Sam Mintz
@samjmintz.bsky.social
Editor at Brookline.News, a nonprofit news site covering the town of Brookline, MA.
Before this, I was a reporter covering transportation and energy policy in DC and Boston.
Before this, I was a reporter covering transportation and energy policy in DC and Boston.
Some holiday reading
December 31, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Some holiday reading
All my beliefs about labor protections for media workers go out the window this time of year when my podcast feed gets empty
December 31, 2025 at 4:20 PM
All my beliefs about labor protections for media workers go out the window this time of year when my podcast feed gets empty
Reposted by Sam Mintz
The free, digital-only Nantucket Current has succeeded in competing with its paid print rival, the Inquirer and Mirror, with an ad-supported newsletter that reaches 20,000 subscribers. Aidan Ryan reports in The Boston Globe: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/31/b...
How the Nantucket Current became a definitive source for the island’s news, on and off shore - The Boston Globe
The publication launched four years ago to challenge the island’s 204-year-old newspaper, becoming profitable roughly a year into its existence.
www.bostonglobe.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:16 PM
The free, digital-only Nantucket Current has succeeded in competing with its paid print rival, the Inquirer and Mirror, with an ad-supported newsletter that reaches 20,000 subscribers. Aidan Ryan reports in The Boston Globe: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/31/b...
Reposted by Sam Mintz
The California DMV is in deep need of reform. Enraging stuff, uncovered by a team of reporters at @calmatters.org
calmatters.org/investigatio...
calmatters.org/investigatio...
December 30, 2025 at 11:46 PM
The California DMV is in deep need of reform. Enraging stuff, uncovered by a team of reporters at @calmatters.org
calmatters.org/investigatio...
calmatters.org/investigatio...
Reposted by Sam Mintz
The kids probably don't remember when Bari Weiss tweeted "Immigrants: They get the job done" after Mirai Nagasu (not an immigrant) landed a triple axel in the Olympics
December 30, 2025 at 8:42 PM
The kids probably don't remember when Bari Weiss tweeted "Immigrants: They get the job done" after Mirai Nagasu (not an immigrant) landed a triple axel in the Olympics
Reposted by Sam Mintz
As it happens, I have experience with high-level government demands to stop an explosive, accurate story from running, and I also have experience with 60 Minutes spiking a story I was involved in, so I have thoughts about the travesty at CBS. If you want some journalism anecdotes, here are a lot:
Watching Bari Weiss Murder Investigative Journalism at CBS
Notes from someone who's withstood White House demands to stop an explosive story—and who once even had a 60 Minutes piece spiked
www.forever-wars.com
December 30, 2025 at 8:06 PM
As it happens, I have experience with high-level government demands to stop an explosive, accurate story from running, and I also have experience with 60 Minutes spiking a story I was involved in, so I have thoughts about the travesty at CBS. If you want some journalism anecdotes, here are a lot:
Reposted by Sam Mintz
@attackerman.bsky.social's destruction of Bari Weiss here is so vicious because it is so spectacularly well-informed; this one is an earner, folks
www.forever-wars.com/watching-bar...
www.forever-wars.com/watching-bar...
Watching Bari Weiss Murder Investigative Journalism at CBS
Notes from someone who's withstood White House demands to stop an explosive story—and who once even had a 60 Minutes piece spiked
www.forever-wars.com
December 31, 2025 at 2:47 AM
@attackerman.bsky.social's destruction of Bari Weiss here is so vicious because it is so spectacularly well-informed; this one is an earner, folks
www.forever-wars.com/watching-bar...
www.forever-wars.com/watching-bar...
Reposted by Sam Mintz
Trump guys are about to Comet Pizza every third daycare center because they think they are all fronts for Somali money laundering. They're only doing this near cities with progressive mayors. This is straight up Government by LibsOfTikTok.
