
Reposted by Caleb Crain
Reposted by Caleb Crain
Well this is a beautiful edition
December 24, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Well this is a beautiful edition
Reposted by Caleb Crain
Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
December 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
Reposted by Caleb Crain
Maybe there's an example somewhere else of Epstein writing in a cursive as rhythmic and regular as the cursive in the letter to Nassar? I'm not an expert in handwriting, and you may well be right, but from these samples, it doesn't look to me like they were written by the same personality.
December 23, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Maybe there's an example somewhere else of Epstein writing in a cursive as rhythmic and regular as the cursive in the letter to Nassar? I'm not an expert in handwriting, and you may well be right, but from these samples, it doesn't look to me like they were written by the same personality.
Reposted by Caleb Crain
Among the newly-released Epstein files. This Justice Dept email from Jan 2020
'I wanted to let you know that the flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously has been reported"
'I wanted to let you know that the flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously has been reported"
December 23, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Among the newly-released Epstein files. This Justice Dept email from Jan 2020
'I wanted to let you know that the flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously has been reported"
'I wanted to let you know that the flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously has been reported"
Reposted by Caleb Crain
ah yes a true holiday classic
December 23, 2025 at 1:17 PM
ah yes a true holiday classic
Reposted by Caleb Crain
Well, happy anniversary to one of the finest of festive exchanges
December 23, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Well, happy anniversary to one of the finest of festive exchanges
I was today years old when I learned that the person Peeping Tom looked at was Lady Godiva.
December 23, 2025 at 9:21 AM
I was today years old when I learned that the person Peeping Tom looked at was Lady Godiva.
Reposted by Caleb Crain
2025 Headline of the Year nominee (April)
December 22, 2025 at 11:49 PM
2025 Headline of the Year nominee (April)
Reposted by Caleb Crain
people always laugh when bears run away from housecats because they're so much bigger but like. imagine you were in the woods & you ran into a weird little guy that looks kinda like you but like 1/5th the size & his head is shaped weird & he is running toward you full tilt yelling. what would you do
December 22, 2025 at 7:27 PM
people always laugh when bears run away from housecats because they're so much bigger but like. imagine you were in the woods & you ran into a weird little guy that looks kinda like you but like 1/5th the size & his head is shaped weird & he is running toward you full tilt yelling. what would you do
It's interesting that we have video of CECOT for the same reason we have video of Nazi concentration camps: the people running fascism were proud of it and wanted to make sure it was on record.
And now someone has uploaded a version that wasn't filmed off a TV.
There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.
There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.
Pulled 60 Minutes segment on CECOT : CBS : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
This is a screen recording of a 60 Minutes segment about the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison in El Salvador, which was intended to be...
archive.org
December 23, 2025 at 12:38 AM
It's interesting that we have video of CECOT for the same reason we have video of Nazi concentration camps: the people running fascism were proud of it and wanted to make sure it was on record.
Reposted by Caleb Crain
And now someone has uploaded a version that wasn't filmed off a TV.
There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.
There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.
Pulled 60 Minutes segment on CECOT : CBS : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
This is a screen recording of a 60 Minutes segment about the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison in El Salvador, which was intended to be...
archive.org
December 22, 2025 at 11:51 PM
And now someone has uploaded a version that wasn't filmed off a TV.
There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.
There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.
Reposted by Caleb Crain
The 60 Minutes piece on the Trump Administration’s torture prison that Bari Weiss doesn’t want you to see has leaked.
December 22, 2025 at 10:09 PM
The 60 Minutes piece on the Trump Administration’s torture prison that Bari Weiss doesn’t want you to see has leaked.
Reposted by Caleb Crain
A curious record of *indoor* temperatures: organ tuning books kept in churches.
"The average summer temperature... was 17.2C during the late 1960s. By the 2020s it had reached 19.8C.... A change of just 1 degree celsius may alter the pitch of one of these instruments by 0.8 hertz, said Scott."
"The average summer temperature... was 17.2C during the late 1960s. By the 2020s it had reached 19.8C.... A change of just 1 degree celsius may alter the pitch of one of these instruments by 0.8 hertz, said Scott."
Organ-tuning books in English churches provide notes on a warming climate
Researchers have realised the records are a ‘goldmine’ to study changes in environmental conditions
www.theguardian.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:17 PM
A curious record of *indoor* temperatures: organ tuning books kept in churches.
"The average summer temperature... was 17.2C during the late 1960s. By the 2020s it had reached 19.8C.... A change of just 1 degree celsius may alter the pitch of one of these instruments by 0.8 hertz, said Scott."
"The average summer temperature... was 17.2C during the late 1960s. By the 2020s it had reached 19.8C.... A change of just 1 degree celsius may alter the pitch of one of these instruments by 0.8 hertz, said Scott."
A Department of "War" that fights . . . windmills.
Burgum: "Today we're sending notifications to the 5 large offshore wind projects that are under construction that their leases will be suspended due to national security concerns ... the Dept of War has come back conclusively that these large offshore wind programs create radar interference"
December 23, 2025 at 12:23 AM
A Department of "War" that fights . . . windmills.
It transpires, after 58+ years on this planet without having tasted one before, that I like persimmons.
December 23, 2025 at 12:19 AM
It transpires, after 58+ years on this planet without having tasted one before, that I like persimmons.
‘The NYT already ran a story about it’ is not quite a slam dunk when the story is America sending innocent people to a notorious foreign concentration camp.
NEW: Bari Weiss addresses her decision to hold last night's CECOT story on the CBS News morning editorial call: "Our viewers come first, not a listing schedule or anything else..."
December 22, 2025 at 2:55 PM
‘The NYT already ran a story about it’ is not quite a slam dunk when the story is America sending innocent people to a notorious foreign concentration camp.
If you have ever reported on an even mildly conflictual story, this becomes obvious to you once you've got about two phone calls in.
I have never, once in my career, heard of a news org responding to a decline-to-comment with, “Well, we’ll hold it until you do.”
The reason is obvious — it gives the subject of your story a pocket veto.
The reason is obvious — it gives the subject of your story a pocket veto.
December 22, 2025 at 4:34 AM
If you have ever reported on an even mildly conflictual story, this becomes obvious to you once you've got about two phone calls in.