James Wolcott
@jwolcott.bsky.social
Please step away from the platform edge.
What's interesting to me is how "thoughtful" media figures & outlets are trying to plug Ben Shapiro into the Charlie Kirk slot of responsible conservatism, despite Shapiro's crumbling popularity on the right & robotic messaging. What exactly is Hal Linden* flirting with here?
*Hal Linden: codename
*Hal Linden: codename
February 12, 2026 at 7:04 PM
What's interesting to me is how "thoughtful" media figures & outlets are trying to plug Ben Shapiro into the Charlie Kirk slot of responsible conservatism, despite Shapiro's crumbling popularity on the right & robotic messaging. What exactly is Hal Linden* flirting with here?
*Hal Linden: codename
*Hal Linden: codename
He'll be spending more "me time" in his pickup truck driving round to check on the soul of America.
February 12, 2026 at 12:40 AM
He'll be spending more "me time" in his pickup truck driving round to check on the soul of America.
I can't steel myself to listen to Ben Shapiro and his whiny rat-a-tat voice on The New Yorker podcast, hosted by Broadway legend Hal Linden.* If only there was an AI summation somewhere I could tap that would supply the salient "high points," if any.
*[needs fact checking--ed.]
*[needs fact checking--ed.]
February 12, 2026 at 12:39 AM
I can't steel myself to listen to Ben Shapiro and his whiny rat-a-tat voice on The New Yorker podcast, hosted by Broadway legend Hal Linden.* If only there was an AI summation somewhere I could tap that would supply the salient "high points," if any.
*[needs fact checking--ed.]
*[needs fact checking--ed.]
It appears that the Matt Taibbi-Walter Kirn podcast breakup or trial separation wasn't mutual and amicable. Basically, Kirn got blindsided by Taibbi and was left with a bitter taste in his mouth, one that no amount of oral rinse can swish away.
Another beautiful bromance, kaput.
Another beautiful bromance, kaput.
February 11, 2026 at 11:22 PM
It appears that the Matt Taibbi-Walter Kirn podcast breakup or trial separation wasn't mutual and amicable. Basically, Kirn got blindsided by Taibbi and was left with a bitter taste in his mouth, one that no amount of oral rinse can swish away.
Another beautiful bromance, kaput.
Another beautiful bromance, kaput.
"Thank-you-very-much" (Elvis Presley voice)
@jwolcott.bsky.social in LRB on Updike's letters, 5600 words? Yes, please. Insanely fun read, every sentence witty & astute. Rightly hails Updike as Nabokov-tier prose wizard, flambés him for misogyny that taints the sorcery. "A stain tough to remove because it’s phrased with such lapidary care."
February 11, 2026 at 4:08 PM
"Thank-you-very-much" (Elvis Presley voice)
They should pay US to watch it!
February 10, 2026 at 12:36 AM
They should pay US to watch it!
I can't locate the Bauer interview on YouTube so perhaps Daum pulled it.
Ann Bauer recently appeared on Meghan Daum's podcast doing her Why I Left Woke Minneapolis spiel and I have to say she really looked quite out of it and no model of lucidity.
February 10, 2026 at 12:22 AM
I can't locate the Bauer interview on YouTube so perhaps Daum pulled it.
Ann Bauer recently appeared on Meghan Daum's podcast doing her Why I Left Woke Minneapolis spiel and I have to say she really looked quite out of it and no model of lucidity.
February 9, 2026 at 10:26 PM
Ann Bauer recently appeared on Meghan Daum's podcast doing her Why I Left Woke Minneapolis spiel and I have to say she really looked quite out of it and no model of lucidity.
Maybe I'm jaded or naive* but I actually expected HEATED RIVALRY to be a lot hottier considering how much everybody was carrying on about it.
*neither
*neither
February 8, 2026 at 3:10 AM
Maybe I'm jaded or naive* but I actually expected HEATED RIVALRY to be a lot hottier considering how much everybody was carrying on about it.
*neither
*neither
Pass the sickbag, Alice.
February 6, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Pass the sickbag, Alice.
What's weird to me is Kirn's affect, the way his head is sort of lolling back and forth and he's waving that cup around as if he's on a rocking boat. Intellectually, he's been buggy for some time but these strange mannerisms seem recent.
February 4, 2026 at 2:40 AM
What's weird to me is Kirn's affect, the way his head is sort of lolling back and forth and he's waving that cup around as if he's on a rocking boat. Intellectually, he's been buggy for some time but these strange mannerisms seem recent.
"Woody Allen is mentioned 7000 times in the Epstein files. Is that, like, a lot?" (George Costanza voice)
February 3, 2026 at 11:57 PM
"Woody Allen is mentioned 7000 times in the Epstein files. Is that, like, a lot?" (George Costanza voice)
I have just placed two orders.
February 3, 2026 at 12:35 AM
I have just placed two orders.
