Nancy Friedman
@fritinancy.bsky.social
Name developer, writer, lapsed journalist, bay swimmer. Born in Los Angeles, semi-rooted in Oakland, California. “Queen of retail rabbit holes.” https://fritinancy.substack.com/
Pinned
Interest is the most important thing in life; happiness is temporary, but interest is continuous. – Georgia O’Keeffe
Amid the ubiquitous AI ads in San Francisco I spotted an anti–AI ad for @sf.gazetteer.co on the flank of a Muni bus:
THE SLOP STOPS HERE.
(Hope to get a photo next time.)
THE SLOP STOPS HERE.
(Hope to get a photo next time.)
November 22, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Amid the ubiquitous AI ads in San Francisco I spotted an anti–AI ad for @sf.gazetteer.co on the flank of a Muni bus:
THE SLOP STOPS HERE.
(Hope to get a photo next time.)
THE SLOP STOPS HERE.
(Hope to get a photo next time.)
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
There’s a moment in the classic film “Paths of Glory” in which an artillery officer, told to commit a war crime, asks for the order in writing.
That is happening right now, in real life, among US troops in the Carribbean.
Except in the movie, the demand kept the crime from happening.
That is happening right now, in real life, among US troops in the Carribbean.
Except in the movie, the demand kept the crime from happening.
Gift link: wapo.st/43FXQfO
detailed WashPost account of how Trump and Stephen Miller sidelined serious lawyers so they could fabricate a justification for committing murder
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
November 22, 2025 at 2:46 PM
There’s a moment in the classic film “Paths of Glory” in which an artillery officer, told to commit a war crime, asks for the order in writing.
That is happening right now, in real life, among US troops in the Carribbean.
Except in the movie, the demand kept the crime from happening.
That is happening right now, in real life, among US troops in the Carribbean.
Except in the movie, the demand kept the crime from happening.
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
"Is it even possible, linguistically, to 'give an e.l.f.'? Or a fuck?" @fritinancy.bsky.social reports on a new, swear-adjacent marketing campaign:
stronglang.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/d...
stronglang.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/d...
“Don’t give a f#@&”
Note: This post was originally published in a slightly different form on Fritinancy, my Substack newsletter. * “DON’T GIVE A F#@&” shouts the headline on a two-page ad in a recent Sunday New Yo…
stronglang.wordpress.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:13 AM
"Is it even possible, linguistically, to 'give an e.l.f.'? Or a fuck?" @fritinancy.bsky.social reports on a new, swear-adjacent marketing campaign:
stronglang.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/d...
stronglang.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/d...
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
This will surely surprise most Americans today, but historians have recently discovered that before Donald Trump, it was actually incredibly rare for a president to demand the public execution of this political opponents and press critics.
November 20, 2025 at 3:35 PM
This will surely surprise most Americans today, but historians have recently discovered that before Donald Trump, it was actually incredibly rare for a president to demand the public execution of this political opponents and press critics.
Please refrain from giving a f#@&.
ht @jessesword.com @mashedradish.bsky.social @schrisomalis.bsky.social
fritinancy.substack.com/p/give-an-elf
ht @jessesword.com @mashedradish.bsky.social @schrisomalis.bsky.social
fritinancy.substack.com/p/give-an-elf
"Give an e.l.f."
No short-statured Santa's helpers were donated in the making of a beauty brand's ad campaign, but some old lines were coyly crossed.
fritinancy.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Please refrain from giving a f#@&.
ht @jessesword.com @mashedradish.bsky.social @schrisomalis.bsky.social
fritinancy.substack.com/p/give-an-elf
ht @jessesword.com @mashedradish.bsky.social @schrisomalis.bsky.social
fritinancy.substack.com/p/give-an-elf
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
Definitely want my country run by a businessman www.barrons.com/articles/djt...
Truth Social Owner DJT Stock Craters, Erasing $5 Billion in Trump Family Wealth
Trump Media stock has traded at all-time lows in recent days.
www.barrons.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Definitely want my country run by a businessman www.barrons.com/articles/djt...
November 19, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
The next of the Big English Dictionary #WotY2025 is Cambridge's 'parasocial'
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Parasocial is named as Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year
Examples include the parasocial interest shown by fans to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's engagement.
www.bbc.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:22 PM
The next of the Big English Dictionary #WotY2025 is Cambridge's 'parasocial'
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
The president is just a guy with a job. I tell myself that the journalists who trained me would at this point tell him to fucking watch his mouth, but I feel pretty deluded about the whole thing at this point so
people.com/donald-trump...
people.com/donald-trump...
Donald Trump Snaps at Female Reporter Who Asks About Epstein Files: 'Quiet Piggy'
Donald Trump Says 'Quiet Piggy' to Female Reporter Asking About Epstein Files
people.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:50 AM
The president is just a guy with a job. I tell myself that the journalists who trained me would at this point tell him to fucking watch his mouth, but I feel pretty deluded about the whole thing at this point so
people.com/donald-trump...
people.com/donald-trump...
