Aimee
@aimeelevitt.bsky.social
Mild-mannered girl reporter for hire.
Food, business, books, historical oddities. And dogs.
aimeelevitt.com
Food, business, books, historical oddities. And dogs.
aimeelevitt.com
Exciting and thrilling news: The Takeout, where I worked from 2019-2021, has decided to start rewriting my old stories and reposting them under the old URLs! This is the work of Static Media, which pays writers 8 cents a word. Huzzah!
The old story: web.archive.org/web/20191024...
The old story: web.archive.org/web/20191024...
What the hell was shrimp wiggle?
There’s a new edition of Joy of Cooking out next month. It contains 600 brand new recipes for things that modern Americans actually eat. Unfortunately, even in a book with more than 4,000 recipes, som...
web.archive.org
October 20, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Exciting and thrilling news: The Takeout, where I worked from 2019-2021, has decided to start rewriting my old stories and reposting them under the old URLs! This is the work of Static Media, which pays writers 8 cents a word. Huzzah!
The old story: web.archive.org/web/20191024...
The old story: web.archive.org/web/20191024...
TIL that WGN is owned by Nexstar. That is a major reason why I won't be going on tomorrow morning to talk about restaurants in the theater district.
I know it's a super, super small thing. But it did make me feel like I was doing something.
I know it's a super, super small thing. But it did make me feel like I was doing something.
September 19, 2025 at 12:09 AM
TIL that WGN is owned by Nexstar. That is a major reason why I won't be going on tomorrow morning to talk about restaurants in the theater district.
I know it's a super, super small thing. But it did make me feel like I was doing something.
I know it's a super, super small thing. But it did make me feel like I was doing something.
Reposted by Aimee
I’m Jewish. After one day at a convention of Christmas fanatics, I now believe in Santa. slate.trib.al/3Of70sm
I Found the Nicest Group of People in America. Their Secret Obsession Is Now Mine.
Maybe it goes without saying that these collectors had happy childhoods.
slate.trib.al
August 30, 2025 at 2:02 PM
I’m Jewish. After one day at a convention of Christmas fanatics, I now believe in Santa. slate.trib.al/3Of70sm
Book people: can we talk about "Consider Yourself Kissed" for a second? Like, why is it billed as a love story when it is clearly a charming, funny horror story about a compulsive people-pleaser who is slowly sucked dry, to the point of madness, by her family? (Not a spoiler, it's on page one.)
July 3, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Book people: can we talk about "Consider Yourself Kissed" for a second? Like, why is it billed as a love story when it is clearly a charming, funny horror story about a compulsive people-pleaser who is slowly sucked dry, to the point of madness, by her family? (Not a spoiler, it's on page one.)
Today let all praise and thanks be due to Willis Carrier, inventor of the air conditioner, and also to Dr. John Gorrie who conceived the idea 50 years before Carrier but who never marketed it because of the death of his financial backer.
www.energy.gov/articles/his...
www.energy.gov/articles/his...
History of Air Conditioning
Learn about some of the key milestones in one of the most important inventions of modern times -- air conditioning.
www.energy.gov
June 23, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Today let all praise and thanks be due to Willis Carrier, inventor of the air conditioner, and also to Dr. John Gorrie who conceived the idea 50 years before Carrier but who never marketed it because of the death of his financial backer.
www.energy.gov/articles/his...
www.energy.gov/articles/his...
I love this story of how "Lift Every Voice and Sing" became the Black national anthem. www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46549/...
Lift Every Voice and Sing
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered, We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past, Till now we stand at last Where the white glea...
www.poetryfoundation.org
June 19, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I love this story of how "Lift Every Voice and Sing" became the Black national anthem. www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46549/...
Reposted by Aimee
I have just found the Wikipedia entry for the 1930s conman Napoleon Hill (real name, Oliver Hill), and it may be one of the great entries of all time.
'His father was a dentist, at first unofficially...' Yikes.
'His father was a dentist, at first unofficially...' Yikes.
June 18, 2025 at 7:37 PM
I have just found the Wikipedia entry for the 1930s conman Napoleon Hill (real name, Oliver Hill), and it may be one of the great entries of all time.
'His father was a dentist, at first unofficially...' Yikes.
'His father was a dentist, at first unofficially...' Yikes.
Reposted by Aimee
Everything that’s happened over the past six months has been a response to an imaginary crisis. There is no immigrant invasion. No trade crisis. No scientific or governance crisis. Just people completely high off their own supply trying to fundamentally reorder society. None of this had to happen.
June 9, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Everything that’s happened over the past six months has been a response to an imaginary crisis. There is no immigrant invasion. No trade crisis. No scientific or governance crisis. Just people completely high off their own supply trying to fundamentally reorder society. None of this had to happen.