December 30, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Trump guys are about to Comet Pizza every third daycare center because they think they are all fronts for Somali money laundering. They're only doing this near cities with progressive mayors. This is straight up Government by LibsOfTikTok.
Reposted by Sam Mintz
not the most important issue but the next dem president should stop letting states call themselves "commonwealths". grow up!
December 30, 2025 at 3:08 AM
not the most important issue but the next dem president should stop letting states call themselves "commonwealths". grow up!
Reposted by Sam Mintz
One of the best to ever do it
December 30, 2025 at 2:09 PM
One of the best to ever do it
Wrote today about one of my favorite wonky but important municipal policy issues: An indirect effect of cord cutting is that it's slashing funding for important community media organizations like Brookline Interactive Group, which is the local cable access station (and much more) in town.
The town has signed a new 10-year agreement with Comcast, which lets the company continue to operate its cable services in Brookline for a fee.
The agreement comes as Comcast keeps losing customers, meaning less revenue for the town and Brookline Interactive Group.
brookline.news/town-renews-...
The agreement comes as Comcast keeps losing customers, meaning less revenue for the town and Brookline Interactive Group.
brookline.news/town-renews-...
Town renews Comcast cable license as local funding continues to drop - Brookline.News
The new 10-year agreement allows Comcast to keep operating cable in Brookline, and maintains some of the same fees as before, but funding to the town and its cable access station is dropping overall.
brookline.news
December 30, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Wrote today about one of my favorite wonky but important municipal policy issues: An indirect effect of cord cutting is that it's slashing funding for important community media organizations like Brookline Interactive Group, which is the local cable access station (and much more) in town.
The same people with a legacy of sending bomb threats to children's hospitals are now "investigating" daycares. Family values!
December 30, 2025 at 4:05 PM
The same people with a legacy of sending bomb threats to children's hospitals are now "investigating" daycares. Family values!
Reposted by Sam Mintz
At one point, the two men in this video don’t identify themselves to daycare workers, demand to know where the children are, and then try to yank open the door as the female employees pull on it to keep them out.
December 27, 2025 at 6:50 PM
At one point, the two men in this video don’t identify themselves to daycare workers, demand to know where the children are, and then try to yank open the door as the female employees pull on it to keep them out.
Reposted by Sam Mintz
I appreciate the forthright acknowledgement of the mistake from the author, and look forward to decisive action by @princetonupress.bsky.social to correct this error, and any others, that made it past their robust editorial process.
December 29, 2025 at 5:36 PM
I appreciate the forthright acknowledgement of the mistake from the author, and look forward to decisive action by @princetonupress.bsky.social to correct this error, and any others, that made it past their robust editorial process.
Chappell Roan today
December 29, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Chappell Roan today
Inclusionary zoning, being challenged by this lawsuit, is how much of the affordable housing that gets built in Brookline happens. The rules here (with a number of nuances, exemptions and one major alternative) basically require private developers to make 15% of units in their projects affordable.
A developer in Cambridge has claimed inclusionary zoning may be illegal, in a lawsuit that seeks to do away with one of the leading tools used to create new affordable housing in Massachusetts.
How a developer’s lawsuit against Cambridge aims to topple affordable housing rules across Massachusetts - The Boston Globe
The lawsuit takes aim at inclusionary development requirements, which have created thousands of affordable apartments in recent decades.
trib.al
December 29, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Inclusionary zoning, being challenged by this lawsuit, is how much of the affordable housing that gets built in Brookline happens. The rules here (with a number of nuances, exemptions and one major alternative) basically require private developers to make 15% of units in their projects affordable.
Reposted by Sam Mintz
Sauron was not only evil, he got distracted and his defenses failed
Sauron is appearing on the scene as concerns rise about crime among the most wealthy.