Reposted by James Wolcott
BBC radio thinks a photo of Prince Andrew with an unknown woman is more newsworthy than revelations of tens of thousands of pounds from Epstein to the then deputy prime minister’s partner, seriously?
January 31, 2026 at 1:35 PM
BBC radio thinks a photo of Prince Andrew with an unknown woman is more newsworthy than revelations of tens of thousands of pounds from Epstein to the then deputy prime minister’s partner, seriously?
Reposted by James Wolcott
Lord Peter Mandelson was sent money directly from disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein as early as 2003, according to new files released by US government
The files record three payments in 2003/4 from Epstein’s JPMorgan accounts of $25,000 each, all mentioning Mandelson
www.ft.com/content/1728...
The files record three payments in 2003/4 from Epstein’s JPMorgan accounts of $25,000 each, all mentioning Mandelson
www.ft.com/content/1728...
Jeffrey Epstein sent Peter Mandelson $75,000, documents show
Newly released files include three payments from disgraced financier’s JPMorgan account to former UK power broker
www.ft.com
January 31, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Lord Peter Mandelson was sent money directly from disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein as early as 2003, according to new files released by US government
The files record three payments in 2003/4 from Epstein’s JPMorgan accounts of $25,000 each, all mentioning Mandelson
www.ft.com/content/1728...
The files record three payments in 2003/4 from Epstein’s JPMorgan accounts of $25,000 each, all mentioning Mandelson
www.ft.com/content/1728...
A video podcast that will take the nation BY STORM.
January 29, 2026 at 5:43 PM
A video podcast that will take the nation BY STORM.
That Mark Halperin has friends is an indictment of our society.
January 29, 2026 at 4:42 PM
That Mark Halperin has friends is an indictment of our society.
I'm trying to put myself in the mind of someone watching Tucker Carlson half-assing it and guffawing and thinking, 'That's who I want to be,' and utterly failing.
January 29, 2026 at 12:03 AM
I'm trying to put myself in the mind of someone watching Tucker Carlson half-assing it and guffawing and thinking, 'That's who I want to be,' and utterly failing.
The question is, Will you get out of there alive?
January 28, 2026 at 9:33 PM
The question is, Will you get out of there alive?
Won't somebody think of the poor billionaires whose bottled water isn't always perfectly chilled?
www.city-journal.org/article/inhe...
www.city-journal.org/article/inhe...
In Defense of Inherited Wealth
Politicians have imposed massive inheritance and estate taxes to penalize intergenerational wealth transfers.
www.city-journal.org
January 28, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Won't somebody think of the poor billionaires whose bottled water isn't always perfectly chilled?
www.city-journal.org/article/inhe...
www.city-journal.org/article/inhe...
City-Journal both-sidesing Minneapolis is an admission of retreat and defeat from the moth-ridden MAGA punditocracy.
Also it's tricky pulling a both-sides argument when one side is in imperial trooper paramilitary gear and the other's in flannel & down coats.
www.city-journal.org/article/minn...
Also it's tricky pulling a both-sides argument when one side is in imperial trooper paramilitary gear and the other's in flannel & down coats.
www.city-journal.org/article/minn...
Turn Down the Temperature in Minnesota
All sides need to ratchet back rhetoric—and action—in the wake of the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
www.city-journal.org
January 27, 2026 at 8:21 PM
City-Journal both-sidesing Minneapolis is an admission of retreat and defeat from the moth-ridden MAGA punditocracy.
Also it's tricky pulling a both-sides argument when one side is in imperial trooper paramilitary gear and the other's in flannel & down coats.
www.city-journal.org/article/minn...
Also it's tricky pulling a both-sides argument when one side is in imperial trooper paramilitary gear and the other's in flannel & down coats.
www.city-journal.org/article/minn...
Reposted by James Wolcott
Kirn’s Rockefeller book is one of the worst I’ve ever read. It offends me.
‘I fell for Tom Ripley. I’m also a lapsed religious zealot with no real beliefs, up to & including a strange attachment to barely post-adolescent women. How could I have fallen for such a con? We’ll never know!’
‘I fell for Tom Ripley. I’m also a lapsed religious zealot with no real beliefs, up to & including a strange attachment to barely post-adolescent women. How could I have fallen for such a con? We’ll never know!’
January 27, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Kirn’s Rockefeller book is one of the worst I’ve ever read. It offends me.
‘I fell for Tom Ripley. I’m also a lapsed religious zealot with no real beliefs, up to & including a strange attachment to barely post-adolescent women. How could I have fallen for such a con? We’ll never know!’
‘I fell for Tom Ripley. I’m also a lapsed religious zealot with no real beliefs, up to & including a strange attachment to barely post-adolescent women. How could I have fallen for such a con? We’ll never know!’
Reposted by James Wolcott
Walter “I Really Thought He Was a Rockefeller!” Kirn.
January 27, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Walter “I Really Thought He Was a Rockefeller!” Kirn.