Satoru Inoue
@satoruinoue.com
Japanese-American data scientist in Chicago. Writes about food, music, cities at https://www.satoruinoue.com
Japanese account: @inoueian.bsky.social
Japanese account: @inoueian.bsky.social
Pinned
Satoru Inoue
@satoruinoue.com
· 16d
Black Friday at Thalia Hall
music, food, and immigrant histories in Pilsen
open.substack.com
Got my last post of the year out open.substack.com/pub/inoueian...
didn't realize until recently that this was before Africa '70
"Ololufe Mi" by Fela Ransome-Kuti and His Koola Lobitos
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYYU...
"Ololufe Mi" by Fela Ransome-Kuti and His Koola Lobitos
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYYU...
Fela Kuti - Ololufe Mi (My Lover)
YouTube video by t-o-ipaye
www.youtube.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:03 AM
didn't realize until recently that this was before Africa '70
"Ololufe Mi" by Fela Ransome-Kuti and His Koola Lobitos
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYYU...
"Ololufe Mi" by Fela Ransome-Kuti and His Koola Lobitos
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYYU...
3yo can now identify “Serious Tower” and the Hancock in photos.
January 15, 2026 at 2:24 AM
3yo can now identify “Serious Tower” and the Hancock in photos.
Reposted by Satoru Inoue
Congratulations to Takaichi for resurrecting a two-party system I guess?
I'm not quite sure what to make of this.
立憲民主と公明、新党結成を視野に調整 15日に両党幹部が協議へ
www.asahi.com/articles/ASV...
立憲民主と公明、新党結成を視野に調整 15日に両党幹部が協議へ
www.asahi.com/articles/ASV...
立憲民主と公明、新党結成を視野に調整 15日に両党幹部が協議へ：朝日新聞
立憲民主党と公明党が14日、新党結成を視野に調整に入ったことが分かった。23日召集の通常国会冒頭での衆院解散が迫る中、15日に両党幹部が協議し、今後の方向性を決定する見通しだ。ともに「中道」を掲げる…
www.asahi.com
January 14, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Congratulations to Takaichi for resurrecting a two-party system I guess?
Fun history of absinthe and Malört, both of which use wormwood.
chicagoreader.com/food/food-dr...
chicagoreader.com/food/food-dr...
A tale of two wormwoods: On absinthe and Malört - Chicago Reader
Exploring the intersecting histories of absinthe and Malört—and why Chicagoans prefer the latter
chicagoreader.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:22 AM
Fun history of absinthe and Malört, both of which use wormwood.
chicagoreader.com/food/food-dr...
chicagoreader.com/food/food-dr...
I could name more, but if I'm being honest about which river-like bodies of water I've had actual connections to:
Manmizu -> Lake Washington Ship Canal -> Strawberry Creek -> Connecticut -> Congaree -> Chicago
Manmizu -> Lake Washington Ship Canal -> Strawberry Creek -> Connecticut -> Congaree -> Chicago
My favorite Twitter prompt was "RT this with your home river," so reskeet this with your home river.
Mine is the Patuxent.
Mine is the Patuxent.
January 12, 2026 at 10:20 PM
I could name more, but if I'm being honest about which river-like bodies of water I've had actual connections to:
Manmizu -> Lake Washington Ship Canal -> Strawberry Creek -> Connecticut -> Congaree -> Chicago
Manmizu -> Lake Washington Ship Canal -> Strawberry Creek -> Connecticut -> Congaree -> Chicago
Not a surprise that if you lack this ability, you find cities to be abhorrent.
The USA somehow lost the ability to be mildly annoyed and it turns out there being a middle ground between "I like this person" and "This person must be publicly executed in front of their loved ones" was load bearing for human civilization.
this is all it’s really about for them. Not domestic policy, not “economic anxiety”, just an endless desire to punish stand-ins for the Mommy who forced them take a bath, even if it tanks their own quality of life.
January 12, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Not a surprise that if you lack this ability, you find cities to be abhorrent.
One great thing about cooking Mexican at home: Simply chopping white onion, cilantro, and lime and putting them on the table reminds you of all the great tacos you've had.
January 12, 2026 at 5:37 AM
One great thing about cooking Mexican at home: Simply chopping white onion, cilantro, and lime and putting them on the table reminds you of all the great tacos you've had.
