Frank Sennett
@sennettreport.bsky.social
Author of the Rafe Hendrix thriller SHADOW STATE, named Best New Novel by a Chicagoan in the Chicago Reader 2023 Best of Chicago awards. Creative writing instructor in the SNHU MFA program. Editor of Chicago Culture Authority.
January 18, 2026 at 7:51 AM
I’ve always been a Twizzlers guy, but Red Vines are the value option. I do wonder about the quality control. You get the big bag and there’s jaggedly broken off pieces like someone on the line was sneaking bites and dropping licorice back onto the belt.
January 4, 2026 at 3:36 AM
I’ve always been a Twizzlers guy, but Red Vines are the value option. I do wonder about the quality control. You get the big bag and there’s jaggedly broken off pieces like someone on the line was sneaking bites and dropping licorice back onto the belt.
Reposted by Frank Sennett
people act like driving out very rich people with extremely high marginal tax rates is bad but it’s why we have “exile on main street,” so
January 2, 2026 at 6:03 PM
people act like driving out very rich people with extremely high marginal tax rates is bad but it’s why we have “exile on main street,” so
Reposted by Frank Sennett
Would you like to be my boss?
📣 We’re hiring an editor in chief to lead our award-winning editorial team. Check out the full job posting and apply here: buff.ly/jKsWWgE
January 1, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Would you like to be my boss?
Reposted by Frank Sennett
A New Year's Toast from Patricia Highsmith (and me) 🥂🥂
December 31, 2025 at 1:51 PM
A New Year's Toast from Patricia Highsmith (and me) 🥂🥂
Publishers Marketplace, an incredibly useful resource for authors along with everyone else in publishing, is offering a rare free preview on its subscription. If you subscribe and cancel before Jan. 3, they will not charge the fee. Worth exploring.
www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/%EF...
www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/%EF...
https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/
December 30, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Publishers Marketplace, an incredibly useful resource for authors along with everyone else in publishing, is offering a rare free preview on its subscription. If you subscribe and cancel before Jan. 3, they will not charge the fee. Worth exploring.
www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/%EF...
www.publishersmarketplace.com/register/%EF...
And The Secret of the Old Clock! Look for the first in my series of Sam Spade-Nancy Drew mysteries next year…
Need some title help, though. Thoughts?
Need some title help, though. Thoughts?
Entering the US public domain in 2026: Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon.
More info behind window 28 of our advent-style countdown calendar for works entering the #publicdomain on Jan 1st: https://publicdomainreview.org/features/entering-the-public-domain/2026/ #PDin2026
More info behind window 28 of our advent-style countdown calendar for works entering the #publicdomain on Jan 1st: https://publicdomainreview.org/features/entering-the-public-domain/2026/ #PDin2026
December 29, 2025 at 12:39 AM
And The Secret of the Old Clock! Look for the first in my series of Sam Spade-Nancy Drew mysteries next year…
Need some title help, though. Thoughts?
Need some title help, though. Thoughts?
Tell me you’re GenX without telling me you’re GenX.
Best laugh I’ve had all day, @aslpinnacle.bsky.social. Well done.
Best laugh I’ve had all day, @aslpinnacle.bsky.social. Well done.
December 19, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Tell me you’re GenX without telling me you’re GenX.
Best laugh I’ve had all day, @aslpinnacle.bsky.social. Well done.
Best laugh I’ve had all day, @aslpinnacle.bsky.social. Well done.
If you get any presents in the mail with no gift giver identified, those are from me.
December 17, 2025 at 11:14 PM
If you get any presents in the mail with no gift giver identified, those are from me.
Crackerjack reporting here.
A plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of the world’s highest mountains in a covert mission that the U.S. will not talk about (gift article).
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How Did the C.I.A. Lose a Nuclear Device in the Himalayas? (Gift Article)
A plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of the world’s highest mountains in a covert mission that the U.S. will not talk about.
www.nytimes.com
December 13, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Crackerjack reporting here.
Townes may be Steve Earle’s best album.
December 9, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Townes may be Steve Earle’s best album.
What a blockhead!
Archaeologists Found a Cube-Shaped Human Skull in Mexico
Archaeologists in Mexico have uncovered a 1,400-year-old skull shaped like a cube, and it’s unlike anything they’ve seen in the region.
www.vice.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:11 PM
What a blockhead!
All Her Fault on Peacock features a marketing exec at a major publisher in Chicago (sure?) pitching a best-selling author on switching publishers because she believes she can open him up to a whole new audience if she can help him win… an Edgar Award! And he signs with her.
December 7, 2025 at 8:29 PM
All Her Fault on Peacock features a marketing exec at a major publisher in Chicago (sure?) pitching a best-selling author on switching publishers because she believes she can open him up to a whole new audience if she can help him win… an Edgar Award! And he signs with her.
@bencollins.bsky.social Can’t wait to see the visual for your Gehry coverage.
December 5, 2025 at 10:25 PM
@bencollins.bsky.social Can’t wait to see the visual for your Gehry coverage.
New Stranger Things cast photo dropped.
December 5, 2025 at 6:48 PM
New Stranger Things cast photo dropped.
Yes. And any such list with more Mike Myers than Albert Brooks entries, and that skips The Blues Brothers, is fatally deficient.
The movie listed at #1 is so incredibly misplaced that it calls into question the veracity of the entire list. It belongs on the list, yes, but SO MUCH further down. An absolute, credibility-wrecking flub. Boo, @variety.com! Boo!
variety.com/lists/best-c...
variety.com/lists/best-c...
The 100 Best Comedy Movies of All Time
Variety's list of the 100 best comedy movies of all time includes 'Annie Hall,' 'Pretty Woman,' 'Waiting for Guffman' and 'Young Frankenstein.'
variety.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Yes. And any such list with more Mike Myers than Albert Brooks entries, and that skips The Blues Brothers, is fatally deficient.
