Caleb Crain
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calebcrain.bsky.social
Caleb Crain
@calebcrain.bsky.social
3.6K followers 560 following 2.4K posts
Into #birding, #CrossFit, and sometimes writing. Wrote the novels "Necessary Errors" and "Overthrow"

More at https://calebcrain.substack.com and https://steamthing.com.

New short story! https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/08/12/clay-fiction-caleb-c
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calebcrain.bsky.social
Help, I am getting ads for the Nicomachean Ethics in my Instagram feed
Part of an FAQ from an ad trying to sell me a bilingual edition of Aristotle
November 7, 2025 at 11:55 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
I'm competing this Saturday in my gym's annual Halloween fundraiser, to benefit Brooklyn Community Housing & Services, which provides support & safe, clean housing for people who are unhoused or at risk. My team's costume theme is Baywatch! Please donate if you can!

bchands.org/cfsbk-fight-...
A shirtless middle-aged novelist in a bright red swimsuit, holding a bright red whistle, as he pretends it isn't late October.
October 26, 2025 at 2:22 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
For no reason, here is a paragraph from the Wikipedia article about Prague’s Stalin Monument that you might enjoy:
Paragraph about the demolition of the Stalin Monument in Prague: “Stalin died in March 1953,[7] two years before the unveiling of the monument, and the process of de-Stalinization began shortly after its completion.[2] The monument, therefore, became a liability to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.[6][2] As ordered by the Soviet Union, it was taken down with 800 kilograms (1,800 lb) of explosives.[6][2] The remains of the statue are stored in chambers beneath the site.”
October 25, 2025 at 1:13 AM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Also reminds me of the poster for “Birth of a Nation”
Poster for the racist movie “Birth of a Nation,” showing a Klansman on a rearing horse
October 22, 2025 at 10:13 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Today the NYT gave twice as much space in print to Munich’s Oktoberfest as it did to the USA’s No Kings marches this weekend.
Photo of a two-page photo essay in the NYT about Munich’s Oktoberfest
October 22, 2025 at 4:53 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
He has no intention of ever moving out.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/u...
The East Wing was one of the last pieces of the White House complex he hadn’t yet started to make over in his own image. The Oval Office is dripping in gold and so is the Cabinet Room. The Rose Garden looks like Mar-a-Lago. There are massive flag poles in the backyard and in the front. He’s been tweaking the White House residence upstairs, too. He’s directing renovations at the Kennedy Center, and now he wants an Arc de Triomphe-style arch built on the other side of the Potomac.
October 21, 2025 at 3:32 AM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Found a photo of it in my reel! The sign on the lower left in yellow said, “Jesus Is My Only King.” The black sign above and behind it is also Christian. And note the verse from Leviticus in the center.
A photo of the crowd on 7th Avenue in NYC at Saturday’s No Kings March, showing several Christianity-themed signs
October 20, 2025 at 9:01 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Also, as of 9:20pm, the NYT is still illustrating its article about today's march with a photo of the predecessor march in June (note raincoats).

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/u...
Screenshot of the NYT's article about today's No Kings march, which is illustrated with a photo from a similar march in June, when it rained (in the photo, protesters are wearing raincoats)
October 19, 2025 at 1:28 AM
calebcrain.bsky.social
No Kings in New York
Looking down 7th Ave at No Kings March A homemade 3-D sign of Trump in jail, labeled “Trump library” A model of an infant Trump holding the globe in one fist and cash in the other My husband and me in the crowd
October 18, 2025 at 6:43 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
So I wasn‘t hallucinating.
Photo of a Sophie Calle art book with a weird-size page Photo of a Sophie Calle art book that has a dozen pages reprinted from a Paul Auster novel in a different trim size and on different paper stock
October 13, 2025 at 1:49 AM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Chilling insight by @barbarafwalter.com: "Once citizens view their own government’s security forces as an occupying army, violence becomes inevitable. Trump’s team knows this… They’re trying to trigger the very unrest that would justify further crackdowns."

via www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...
Screenshot from a NYT article by Thomas Edsall, quoting Barbara Walter of UC-San Diego: "The quickest way to piss people off is to send soldiers into their neighborhoods especially when there’s no reason for them to be there. It’s inherently provocative, and Trump and his team understand this. Research by the political scientist Robert Pape shows that the single most powerful predictor of suicide terrorism is the presence of foreign troops on local soil. People hate, hate, hate that. They hate the humiliation, the powerlessness, the feeling of being occupied. "Once citizens begin to view their own government’s security forces as an occupying army, violence becomes inevitable. Trump’s team knows this. In fact, that’s the point. They are not trying to restore order; they’re trying to trigger the very unrest that would justify further crackdowns. In the end, violence serves their ultimate end: They want to create the illusion of disorder so they can tighten control and stay in power indefinitely."
October 8, 2025 at 12:30 AM
calebcrain.bsky.social
When you compare the average frailty at a given age of people from different generations, you see that “average frailty levels have decreased in England but not in the US.”

Left: Average frailty by age and cohort, US.
Right: Average frailty by age and cohort, UK
A graph showing average frailty by age and cohort, in the US. Colored lines show the changes in frailty by age of different generations (cohorts). In the US, people the same age tend to have the same frailty, regardless of when they were born, so the lines converge into a single curve. A graph showing average frailty by age and cohort in the UK. Lines of different colors show the changes in frailty by age of different generations (cohorts). In the UK, people born later tend to be less frail than people the same age who were born earlier, so the different-colored lines are pulling slightly apart (the lines for later cohorts are less steep).
September 25, 2025 at 1:38 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Here you go! It’s kind of a great edition, and I still take it off the shelf from time to time.
Photo of the Table of Contents from the 2-volume 1986 Norton Anthology, showing the selections for John Clare
September 21, 2025 at 12:57 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
More useless AI: In an article about a Virginia man who held regular coffeehouse meetings, WaPo claims its AI will go into detail about the man's first marriage. If you click, though, you get only a watery paraphrase of the original sentence.