Went to 2 Family Days since this opened, half hoping I’d be able to take this in, but I’ve really only seen like 1.5 rooms. Probably just have to go without the kids before it ends
The Yoko Ono exhibit at the MCA was worthwhile, she did performance art in the 1960’s and also created interactive pieces
January 12, 2026 at 2:27 AM
Went to 2 Family Days since this opened, half hoping I’d be able to take this in, but I’ve really only seen like 1.5 rooms. Probably just have to go without the kids before it ends
Came back to this album and the first track was this. Oof.
"After Minneapolis (face toward mo [u]rning)" by Joshua Redman & Gabrielle Cavassa
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMUy...
"After Minneapolis (face toward mo [u]rning)" by Joshua Redman & Gabrielle Cavassa
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMUy...
January 11, 2026 at 3:03 AM
Came back to this album and the first track was this. Oof.
"After Minneapolis (face toward mo [u]rning)" by Joshua Redman & Gabrielle Cavassa
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMUy...
"After Minneapolis (face toward mo [u]rning)" by Joshua Redman & Gabrielle Cavassa
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMUy...
Reposted by Satoru Inoue
No I said don’t tread on *me*. You can get treaded on.
January 9, 2026 at 3:17 PM
No I said don’t tread on *me*. You can get treaded on.
Reposted by Satoru Inoue
Hundreds of people have packed into Chicago's Thalia Hall tonight for a community listening session on CPD collaboration with ICE/CBP.
Police district councillors who gathered petition signatures required to hold tonight's hearing are opening by thanking the community for showing out.
Police district councillors who gathered petition signatures required to hold tonight's hearing are opening by thanking the community for showing out.
January 9, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Hundreds of people have packed into Chicago's Thalia Hall tonight for a community listening session on CPD collaboration with ICE/CBP.
Police district councillors who gathered petition signatures required to hold tonight's hearing are opening by thanking the community for showing out.
Police district councillors who gathered petition signatures required to hold tonight's hearing are opening by thanking the community for showing out.
Reposted by Satoru Inoue
Good day to remember you can turn auto playing videos off.
Watching violence is not good or healthy. You aren’t bearing witness in a way that materially impacts events. You are cooking your brain in trauma.
You can be aware and invested in changing the world without giving yourself PTSD.
Watching violence is not good or healthy. You aren’t bearing witness in a way that materially impacts events. You are cooking your brain in trauma.
You can be aware and invested in changing the world without giving yourself PTSD.
January 7, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Good day to remember you can turn auto playing videos off.
Watching violence is not good or healthy. You aren’t bearing witness in a way that materially impacts events. You are cooking your brain in trauma.
You can be aware and invested in changing the world without giving yourself PTSD.
Watching violence is not good or healthy. You aren’t bearing witness in a way that materially impacts events. You are cooking your brain in trauma.
You can be aware and invested in changing the world without giving yourself PTSD.
Reposted by Satoru Inoue
They also shot, and thankfully did not kill, a woman who was observing them from her car. They then lied about the circumstances, and then it came out that not only did they make it up, the shooter specifically taunted his victim before shooting her and later joked about it to his buddies.
January 7, 2026 at 5:12 PM
They also shot, and thankfully did not kill, a woman who was observing them from her car. They then lied about the circumstances, and then it came out that not only did they make it up, the shooter specifically taunted his victim before shooting her and later joked about it to his buddies.
Reposted by Satoru Inoue
It's very clear from the commentary exploding on the timeline right now that hardly anyone outside Chicago knows ICE shot and killed a man in his car here in the fall.
It's probably not your fault—too much news.
But if you're choosing to jump in & *report* today, please contextualize. Thanks.
It's probably not your fault—too much news.
But if you're choosing to jump in & *report* today, please contextualize. Thanks.
January 7, 2026 at 4:42 PM
It's very clear from the commentary exploding on the timeline right now that hardly anyone outside Chicago knows ICE shot and killed a man in his car here in the fall.
It's probably not your fault—too much news.
But if you're choosing to jump in & *report* today, please contextualize. Thanks.
It's probably not your fault—too much news.
But if you're choosing to jump in & *report* today, please contextualize. Thanks.
Reposted by Satoru Inoue
In the 1900 census, there were 334 people in Cook County whose country of birth was recorded as "at sea".
Another fun thing about that census was that there were six different ways to record Poland as your birth country.
Another fun thing about that census was that there were six different ways to record Poland as your birth country.
January 7, 2026 at 4:07 AM
In the 1900 census, there were 334 people in Cook County whose country of birth was recorded as "at sea".
Another fun thing about that census was that there were six different ways to record Poland as your birth country.
Another fun thing about that census was that there were six different ways to record Poland as your birth country.