Word of the week: Minibus. The kind with wheels and the kind with words. With tangential but fun Omnibus content from omnitalented @kenjennings.bsky.social !
fritinancy.substack.com/p/word-of-th...
fritinancy.substack.com/p/word-of-th...
Word of the week: Minibus
The wheels go round and round.
fritinancy.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Word of the week: Minibus. The kind with wheels and the kind with words. With tangential but fun Omnibus content from omnitalented @kenjennings.bsky.social !
fritinancy.substack.com/p/word-of-th...
fritinancy.substack.com/p/word-of-th...
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
Not many people know this, but blasting musical soundtracks from the White House to distract from how badly your presidency is choking is actually called The Sondheimlich Maneuver.
November 15, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Not many people know this, but blasting musical soundtracks from the White House to distract from how badly your presidency is choking is actually called The Sondheimlich Maneuver.
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
SAG Awards is changing its name to the Actor Awards. Within Hollywood, everyone knows that SAG stands for the Screen Actors Guild, which is now known as SAG-AFTRA, but out in the rest of the world, a show called the SAG Awards raised questions. Read more about the change: bit.ly/47Kz68E
November 14, 2025 at 8:50 PM
SAG Awards is changing its name to the Actor Awards. Within Hollywood, everyone knows that SAG stands for the Screen Actors Guild, which is now known as SAG-AFTRA, but out in the rest of the world, a show called the SAG Awards raised questions. Read more about the change: bit.ly/47Kz68E
Great story. I met Betty Reid Soskin when she was still working at the Rosie the Riveter museum in Richmond — a job she took when she was 85. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
A new start after 60: I found my feet in midlife, became a park ranger at 85 – and retired happily at 100
At 104, Betty Reid Soskin has had the most extraordinary life, from protest singing to civil rights activism to meeting the Obamas. She reflects on what it takes to stay strong and keep going
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Great story. I met Betty Reid Soskin when she was still working at the Rosie the Riveter museum in Richmond — a job she took when she was 85. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Serious question: Should I, a vegetarian and pretty regular home cook, own an air fryer? What non-meat things is an air fryer good for?
November 14, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Serious question: Should I, a vegetarian and pretty regular home cook, own an air fryer? What non-meat things is an air fryer good for?
Ad for @mullvad.bsky.social in the 19th Street Oakland BART station. The point: Your data remains private with us. 1/2
November 14, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Ad for @mullvad.bsky.social in the 19th Street Oakland BART station. The point: Your data remains private with us. 1/2
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
Day 13: Summer #LyricsPrompt #LyricsPrompt2025
What other song would you sing with your scout friends around the summer campfire?
Tom Lehrer, "Be Prepared"
youtu.be/hoEVPtVk9nE
What other song would you sing with your scout friends around the summer campfire?
Tom Lehrer, "Be Prepared"
youtu.be/hoEVPtVk9nE
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Day 13: Summer #LyricsPrompt #LyricsPrompt2025
What other song would you sing with your scout friends around the summer campfire?
Tom Lehrer, "Be Prepared"
youtu.be/hoEVPtVk9nE
What other song would you sing with your scout friends around the summer campfire?
Tom Lehrer, "Be Prepared"
youtu.be/hoEVPtVk9nE
Thoughts on style: appreciations of @dieworkwear.bsky.social, @trufelman.bsky.social, and more.
fritinancy.substack.com/p/some-eleme...
fritinancy.substack.com/p/some-eleme...
Some elements of style
Bad fashion, good antidotes.
fritinancy.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Thoughts on style: appreciations of @dieworkwear.bsky.social, @trufelman.bsky.social, and more.
fritinancy.substack.com/p/some-eleme...
fritinancy.substack.com/p/some-eleme...
Thanks for the mention! #WOTY
Wrote about the past and present of Word of the Year for @lithub.com.web.brid.gy. Some 2025 candidates in the piece: "Kavanaugh stop," "Coldplayed," "broligarchy," "amphipha," "chopped unc," and the hard-charging "Trumpstein files" #wordoftheyear
Choosing the Word of the Year is No Easy Feat
Thirty-five years ago, the late English professor Allan Metcalf had an idea. “I was thinking that Time magazine has its Person of the Year,” he told me, “and why can’t we do for words what Time did…
lithub.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Thanks for the mention! #WOTY
Recommended: "It Was Just an Accident" (2025), Jafar Pahahi's Palme d'Or–winning feature film. Political thriller meets black comedy, a nail-biter from start to finish. I saw it at the Elmwood, Berkeley's last remaining cinema; it's also at the Roxie in San Francisco.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF04...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF04...