Had the most astonishing Red Line ride today. The train was clean! No one was having loud phone conversations! No one was sharing their music with the rest of us! And no one was smoking! Plus, there were no ads covering the window, so I got a good view of Graceland. What celestial alignment is this?
June 6, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Had the most astonishing Red Line ride today. The train was clean! No one was having loud phone conversations! No one was sharing their music with the rest of us! And no one was smoking! Plus, there were no ads covering the window, so I got a good view of Graceland. What celestial alignment is this?
THEY'RE ALIVE!!!!!! ALIVE I TELL YOU!
www.cjr.org/analysis/don...
www.cjr.org/analysis/don...
Don’t Mourn the Death of Alt-Weeklies. They’re Alive and Well.
In some communities, alt-weeklies have outlasted the daily paper.
www.cjr.org
June 4, 2025 at 6:27 PM
THEY'RE ALIVE!!!!!! ALIVE I TELL YOU!
www.cjr.org/analysis/don...
www.cjr.org/analysis/don...
Reposted by Aimee
I still think the best idea for progressive donors is to just revive every alt-weekly in the country and staff them with 10 reporters each.
I wrote a bit about the misguided effort by Democrats to replicate Joe Rogan the right-wing podcast ecosystem.
May 27, 2025 at 8:57 PM
I still think the best idea for progressive donors is to just revive every alt-weekly in the country and staff them with 10 reporters each.
A good piece by @marthabayne.bsky.social about how AI is taking over journalism (in part because freelancers get paid so badly, putting in the work isn't worth the effort), the death of a great journalist and friend, and maybe a whole way of life. open.substack.com/pub/marthaba...
Journalism Dreams
I wrote about the "Heat Index" scandal and why it may not matter
open.substack.com
May 22, 2025 at 12:09 AM
A good piece by @marthabayne.bsky.social about how AI is taking over journalism (in part because freelancers get paid so badly, putting in the work isn't worth the effort), the death of a great journalist and friend, and maybe a whole way of life. open.substack.com/pub/marthaba...
If you want to help out the good people of St. Louis, @lonesometoast.bsky.social, another good person of St. Louis, is collecting supplies.
good morning #stl! i'm doing supply runs today, and below is the updated needs list from Action St. Louis, the incredible on-the-ground group leading the people's response. if you have any $ to spare, my venmo is Brooke-Foster-11 (last 4 digits of my cell # are 3066 to verify).
thanks, loves!
thanks, loves!
May 19, 2025 at 5:46 PM
If you want to help out the good people of St. Louis, @lonesometoast.bsky.social, another good person of St. Louis, is collecting supplies.
Of course the pope has a connection to St. Louis… www.stlmag.com/news/pope-le...
Pope Leo’s Former St. Louis Residence Could Be Yours | St. Louis Magazine
If you are so inclined, you could own the building where Pope Leo XIV lay his head almost half a century ago and where he (perhaps) decided to dedicate his
www.stlmag.com
May 9, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Of course the pope has a connection to St. Louis… www.stlmag.com/news/pope-le...
Chicago Pope would make such a good sitcom!
Huge misunderstanding when he talks trash against the Cardinals.
Someone tries to rename Italian beef Vatican beef.
He issues an excommunication to someone who dares put ketchup on a hot dog.
Huge misunderstanding when he talks trash against the Cardinals.
Someone tries to rename Italian beef Vatican beef.
He issues an excommunication to someone who dares put ketchup on a hot dog.
May 8, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Chicago Pope would make such a good sitcom!
Huge misunderstanding when he talks trash against the Cardinals.
Someone tries to rename Italian beef Vatican beef.
He issues an excommunication to someone who dares put ketchup on a hot dog.
Huge misunderstanding when he talks trash against the Cardinals.
Someone tries to rename Italian beef Vatican beef.
He issues an excommunication to someone who dares put ketchup on a hot dog.
Reposted by Aimee
Hey, who wants something nice?
So I was on tour this month, and when I was doing my event for the Princeton University Library and the Princeton Public Library, I ended up at the graveyard, where I found this gravestone:
So I was on tour this month, and when I was doing my event for the Princeton University Library and the Princeton Public Library, I ended up at the graveyard, where I found this gravestone:
May 5, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Hey, who wants something nice?
So I was on tour this month, and when I was doing my event for the Princeton University Library and the Princeton Public Library, I ended up at the graveyard, where I found this gravestone:
So I was on tour this month, and when I was doing my event for the Princeton University Library and the Princeton Public Library, I ended up at the graveyard, where I found this gravestone:
Can you imagine the confusion if the 2028 election came down to JB Pritzker vs JD Vance? Although it would be pretty easy to explain that "JD" stands for "just don't."