My take is that a system that disproportionately rewards overachieving conformists is bad.
One of the worst aspects of Japanese society, btw.
One of the worst aspects of Japanese society, btw.
January 7, 2026 at 3:49 AM
My take is that a system that disproportionately rewards overachieving conformists is bad.
One of the worst aspects of Japanese society, btw.
One of the worst aspects of Japanese society, btw.
Very low on the list of reasons why the US government should stop being ridiculous about Greenland: I don't want my trip to Copenhagen/Malmö this summer get canceled.
January 7, 2026 at 3:30 AM
Very low on the list of reasons why the US government should stop being ridiculous about Greenland: I don't want my trip to Copenhagen/Malmö this summer get canceled.
Reposted by Satoru Inoue
No, it was a successful coup. None of the people who led it were punished, and are in fact back in power, rewarded for their efforts to break the system by running it. Donald Trump is currently the dictator he attempted to become 5 years ago, and it’s because nobody treated trying as a crime.
We must speak plainly: January 6th was an attempted coup. It was an effort to nullify millions of lawful votes and subvert the will of the American people.
January 6, 2026 at 6:26 PM
No, it was a successful coup. None of the people who led it were punished, and are in fact back in power, rewarded for their efforts to break the system by running it. Donald Trump is currently the dictator he attempted to become 5 years ago, and it’s because nobody treated trying as a crime.
Reposted by Satoru Inoue
This is basically the view of the world that Plato sets out to refute in the Republic. One of the core questions asked therein is: why do powerful people think the mere fact of them exercising dominion makes it good for them to do so? Sure, you *can* get away with stuff if you're powerful - so what?
Here is the Trump Doctrine, as articulated by Stephen Miller in his truly frightening interview with Jake Tapper this afternoon. It is very much like the doctrine of the dictators we fought and defeated in World War II and of Putin today. It is un-American at its very core.
January 6, 2026 at 10:37 AM
This is basically the view of the world that Plato sets out to refute in the Republic. One of the core questions asked therein is: why do powerful people think the mere fact of them exercising dominion makes it good for them to do so? Sure, you *can* get away with stuff if you're powerful - so what?
Reposted by Satoru Inoue
Technically much of American history has been a project to balkanize Virginia.
January 5, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Technically much of American history has been a project to balkanize Virginia.
Jiao, the casual soup dumpling place in the Loop by QXY people, has been closed permanently and I didn't know for months.
A real shame. We'd go almost every time we went to the Harold Washington Library w/ the kids.
A real shame. We'd go almost every time we went to the Harold Washington Library w/ the kids.
January 5, 2026 at 5:41 AM
Jiao, the casual soup dumpling place in the Loop by QXY people, has been closed permanently and I didn't know for months.
A real shame. We'd go almost every time we went to the Harold Washington Library w/ the kids.
A real shame. We'd go almost every time we went to the Harold Washington Library w/ the kids.
Reposted by Satoru Inoue
Thread of Chicago-area House and Senste responses (candidates and sitting members) to Trump’s attack on Venezuela. Duckworth’s Chicago office still lets you leave a voicemail, unlike Durbin’s: 312-886-3506
Is anyone shocked that Tammy Duckworth has stopped short of calling for impeachment?
Illinois needs better representation.
Illinois needs better representation.
Donald Trump’s reckless and unconstitutional operations in Venezuela—including this morning’s arrest of a foreign leader—are not about enforcing law and order.
If they were, he wouldn’t hide them from Congress.
If they were, he wouldn’t hide them from Congress.
January 3, 2026 at 7:57 PM
Thread of Chicago-area House and Senste responses (candidates and sitting members) to Trump’s attack on Venezuela. Duckworth’s Chicago office still lets you leave a voicemail, unlike Durbin’s: 312-886-3506
Months ago, someone asked what the worst thing about Trump II was, and there's a whole lot of candidates but I thought the simplest answer was that we're clearly a rogue state.
We change foreign policy at whims of one man & his enablers, and the rest of the world won't trust us for > a generation.
We change foreign policy at whims of one man & his enablers, and the rest of the world won't trust us for > a generation.
January 3, 2026 at 1:08 PM
Months ago, someone asked what the worst thing about Trump II was, and there's a whole lot of candidates but I thought the simplest answer was that we're clearly a rogue state.
We change foreign policy at whims of one man & his enablers, and the rest of the world won't trust us for > a generation.
We change foreign policy at whims of one man & his enablers, and the rest of the world won't trust us for > a generation.