Steven Melendez
@smelendez.bsky.social
This is the first occurrence I could find of the word "cheeseburger" in an American newspaper.
November 18, 2025 at 8:49 PM
This is the first occurrence I could find of the word "cheeseburger" in an American newspaper.
Epstein was The Most Interesting Man in the World to these guys. It’s clear from these emails and the birthday book.
It’s also clear from the last few years that the key to becoming a billionaire or political power player is often just acting like a selfish 22-year-old your entire adult life.
It’s also clear from the last few years that the key to becoming a billionaire or political power player is often just acting like a selfish 22-year-old your entire adult life.
A lot of the (often quite powerful!) guys emailing Epstein were asking him for dating advice,
which seems to suggest that they saw his own sex life as aspirational.
which seems to suggest that they saw his own sex life as aspirational.
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
November 17, 2025 at 5:23 AM
Epstein was The Most Interesting Man in the World to these guys. It’s clear from these emails and the birthday book.
It’s also clear from the last few years that the key to becoming a billionaire or political power player is often just acting like a selfish 22-year-old your entire adult life.
It’s also clear from the last few years that the key to becoming a billionaire or political power player is often just acting like a selfish 22-year-old your entire adult life.
Well well well… looks like my ship has come in
November 17, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Well well well… looks like my ship has come in
Reposted by Steven Melendez
Imagine getting old and writing your “the scene is dead” piece and this is the scene
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/s...
Epstein Emails Reveal a Lost New York
www.nytimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Imagine getting old and writing your “the scene is dead” piece and this is the scene
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/s...
Every headline says the Vatican returned these objects in past tense, but the article says they’re still in Rome?
Also, “the cost of repatriating the items has been prepaid by the tribes”??
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Also, “the cost of repatriating the items has been prepaid by the tribes”??
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Vatican returns dozens of indigenous artefacts to Canada
A kayak and gloves are among the items being sent back to Canada after 100 years in a Vatican museum.
www.bbc.com
November 16, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Every headline says the Vatican returned these objects in past tense, but the article says they’re still in Rome?
Also, “the cost of repatriating the items has been prepaid by the tribes”??
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Also, “the cost of repatriating the items has been prepaid by the tribes”??
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Me: Sometimes I think we spend too much time as a culture on the TV comedy wars of the 90s
The New Yorker: The American public choosing Lawrence Welk over Sid Caesar is, was, and will ever be a travesty
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
The New Yorker: The American public choosing Lawrence Welk over Sid Caesar is, was, and will ever be a travesty
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
The Comic Genius Who Pushed Television Further Than It Could Go
In mid-century America, no one quite knew what TV would be. Sid Caesar made the medium into something new and remarkable—until the medium unmade him.
www.newyorker.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Me: Sometimes I think we spend too much time as a culture on the TV comedy wars of the 90s
The New Yorker: The American public choosing Lawrence Welk over Sid Caesar is, was, and will ever be a travesty
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
The New Yorker: The American public choosing Lawrence Welk over Sid Caesar is, was, and will ever be a travesty
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Well yeah, who wants a ship that’s going to cut revenue?
In 1926 USCGA made the bear its mascot, supposedly because the bear is “bold and tenacious.” Also because that year the Revenue Cutter Bear, one of the most famous CG cutters in our history, was decommissioned.
@oceanbound.bsky.social a bear? also why does the new bear suck?
November 15, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Well yeah, who wants a ship that’s going to cut revenue?
I don’t really get why RFK Jr. using psychedelics is such a revelation?
He seems like the kind of person who would still be using psychedelics and even more the kind of person who would talk about psychedelics?
He seems like the kind of person who would still be using psychedelics and even more the kind of person who would talk about psychedelics?
Olivia Nuzzi's memoir is a combustive portrait of America, President Trump and the scandal with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that upended her career.
In an exclusive interview with The New York Times, she recalls the infatuation that consumed her, Kennedy’s use of psychedelics and much more.
In an exclusive interview with The New York Times, she recalls the infatuation that consumed her, Kennedy’s use of psychedelics and much more.
Olivia Nuzzi Did It All for Love
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:35 AM
I don’t really get why RFK Jr. using psychedelics is such a revelation?
He seems like the kind of person who would still be using psychedelics and even more the kind of person who would talk about psychedelics?
He seems like the kind of person who would still be using psychedelics and even more the kind of person who would talk about psychedelics?
Never have I been so relieved not to see the word “enshittification” in a post
November 14, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Never have I been so relieved not to see the word “enshittification” in a post
Am I the only person who instinctively pronounces “Letterboxd” as “Letterbox Dee” like it’s an old Unix daemon?
November 12, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Am I the only person who instinctively pronounces “Letterboxd” as “Letterbox Dee” like it’s an old Unix daemon?
Reposted by Steven Melendez
An interesting look inside the growing conflict and corporatization of the Ghost Tour Industry by @smelendez.bsky.social, with clear implications for New Orleans and a cameo from the LaLaurie Mansion.
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
Why the ghost tour industry faces a scary future
As ghost tour chains grow, the haunted history sector has seen allegations of unfair competition and labor violations that spookily echo the rise of other online-enabled businesses.
www.fastcompany.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:23 PM
An interesting look inside the growing conflict and corporatization of the Ghost Tour Industry by @smelendez.bsky.social, with clear implications for New Orleans and a cameo from the LaLaurie Mansion.
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
Me when children playing catch in the laundromat hit me with their ball: Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your way in a second!
