R.D. Pohl
@rdpohl.bsky.social
Writer, critic, literary journalist, poetry editor. Trained as language philosopher. Follow at POETRY/POETICS/LANGUAGE/COMMUNITY (https://rdpohl.substack.com). Formerly with The Buffalo News, currently The Buffalo Hive, a non-profit arts & culture startup.
Megan Kemple is a multidisciplinary writer, performer, and teaching artist. In 2025, her latest chapbook, A Heretic Without a Home, was published by Arcana Press, & 2 of her short plays, Tough Love and Where There’s A Will, were produced as part of the Chain Theatre’s One Act Festivals Off-Broadway.
Granddaddy's Funeral by Megan Kemple - Just Buffalo Literary Center | Buffalo, NY
Read "Granddaddy's Funeral" by Megan Kemple - part of the Poem of the Week series, curated by literary legacy awardee R.D. Pohl.
www.justbuffalo.org
January 13, 2026 at 4:59 AM
Megan Kemple is a multidisciplinary writer, performer, and teaching artist. In 2025, her latest chapbook, A Heretic Without a Home, was published by Arcana Press, & 2 of her short plays, Tough Love and Where There’s A Will, were produced as part of the Chain Theatre’s One Act Festivals Off-Broadway.
From 2025 in The Atlantic. As we used to say in epistemology, this is "proof of concept" of a paradigm shift in political economic infrastructure. When the unitary executive of a failed democracy comes for the central bankers, that is a litmus test for the fact that we are living in an autocracy.
January 12, 2026 at 8:08 PM
From 2025 in The Atlantic. As we used to say in epistemology, this is "proof of concept" of a paradigm shift in political economic infrastructure. When the unitary executive of a failed democracy comes for the central bankers, that is a litmus test for the fact that we are living in an autocracy.
Reposted by R.D. Pohl
AI summaries are coming to (for?) your Gmail www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/ai-s...
AI summaries are coming to (for?) your Gmail
It's the week of circling back on those emails to sources you sent in December, and soon Google may determine whether you get a reply. On Thursday, Google announced that it'll start testing out a new…
www.niemanlab.org
January 12, 2026 at 11:07 AM
AI summaries are coming to (for?) your Gmail www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/ai-s...
Well, I never thought of it this way...But thanks, Jenny!
CONFUSING YOURSELF IS A WAY TO STAY HONEST
January 7, 2026 at 1:10 AM
Well, I never thought of it this way...But thanks, Jenny!
Reposted by R.D. Pohl
CONFUSING YOURSELF IS A WAY TO STAY HONEST
January 7, 2026 at 12:25 AM
CONFUSING YOURSELF IS A WAY TO STAY HONEST
January 6th was a *failed political coup*, but a *successful epistemic coup.* The Insurrectionists lost the battle but won the war. They control the culture, all the mainstream platforms, and the future A.I. assisted narrative your children and grandchildren will learn moving forward.
The American people electing Trump after he staged a coup attempt 5 years ago was a nail in the coffin of our democracy. You can rationalize it all you want - But inflation! But wokeness! - but ultimately it was a societal suicide attempt and probably the dumbest collective voting decision ever made
January 6, 2026 at 10:00 PM
January 6th was a *failed political coup*, but a *successful epistemic coup.* The Insurrectionists lost the battle but won the war. They control the culture, all the mainstream platforms, and the future A.I. assisted narrative your children and grandchildren will learn moving forward.
1st Just Buffalo Literary Center @justbuffalolit.bsky.social Poem of the Week for 2026: "script eighty-five" by Liz Mariani @lizmariani.bsky.social. This poem first appeared in "Record of Dissent: Poems of Protest in an Authoritarian Age — Summer 2025" published by The Chaos Section Poetry Project.
January 4, 2026 at 4:52 PM
1st Just Buffalo Literary Center @justbuffalolit.bsky.social Poem of the Week for 2026: "script eighty-five" by Liz Mariani @lizmariani.bsky.social. This poem first appeared in "Record of Dissent: Poems of Protest in an Authoritarian Age — Summer 2025" published by The Chaos Section Poetry Project.
President seems to think that he can erase the incursions into Vietnam, Iraq & Afghanistan from the collective memory with A.I. editing tools, and rewrite the scripts with A.I. assistance from historical tragedies to comedies. Again, here's where A.I. gives him a competitive advantage on the devil.
It's the fate of all popular culture forms and artifacts to be decontextualized, corrupted, and recast as triumphalist agitprop by tyrannical hegemons. This video is next level, WWE and boomer coded cinema of cruelty. The president is challenging the devil to up his game.
Trump posts footage of the Maduro raid set to "Fortunate Son" -- a protest song about the Vietnam War draft
January 3, 2026 at 9:08 PM
President seems to think that he can erase the incursions into Vietnam, Iraq & Afghanistan from the collective memory with A.I. editing tools, and rewrite the scripts with A.I. assistance from historical tragedies to comedies. Again, here's where A.I. gives him a competitive advantage on the devil.
