James Poniewozik
@poniewozik.bsky.social
I wish that we could lose this crowd
On a related note, I’m finally reading The Power Broker, and this is quite an interesting time to be doing that
Since congestion pricing began one year ago, about 11% of the vehicles that once entered Manhattan’s central business district daily have disappeared. This may not seem like a lot, but it has changed the lives of many. Here’s how. trib.al/xSygqCm
January 6, 2026 at 1:16 AM
On a related note, I’m finally reading The Power Broker, and this is quite an interesting time to be doing that
Don't love the number of credible guesses I could personally make for this blind item (all of them from directors whose other movies I love!)
I watched two recent movies this weekend from two reliably interesting directors, both of which were depressingly bad and both of which reeked of “I need a financeable project pronto” and I can only conclude: We have a dire national shortage of tenable unproduced screenplays
January 5, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Don't love the number of credible guesses I could personally make for this blind item (all of them from directors whose other movies I love!)
You want to say, "Don't they realize the lyrics say..." but THE LYRICS ARE IN THE CLIP
Trump posts footage of the Maduro raid set to "Fortunate Son" -- a protest song about the Vietnam War draft
January 3, 2026 at 9:02 PM
You want to say, "Don't they realize the lyrics say..." but THE LYRICS ARE IN THE CLIP
“I watched it literally like I was watching a television show.” wwnorton.com/books/978163...
January 3, 2026 at 3:28 PM
“I watched it literally like I was watching a television show.” wwnorton.com/books/978163...
Curating my Bluesky feed to get the perfect ratio of people saying everyone needs to get off X to people reposting screenshots from X
January 2, 2026 at 9:57 PM
Curating my Bluesky feed to get the perfect ratio of people saying everyone needs to get off X to people reposting screenshots from X
In 2026, CBS gets rid of the guy who made fun of "truthiness" as a late-night host and installs a guy who promises to deliver it as news anchor. www.cbsnews.com/news/tony-do...
January 2, 2026 at 3:11 PM
In 2026, CBS gets rid of the guy who made fun of "truthiness" as a late-night host and installs a guy who promises to deliver it as news anchor. www.cbsnews.com/news/tony-do...
Small point here but the "Nancy and Jonathan in room filling up with weird wormhole paint" subplot looked like a trap The Penguin would have thrown Batman and Robin into in the old Adam West series
I don’t think I’ve ever muttered “WTF” to myself as much as I have watching S5 of “Stranger Things.” There wasn’t ever a grand master plan: they just scrambled as they went along.
December 30, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Small point here but the "Nancy and Jonathan in room filling up with weird wormhole paint" subplot looked like a trap The Penguin would have thrown Batman and Robin into in the old Adam West series
In the Watching newsletter, @ezwrites.bsky.social recommends Best Medicine, whose title is a sly pun (Josh Charles plays Dr. Martin Medicine, who is the superior member of his family, the "best Medicine" as it were) static.nytimes.com/email-conten...
Watching: A charming fish-out-of-water comedy
static.nytimes.com
December 29, 2025 at 9:44 PM
In the Watching newsletter, @ezwrites.bsky.social recommends Best Medicine, whose title is a sly pun (Josh Charles plays Dr. Martin Medicine, who is the superior member of his family, the "best Medicine" as it were) static.nytimes.com/email-conten...
IMHO most revivals are best left unrevived and I'll judge this one by the actual episodes so who knows. BUT I will say that for all the zaniness MITM had an actual dark, sad streak and I'm curious if the aged-up version leans into that at all www.youtube.com/watch?v=63VT...
Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair | Official Teaser | Hulu
YouTube video by Hulu
www.youtube.com
December 29, 2025 at 6:34 PM
IMHO most revivals are best left unrevived and I'll judge this one by the actual episodes so who knows. BUT I will say that for all the zaniness MITM had an actual dark, sad streak and I'm curious if the aged-up version leans into that at all www.youtube.com/watch?v=63VT...
Pity today's children who missed the golden age of novelty songs about network TV shows www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD7X...
The Afternoon Delights - General Hospi-Tale 1981
YouTube video by Bhamdave52
www.youtube.com
December 29, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Pity today's children who missed the golden age of novelty songs about network TV shows www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD7X...
Hanukkah dinner got delayed, but hoo boy were these pickle latkes worth waiting for cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1027...
December 29, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Hanukkah dinner got delayed, but hoo boy were these pickle latkes worth waiting for cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1027...
