David Safran
@davidsafran.bsky.social
Songwriter, musician, and occasional contributor to various publications. Plain facts for old and young.
Reposted by David Safran
Thank you and hell yes to local independent bookstores for supporting our communities and neighbors! From Squeezebox Books, @skunkcabbagebooks.bsky.social, & @pilsencommbooks.bsky.social
November 9, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Thank you and hell yes to local independent bookstores for supporting our communities and neighbors! From Squeezebox Books, @skunkcabbagebooks.bsky.social, & @pilsencommbooks.bsky.social
Reposted by David Safran
Today in Evanston: helicopters overhead constantly, ICE jumping out across the entire town, people getting snatched outside of schools, a guns-drawn confrontation at an intersection after hitting a car, schools on soft lockdown, and they’re STILL roaming around in full tactical gear.
October 31, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Today in Evanston: helicopters overhead constantly, ICE jumping out across the entire town, people getting snatched outside of schools, a guns-drawn confrontation at an intersection after hitting a car, schools on soft lockdown, and they’re STILL roaming around in full tactical gear.
Reposted by David Safran
🥰😷Great opportunity to contribute to Chicago Mask Bloc! This fundraiser supports mutual aid via mask and test distribution in the Chicago area 😷🥰 givebutter.com/masks4chi
Chicago Mask Bloc - KF94 and Rapid Tests Fundraiser
By Chicago Mask Bloc
givebutter.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:44 PM
🥰😷Great opportunity to contribute to Chicago Mask Bloc! This fundraiser supports mutual aid via mask and test distribution in the Chicago area 😷🥰 givebutter.com/masks4chi
The hit Netflix series Wayward appears to be partly inspired by CEDU, a notorious chain of powerful, tightly controlled "therapeutic" residential programs. I sat down with @thr.com to talk about real-life connections and turning my favorite Kid in the Hall into a ranting man in the cabin.
A Closer Look at the Real-Life Inspiration in Netflix’s ‘Wayward’
The hit series draws from many different aspects of the troubled teen industry, but multiple narratives out of one long-shuttered institution are rather striking.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:58 PM
The hit Netflix series Wayward appears to be partly inspired by CEDU, a notorious chain of powerful, tightly controlled "therapeutic" residential programs. I sat down with @thr.com to talk about real-life connections and turning my favorite Kid in the Hall into a ranting man in the cabin.
10 years after @curtainlecture.bsky.social and I received a sponsorship and residency to co-write a horror-schlocker musical, Chicago's incredible High Concept Labs now has a profile of our still unproduced yet rollicking cult gem.
David Safran & Emma Morris — HIGH CONCEPT LABS
highconceptlabs.org
August 31, 2025 at 8:10 PM
10 years after @curtainlecture.bsky.social and I received a sponsorship and residency to co-write a horror-schlocker musical, Chicago's incredible High Concept Labs now has a profile of our still unproduced yet rollicking cult gem.
Reposted by David Safran
This and other books are available from @openpoetrybooks.bsky.social. All proceeds from the following titles go to The Sameer Project: open-books-a-poem-emporium.myshopify.com/collections/...
August 30, 2025 at 7:13 PM
This and other books are available from @openpoetrybooks.bsky.social. All proceeds from the following titles go to The Sameer Project: open-books-a-poem-emporium.myshopify.com/collections/...
Reposted by David Safran
and they say it's hard to make new friends in your 30s and 40s.
A couple months ago, @curtainlecture.bsky.social noticed and befriended a baby female peregrine falcon at the Newberry Library. Since a falcon apparently isn't a good pet friend in our apartment, today on Emma's birthday, she came to us in pillow form.
August 6, 2025 at 8:54 PM
and they say it's hard to make new friends in your 30s and 40s.
A couple months ago, @curtainlecture.bsky.social noticed and befriended a baby female peregrine falcon at the Newberry Library. Since a falcon apparently isn't a good pet friend in our apartment, today on Emma's birthday, she came to us in pillow form.
August 5, 2025 at 10:30 PM
A couple months ago, @curtainlecture.bsky.social noticed and befriended a baby female peregrine falcon at the Newberry Library. Since a falcon apparently isn't a good pet friend in our apartment, today on Emma's birthday, she came to us in pillow form.
Reposted by David Safran
This is a combination CD, public library, and Sly and the Family Stone appreciation post!
July 14, 2025 at 9:04 PM
This is a combination CD, public library, and Sly and the Family Stone appreciation post!
Reposted by David Safran
Look I hate to brag but being among the first Lizzy befrienders at the library may very well be my finest professional accomplishment.
www.instagram.com/p/DLTBVlgvyY_/
www.instagram.com/p/DLTBVlgvyY_/
June 24, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Look I hate to brag but being among the first Lizzy befrienders at the library may very well be my finest professional accomplishment.
www.instagram.com/p/DLTBVlgvyY_/
www.instagram.com/p/DLTBVlgvyY_/
I want to live in a world where Tanner '88 was real, he won the election, and his cabinet picks were confirmed.
June 20, 2025 at 10:22 PM
I want to live in a world where Tanner '88 was real, he won the election, and his cabinet picks were confirmed.