April 29, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Can you imagine the confusion if the 2028 election came down to JB Pritzker vs JD Vance? Although it would be pretty easy to explain that "JD" stands for "just don't."
Who asked for this? I want names.
April 28, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Who asked for this? I want names.
It is truly insane that for $850K, you cannot afford to buy a house in the city where you already live and work unless you buy in a fire zone, and then you can only get enough fire insurance to cover about a third of your property. And you are supposed to be grateful. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
In L.A., a Young Family Wanted a House to Grow Into. Would $800,000 Be Enough?
Seeking more space for their growing children (and maybe a pool), a couple combed the San Fernando Valley for a single-family home they could afford. Here’s what they found.
www.nytimes.com
April 24, 2025 at 7:37 PM
It is truly insane that for $850K, you cannot afford to buy a house in the city where you already live and work unless you buy in a fire zone, and then you can only get enough fire insurance to cover about a third of your property. And you are supposed to be grateful. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
I interviewed @pjmaciak.bsky.social about his very awesome-sounding Dad Culture Studies course at Wash U for @stlmag.bsky.social. www.stlmag.com/family/dad-c...
What Does It Mean To Be A Dad? WashU’s Phillip Maciak Studies Modern Fatherhood
This semester, he’s holding a seminar for students called Dad Culture Studies.
www.stlmag.com
April 16, 2025 at 12:54 AM
I interviewed @pjmaciak.bsky.social about his very awesome-sounding Dad Culture Studies course at Wash U for @stlmag.bsky.social. www.stlmag.com/family/dad-c...
Happy Passover, everyone!
Here's a fun seder game: What would modern plagues be, and which one would finally soften Trump's heart, provided he has one? (I don't think it would be the slaying of Don Jr.)
Here's a fun seder game: What would modern plagues be, and which one would finally soften Trump's heart, provided he has one? (I don't think it would be the slaying of Don Jr.)
April 12, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Happy Passover, everyone!
Here's a fun seder game: What would modern plagues be, and which one would finally soften Trump's heart, provided he has one? (I don't think it would be the slaying of Don Jr.)
Here's a fun seder game: What would modern plagues be, and which one would finally soften Trump's heart, provided he has one? (I don't think it would be the slaying of Don Jr.)
Let's forget about tariffs for a minute and appreciate this very sweet story
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/a...
(Important intel: Bruce Springsteen played right field in Little League. For good reason.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/a...
(Important intel: Bruce Springsteen played right field in Little League. For good reason.)
Joe DePugh, Pitcher Who Inspired Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Glory Days,’ Dead at 75
A gifted athlete, he gave a clumsy teenage Bruce Springsteen his first nickname, Saddie. Years later, the Boss returned the favor, memorializing him in a song.
www.nytimes.com
April 3, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Let's forget about tariffs for a minute and appreciate this very sweet story
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/a...
(Important intel: Bruce Springsteen played right field in Little League. For good reason.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/a...
(Important intel: Bruce Springsteen played right field in Little League. For good reason.)
@theresthistory.bsky.social Tom and Dom, I love you both madly (in a platonic way), and I thank you for your Reagan episodes, especially Tom's Reagan voice and Dom's succinct explanation of Iran-Contra. However, you failed to mention "Bedtime for Bonzo" and I am beside myself with disappointment.
April 3, 2025 at 1:26 AM
@theresthistory.bsky.social Tom and Dom, I love you both madly (in a platonic way), and I thank you for your Reagan episodes, especially Tom's Reagan voice and Dom's succinct explanation of Iran-Contra. However, you failed to mention "Bedtime for Bonzo" and I am beside myself with disappointment.
This should be an Onion headline.
But... supposing there is secret US-penguin trade going on... what goods are being exchanged?
But... supposing there is secret US-penguin trade going on... what goods are being exchanged?
April 3, 2025 at 12:31 AM
This should be an Onion headline.
But... supposing there is secret US-penguin trade going on... what goods are being exchanged?
But... supposing there is secret US-penguin trade going on... what goods are being exchanged?
Whoo-hoo, look at me and @marthabayne.bsky.social officially entered into the Congressional record, profanity and all.
Well this is off to a great start! Huizenga calls Nina Jankowicz, minority witness, a censorship czarina, in his opening. Rep Kamlager-Dove, ranking member, calls Taibbi a serial sexual harasser and enters articles into the record calling him a "misogynist a-hole" chicagoreader.com/blogs/twenty...
Twenty years ago, in Moscow, Matt Taibbi was a misogynist asshole—and possibly worse - Chicago Reader
The Rolling Stone writer and author of I Can't Breathe is answering for harassment he and Mark Ames bragged about in their 2000 memoir.
chicagoreader.com
April 1, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Whoo-hoo, look at me and @marthabayne.bsky.social officially entered into the Congressional record, profanity and all.