Bill Tipper
@tripleblip.bsky.social
Busting out my brains for the word. 1/3 of the podcast An Embarrassment of Prog. Asst. to The Amazing Sargasso. Editing things @WSJBooks. Opinions dumb, and my own.
Reposted by Bill Tipper
The smallest penguin on Earth is also the most CASUAL, trading the black tie and tails for a more casual blue suit jacket.
Let's meet the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor), native to New Zealand + Australia's southern shores.
The Māori named it 'kororā.'
Australians call it the fairy penguin. 🐧🧚
Let's meet the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor), native to New Zealand + Australia's southern shores.
The Māori named it 'kororā.'
Australians call it the fairy penguin. 🐧🧚
January 23, 2026 at 2:13 PM
The smallest penguin on Earth is also the most CASUAL, trading the black tie and tails for a more casual blue suit jacket.
Let's meet the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor), native to New Zealand + Australia's southern shores.
The Māori named it 'kororā.'
Australians call it the fairy penguin. 🐧🧚
Let's meet the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor), native to New Zealand + Australia's southern shores.
The Māori named it 'kororā.'
Australians call it the fairy penguin. 🐧🧚
The thing about The Westing Game is it’s supposedly a book for kids but it’s actually a machine whose function is to make you permanently dissatisfied with all other plot-twist endings.
What is "your" Newbery book? The one you read when you were little (or not so little), and took into your soul?
Mine's The Perilous Gard.
Mine's The Perilous Gard.
January 23, 2026 at 6:08 AM
The thing about The Westing Game is it’s supposedly a book for kids but it’s actually a machine whose function is to make you permanently dissatisfied with all other plot-twist endings.
Reposted by Bill Tipper
Hello from Portland Maine, where 88 of about 550 kids were absent from my youngest’s middle school yesterday, hiding from ICE.
January 22, 2026 at 7:53 PM
Hello from Portland Maine, where 88 of about 550 kids were absent from my youngest’s middle school yesterday, hiding from ICE.
It suddenly occurs to me (for no reason I can understand) that my first encounter with Sylvia Plath’s poetry was as quotation in “Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!” by M.E. Kerr (Marijane Meaker) and it’s a reminder just how persistent and forceful a book’s presence can be in your life.
January 22, 2026 at 6:43 AM
It suddenly occurs to me (for no reason I can understand) that my first encounter with Sylvia Plath’s poetry was as quotation in “Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!” by M.E. Kerr (Marijane Meaker) and it’s a reminder just how persistent and forceful a book’s presence can be in your life.
I keep reading these words and it’s not so much that they sound unreal, it’s that they drive nearly all other words out of my consciousness.
Minnesota: "School officials say the [5-year-old] child was used as bait. They say [ICE] agents made little Liam knock on the door to ask to be let in in order to see if anyone else was home."
January 22, 2026 at 5:46 AM
I keep reading these words and it’s not so much that they sound unreal, it’s that they drive nearly all other words out of my consciousness.
Reposted by Bill Tipper
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
-W. H. Auden
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
-W. H. Auden
January 22, 2026 at 5:21 AM
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
-W. H. Auden
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
-W. H. Auden
Reposted by Bill Tipper
Just saw on KARE 11 that this boy was sent to a detainment facility in Texas and that his family didn't know his whereabouts for almost 24 hours.
This picture making the rounds on reddit, Columbia Heights. I'm not OK.
January 21, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Just saw on KARE 11 that this boy was sent to a detainment facility in Texas and that his family didn't know his whereabouts for almost 24 hours.
Incredible story
The US granted visas to Jews but only allowed 30,000 in from Germany a year. You had to wait for your number to come up.
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
January 21, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Incredible story
Reposted by Bill Tipper
Not a cloud in the sky
Though it looks like rain
It’s so good to see you
My old heart is in pain
They never knew it was just us two
Strangers on a Train
Though it looks like rain
It’s so good to see you
My old heart is in pain
They never knew it was just us two
Strangers on a Train
January 21, 2026 at 6:12 AM
Not a cloud in the sky
Though it looks like rain
It’s so good to see you
My old heart is in pain
They never knew it was just us two
Strangers on a Train
Though it looks like rain
It’s so good to see you
My old heart is in pain
They never knew it was just us two
Strangers on a Train
Movies That Sound From Just the Title Like They Could Plausibly Have a Jaunty Randy Newman Song Over the Credits Sharing the Name of the Film:
“Let the Right One In”
“A Few Good Men”
“Eyes Wide Shut”
“Dog Day Afternoon”
“Let the Right One In”
“A Few Good Men”
“Eyes Wide Shut”
“Dog Day Afternoon”
January 21, 2026 at 5:02 AM
Movies That Sound From Just the Title Like They Could Plausibly Have a Jaunty Randy Newman Song Over the Credits Sharing the Name of the Film:
“Let the Right One In”
“A Few Good Men”
“Eyes Wide Shut”
“Dog Day Afternoon”
“Let the Right One In”
“A Few Good Men”
“Eyes Wide Shut”
“Dog Day Afternoon”
Reposted by Bill Tipper
I’m sharing this video again because people don’t really get what these data centers and ai are doing to our planet and our communities. Especially Black communities because they were strategically placed there.
I need you to listen to these people.
STOP USING AI. STOP SUPPORTING AI.
I need you to listen to these people.
STOP USING AI. STOP SUPPORTING AI.
January 20, 2026 at 11:16 PM
I’m sharing this video again because people don’t really get what these data centers and ai are doing to our planet and our communities. Especially Black communities because they were strategically placed there.
I need you to listen to these people.
