Chris Briem (www.briem.com)
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Chris Briem (www.briem.com)
@chrisbriem.bsky.social
340 followers 32 following 450 posts
Just an old battleship sailor.
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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · Dec 3
Don’t come for me, come for Brian O., but mark your calendars. RSVPs required to attend in person: whitewhalebookstore.com/events
In retirement I may have to write a history of semipro football.
(Source: nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com/2016/04/john...)
January 20, 2026 at 3:06 AM
Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)
ksupress.bsky.social
New in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: @chrisbriem.bsky.social, author of Kent State's upcoming book "Beyond Steel," on why steel isn't coming back to Pittsburgh:

www.post-gazette.com/opinion/insi...
Christopher Briem: Why steel isn't coming back to Pittsburgh CHRISTOPHER BRIEM Insight JAN 18, 2026 4:30 AM 0 If asked, almost anyone in the United States, and large parts of the world, knows that “the Steel City” refers only and always to the city and region of Pittsburgh. The indelible link between Pittsburgh and the singular industry is the result of southwestern Pennsylvania’s extraordinary concentration of raw steel production that extended across a full century beginning in the late 19th century. Steel was everything. But what does steel mean to southwestern Pennsylvania today? Unfortunately, that past is not prologue.
January 18, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Cleveland Plain-Dealer: Why Cleveland’s newsroom is not facing Pittsburgh’s fate: Letter from the Editor

www.cleveland.com/news/2026/01...
January 18, 2026 at 2:42 AM
Since we're getting close, a peek inside:
January 17, 2026 at 12:30 AM
New: Federal machinations have caused us to skip October data, but the November 2025 unemployment rate (SA) for the Pittsburgh MSA has ticked up to 4.1%. First time over 4.0% since December of 2022.
www.pa.gov/content/dam/...
www.pa.gov
January 16, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Last chance... almost full. Where else do you want to be on a Tuesday evening in Pittsburgh?
January 15, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)
pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social
“Future prospects for greater Pittsburgh are decoupled from the prospects of the steel industry, a reality... difficult to accept for a region identified for so long with the once monolithic industry.”

From BEYOND STEEL by @chrisbriem.bsky.social (@ksupress.bsky.social). pghrev.com/did-the-wolf...
Did the Wolf Finally Leave? - Pittsburgh Review of Books
In early 2014, colleagues in the media relations department at the University of Pittsburgh forwarded to me a voicemail they said was from an independent
pghrev.com
January 12, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Tony Norman/Pittsburgh Review of Books: Requiem for the Post-Gazette

pghrev.com/requiem-for-...
Requiem for the Post-Gazette - Pittsburgh Review of Books
On January 7th at 1:15 p.m., John Robinson Block and Allan Block, the 71-year-old twin co-publishers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the largest and oldest
pghrev.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:34 PM
My Bloomfield neighbor has pictures of a coyote in their backyard today.
January 12, 2026 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)
ksupress.bsky.social
Big thanks to @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social for sharing an excerpt from @chrisbriem.bsky.social’s much-anticipated book “Beyond Steel.” We're excited for the official launch event at White Whale Bookstore on February 3.
Did the Wolf Finally Leave? - Pittsburgh Review of Books
In early 2014, colleagues in the media relations department at the University of Pittsburgh forwarded to me a voicemail they said was from an independent
pghrev.com
January 12, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Pittsburgh Magazine: An Epitaph for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
www.pittsburghmagazine.com/why-is-the-p...
An Epitaph for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Pittsburgh Magazine
Editor Jessica Sinichak reflects on what the closure of local news outlets means for the public — and why it matters.
www.pittsburghmagazine.com
January 8, 2026 at 7:08 PM
The future is about talent.
January 7, 2026 at 9:24 PM
Kind of takes passive aggressive to a new level.
producertory.bsky.social Tory Wegerski @producertory.bsky.social · 15d
NEW: Publishers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announce they are shutting down the newspaper on May 3, 2026.

Hours ago, the Supreme Court of the US declined to extend a stay on a court order for the paper to pay its journalists following the end of a 3-year strike.
Wednesday, January 7, 2026 Post-Gazette to Publish Final Edition and Cease Operations May 3, 2026 Block Communications, Inc. and the Block family are saddened to announce that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette plans to publish its final edition and cease operations on May 3, 2026. Over the past 20 years, Block Communications has lost more than $350 million in cash operating the Post-Gazette. Despite those efforts, the realities facing local journalism make continued cash losses at this scale no longer sustainable. Recent court decisions would require the Post-Gazette to operate under a 2014 labor contract that imposes on the Post-Gazette outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism. We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. The Block family is proud of the service the Post-Gazette has provided to Pittsburgh for nearly a century and will exit with their dignity intact. ###
January 7, 2026 at 8:18 PM
I’m like the only fan of Mercator left, but this is all Mercator’s fault.
washingtonpost.com The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 15d
Rich in untapped natural resources, sparsely populated and strategically located in the Arctic, Greenland has been a recurring fixation of President Trump’s since his first term in office.

Here’s what to know.
Why Trump wants Greenland and what’s standing in his way
Denmark’s leader warned that any use of force by Washington to seize Greenland, as Trump officials have suggested, would render the post-war NATO alliance defunct.
wapo.st
January 7, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Uh, oh.
January 7, 2026 at 3:38 PM
New: Pennsylvania unemployment rate (SA) for November 2025 up 1/10th to 4.2%.
January 7, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)
washingtonpost.com
Amid a big agency push to use AI models in weather prediction, the National Weather Service shared a forecast map riddled with spelling mistakes, non-existent locations and other geographical errors.
‘Whata Bod’: An AI-generated NWS map invented fake towns in Idaho
Amid a big agency push to use AI models in weather prediction, an AI-generated forecast graphic with errors was pulled from NWS sites.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Not sure how many tickets are left, just fyi.
January 6, 2026 at 1:13 AM
This is from a cycle long ago, someone should make more recent versions of these maps I once made.

www.pghcitypaper.com/news-2/remak...
January 5, 2026 at 12:23 AM
Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)
bobbatzjr.bsky.social
For today's PG, Stephen Karlinchak, @ZackTanner.com and I look back at the first quarter of this century and some of Pittsburgh's big stories. I helped cover many of them. For this I got to talk with @chrisbriem.bsky.social. Stories and timeline here: newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/pittsburgh-t...
A quarter century of Pittsburgh stories | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Some of the biggest stories from Pittsburgh in the first quarter of this century have shaped the region forever.
newsinteractive.post-gazette.com
January 4, 2026 at 3:13 PM
A teaser. Where it begins:
January 2, 2026 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)
mattseybold.bsky.social
what a shocking turn of events
who could’ve seen this coming
OpenAI Reportedly Planning to Make ChatGPT "Prioritize" Advertisers in Conversation
OpenAI employees working on ChatGPT report plans to unleash sponsored advertisements above organic results.
futurism.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Coming up:
December 27, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Ha… yunz have pushed it up to #4. It’s a curious list.
December 27, 2025 at 2:15 PM
So hey, #20 on this Amazon list of new releases in economic history.

Like I need yet another obscure metric to obsess on. But I bet a few preorders could push it up a few notches. Just saying…

www.amazon.com/gp/new-relea...
Amazon.com New Releases: The best-selling new & future releases in Economic History
Amazon.com New Releases: The best-selling new & future releases in Economic History
www.amazon.com
December 27, 2025 at 12:48 AM