Ben Smith
@bk-smith.bsky.social
Ling anthro-ist; adoptee; intersex; prof at Sonoma State. Interested in what "socialization" might mean. Also, NBA, dogs, politics, Chicago, White Sox.
RIP Rodney Rogers. youtu.be/A5Bl-5Dzcf4?...
Rodney Rogers 360 dunk vs UNC (Jan 93)
YouTube video by WakeWacko
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 10:45 PM
RIP Rodney Rogers. youtu.be/A5Bl-5Dzcf4?...
Hot take: Kon Knueppel is a better NBA player than Cooper Flagg right now. @billsimmons.bsky.social @zachlowenba.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Hot take: Kon Knueppel is a better NBA player than Cooper Flagg right now. @billsimmons.bsky.social @zachlowenba.bsky.social
Unintentional truth-telling: I found a job ad that describes its salary as "commiserate with experience."
November 16, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Unintentional truth-telling: I found a job ad that describes its salary as "commiserate with experience."
I think the story of dam removal along the Klamath and Eel rivers in CA, the Indigenous activism that has made this possible, and the story of the return of salmon (and its effects) is the most hopeful story in the whole damn US of A. Frankly, it's world-historical. A faint sign of real change.
November 15, 2025 at 5:52 PM
I think the story of dam removal along the Klamath and Eel rivers in CA, the Indigenous activism that has made this possible, and the story of the return of salmon (and its effects) is the most hopeful story in the whole damn US of A. Frankly, it's world-historical. A faint sign of real change.
Trump's "affordability agenda" (50 year mortgages, and a $2000 check) are such obvious attempts to throw a table scrap or two onto the floor for us. I mean, the 50 year mortgage idea is more trap than scrap: it's a new vehicle for creating more profit over the long haul.
November 14, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Trump's "affordability agenda" (50 year mortgages, and a $2000 check) are such obvious attempts to throw a table scrap or two onto the floor for us. I mean, the 50 year mortgage idea is more trap than scrap: it's a new vehicle for creating more profit over the long haul.
Love this.
Yesterday, when Bovino announced ICE would be returning to Little Village today, some of us donated and fundraised to buy out street vendors in the neighborhood. This morning, volunteers hit the streets at 6:30 am, looking for vendors to buy out. Tamales make an excellent breakfast.
November 11, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Love this.
Reposted by Ben Smith
your honor, every single crunchwrap is more supreme than this court
November 8, 2025 at 3:09 AM
your honor, every single crunchwrap is more supreme than this court
If he'd forced ICE to eat the Subway sandwich, then, yes, that would have been assault. #legaltruth
November 7, 2025 at 9:55 PM
If he'd forced ICE to eat the Subway sandwich, then, yes, that would have been assault. #legaltruth
Exercise food: when the caloric expenditure of opening the damn plastic wrapper for something exceeds the caloric value of the something that is in the damn wrapper.
November 3, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Exercise food: when the caloric expenditure of opening the damn plastic wrapper for something exceeds the caloric value of the something that is in the damn wrapper.
Can we make ICE just arrest ICE? Like, make it into a massive, super meta internal and only internal affairs division. You get hired only to be investigated and investigate each other.
ICE’s Hiring Surge Is Attracting A Bunch Of People Who Are Too Unfit (Or Too Criminal) To Work At ICE
ICE can generate multiple horrible stories a day but it still can't seem to find enough brown people to deport daily to satisfy White House advisor Stephen Miller's demands for 3,000 arrests per…
ICE can generate multiple horrible stories a day but it still can't seem to find enough brown people to deport daily to satisfy White House advisor Stephen Miller's demands for 3,000 arrests per…
ICE’s Hiring Surge Is Attracting A Bunch Of People Who Are Too Unfit (Or Too Criminal) To Work At ICE
ICE can generate multiple horrible stories a day but it still can't seem to find enough brown people to deport daily to satisfy White House advisor Stephen Miller's demands for 3,000 arrests per day. Trump and the GOP threw a lot of money at this problem with the Big Beautiful Bill. A lot of money: $75 billion over the next four years.
www.techdirt.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Can we make ICE just arrest ICE? Like, make it into a massive, super meta internal and only internal affairs division. You get hired only to be investigated and investigate each other.
When baseball games are 2 for the price of one...
October 28, 2025 at 5:58 AM
When baseball games are 2 for the price of one...
A starter pack of starter pack starters, you glorious networked networkers creating networks, clustered nodes clustering nodes, gods collecting gods...
October 17, 2025 at 5:50 AM
A starter pack of starter pack starters, you glorious networked networkers creating networks, clustered nodes clustering nodes, gods collecting gods...