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT - Official Trailer - In Theaters October 15
YouTube video by NEON
www.youtube.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Recommended: "It Was Just an Accident" (2025), Jafar Pahahi's Palme d'Or–winning feature film. Political thriller meets black comedy, a nail-biter from start to finish. I saw it at the Elmwood, Berkeley's last remaining cinema; it's also at the Roxie in San Francisco.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF04...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF04...
“If you’ve spent any time consuming any AI news this year—and even if you’ve tried desperately not to—you may have heard that in the industry, 2025 is the ‘year of the agent.’”
Sam Altman says the one-person billion-dollar company is coming. Maybe I could be that person—if only I could get my colleagues to shut up and stop lying. www.wired.com/story/all-my...
All of My Employees Are AI Agents, and So Are My Executives
Sam Altman says the one-person billion-dollar company is coming. Maybe I could be that person—if only I could get my colleagues to shut up and stop lying.
www.wired.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:43 PM
“If you’ve spent any time consuming any AI news this year—and even if you’ve tried desperately not to—you may have heard that in the industry, 2025 is the ‘year of the agent.’”
"A boondoggle is a project that is considered a waste of both time and money, yet is often continued due to extraneous policy or political motivations."
New WSJ: After flying an FBI jet to see his girlfriend sing at a wrestling match, FBI director Kash Patel took the jet to a private Texas hunting resort called the Boondoggle Ranch. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Kash Patel’s ‘Effin Wild’ Ride as FBI Director
In just one week in October, he ticked off his bosses with premature comments about a terror investigation squeezed in a trip to the ‘Boondoggle Ranch’ on the bureau jet.
www.wsj.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:53 AM
"A boondoggle is a project that is considered a waste of both time and money, yet is often continued due to extraneous policy or political motivations."
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
HBO Max added 30 classic crime films in Nov — from proto-noirs like THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931) to essentials like OUT OF THE PAST (1947).
Including their Criterion titles, they now have nearly 100 pre-1960 noirs.
There’s even a dedicated #Noirvember section. (New adds in alt text.) #FilmSky #FilmNoir
Including their Criterion titles, they now have nearly 100 pre-1960 noirs.
There’s even a dedicated #Noirvember section. (New adds in alt text.) #FilmSky #FilmNoir
November 12, 2025 at 2:20 AM
HBO Max added 30 classic crime films in Nov — from proto-noirs like THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931) to essentials like OUT OF THE PAST (1947).
Including their Criterion titles, they now have nearly 100 pre-1960 noirs.
There’s even a dedicated #Noirvember section. (New adds in alt text.) #FilmSky #FilmNoir
Including their Criterion titles, they now have nearly 100 pre-1960 noirs.
There’s even a dedicated #Noirvember section. (New adds in alt text.) #FilmSky #FilmNoir
"In September, the current occupant of the White House created a 'Presidential Walk of Fame' on the White House exterior. Instead of a portrait of the 46th president there’s a photograph of a mechanical pen between two glowering Trump mugshots."
fritinancy.substack.com/p/word-of-th...
fritinancy.substack.com/p/word-of-th...
Word of the week: Autopen
Thomas Jefferson was a fan. JFK and LBJ were satisfied customers. Bush Jr. defended its use. So what's Trump's beef with Biden's signatures?
fritinancy.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:30 PM
"In September, the current occupant of the White House created a 'Presidential Walk of Fame' on the White House exterior. Instead of a portrait of the 46th president there’s a photograph of a mechanical pen between two glowering Trump mugshots."
fritinancy.substack.com/p/word-of-th...
fritinancy.substack.com/p/word-of-th...
"By retreating to digital space, children have found an open frontier that lies beyond the interest or comprehension of their parents."
In a world without forest and creeks, where do the children play? My new essay explores peer cultures and the strangeness of Western childhood. Heavily inspired by work from @dorsaamir.bsky.social and Sheina Lew-Levy :)
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...
open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...
Where Do the Children Play?
On the need for a world without us
open.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:09 PM
"By retreating to digital space, children have found an open frontier that lies beyond the interest or comprehension of their parents."
I'd held out hope that this @sfstandard.com hed was a pun, but no, it's just another misspelling of "peek." sfstandard.com/2025/11/11/m...
![Sneak peak [sic]: A Chinese superhero swings onto the SF Opera stage in a $10M spectacle / Take an exclusive first look at the spectacular costumes on display in an ambitious world premiere.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:r26ebrk2v3kxvg2qz5b63xh3/bafkreihlno5adkischowjg7l2cmw6nrc2acck2lfettq3spxf5ybbccs6e@jpeg)
November 11, 2025 at 4:26 PM
I'd held out hope that this @sfstandard.com hed was a pun, but no, it's just another misspelling of "peek." sfstandard.com/2025/11/11/m...