Me when adults watch videos there without headphones: There should be a brig in the back to lock you in until you’re ready to behave (or your clothes are done)
Me when adults watch videos there without headphones: There should be a brig in the back to lock you in until you’re ready to behave (or your clothes are done)
November 7, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Me when children playing catch in the laundromat hit me with their ball: Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your way in a second!
Me when adults watch videos there without headphones: There should be a brig in the back to lock you in until you’re ready to behave (or your clothes are done)
Me when adults watch videos there without headphones: There should be a brig in the back to lock you in until you’re ready to behave (or your clothes are done)
Reposted by Steven Melendez
Journalist Steven Melendez writes a terrific article in the Chicago's Newcity Magazine about the historic corruption in the Weights and Measures bureaucracy. Glad to see my old work on the "Honest Weight" progressive movement revived.
www.newcity.com/2025/11/05/t...
www.newcity.com/2025/11/05/t...
The "Millionaire Newsboy" and Sauerkraut Dealer Who Once Lorded Over Chicago's Loop
Joe Grein, sometimes called the unofficial "Mayor of Randolph Street," was in charge of testing scales in the city, certifying accurate devices by applying a seal.
www.newcity.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Journalist Steven Melendez writes a terrific article in the Chicago's Newcity Magazine about the historic corruption in the Weights and Measures bureaucracy. Glad to see my old work on the "Honest Weight" progressive movement revived.
www.newcity.com/2025/11/05/t...
www.newcity.com/2025/11/05/t...
I wrote about Joe Grein, a crusading 1930s Chicago inspector of weights and measures who cracked down on rigged store scales and measuring cups, which had been used has part of a scheme to funnel money to allies of Al Capone and corrupt mayor Big Bill Thompson www.newcity.com/2025/11/05/t...
The "Millionaire Newsboy" and Sauerkraut Dealer Who Once Lorded Over Chicago's Loop
Joe Grein, sometimes called the unofficial "Mayor of Randolph Street," was in charge of testing scales in the city, certifying accurate devices by applying a seal.
www.newcity.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:50 PM
I wrote about Joe Grein, a crusading 1930s Chicago inspector of weights and measures who cracked down on rigged store scales and measuring cups, which had been used has part of a scheme to funnel money to allies of Al Capone and corrupt mayor Big Bill Thompson www.newcity.com/2025/11/05/t...
Casio Toy for the Painfully Alone
The $430 Casio Moflin is a pointless but adorable robot you can’t help but love. Unless you’re a dog.
Casio’s Fluffy AI Robot Squeaked Its Way Into My Heart
The $430 Casio Moflin is a pointless but adorable robot you can’t help but love. Unless you’re a dog.
wrd.cm
November 3, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Casio Toy for the Painfully Alone
This might cost me a lot of followers, but our parents did not spend the best ears of their lives following Paul Revere and the Raiders only for us to have to listen to a Redcoat bass player
November 2, 2025 at 1:58 AM
This might cost me a lot of followers, but our parents did not spend the best ears of their lives following Paul Revere and the Raiders only for us to have to listen to a Redcoat bass player
Whoops! Everyone in Velvet Underground tribute band named after Mo Tucker is a man who imagines himself as Lou Reed.
November 1, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Whoops! Everyone in Velvet Underground tribute band named after Mo Tucker is a man who imagines himself as Lou Reed.
Them: Can you submit a short bio for the website
Me:
Me:
November 1, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Them: Can you submit a short bio for the website
Me:
Me:
Interesting but seems hard to know which way causation goes. Teens who aren’t using social media might be offline because of a problem in their lives (hypercontrolling parents, severe bullying/stalking that drove them offline, poverty, mental or physical health issues, etc.)
If we really want to deter suicide and self-harm, we should prescribe social media to teenagers, not ban it
The anti-teen-social-media case keeps falling apart even as it peaks politically.
The anti-teen-social-media case keeps falling apart even as it peaks politically.
If we really want to deter suicide and self-harm, we should prescribe social media to teenagers, not ban it
The anti-teen-social-media case keeps falling apart even as it peaks politically.
mikemales.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Interesting but seems hard to know which way causation goes. Teens who aren’t using social media might be offline because of a problem in their lives (hypercontrolling parents, severe bullying/stalking that drove them offline, poverty, mental or physical health issues, etc.)
Reposted by Steven Melendez
I wrote about how the internet has enabled the rise of national ghost tour chains, leading to accusations of plagiarism, trademark infringement, and labor violations in an industry that was previously the domain of local history buffs
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
Why the ghost tour industry faces a scary future
As ghost tour chains grow, the haunted history sector has seen allegations of unfair competition and labor violations that spookily echo the rise of other online-enabled businesses.
www.fastcompany.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:58 AM
I wrote about how the internet has enabled the rise of national ghost tour chains, leading to accusations of plagiarism, trademark infringement, and labor violations in an industry that was previously the domain of local history buffs
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
I wrote about how the internet has enabled the rise of national ghost tour chains, leading to accusations of plagiarism, trademark infringement, and labor violations in an industry that was previously the domain of local history buffs
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
Why the ghost tour industry faces a scary future
As ghost tour chains grow, the haunted history sector has seen allegations of unfair competition and labor violations that spookily echo the rise of other online-enabled businesses.
www.fastcompany.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:58 AM
I wrote about how the internet has enabled the rise of national ghost tour chains, leading to accusations of plagiarism, trademark infringement, and labor violations in an industry that was previously the domain of local history buffs
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
www.fastcompany.com/91429824/gho...
Welcome to the machine. It’s alright, we know where you’ve bean.
October 24, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Welcome to the machine. It’s alright, we know where you’ve bean.