The Lost Kids was released 5 years ago today, colliding with a world in lockdown and protests. I'm credited anonymously and have complicated feelings about the final version but, overall, I'm grateful to have been part of a team helping turn a hushed-up national curio into a blockbuster topic.
THE LOST KIDS | USG Audio
THE SEARCH FOR A MISSING TEEN EXPOSES THE DARK BUSINESS OF THERAPEUTIC SCHOOLS.
www.usgaudio.com
June 1, 2025 at 9:17 PM
The Lost Kids was released 5 years ago today, colliding with a world in lockdown and protests. I'm credited anonymously and have complicated feelings about the final version but, overall, I'm grateful to have been part of a team helping turn a hushed-up national curio into a blockbuster topic.
Reposted by David Safran
🌻Planting Seeds: An Indigenous Zine Fest at the Newberry Library on June 7!🌻 www.newberry.org/calendar/nat...
Planting Seeds: An Indigenous Zine Fest
Join ZINEmercado and the Newberry Library for a Zine Fest showcasing Indigenous artists.
www.newberry.org
May 11, 2025 at 3:00 PM
🌻Planting Seeds: An Indigenous Zine Fest at the Newberry Library on June 7!🌻 www.newberry.org/calendar/nat...
Newish to BlueSky, I'm only now finding my tune "Regional Hit" on this old (and great) @chirpradio.org set list from DJ
@gdwessel.bsky.social. CHIRP is my favorite Chicago station. It's always a thrill to get a spin, even if it occurred last year and I missed it completely.
@gdwessel.bsky.social. CHIRP is my favorite Chicago station. It's always a thrill to get a spin, even if it occurred last year and I missed it completely.
Just realized I never posted my set list from last night on @chirpradio.bsky.social! My first Regular Show, which had a couple of technical hiccups but nothing not overcome! If you want to listen back, go to chirpradio.org/dj/9868 ! I'll be back NEXT THURSDAY 1/11/2024 8-10pm CST!
May 3, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Newish to BlueSky, I'm only now finding my tune "Regional Hit" on this old (and great) @chirpradio.org set list from DJ
@gdwessel.bsky.social. CHIRP is my favorite Chicago station. It's always a thrill to get a spin, even if it occurred last year and I missed it completely.
@gdwessel.bsky.social. CHIRP is my favorite Chicago station. It's always a thrill to get a spin, even if it occurred last year and I missed it completely.
Reposted by David Safran
Reposted by David Safran
Overjoyed to find these @marc-fischer.bsky.social zines at my local WasteShed's free zine library!
April 10, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Overjoyed to find these @marc-fischer.bsky.social zines at my local WasteShed's free zine library!
Reposted by David Safran
oh hey what’s up to all libraries & librarians & library workers & all the glamour therein & ALSO (maybe especially) to the unglamorous behind-the-scenes work(ers) that keep(s) the library glamour* machines running. #LibraryWorkersDay
April 8, 2025 at 1:05 PM
oh hey what’s up to all libraries & librarians & library workers & all the glamour therein & ALSO (maybe especially) to the unglamorous behind-the-scenes work(ers) that keep(s) the library glamour* machines running. #LibraryWorkersDay
I was reminded that 1 year ago today I made my @theguardian.com debut revealing my job screening online condolence notes. I didn't expect a significant readership about such strange, difficult work. To my surprise, the piece was briefly a top story, shared widely, and got around 100k views in days.
Death and typos: my six strange years screening online obituary comments
My job was overwhelming and rich in errors. And it drove home one message: we’re always on the clock
www.theguardian.com
March 26, 2025 at 5:55 PM
I was reminded that 1 year ago today I made my @theguardian.com debut revealing my job screening online condolence notes. I didn't expect a significant readership about such strange, difficult work. To my surprise, the piece was briefly a top story, shared widely, and got around 100k views in days.
Going through my mom's "Free To Be" archives, I found this @chicago.suntimes.com review from almost exactly 35 years ago when her play first launched in Chicago. If ever we were in a moment to return to—and update—this cultural behemoth fighting against gender stereotypes, it's right now.
March 6, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Going through my mom's "Free To Be" archives, I found this @chicago.suntimes.com review from almost exactly 35 years ago when her play first launched in Chicago. If ever we were in a moment to return to—and update—this cultural behemoth fighting against gender stereotypes, it's right now.
The greatest show I've attended was David Johansen and the Harry Smiths at the Old Town School of Folk Music in 2001. You haven't experienced the height of American music until you've watched David Johansen drop St. John's wort under his tongue and launch into an acoustic version of "Pills."
March 1, 2025 at 9:52 PM
The greatest show I've attended was David Johansen and the Harry Smiths at the Old Town School of Folk Music in 2001. You haven't experienced the height of American music until you've watched David Johansen drop St. John's wort under his tongue and launch into an acoustic version of "Pills."
A quote from Michael Gold's 1924 biography of John Brown in the 1850s seems like a good first Bluesky post.
January 29, 2025 at 8:54 PM
A quote from Michael Gold's 1924 biography of John Brown in the 1850s seems like a good first Bluesky post.