Ryan Benk
@ryanbenk.bsky.social
Producer/reporter for NPR's Weekend Edition. Horror, punk, pop-punk or anything by Sturgill Simpson. Lift heavy things. Cats are rad. SAGAFTRA. DC is a real place.
https://www.npr.org/people/942414025/ryan-benk
https://www.npr.org/people/942414025/ryan-benk
Pinned
Ryan Benk
@ryanbenk.bsky.social
· Oct 11
Joey Arias has plenty of art left to give: 'I want to live to be at least 200 years'
Decades of metamorphosis and drag performer Joey Arias is far from his final form.
www.npr.org
At 76, cabaret artist Joey Arias’s resume reads like the movie Big Fish. The tales are almost too tall to believe, but he’s really done them all.
What an honor to help tell this legend's story.
www.npr.org/2025/10/11/n...
What an honor to help tell this legend's story.
www.npr.org/2025/10/11/n...
Reposted by Ryan Benk
In fairness to Bari, a lot of cub reporters feel that way when they get to their first real news job
“I’ve been hearing that standards will be eliminated or severely cut back. Bari has told people that she wants to get rid of standards and is shocked that they have so much power. She also asked openly, ‘What’s the point of standards?’” one CBS source said.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Bari Weiss wants to take down ‘too much power’ CBS News Standards unit: sources
EXCLUSIVE: Internal rumblings within the newsroom come after the S&P head resigned and the network disbanded its vaunted Race and Culture unit.
www.independent.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 2:56 PM
In fairness to Bari, a lot of cub reporters feel that way when they get to their first real news job
Reposted by Ryan Benk
Mike Flanagan seems to have deleted the Bluesky thread where he talks about bad Netflix notes; but this SlashFilm article preserves his thoughts. I think about his anecdote whenever there's a story about producers/networks fretting over potential audience confusion. www.slashfilm.com/1338935/mike...
Horror Master Mike Flanagan Shares The Stupidest Note He Ever Received From Netflix - SlashFilm
'It remains the stupidest scene I've ever filmed.'
www.slashfilm.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Mike Flanagan seems to have deleted the Bluesky thread where he talks about bad Netflix notes; but this SlashFilm article preserves his thoughts. I think about his anecdote whenever there's a story about producers/networks fretting over potential audience confusion. www.slashfilm.com/1338935/mike...
Reposted by Ryan Benk
"If streateries are a pandemic relic, then they’re a monument to a moment when we correctly ordered our local politics around building community and creating a built environment that fosters maximum public benefit.
"We would be wise to re-commit ourselves."
Our latest opinion piece:
"We would be wise to re-commit ourselves."
Our latest opinion piece:
Opinion: D.C.'s new streatery rules are a costly miscalculation
The city's streatery guidelines are punishing small businesses and vibrant neighborhoods. We need a permanent solution to keep these staples of the city’s dining scene.
51st.news
November 11, 2025 at 2:42 PM
"If streateries are a pandemic relic, then they’re a monument to a moment when we correctly ordered our local politics around building community and creating a built environment that fosters maximum public benefit.
"We would be wise to re-commit ourselves."
Our latest opinion piece:
"We would be wise to re-commit ourselves."
Our latest opinion piece:
Reposted by Ryan Benk
Reposted by Ryan Benk
They used to wiretap your phones to collect this kind of information from you but now you pay for a Bluecheck and post it yourself
November 10, 2025 at 10:16 PM
They used to wiretap your phones to collect this kind of information from you but now you pay for a Bluecheck and post it yourself
Reposted by Ryan Benk
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
Reposted by Ryan Benk
every single week they're throwing this guy a special oval office love-in that appears to be the presidential equivalent of letting your dog scarf an entire big mac and fries before that last trip to the vet
Pirro: "Mr President, there is in this room a group of people who love you, who believe in you, and who are so proud to be in this Oval Office and to be part of this amazing day because you have changed the course of America."
November 10, 2025 at 9:10 PM
every single week they're throwing this guy a special oval office love-in that appears to be the presidential equivalent of letting your dog scarf an entire big mac and fries before that last trip to the vet
Reposted by Ryan Benk
lol oh well that ends the problem, everybody move on
Breaking News: Major League Baseball put a $200 cap on wagers for individual pitches after two Cleveland pitchers were charged with rigging bets. nyti.ms/4o7ELdT
M.L.B. Limits Bets on Individual Pitches After Gambling Charges
Two Cleveland pitchers were accused of colluding with bettors. The league and its gambling company partners have put a $200 limit on wagers on individual pitches.
nyti.ms
November 10, 2025 at 10:06 PM
lol oh well that ends the problem, everybody move on
Reposted by Ryan Benk
There a dude at my gym who I’m eighty percent sure is a twin. Some days I see him, and he looks … slightly, indefinably different. I nod hey to him to test him, but he always passes—maybe both of them recognize me somewhat? Feel like I’m in a PKD novel, here. I’m often very confused. But trying.
November 10, 2025 at 10:07 PM
There a dude at my gym who I’m eighty percent sure is a twin. Some days I see him, and he looks … slightly, indefinably different. I nod hey to him to test him, but he always passes—maybe both of them recognize me somewhat? Feel like I’m in a PKD novel, here. I’m often very confused. But trying.
