Jesse Walker
@notjessewalker.bsky.social
I wrote THE UNITED STATES OF PARANOIA and REBELS ON THE AIR, and now I'm writing THE ANARCHIST AND THE REPUBLICAN.
"'We played Memphis the night Elvis died,' he said. 'Jerry Lee Lewis climbed up onstage, drunk as fuck, and said, 'I'm the King now.'' Lewis tried to sit down next to Bobbie at the piano. His bodyguard flashed a gun. From behind the drum kit, Paul English flashed his."
How Willie Nelson Sees America
On the road with the musician, his band, and his family.
www.newyorker.com
December 26, 2025 at 2:59 PM
"'We played Memphis the night Elvis died,' he said. 'Jerry Lee Lewis climbed up onstage, drunk as fuck, and said, 'I'm the King now.'' Lewis tried to sit down next to Bobbie at the piano. His bodyguard flashed a gun. From behind the drum kit, Paul English flashed his."
Reposted by Jesse Walker
Christmas is over, but this series isn't. From Duke Ellington to Alfred Hitchcock, here are my favorite movies of 1935: jessewalker.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
December 26, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Christmas is over, but this series isn't. From Duke Ellington to Alfred Hitchcock, here are my favorite movies of 1935: jessewalker.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
Your morning image
December 26, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Your morning image
Brings new meaning to the phrase "war on Christmas"
December 26, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Brings new meaning to the phrase "war on Christmas"
I'm not sure if this is canonical. Also, if this is canonical.
December 25, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I'm not sure if this is canonical. Also, if this is canonical.
Reader reaction: "I think every one of these is a quality film (even the low budget ones). My only difference is in what order I'd rank them..." pajamaguy.blogspot.com/2025/12/happ...
From Eisenstein to Tex Avery, my favorite films of '45: jessewalker.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
December 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reader reaction: "I think every one of these is a quality film (even the low budget ones). My only difference is in what order I'd rank them..." pajamaguy.blogspot.com/2025/12/happ...
My new Christmas tradition is reminding people of what might be the worst sentence in the history of music criticism.
December 25, 2025 at 7:34 PM
My new Christmas tradition is reminding people of what might be the worst sentence in the history of music criticism.
"...the cheesy ones, the sentimental ones, the ones where the girl from the big city goes home for the holidays, rediscovers the true meaning of something vaguely defined, and somehow ends up owning a toy factory or small vineyard..."
The haters are wrong. Netflix's glut of Christmas movies is good, actually.
The existence of options you don't personally enjoy is not a cultural failure; it's a luxury.
reason.com
December 25, 2025 at 4:39 PM
"...the cheesy ones, the sentimental ones, the ones where the girl from the big city goes home for the holidays, rediscovers the true meaning of something vaguely defined, and somehow ends up owning a toy factory or small vineyard..."
My brother got me this book...I'm not sure the inscription is legit.
December 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM
My brother got me this book...I'm not sure the inscription is legit.
Your morning image
December 25, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Your morning image
Time has passed, the novel has become familiar, and the definitive versions of the classic Christmas songs are now the Motown ones.
December 25, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Time has passed, the novel has become familiar, and the definitive versions of the classic Christmas songs are now the Motown ones.
New genre just dropped
December 24, 2025 at 6:37 PM
New genre just dropped
"A Brief History of AI Psychosis": a short story
A Brief History of AI Psychosis - Boston Review
A short story.
www.bostonreview.net
December 24, 2025 at 4:43 PM
"A Brief History of AI Psychosis": a short story
Your morning image
December 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Your morning image
I appear here in one of my favorite social roles: an anonymous husband
Santa Isn’t Real—but These Families Are Stuck Pretending He Is, Lest the Christmas People Revolt
Some parents are sick of perpetuating the ruse.
slate.com
December 23, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I appear here in one of my favorite social roles: an anonymous husband
Homeland Security spokesperson thinks that recording or following law enforcement "sure sounds like obstruction of justice"
DHS says recording or following law enforcement 'sure sounds like obstruction of justice'
Seven federal circuit courts have upheld the First Amendment right to record and monitor the police.
reason.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Homeland Security spokesperson thinks that recording or following law enforcement "sure sounds like obstruction of justice"
Reposted by Jesse Walker
SCOOP: Flock left at least 60 of its AI-powered, people-tracking surveillance cameras exposed and livestreaming to the open internet. We tracked ourselves. The exposure highlights the power of these cameras and types of things they're tracking. Not just cars.
www.404media.co/flock-expose...
www.404media.co/flock-expose...
Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves.
Flock left at least 60 of its people-tracking Condor PTZ cameras live streaming and exposed to the open internet.
www.404media.co
December 22, 2025 at 4:07 PM
SCOOP: Flock left at least 60 of its AI-powered, people-tracking surveillance cameras exposed and livestreaming to the open internet. We tracked ourselves. The exposure highlights the power of these cameras and types of things they're tracking. Not just cars.
www.404media.co/flock-expose...
www.404media.co/flock-expose...
"Looking at this list, it reminds me that in the 50s Hollywood was way behind the best of the rest of the world..." pajamaguy.blogspot.com/2025/12/ike-...
From Mickey Spillane to Ingmar Bergman, my favorite films of '55: jessewalker.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
December 23, 2025 at 1:39 PM
"Looking at this list, it reminds me that in the 50s Hollywood was way behind the best of the rest of the world..." pajamaguy.blogspot.com/2025/12/ike-...
Your morning image
December 23, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Your morning image
Going back to the '80s to tell people that one day there will be not just an "Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law" but a competition over who gets to have it.
December 22, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Going back to the '80s to tell people that one day there will be not just an "Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law" but a competition over who gets to have it.
The Weiss memo on the 60 Minutes story. The first point misses the difference between a network audience and the NYT audience, the second amounts to "ask again," the third is tendentious, and the fourth is another "ask again." The fifth might be legit; it's hard to tell without seeing the report.
December 22, 2025 at 9:23 PM
The Weiss memo on the 60 Minutes story. The first point misses the difference between a network audience and the NYT audience, the second amounts to "ask again," the third is tendentious, and the fourth is another "ask again." The fifth might be legit; it's hard to tell without seeing the report.
"We see little reason to hope that the world's poorest countries will fare well in this new era of political and economic nationalism. A falling tide is unlikely to lift the flimsiest boats."
We were wrong about convergence
Several years ago, we celebrated a new era of unconditional convergence of global incomes. Since then, the trend has reversed.
www.chat-gdp.org
December 22, 2025 at 9:14 PM
"We see little reason to hope that the world's poorest countries will fare well in this new era of political and economic nationalism. A falling tide is unlikely to lift the flimsiest boats."
It might be fun to revisit this year-old conversation and see how close my speculations about Trump 2.0 came to reality. Might be humbling too.
“I came to despise the Progressive Era. I came to see it as just a great exercise in social control.”
- @notjessewalker.bsky.social
🔗 youtu.be/QJ_ADXfwvY4
- @notjessewalker.bsky.social
🔗 youtu.be/QJ_ADXfwvY4
December 22, 2025 at 6:58 PM
It might be fun to revisit this year-old conversation and see how close my speculations about Trump 2.0 came to reality. Might be humbling too.
"beer that's also a vaccine"
He made beer that’s also a vaccine. Now controversy is brewing
An NIH scientist’s maverick approach reveals legal, ethical, moral, scientific and social challenges to developing potentially life-saving vaccines.
www.sciencenews.org
December 22, 2025 at 5:48 PM
"beer that's also a vaccine"
"Activists create and distribute thousands of 3D-printed whistles, and their piercing cries are used to signal that immigration agents are nearby. Caravans of protesters follow agents around, raising the alarm as they drive through the streets..."
The horns and whistles work
What it's like to watch community activists stand up to a Border Patrol raid.
www.motherjones.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:46 PM
"Activists create and distribute thousands of 3D-printed whistles, and their piercing cries are used to signal that immigration agents are nearby. Caravans of protesters follow agents around, raising the alarm as they drive through the streets..."