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dalemaharidge.bsky.social
@dalemaharidge.bsky.social
Journalist/author. Professor at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Signal = WillSpecter1.75
SPRINGSTEEN'S GHOST OF TOM JOAD--It was released 30 years ago today. Some stories like this one are shouting out that #springsteen drew from Journey to Nowhere, the book I did with Michael S. Williamson. HARD.TO.BELIEVE that this much time has passed. Sigh.

www.noise11.com/news/bruce-s...
Bruce Springsteen Marks 30 Years Of The Ghost Of Tom Joad
Bruce Springsteen celebrates 30 years of The Ghost Of Tom Joad, the intimate 1995 acoustic album that defined a new chapter in his storytelling legacy.
www.noise11.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Powerful essay from a hospital bed from Samuel Braslow, who was in my final class last spring at Columbia. "I can’t diet, detox or exercise my way out of cancer." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/o...
3m
Opinion | I Understand MAHA’s Appeal, but It Threatens My Life
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:17 PM
“Five life-changing things that shaped Bruce Springsteen”--Journey to Nowhere, the book I did with Michael S. Williamson, is included in the 5th thing in this BBC Radio podcast.
www.bbc.co.uk/.../five-lif....
October 26, 2025 at 3:23 PM
BUZZARD SWARM--Today a cloud of turkey vultures suddenly swirled overhead. There are 41 birds in the frame of this picture. Another 30 or so are out of frame. Never seen anything like this. One could interpret this as a sign of something, but I’m not sure I want to think too much about that.
September 25, 2025 at 6:34 AM
September 19, 2025 at 7:00 AM
September 19, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Sweet! Choke #paulweiss and other #lawfirms such as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom #caving to #Trump. Hope you suffer millions/billions in losses. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
The Fallout Is Growing on Trump’s Deals With Law Firms
The deals are looking worse and worse — for Trump and the law firms.
www.politico.com
July 12, 2025 at 6:25 AM
Fuck my #AI copilot. Die pilot. Leave me alone. Analog baby.
July 11, 2025 at 8:17 AM
TOTALLY OFFGRID-Power profile for June. ZERO grid electric because of the batteries at night. Exported power every day. Total of 355KW. C02 reduction: 1,400 pounds. we live in a bleak era, who knows what the fools who are now running things will do. Here at this casa, we will never be without power.
July 8, 2025 at 8:45 AM
ST. LOUIS, 1983--We hopped on a freight train that March with Don, who we documented as he headed west seeking work. I took the pic of Michael S. Williamson either moments before or after he made the image of Don, which appears in our 1985 book Journey To Nowhere.
June 3, 2025 at 8:01 AM
GRADUATION DAY Columbia Journalism--The final graduation ceremony after 34 years of teaching. Next to me is Sam Freedman. It's fitting we "retire" at the same time. We both started at Columbia in 1991. Dean Jelani Cobb gave us a shout out at the end of the ceremony. @columbiajournalism.bsky.social
May 22, 2025 at 4:23 PM
NEW YORK CITY--May 16, 2025. #trump #fascism
May 17, 2025 at 5:40 AM
THE LAST DAY--Waiting for students on Thursday at the Columbia Journalism School. My final class after 34 years.
May 16, 2025 at 10:34 PM
NEW YORK CITY, May 6, 2025--Amsterdam Avenue in the low 100s. This sheaf of plastic was in the gutter, these words written upon it. I asked myself this: WWMSWD? (What would Michael S. Williamson do?) And that is how I shot it.
May 7, 2025 at 2:33 AM
CLOSE TO THE END-The final reading packet for my @columbiajournalism.bsky.social class, the last in my 34 years of teaching. We're going to talk about demons, how to avoid them and have a good career. Being aware as you go along is critical.
May 6, 2025 at 6:50 PM
This is our future--even more stupid. A.I. Is Getting More Powerful, but Its Hallucinations Are Getting Worse www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/t...
A.I. Hallucinations Are Getting Worse, Even as New Systems Become More Powerful
A new wave of “reasoning” systems from companies like OpenAI is producing incorrect information more often. Even the companies don’t know why.
www.nytimes.com
May 5, 2025 at 4:14 PM
MAY 4, 1970--Fifty-five years ago today, the National Guard executed students at Kent State University. They were killing us then. And I fear that kind of thing is not over, not in this current climate. I will always remember Kent State Day. #kentstate
May 4, 2025 at 9:00 PM
‪ I sound like Joyce Carol Oats in this #writerland post by my
@columbiajournalism.bsky.social
colleague Michael Shapiro. I wish I were as productive. ‪ thedelacortereview.substack.com/p/chapter-18...
Chapter 180: Limbo, or Between Stories
And so you have written.
thedelacortereview.substack.com
May 3, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Congrats to my former @columbiajournalism.bsky.social student (1992)@robinmcdowell.bsky.social and to a writer I've long admired, @jonathanblitzer.bsky.social, for winning Hillman prizes! This award honors journalism about the struggles of real people. www.hillmanfoundation.org/hillman-priz...
2025 Hillman Prizes
The Sidney Hillman Foundation honors journalists who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling in service of the common good.
www.hillmanfoundation.org
April 29, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Two wars, riding the rails, six collaborated books, several hundred stories, and a doc film with Ron Wyman coming-we had a lot to catch up on. Michael S. Williamson was in town for The Association of International Photography Art Dealers. On display: two of Michael’s photos of Sally Mann.
April 25, 2025 at 6:05 PM
@cuimcstandsup.bsky.social I'm a J-school prof coming to the rally Monday. I'd like to talk with someone from CUIMC. If you could DM me on BSky directly that would be most appreciated! Or Signal: WillSpecter1.75 Thanks!
April 12, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Glad we're not one of those theocracies in the Middle East. www.politico.com/news/2025/04...
State tells employees to report on one another for ‘anti-Christian bias’
“It’s very ‘Handmaid’s Tale’-esque,” one official said.
www.politico.com
April 11, 2025 at 5:45 PM