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Screenshot from WaPo article, reading "He was married only briefly and discovered recently that he had a child long ago who was put up for adoption." And then a twinkle symbol, to indicate that AI can provide more information. Screenshot of the AI's in-depth sidebar: "What is known about Ted Pellegatta's brief marriage? Answer Ted Pellegatta was married briefly in his early 20s, and this marriage was his first, resulting in no children. The marriage was not widely known, even to some of his family members. Pellegatta himself discovered later in life that he had a child who was put up for adoption. He went on to live a long and fulfilling life, passing away at the age of 85. His brief marriage was a relatively unknown part of his life, and he did not often discuss it. Pellegatta's life was marked by his many friendships and connections with people from all walks of life. Answers are AI generated from Washington Post reporting. Because AI can make mistakes, verify information by referencing provided sources for each answer. Was this answer useful? Yes Unsure No"
September 20, 2025 at 1:01 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Chestnut-sided warbler, yellow warbler, bunny, and ruby-throated hummingbird at Prospect Park, Brooklyn, August and September 2025. 🪶

For more: calebcrain.substack.com/p/steps-and-...
Chestnut-sided warbler: A close-up of a small perched bird with a gray face, a neat white eyering, a green cap, two white wingbars, and a white belly, as well as a grub in its beak Yellow warbler: A small yellow bird stretches up its neck as it looks skyward, while perched in a tree with lime-green leaves and samaras A bunny, pink ears up and flexed, pauses on a sidewalk, with its front paws just barely touching the ground Ruby-throated hummingbird: A hummingbird with a white belly and a green cap sits at the end of a zigzag branch
September 7, 2025 at 2:19 AM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Black skimmer, lesser yellowlegs, osprey, and red-necked phalarope at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, 24 August 2025. 🪶

For more: calebcrain.substack.com/p/steps-and-...
Black skimmer: A large bird, black on top and white beneath, stands in water, its broad wings raised; its bill is bright orange-red near its face and black farther out, and the lower bill projects far beyond the upper one Lesser yellowlegs: A brown-and-white shorebird raises one of its yellow legs in the Egyptian-hierograph style of walking Osprey: A large predator bird, wings dipping down in flight, with a hooked beak and a dark eyeline Red-necked phalarope: A small bird with a white belly, a brindled back, and a light rufous wash on the front of its neck is swimming in water
September 7, 2025 at 2:07 AM
calebcrain.bsky.social
This deleted (but archived) Truth Social post of Trump's from Thursday night is like something out of Twin Peaks:

media-cdn.factba.se/realdonaldtr...
An archived screencap of a deleted Truth Social post of Trump's, showing a black oval with blurry edges in the center of a grayish field.
August 30, 2025 at 4:02 AM
calebcrain.bsky.social
How much American history are they planning to rewrite? Can even the American public forget that much that fast?
Ego stroking on a government website with an apparently unintentional second meaning.
August 25, 2025 at 1:42 AM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Walter J. Phillips, "Rest" (1923)

catherineburns.com/product/phil...
A color woodcut of a lakeside scene: a man with a pipe sits in a blue canoe, near a boy who is squatting on a pier with a diving board at the end; the water around them is rendered in delicate yellows, pinks, and slate blues.
August 15, 2025 at 3:06 AM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Let Us Now Praise Not Always Taking Exactly the Picture You're Supposed To
Black-and-white 1940s photograph of a young Black boy, in a fisherman's wool cap and a double-breasted wool coat. Black-and-white 1940s photo from below of a group of boys and girls in school uniforms, studying the camera
August 10, 2025 at 6:20 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Let me out of the simulation
The AI-generated pictures of George Bushes, with dead eyes and zombie smiles
August 8, 2025 at 5:04 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
I am sorry that this sweet potato will not live forever because it is the perfect size and shape for propping up Trollope novels while you eat your ice cream
A raw sweet potato on a dining table The same sweet potato, but now seen from the side as it props up a small hardcover book
August 2, 2025 at 2:53 AM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Wrote to Schumer and Gillibrand.
Dear Senator Schumer, I'm writing to ask you to pressure the Trump administration to resume funding food distribution in Gaza through the United Nations, rather than through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). As I'm sure you're aware, the GHF has failed, and starvation in Gaza is now deep and widespread. Every day, I read new horrors in the New York Times: doctors and nurses fainting from hunger on the job, children whose stomach linings have gone too far in the process of digesting themselves for there to be any hope of recovery. The GHF's food distribution centers have become death traps for the hungry, as Israeli soldiers have repeatedly shot desperate Palestinians. I know that Hamas is still holding Israeli hostages, but the devastation that Israel has wrought on Gaza seems to me to have become wildly disproportionate. I know that this is Israel's war not America's, but the United States has enormous leverage over Israel, through its military support. And I know that the Democratic Party has little sway over the Trump administration's foreign policy. But American senators still have some power. I don't understand, for example, why you didn't sign Sen. Van Hollen's letter of July 27 urging the U.S. to shift its funding for food distribution in Gaza away from GHF and back to the United Nations' efforts. I ask you to do whatever you can to alleviate, if not halt, what looks to me like an ongoing crime against humanity. all best, Caleb Crain
July 29, 2025 at 2:32 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
My copy of Tom Lehrer’s sheet music, completely destroyed by my teenage playing and replaying.
July 27, 2025 at 8:17 PM
calebcrain.bsky.social
Anakin-Padme meme
July 14, 2025 at 8:11 PM