Someone you hate writing an outline
November 10, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Someone you hate writing an outline
Okay but what are they gonna do with all of those hot chili sauce packets tho?
Wendy’s plans to close hundreds of its restaurants in an effort to 'boost its profit and make its remaining stores more appealing'
Wendy's To Close Hundreds Of U.S. Stores
The latest round of closures comes on top of the 240 U.S. Wendy's locations that shuttered in 2024.
www.huffpost.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Okay but what are they gonna do with all of those hot chili sauce packets tho?
Reposted by Ryan Benk
the hipsters, they’re ordering double frufru mocha soy frappuccino. doesn’t anybody order a black coffee anymore
November 10, 2025 at 5:00 PM
the hipsters, they’re ordering double frufru mocha soy frappuccino. doesn’t anybody order a black coffee anymore
I feel like the shriveled fast food French fry caught between car seat cushions, but at least I have an excuse to lay in bed with my cats all day.
November 10, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I feel like the shriveled fast food French fry caught between car seat cushions, but at least I have an excuse to lay in bed with my cats all day.
Reposted by Ryan Benk
history will ultimately decide this but i think joyce carol oates might have just landed the most devastating burn in human history. like the death star trench run of posting
November 10, 2025 at 7:03 PM
history will ultimately decide this but i think joyce carol oates might have just landed the most devastating burn in human history. like the death star trench run of posting
Reposted by Ryan Benk
Good movie alert: The Things You Kill whips! A quiet and cerebral thriller about hating your family and yourself, and coming around on both www.avclub.com/the-things-y...
You'll never be free of The Things You Kill in this twisty, tense thriller
Canadian Oscar entry The Things You Kill watches a Turkish family implode under the weight of their secrets.
www.avclub.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Good movie alert: The Things You Kill whips! A quiet and cerebral thriller about hating your family and yourself, and coming around on both www.avclub.com/the-things-y...
Reposted by Ryan Benk
Korn Kremlin
November 10, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Korn Kremlin
I want it to snow so hard this winter. I'm not sure why, but the vibes seem to call for it.
November 10, 2025 at 4:26 PM
I want it to snow so hard this winter. I'm not sure why, but the vibes seem to call for it.
Reposted by Ryan Benk
everything is "performative" because we're in a social media panopticon where everything becomes free content for our tech overlords so they can be rich and we can get a strangely unfulfilling but addictive form of attention
November 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
everything is "performative" because we're in a social media panopticon where everything becomes free content for our tech overlords so they can be rich and we can get a strangely unfulfilling but addictive form of attention
Reposted by Ryan Benk
it's not 'performative' if you're taking pictures of random fucking strangers reading. they're just reading! you're the creepy one!
November 10, 2025 at 4:02 PM
it's not 'performative' if you're taking pictures of random fucking strangers reading. they're just reading! you're the creepy one!
Reposted by Ryan Benk
OSCAR ISAAC, on whether he'd return to "Star Wars":
".. Yeah. I mean, I’d be open to it, although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great."
@variety.com $DIS
variety.com/2025/film/ne...
".. Yeah. I mean, I’d be open to it, although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great."
@variety.com $DIS
variety.com/2025/film/ne...
Oscar Isaac Was ‘Not So Open to Working With Disney’ After Jimmy Kimmel Suspension, Said He’d Return to ‘Star Wars’ if Disney Does ‘Not Succumb to Fascism’
Oscar Isaac was not open to working with Disney after Jimmy Kimmel's suspension and will only return to 'Star Wars' if the studio avoids fascism.
variety.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:28 PM
OSCAR ISAAC, on whether he'd return to "Star Wars":
".. Yeah. I mean, I’d be open to it, although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great."
@variety.com $DIS
variety.com/2025/film/ne...
".. Yeah. I mean, I’d be open to it, although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great."
@variety.com $DIS
variety.com/2025/film/ne...
He's bizarro Skyler Gisondo
Trump promotes Brilyn Hollyhand, the GOP establishment’s pick to replace Charlie Kirk
November 10, 2025 at 4:11 PM
He's bizarro Skyler Gisondo
This is Travis Tritt
November 10, 2025 at 3:19 PM
This is Travis Tritt
PITFALL (1962)
Why? Aside from its eerie cinematography beautifully contrasting its deep, dark humor, the film is also a really early example of the ghost murder mystery -- when the dead desperately try to solve their own demise.
It's also an incredibly clever commentary on labor relations.
10/10
Why? Aside from its eerie cinematography beautifully contrasting its deep, dark humor, the film is also a really early example of the ghost murder mystery -- when the dead desperately try to solve their own demise.
It's also an incredibly clever commentary on labor relations.
10/10
November 10, 2025 at 4:55 AM
PITFALL (1962)
Why? Aside from its eerie cinematography beautifully contrasting its deep, dark humor, the film is also a really early example of the ghost murder mystery -- when the dead desperately try to solve their own demise.
It's also an incredibly clever commentary on labor relations.
10/10
Why? Aside from its eerie cinematography beautifully contrasting its deep, dark humor, the film is also a really early example of the ghost murder mystery -- when the dead desperately try to solve their own demise.
It's also an incredibly clever commentary on labor relations.
10/10