Sauron, the high-end home security startup for "super premium" customers, plucks a new CEO out of Sonos | TechCrunch
Sauron is appearing on the scene as concerns rise about crime among the most wealthy.
techcrunch.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Sauron was not only evil, he got distracted and his defenses failed
Proud of two million page views for @brooklinenews.bsky.social in 2025. In the story below are some of my musings about how we got there, including algorithmic randomness, and headlines that resonated with readers.
A resident's tax dilemma. A musician's quest to find history in Brookline. A high-profile crime. The end of one of Brookline's flagship academic programs. And how Trump's cuts hurt one local federal worker.
Read more about our five most-read stories of the year:
brookline.news/the-top-five...
Read more about our five most-read stories of the year:
brookline.news/the-top-five...
The top five most-read Brookline.News stories of 2025 - Brookline.News
It’s been a great year at Brookline.News, and we’ve got some stats to illustrate it. Our site received more than 2 million page views, from nearly 900,000 users. On average, you stayed on our site fo...
brookline.news
December 28, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Proud of two million page views for @brooklinenews.bsky.social in 2025. In the story below are some of my musings about how we got there, including algorithmic randomness, and headlines that resonated with readers.
Reposted by Sam Mintz
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
December 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
This is completely false lol
December 27, 2025 at 11:44 PM
This is completely false lol
Reposted by Sam Mintz
oh brother, another bad post from political influencer beltway brian. i am furious at beltway brian all of the time. i share screencaps of beltway brian's posts with people who have no idea who he is. i hate all of beltway brian's posts and i read all of them every single day, including weekends
December 27, 2025 at 5:47 PM
oh brother, another bad post from political influencer beltway brian. i am furious at beltway brian all of the time. i share screencaps of beltway brian's posts with people who have no idea who he is. i hate all of beltway brian's posts and i read all of them every single day, including weekends
Reposted by Sam Mintz
"Torre has become almost as ubiquitous among online sports fans as Dave Portnoy (Barstool) and Pat McAfee (ESPN), and he has done it in improbable fashion: by morphing from a talking head into an investigative reporter."
@benjstrauss.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...
@benjstrauss.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...
Pablo Torre pushes buttons — and boundaries — to expose sports secrets
With scoops from the NFL, NBA and beyond, Torre’s hit show — and the way he makes it — is ruffling feathers across the sports landscape.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 27, 2025 at 5:21 PM
"Torre has become almost as ubiquitous among online sports fans as Dave Portnoy (Barstool) and Pat McAfee (ESPN), and he has done it in improbable fashion: by morphing from a talking head into an investigative reporter."
@benjstrauss.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...
@benjstrauss.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...
I feel like the thing missing from the Kat Abughazaleh campaign / mutual aid discourse is that she had a massive national social media following and name recognition that preceded the campaign.
To the extent that there are lessons to take from her campaign, they should start with that fact IMO
To the extent that there are lessons to take from her campaign, they should start with that fact IMO
December 27, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I feel like the thing missing from the Kat Abughazaleh campaign / mutual aid discourse is that she had a massive national social media following and name recognition that preceded the campaign.
To the extent that there are lessons to take from her campaign, they should start with that fact IMO
To the extent that there are lessons to take from her campaign, they should start with that fact IMO
Reposted by Sam Mintz
What these people are doing to the power of calling out real antisemitism, in an incredibly dangerous time of surging global antisemitism….man, it is just so worrisome
December 27, 2025 at 2:08 AM
What these people are doing to the power of calling out real antisemitism, in an incredibly dangerous time of surging global antisemitism….man, it is just so worrisome
"Activist organizations" and the White House as equal counter balances is very funny and telling!
Bari Weiss just sent this Christmas Eve email to the CBS News staff about "building trust," which includes her tripling down on spiking the CECOT piece "to make sure it's comprehensive and fair."
One CBS staffer tells me: "She really has no idea how insulting she comes across."
One CBS staffer tells me: "She really has no idea how insulting she comes across."
December 24, 2025 at 7:02 PM
"Activist organizations" and the White House as equal counter balances is very funny and telling!