It's the fate of all popular culture forms and artifacts to be decontextualized, corrupted, and recast as triumphalist agitprop by tyrannical hegemons. This video is next level, WWE and boomer coded cinema of cruelty. The president is challenging the devil to up his game.
Trump posts footage of the Maduro raid set to "Fortunate Son" -- a protest song about the Vietnam War draft
January 3, 2026 at 8:42 PM
It's the fate of all popular culture forms and artifacts to be decontextualized, corrupted, and recast as triumphalist agitprop by tyrannical hegemons. This video is next level, WWE and boomer coded cinema of cruelty. The president is challenging the devil to up his game.
Reposted by R.D. Pohl
CBS News Exclusive | How did the Department of War enter Venezuela from the Gulf of America? Our team is standing by at the Trump Kennedy Center for updates.
January 3, 2026 at 7:51 PM
CBS News Exclusive | How did the Department of War enter Venezuela from the Gulf of America? Our team is standing by at the Trump Kennedy Center for updates.
NYT Editorial Board once again demonstrating firm grasp of the obvious. "Illegal and Unwise." My goodness. I'm sure Stephen Miller, Trump, and Rubio will read this and realize the error of their ways! Has anyone suggested that Trump kidnapped Maduro to get some pro tips on stealing elections?
In Opinion
President Trump “is pushing our country toward an international crisis without valid reasons,” the editorial board writes after the U.S. attack on Venezuela was announced on Saturday. “If Mr. Trump wants to argue otherwise, the Constitution spells out what he must do: Go to Congress.”
President Trump “is pushing our country toward an international crisis without valid reasons,” the editorial board writes after the U.S. attack on Venezuela was announced on Saturday. “If Mr. Trump wants to argue otherwise, the Constitution spells out what he must do: Go to Congress.”
Opinion | Trump’s Attack on Venezuela Is Illegal and Unwise
We know that Mr. Trump’s warmongering violates the law.
nyti.ms
January 3, 2026 at 6:52 PM
NYT Editorial Board once again demonstrating firm grasp of the obvious. "Illegal and Unwise." My goodness. I'm sure Stephen Miller, Trump, and Rubio will read this and realize the error of their ways! Has anyone suggested that Trump kidnapped Maduro to get some pro tips on stealing elections?
To close out 2025 @justbuffalolit.bsky.social, a poem from the archive: John Logan (1923—1987), one of my professors at UB with "Believe It" from 1981. This poem first appeared Only the Dreamer Can Change the Dream: Selected Poems (BOA Editions Ltd.,1981). Next week, we are back to living poets!
Believe It by John Logan - Just Buffalo Literary Center | Buffalo, NY
Read "Believe It" by John Logan - part of the Poem of the Week series, curated by literary legacy awardee R.D. Pohl.
www.justbuffalo.org
January 2, 2026 at 1:22 AM
To close out 2025 @justbuffalolit.bsky.social, a poem from the archive: John Logan (1923—1987), one of my professors at UB with "Believe It" from 1981. This poem first appeared Only the Dreamer Can Change the Dream: Selected Poems (BOA Editions Ltd.,1981). Next week, we are back to living poets!
If 2025 was the Year of The Performative Oligarchs, A.I. Slop, and the People Who Want to Put Their Name on Everything, 2026 will be the Year of the Peasants with Pitchforks. Go out to your shed now and sharpen your tines! From these barren soils, we can plant a more promising crop.
January 1, 2026 at 6:05 PM
If 2025 was the Year of The Performative Oligarchs, A.I. Slop, and the People Who Want to Put Their Name on Everything, 2026 will be the Year of the Peasants with Pitchforks. Go out to your shed now and sharpen your tines! From these barren soils, we can plant a more promising crop.
To close out 2025 @justbuffalolit.bsky.social, a poem from the archive: John Logan (1923—1987), one of my professors at UB with "Believe It" from 1981. This poem first appeared Only the Dreamer Can Change the Dream: Selected Poems (BOA Editions Ltd.,1981). Next week, we are back to living poets!
January 1, 2026 at 1:42 PM
To close out 2025 @justbuffalolit.bsky.social, a poem from the archive: John Logan (1923—1987), one of my professors at UB with "Believe It" from 1981. This poem first appeared Only the Dreamer Can Change the Dream: Selected Poems (BOA Editions Ltd.,1981). Next week, we are back to living poets!
As we enter the second year of the age of authoritarian surveillance capitalism, not being seen will be the new celebrity, V.I.P. status.
Everyone will want to go into full Pynchon mode, full ghost mode, and all of us will identify as gender-vaporous.
Everyone will want to go into full Pynchon mode, full ghost mode, and all of us will identify as gender-vaporous.
December 31, 2025 at 4:52 PM
As we enter the second year of the age of authoritarian surveillance capitalism, not being seen will be the new celebrity, V.I.P. status.
Everyone will want to go into full Pynchon mode, full ghost mode, and all of us will identify as gender-vaporous.
Everyone will want to go into full Pynchon mode, full ghost mode, and all of us will identify as gender-vaporous.
Reposted by R.D. Pohl
‘Decades later, 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴still looks like a breakthrough. A concatenation of forces topples over into chaos (then, eventually, rights itself).’
