Bill Barol
@billbarol.bsky.social
Hammertown: hammertownusa.substack.com
Podcasting about creativity at imaginationandjunk.com
HOME: Stories From L.A. archived at homestoriesla.net
Writing: The New Yorker, The New York Times, Boston Globe, Fast Company, Time, Newsweek, Boing Boing + more
Podcasting about creativity at imaginationandjunk.com
HOME: Stories From L.A. archived at homestoriesla.net
Writing: The New Yorker, The New York Times, Boston Globe, Fast Company, Time, Newsweek, Boing Boing + more
Tonight in "Are You Fucking Kidding Me With This? This Is 'Analysis'? Jesus Christ I Feel Like I'm Taking Crazy Pills":
September 15, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Tonight in "Are You Fucking Kidding Me With This? This Is 'Analysis'? Jesus Christ I Feel Like I'm Taking Crazy Pills":
I'm not sure somebody who writes a Substack (as I do) can afford to be sniffy about people who produce podcasts (as I do).
August 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I'm not sure somebody who writes a Substack (as I do) can afford to be sniffy about people who produce podcasts (as I do).
July 10, 2025 at 4:12 PM
I know it's fashionable to dunk on The Gray Lady, but this is an unbelievably terrible framing. And it isn't one of those cases where the hed is divorced from the thrust of the story. Nope; they match.
July 10, 2025 at 5:05 AM
I know it's fashionable to dunk on The Gray Lady, but this is an unbelievably terrible framing. And it isn't one of those cases where the hed is divorced from the thrust of the story. Nope; they match.
No, I'm pretty sure I knew that.
June 26, 2025 at 10:00 PM
No, I'm pretty sure I knew that.
City council president Seth Roberson wants you to know that even after last week's tragic events, Hammertown is botulism-free! Why not visit today?
hammertownusa.substack.com/p/this-week-...
hammertownusa.substack.com/p/this-week-...
June 26, 2025 at 4:34 PM
City council president Seth Roberson wants you to know that even after last week's tragic events, Hammertown is botulism-free! Why not visit today?
hammertownusa.substack.com/p/this-week-...
hammertownusa.substack.com/p/this-week-...
Huh. How does that sort of thing generally tend to turn out?
June 22, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Huh. How does that sort of thing generally tend to turn out?
Hammertown is on the rise! Get in on this before I take it public and its price (which is currently nothing) becomes an out-of-reach dream for all but rajahs and oligarchs! Also, suck it, so-called comedy legend Dave Barry! (Just kidding. Big fan.)
hammertownusa.substack.com
hammertownusa.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Hammertown is on the rise! Get in on this before I take it public and its price (which is currently nothing) becomes an out-of-reach dream for all but rajahs and oligarchs! Also, suck it, so-called comedy legend Dave Barry! (Just kidding. Big fan.)
hammertownusa.substack.com
hammertownusa.substack.com
Mike Love is the Mike Love of Mike Loves.
June 16, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Mike Love is the Mike Love of Mike Loves.
This guy won the day in Santa Monica. Or at least, he won my day. Good job, sir.
June 15, 2025 at 2:53 AM
This guy won the day in Santa Monica. Or at least, he won my day. Good job, sir.
In fairness, you'd look miserable too if you had to pay her appearance fee.
June 15, 2025 at 1:23 AM
In fairness, you'd look miserable too if you had to pay her appearance fee.
YOU FOOLS YOU HAVE ROUSED SUSAN COLLINS TO DISTURBANCE THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT HAPPENS NEXT #extraconcerned
June 12, 2025 at 7:59 PM
YOU FOOLS YOU HAVE ROUSED SUSAN COLLINS TO DISTURBANCE THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT HAPPENS NEXT #extraconcerned
Wouldn't it just be simpler to list all the Trump 2 players who *aren't* habitually high as fuck on horse tranquilizers?
June 6, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Wouldn't it just be simpler to list all the Trump 2 players who *aren't* habitually high as fuck on horse tranquilizers?
@shamblanderson.bsky.social is such a supremely graceful stylist that it feels weird to pull out just one sentence. But this gives you some sense of the thing. From his latest, on the OKC Thunder. #NBAsky
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/m...
June 6, 2025 at 4:59 PM
@shamblanderson.bsky.social is such a supremely graceful stylist that it feels weird to pull out just one sentence. But this gives you some sense of the thing. From his latest, on the OKC Thunder. #NBAsky
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/m...
What are they talking about? It was "previously known" by every wiseass on this platform.
May 30, 2025 at 11:07 PM
What are they talking about? It was "previously known" by every wiseass on this platform.
Honestly, there are worse ways to remind yourself about the sacrifices of veterans.
May 26, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Honestly, there are worse ways to remind yourself about the sacrifices of veterans.
The algorithm is good
The algorithm is great
We surrender our will
As of this date
The algorithm is great
We surrender our will
As of this date
May 23, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The algorithm is good
The algorithm is great
We surrender our will
As of this date
The algorithm is great
We surrender our will
As of this date
There is absolutely no way I'm going to read this story, because reading the story could only diminish the splendor of the hed.
May 15, 2025 at 10:02 PM
There is absolutely no way I'm going to read this story, because reading the story could only diminish the splendor of the hed.
OTD, 1969: "The dumbest decision I ever made, and I’m the guy who green-lit the ‘My First Nail Gun’ toy. That was a bad, bad Christmas.”
open.substack.com/pub/hammerto...
open.substack.com/pub/hammerto...
May 13, 2025 at 4:20 PM
OTD, 1969: "The dumbest decision I ever made, and I’m the guy who green-lit the ‘My First Nail Gun’ toy. That was a bad, bad Christmas.”
open.substack.com/pub/hammerto...
open.substack.com/pub/hammerto...
It's Wednesday, May 8, 2025, day 234 of the non-consecutive second term of a would-be dictator with a bad combover and a thirst for revenge. (No, not that one. A different one.)
hammertownusa.substack.com
hammertownusa.substack.com
May 8, 2025 at 4:31 PM
It's Wednesday, May 8, 2025, day 234 of the non-consecutive second term of a would-be dictator with a bad combover and a thirst for revenge. (No, not that one. A different one.)
hammertownusa.substack.com
hammertownusa.substack.com
Everything these jokers do suggests a bunch of 9th graders who don't understand how anything works. "Or maybe we should keep all the 4-stars but dock them each a star. That'd basically accomplish the same thing, right?"
May 6, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Everything these jokers do suggests a bunch of 9th graders who don't understand how anything works. "Or maybe we should keep all the 4-stars but dock them each a star. That'd basically accomplish the same thing, right?"
Today in Hammertown History: The checkered past of the Sundowner Motel.
hammertownusa.substack.com
hammertownusa.substack.com
May 5, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Today in Hammertown History: The checkered past of the Sundowner Motel.
hammertownusa.substack.com
hammertownusa.substack.com
I honestly don't know what to make of the fact that there are 283,000 IG posts hashtagged "hammers." You can look it up. 283,000. I guess the lesson is that social media will always be funnier than any satire.
May 2, 2025 at 5:39 PM
I honestly don't know what to make of the fact that there are 283,000 IG posts hashtagged "hammers." You can look it up. 283,000. I guess the lesson is that social media will always be funnier than any satire.