STOP USING AI. STOP SUPPORTING AI.
I need you to listen to these people.
STOP USING AI. STOP SUPPORTING AI.
“The capsules in these gargantuan lists are written by a handful of people who are, judging by my experience, scraping the thesaurus and clawing out their eyes by the end of their allotted blurbs” Oh how I know and I know and I know
When the AI slop summer reading list dropped last year I knew I had to write about making book lists. Thanks to @thebaffler.com for letting me go long with bewildered nostalgia & regret on 20 years of Internet book culture & how we made the slop book list inevitable. thebaffler.com/after-the-fa...
List and Shout | Lydia Kiesling
The labor involved in making lists was as close to the opposite of a transcendent reading experience as a disillusioned culture worker could get.
thebaffler.com
January 20, 2026 at 7:29 PM
“The capsules in these gargantuan lists are written by a handful of people who are, judging by my experience, scraping the thesaurus and clawing out their eyes by the end of their allotted blurbs” Oh how I know and I know and I know
I can’t be the only person who has mentally linked this epic with @nameshiv.bsky.social ‘s legendary rice truck delivery thread. Large Vehicles Gone Wild or some such
I just woke up from a nap and somehow while I was asleep, everyone on the bus has figured out we are not going to the right place
January 20, 2026 at 6:36 AM
I can’t be the only person who has mentally linked this epic with @nameshiv.bsky.social ‘s legendary rice truck delivery thread. Large Vehicles Gone Wild or some such
Maybe it’s the Kiev in the east village, for the chicken noodle soup at poor grad student prices. Maybe it’s Talde in Park Slope with the lobster tom kha I still dream about. But there was once a very low-key bring your own bottle French place on Atlantic avenue called La Bouillabase and….
Sunday night timeline cleanse
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
January 19, 2026 at 5:21 AM
Maybe it’s the Kiev in the east village, for the chicken noodle soup at poor grad student prices. Maybe it’s Talde in Park Slope with the lobster tom kha I still dream about. But there was once a very low-key bring your own bottle French place on Atlantic avenue called La Bouillabase and….
Reposted by Bill Tipper
BREAKING: A measles outbreak is growing at rapid speed in South Carolina, with cases doubling over the last week and spreading to at least three other states.
'Staring over the edge': South Carolina measles outbreak doubles within a week
More than 500 people are in a 21-day quarantine and about 200 are "actively infected." The largest current outbreak in the U.S. has spread to at least three other states.
nbcnews.to
January 16, 2026 at 10:51 PM
BREAKING: A measles outbreak is growing at rapid speed in South Carolina, with cases doubling over the last week and spreading to at least three other states.
Reposted by Bill Tipper
Republican on CNN: You peacefully protest with a letter to the editor. You peacefully protest by starting a Substack or a podcast.
January 15, 2026 at 4:05 AM
Republican on CNN: You peacefully protest with a letter to the editor. You peacefully protest by starting a Substack or a podcast.
Reposted by Bill Tipper
On the $3/meal thing: I went through a weird period where I tried to be really frugal and would try to limit my grocery budget to $50/week. I am single and educated. It was really hard and ultimately something I gave up, because it made me miserable.
January 15, 2026 at 12:07 AM
On the $3/meal thing: I went through a weird period where I tried to be really frugal and would try to limit my grocery budget to $50/week. I am single and educated. It was really hard and ultimately something I gave up, because it made me miserable.
A timeline cleanse, in the form of Linda Ronstadt’s cover of Elvis Costello’s “Girl Talk.” On the chorus— I wanna know ho-o-o-ow!—I hear something I can only express as a perfect jump shot, executed again and again, thrilling every time youtu.be/HToXC7l-iCw?...
Girls Talk
YouTube video by Linda Ronstadt - Topic
youtu.be
January 14, 2026 at 2:21 PM
A timeline cleanse, in the form of Linda Ronstadt’s cover of Elvis Costello’s “Girl Talk.” On the chorus— I wanna know ho-o-o-ow!—I hear something I can only express as a perfect jump shot, executed again and again, thrilling every time youtu.be/HToXC7l-iCw?...
Reposted by Bill Tipper
Q: "Do you believe that deadly force was necessary?"
Trump: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement…Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff."
Trump: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement…Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff."
January 12, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Q: "Do you believe that deadly force was necessary?"
Trump: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement…Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff."
Trump: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement…Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff."
One Bottle After Another
January 11, 2026 at 11:16 PM
One Bottle After Another
Reposted by Bill Tipper
Gift link www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
January 11, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Gift link www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
The Catenary Sublime is real as hell
Nearly burst into tears crossing the George Washington Bridge just now — the immense towers floating, floodlit, in the blackness of night and rain. God, is there any more extraordinary feat of construction than bridges?
January 11, 2026 at 4:49 AM
The Catenary Sublime is real as hell
Reposted by Bill Tipper
I had no idea the material conditions in Iran had degraded so badly. As the speaker, Prof Fatemeh Shams explains later, these are explosive, borderline revolutionary conditions, much more serious than previous rounds of mass protest
January 11, 2026 at 3:05 AM
I had no idea the material conditions in Iran had degraded so badly. As the speaker, Prof Fatemeh Shams explains later, these are explosive, borderline revolutionary conditions, much more serious than previous rounds of mass protest
Reposted by Bill Tipper
I keep repeating it because its insane to me but the idea of invading or acquiring Greenland for missile defense is insane because we already have access to it for our missile defense
January 11, 2026 at 3:47 AM
I keep repeating it because its insane to me but the idea of invading or acquiring Greenland for missile defense is insane because we already have access to it for our missile defense