Ange Mlinko on the work of Susan Howe:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Ange Mlinko on the work of Susan Howe:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Ange Mlinko · Scattered Alphabet: On Susan Howe
Reading the work that Susan Howe has produced over the past half century, one marvels at the consistency and depth of...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 28, 2025 at 9:02 AM
‘Decades later, 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴still looks like a breakthrough. A concatenation of forces topples over into chaos (then, eventually, rights itself).’
Ange Mlinko on the work of Susan Howe:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Ange Mlinko on the work of Susan Howe:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by R.D. Pohl
"One Word Describes Trump" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
I missed this on its first trip around, then saw it on the "most popular with readers" list for 2025. Recommended, despite the cheesy headline.
Especially valuable if you have ever compared him to a mob boss.
[Gift link]
I missed this on its first trip around, then saw it on the "most popular with readers" list for 2025. Recommended, despite the cheesy headline.
Especially valuable if you have ever compared him to a mob boss.
[Gift link]
One Word Describes Trump
A century ago, a German sociologist explained precisely how the president thinks about the world.
www.theatlantic.com
December 27, 2025 at 8:59 PM
"One Word Describes Trump" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
I missed this on its first trip around, then saw it on the "most popular with readers" list for 2025. Recommended, despite the cheesy headline.
Especially valuable if you have ever compared him to a mob boss.
[Gift link]
I missed this on its first trip around, then saw it on the "most popular with readers" list for 2025. Recommended, despite the cheesy headline.
Especially valuable if you have ever compared him to a mob boss.
[Gift link]
Reposted by R.D. Pohl
It happened again!
#4 sounds like a lovely book but I didn't write it. Have had whānau up and down the country send me clippings lol
Whoever put together this list that has been circulated to regional papers, didn't fact check.
Whoever put together this list that has been circulated to regional papers, didn't fact check.
December 25, 2025 at 10:24 PM
It happened again!
Reposted by R.D. Pohl
In this Ohio diner, 60 Minutes still means the amount of supervised visitation you get with your kids until you can pass a drug test. But they do know this: no news report can be trusted unless it includes Stephen Miller's side of the story.
December 23, 2025 at 2:40 PM
In this Ohio diner, 60 Minutes still means the amount of supervised visitation you get with your kids until you can pass a drug test. But they do know this: no news report can be trusted unless it includes Stephen Miller's side of the story.
Reposted by R.D. Pohl
"script eighty-five" by Liz Mariani: thechaossectionpoetryproject.com/2025/06/24/s...
Record of #Dissent: #Poems of #Protest in an #Authoritarian Age — Summer 2025. Read/Download the full collection here:
thechaossectionpoetryproject.com/record-of-di...
Record of #Dissent: #Poems of #Protest in an #Authoritarian Age — Summer 2025. Read/Download the full collection here:
thechaossectionpoetryproject.com/record-of-di...
June 24, 2025 at 6:44 PM
"script eighty-five" by Liz Mariani: thechaossectionpoetryproject.com/2025/06/24/s...
Record of #Dissent: #Poems of #Protest in an #Authoritarian Age — Summer 2025. Read/Download the full collection here:
thechaossectionpoetryproject.com/record-of-di...
Record of #Dissent: #Poems of #Protest in an #Authoritarian Age — Summer 2025. Read/Download the full collection here:
thechaossectionpoetryproject.com/record-of-di...
Reposted by R.D. Pohl
Data needs to drive conversations, not division, writes @jasonforrest.bsky.social
www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/data...
www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/data...
December 22, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Data needs to drive conversations, not division, writes @jasonforrest.bsky.social
www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/data...
www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/data...
Reposted by R.D. Pohl
Bari Weiss is destroying CBS because that’s what explicitly she was hired to do. No one is going to watch watered-down Fox and no one is going to trust MAGAfied CBS. It’s not that complicated.
December 22, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Bari Weiss is destroying CBS because that’s what explicitly she was hired to do. No one is going to watch watered-down Fox and no one is going to trust MAGAfied CBS. It’s not that complicated.
Reposted by R.D. Pohl
Ornithography seems like it should mean bird-writing. Not writing/art about birds but the writing/traces/art birds make.
December 21, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Ornithography seems like it should mean bird-writing. Not writing/art about birds but the writing/traces/art birds make.
LIGHT, a winter solstice and last day of Hanukkah poem by Irving Feldman for Dec. 21 JBLC @justbuffalolit.bsky.social Poem of the Week. This poem was from my personal archives. The source is Irving Feldman's The Pripet Marshes (1961). Irving is 98 now, still active in the community.
December 21, 2025 at 6:08 PM
LIGHT, a winter solstice and last day of Hanukkah poem by Irving Feldman for Dec. 21 JBLC @justbuffalolit.bsky.social Poem of the Week. This poem was from my personal archives. The source is Irving Feldman's The Pripet Marshes (1961). Irving is 98 now, still active in the community.
Mirabile dictu! 😂
Mitt Romney is in the New York Times saying we should tax the rich.
December 19, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Mirabile dictu! 😂