Happy Feast of the Seven Fishes to all those who celebrate
December 25, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Happy Feast of the Seven Fishes to all those who celebrate
Reposted by James Poniewozik
The Ghost of Christmas Future Perfect: “You will have been visited by me.”
December 24, 2025 at 11:47 PM
The Ghost of Christmas Future Perfect: “You will have been visited by me.”
Look, I always enjoy the Knives Out movies, but in case you thought the first two were too subtle at cueing where your moral sympathies should lie, the new one features *a literal whited sepulchre*
December 22, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Look, I always enjoy the Knives Out movies, but in case you thought the first two were too subtle at cueing where your moral sympathies should lie, the new one features *a literal whited sepulchre*
Reposted by James Poniewozik
Was just on with the great Brian Lehrer and made a point about the TPUSA conflict that I'm not going to write up in full when I'm trying to be off but:
It's fundamentally a debate about whether the right has a consistent moral core. 1/
It's fundamentally a debate about whether the right has a consistent moral core. 1/
December 22, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Was just on with the great Brian Lehrer and made a point about the TPUSA conflict that I'm not going to write up in full when I'm trying to be off but:
It's fundamentally a debate about whether the right has a consistent moral core. 1/
It's fundamentally a debate about whether the right has a consistent moral core. 1/
Forgot to post this over the weekend but: Come for the TV recommendations, stay for me absolutely eating it on the first third of the quiz podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Sunday Special: The Best TV of 2025
Podcast Episode · The Daily · 12/21/2025 · 1h 1m
podcasts.apple.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Forgot to post this over the weekend but: Come for the TV recommendations, stay for me absolutely eating it on the first third of the quiz podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Anyway, if your timeline could use a bit of a cleanse, please enjoy some panettone French toast cubes
December 22, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Anyway, if your timeline could use a bit of a cleanse, please enjoy some panettone French toast cubes
This is like some “High school newspaper adviser kills story that would annoy the principal” shit. Embarrassing
The fix is in
CBS News abruptly removed a segment from “60 Minutes” that was to feature the stories of Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to what the program called a “brutal” prison in El Salvador. Sharyn Alfonsi, the correspondent, criticized the network’s decision to remove her reporting.
December 22, 2025 at 3:00 PM
This is like some “High school newspaper adviser kills story that would annoy the principal” shit. Embarrassing
The fix is in
CBS News abruptly removed a segment from “60 Minutes” that was to feature the stories of Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to what the program called a “brutal” prison in El Salvador. Sharyn Alfonsi, the correspondent, criticized the network’s decision to remove her reporting.
’60 Minutes’ Pulls Segment on Venezuelans Deported by Trump Administration, Drawing Criticism
Sharyn Alfonsi, a “60 Minutes” correspondent, criticized the network’s decision to remove her reporting from Sunday’s edition of the show.
nyti.ms
December 22, 2025 at 2:57 PM
The fix is in
Who else remembers that this show existed
December 21, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Who else remembers that this show existed
I'm at the combination
December 19, 2025 at 8:04 PM
I'm at the combination
Anyway w/r/t to that thread on The Pitt, I think the show (which I love!) is a flashpoint for a broader argument in TV: Should the medium's new business & technologicial structure be constrained to preserve narrative formats and customs that only exist because of a previous business/tech structure
December 19, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Anyway w/r/t to that thread on The Pitt, I think the show (which I love!) is a flashpoint for a broader argument in TV: Should the medium's new business & technologicial structure be constrained to preserve narrative formats and customs that only exist because of a previous business/tech structure
One reason I cannot get wholly on board with "Streamers should be releasing their shows one episode per week like The Pitt, in order to preserve the cultural conversation" is that I am gladly bingeing the Pitt s2 screeners I got and I am sure I am not alone among TV critics in this
December 19, 2025 at 5:16 PM
One reason I cannot get wholly on board with "Streamers should be releasing their shows one episode per week like The Pitt, in order to preserve the cultural conversation" is that I am gladly bingeing the Pitt s2 screeners I got and I am sure I am not alone among TV critics in this
Reposted by James Poniewozik
PLURIBUS is the most finely crafted piece of television art I've ever fallen asleep watching three times.
My review, for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
My review, for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
In “Pluribus,” Groupthink Spells the End of Art
Vince Gilligan’s new show imagines a world devoid of any kind of aesthetic experience that isn’t blandly generalizable.
newrepublic.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:30 PM
PLURIBUS is the most finely crafted piece of television art I've ever fallen asleep watching three times.
My review, for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
My review, for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...