More than 200 years before the term “frenemy” was coined, Salieri & Mozart embodied it. Amadeus @steppenwolfthtr.bsky.social, directed w aplomb by @robertfalls.bsky.social, is smart, funny & assured. Ian Barford’s dynamic, empathetic Salieri is a triumph.
chicagocultureauthority.com/2025/11/17/i...
chicagocultureauthority.com/2025/11/17/i...
Ian Barford and Robert Falls rock Amadeus at Steppenwolf
I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard an ovation as celebratory and raucous in Steppenwolf’s upstairs ensemble theater as the one at the curtain call of Sunday’s opening…
chicagocultureauthority.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:05 PM
More than 200 years before the term “frenemy” was coined, Salieri & Mozart embodied it. Amadeus @steppenwolfthtr.bsky.social, directed w aplomb by @robertfalls.bsky.social, is smart, funny & assured. Ian Barford’s dynamic, empathetic Salieri is a triumph.
chicagocultureauthority.com/2025/11/17/i...
chicagocultureauthority.com/2025/11/17/i...
Reposted by Frank Sennett
Jesus Christ. This is monstrous. Absolutely sickening. The journalists in that room should walk out en masse.
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 18, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Jesus Christ. This is monstrous. Absolutely sickening. The journalists in that room should walk out en masse.
It’a not a free market when bot armies ace regular fans out of the chance to purchase during the regular onsale period. Time for the U.S. to follow suit. Squeeze the parasites out of business.
What nonsense is this? It's a free market, and people should be able to buy and sell tickets for whatever the market will tolerate. If you're desperate enough to pay £4k to see Oasis...
Also, doesn't the government have more important things to do, y'know, like balance the Budget? on.ft.com/3X0Y79i
Also, doesn't the government have more important things to do, y'know, like balance the Budget? on.ft.com/3X0Y79i
UK to ban resale of tickets above face value for live events
Aggressive crackdown on touts comes after backlash over cost of watching live music and sport
on.ft.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:46 PM
It’a not a free market when bot armies ace regular fans out of the chance to purchase during the regular onsale period. Time for the U.S. to follow suit. Squeeze the parasites out of business.
Thune was backed into a corner by refusing to negotiate ACA until government reopens. Ok, now he must negotiate in good faith and Ds have to insist on a full extension or no additional CR. Still a disaster.
This capitulation is going to cause a firestorm. The only way it possibly works out for the Democrats is if they a) put a marker down that they are giving Republicans a chance to do the right thing while easing the immediate crisis and b) absent an ACA extension by end of January, shutdown is back.
November 10, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Thune was backed into a corner by refusing to negotiate ACA until government reopens. Ok, now he must negotiate in good faith and Ds have to insist on a full extension or no additional CR. Still a disaster.
This capitulation is going to cause a firestorm. The only way it possibly works out for the Democrats is if they a) put a marker down that they are giving Republicans a chance to do the right thing while easing the immediate crisis and b) absent an ACA extension by end of January, shutdown is back.
November 10, 2025 at 2:36 AM
This capitulation is going to cause a firestorm. The only way it possibly works out for the Democrats is if they a) put a marker down that they are giving Republicans a chance to do the right thing while easing the immediate crisis and b) absent an ACA extension by end of January, shutdown is back.
I want to play poker with the Senate Democratic caucus…
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 AM
I want to play poker with the Senate Democratic caucus…
Reposted by Frank Sennett
I've been on staff for ... 38 years, and I don't remember ever feeling the paper is as focused and consequential as I do now. I can't speak to the effect, but as T.S. Eliot said, "For us there is only the trying. The rest is not our business."
November 8, 2025 at 4:16 PM
I've been on staff for ... 38 years, and I don't remember ever feeling the paper is as focused and consequential as I do now. I can't speak to the effect, but as T.S. Eliot said, "For us there is only the trying. The rest is not our business."
Reposted by Frank Sennett
Every company website is so desperate. You're on their page for five seconds and they want to send you notifications for the rest of your life. It's like if you asked somebody at an airport how to get to Terminal D and they told you, then got down on one knee and proposed.
November 7, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Every company website is so desperate. You're on their page for five seconds and they want to send you notifications for the rest of your life. It's like if you asked somebody at an airport how to get to Terminal D and they told you, then got down on one knee and proposed.
Good list, but I have never enjoyed Chicago Theatre as a concert venue. Musical theatre, yes, and maybe a theatrical show like David Byrne’s, which worked well at the Auditorium.
My top 10: Maurer, The Vic, Metro, Hideout, Empty Bottle, House of Blues, Green Mill, Schubas, Reggie’s, Salt Shed.
My top 10: Maurer, The Vic, Metro, Hideout, Empty Bottle, House of Blues, Green Mill, Schubas, Reggie’s, Salt Shed.
I have been to all of this top 10 except (weirdly) the Green Mill. My probably controversial take is Metro gets its rep more for its bookings than the venue, which is a frequently terrible experience. I'd add the Hideout and Lincoln Hall into my personal top 10 www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/06/b...
A music critic’s guide to the 10 best music venues in Chicago
From the Green Mill to Empty Bottle to Symphony Center, here are the best places in Chicago to see live music.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Good list, but I have never enjoyed Chicago Theatre as a concert venue. Musical theatre, yes, and maybe a theatrical show like David Byrne’s, which worked well at the Auditorium.
My top 10: Maurer, The Vic, Metro, Hideout, Empty Bottle, House of Blues, Green Mill, Schubas, Reggie’s, Salt Shed.
My top 10: Maurer, The Vic, Metro, Hideout, Empty Bottle, House of Blues, Green Mill, Schubas, Reggie’s, Salt Shed.