Reposted by Ben Smith
You may have noticed that folks who are from Chicago love this city. There's a reason for that. I walked to the lake with friends yesterday, and when I saw the waves rolling in, I felt something shift back into place inside of me. So many parts of this city are part of me. We will defend this place.
October 15, 2025 at 4:15 AM
You may have noticed that folks who are from Chicago love this city. There's a reason for that. I walked to the lake with friends yesterday, and when I saw the waves rolling in, I felt something shift back into place inside of me. So many parts of this city are part of me. We will defend this place.
One thing I've noticed about the podcast as an aesthetic form is just how undisciplined it is. So many pods have a "and here's something else" structure.
October 8, 2025 at 3:22 AM
One thing I've noticed about the podcast as an aesthetic form is just how undisciplined it is. So many pods have a "and here's something else" structure.
One of the great, curious problems of work-related emails is that folks will sometimes write you back.
October 1, 2025 at 10:34 PM
One of the great, curious problems of work-related emails is that folks will sometimes write you back.
Quick note on political rhetoric: I wonder if the "average American" really knows much about fascism. Maybe the critique should be about "dictatorship"?
September 19, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Quick note on political rhetoric: I wonder if the "average American" really knows much about fascism. Maybe the critique should be about "dictatorship"?
Maybe I'm wrong here, but I think Chicago is really different than DC and LA have been. It's the powder keg Trump thinks he wants. $ quote from this article: Thirty-seven percent agreed that “the use of force is justified to remove Donald Trump from the presidency.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/o...
Opinion | Chicago Could Be a Powder Keg
www.nytimes.com
September 5, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Maybe I'm wrong here, but I think Chicago is really different than DC and LA have been. It's the powder keg Trump thinks he wants. $ quote from this article: Thirty-seven percent agreed that “the use of force is justified to remove Donald Trump from the presidency.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/o...
A thought on politics: the reinvigorated centering of hegemonic masculinity, mostly brought about by Trumpism, is what is giving Gavin Newsom the opportunity he is grasping at in this moment. Irony irony.
August 29, 2025 at 4:49 AM
A thought on politics: the reinvigorated centering of hegemonic masculinity, mostly brought about by Trumpism, is what is giving Gavin Newsom the opportunity he is grasping at in this moment. Irony irony.
It's amazing how challenging and frustrating it is to get our medical system to choke up a consistent HRT prescription.
August 22, 2025 at 5:44 PM
It's amazing how challenging and frustrating it is to get our medical system to choke up a consistent HRT prescription.
I threw a sandwich, but I did not kill the deputy.
August 15, 2025 at 6:47 AM
I threw a sandwich, but I did not kill the deputy.
Do we all have that one Facebook friend who still uses that app to make regular updates on their lives? What explains this madness?
August 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Do we all have that one Facebook friend who still uses that app to make regular updates on their lives? What explains this madness?
I am going to have to be the first brave soul to say this. But, as a person who loves birds, I find this particular creature to be terrifying.
I don’t know about you but I can’t get enough of this beautiful dinosaur bird the Shoebill… 🐦 ❤️
July 29, 2025 at 7:43 PM
I am going to have to be the first brave soul to say this. But, as a person who loves birds, I find this particular creature to be terrifying.
It's so easy to mess up/forget about time zone differences, even for us (barf) more cosmopolitan types. Here's my theory: it's so easy to naturalize time that it takes focused effort to remember that it it varies from place to place.
July 28, 2025 at 6:54 PM
It's so easy to mess up/forget about time zone differences, even for us (barf) more cosmopolitan types. Here's my theory: it's so easy to naturalize time that it takes focused effort to remember that it it varies from place to place.
As a matter of political rhetoric and strategy, I recommend describing stuff like the defunding of the Ed Department as a program of "abolishing the Ed Department." It creates a rhetorical opportunity to implicitly contrast the institutions that the left aims to dismantle (e.g., ICE).
July 15, 2025 at 5:11 AM
As a matter of political rhetoric and strategy, I recommend describing stuff like the defunding of the Ed Department as a program of "abolishing the Ed Department." It creates a rhetorical opportunity to implicitly contrast the institutions that the left aims to dismantle (e.g., ICE).
Reposted by Ben Smith
the thing about making chicago the next target is that the activist community here is relentless and fearless to the point that i don’t see how the feds will get their intended results without going full martial law. if you’re familiar with the protest scene here, you know what i mean.
Emergency press conference after Homeland Security and Immigration agents target the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture in Chicago
July 9, 2025 at 3:28 PM
the thing about making chicago the next target is that the activist community here is relentless and fearless to the point that i don’t see how the feds will get their intended results without going full martial law. if you’re familiar with the protest scene here, you know what i mean.