Sam Bloch
@samkbloch.bsky.social
journalist, author of SHADE: THE PROMISE OF A FORGOTTEN NATURAL RESOURCE (2025), samuel.bloch@gmail.com
AVAILABLE NOW: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shade-the-promise-of-a-forgotten-natural-resource-samuel-bloch/22014863
AVAILABLE NOW: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shade-the-promise-of-a-forgotten-natural-resource-samuel-bloch/22014863
Pinned
Sam Bloch
@samkbloch.bsky.social
· Jun 28
Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource
The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource
bookshop.org
It's another summer scorcher, and people are hiding from the sun behind telephone poles and in the silhouettes of palm trees.
My new book argues that shade can protect human health, enhance urban life, and maybe even save the planet.
Preorder now: bookshop.org/p/books/shad...
My new book argues that shade can protect human health, enhance urban life, and maybe even save the planet.
Preorder now: bookshop.org/p/books/shad...
Reposted by Sam Bloch
My last big story for the year is up at @dwell.bsky.social: I spoke with ~a dozen millennials who left big cities during or after the pandemic. What I found was a lot of people trying to redefine what ‘upward mobility’ might mean: www.dwell.com/article/rura...
The Millennials Who Ditched Cities During the Pandemic Would Like a Word
As a result of Covid, many young people moved in search of more affordable lifestyles. But in today’s America, is there any place left where you can have it all?
www.dwell.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:26 PM
My last big story for the year is up at @dwell.bsky.social: I spoke with ~a dozen millennials who left big cities during or after the pandemic. What I found was a lot of people trying to redefine what ‘upward mobility’ might mean: www.dwell.com/article/rura...
"Larry Bushart has been freed after nearly 40 days in jail and a $2 million bond over a Facebook post ... A free country does not dispatch police in the dead of night to pull people from their homes because a sheriff objects to their social media posts.”
theintercept.com/2025/10/30/l...
theintercept.com/2025/10/30/l...
Man Jailed for Facebook Meme Is Freed in Tennessee
Larry Bushart Jr. spent more than a month in jail after a Tennessee sheriff ordered his arrest for a meme trolling a Charlie Kirk vigil.
theintercept.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:44 AM
"Larry Bushart has been freed after nearly 40 days in jail and a $2 million bond over a Facebook post ... A free country does not dispatch police in the dead of night to pull people from their homes because a sheriff objects to their social media posts.”
theintercept.com/2025/10/30/l...
theintercept.com/2025/10/30/l...
Reposted by Sam Bloch
Experts warn this aggressive approach will likely fuel greater abuses of civil and human rights, heighten public anger and lead to more warrantless arrests, straying far from the previous stated focus on “the worst of the worst.” “Spectacle, not security.” www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/02/b...
November 2, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Experts warn this aggressive approach will likely fuel greater abuses of civil and human rights, heighten public anger and lead to more warrantless arrests, straying far from the previous stated focus on “the worst of the worst.” “Spectacle, not security.” www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/02/b...
Reposted by Sam Bloch
Meanwhile, in South Korea: "Starting at the end of November, public parking lots with more than 80 spaces will be required to install solar power generation facilities. This obligation applies not only to newly constructed parking lots but also to existing ones."
cm.asiae.co.kr/en/article/2...
cm.asiae.co.kr/en/article/2...
Mandatory Installation of Solar Panels in Public Parking Lots to Apply Retroactively to Existing Facilities
Starting at the end of November this year, public parking lots with more than 80 spaces will be required to install solar power generation facilities. ...
cm.asiae.co.kr
November 2, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Meanwhile, in South Korea: "Starting at the end of November, public parking lots with more than 80 spaces will be required to install solar power generation facilities. This obligation applies not only to newly constructed parking lots but also to existing ones."
cm.asiae.co.kr/en/article/2...
cm.asiae.co.kr/en/article/2...
First Portland, now Seattle — which US city will be next?
A budget amendment from Alexis Mercedes Rinck asks the Office of Sustainability and the Environment to study the replacement of on-street parking spaces with trees.
October 30, 2025 at 4:30 PM
First Portland, now Seattle — which US city will be next?
Reposted by Sam Bloch
This might be a long shot but: I'm looking to speak with architects/developers who have worked on affordable housing projects that required (or got feedback to include) some type of 'historic complement' aesthetic—massing, materials, etc—for a story. Recommendations appreciated! thanks!
October 29, 2025 at 4:09 PM
This might be a long shot but: I'm looking to speak with architects/developers who have worked on affordable housing projects that required (or got feedback to include) some type of 'historic complement' aesthetic—massing, materials, etc—for a story. Recommendations appreciated! thanks!
"We worked our asses off for a decade and barely made any money as it is."
www.npr.org/2025/10/27/n...
www.npr.org/2025/10/27/n...
Your favorite band has a new single? It might be AI
With AI music generators widely available, scammers are uploading songs to the pages of inactive artists and dead musicians. Spotify says it is cracking down, but the practice persists.
www.npr.org
October 28, 2025 at 2:46 AM
"We worked our asses off for a decade and barely made any money as it is."
www.npr.org/2025/10/27/n...
www.npr.org/2025/10/27/n...
Reposted by Sam Bloch
The Municipal Art Society has fallen
October 27, 2025 at 10:21 PM
The Municipal Art Society has fallen
"It is not just the heat. It is inequality — who has access to shelter, healthcare, money and social support — that often determines who lives and who dies."
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Americans are dying from extreme heat. Autopsy reports don’t show the full story
Official reports are likely to overlook heat’s role in a death. As US temperatures rise, experts say the true toll needs to be counted
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 8:33 PM
"It is not just the heat. It is inequality — who has access to shelter, healthcare, money and social support — that often determines who lives and who dies."
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Sam Bloch
Writeup of the housing-related ballot proposals by Christopher Robbins of Hell Gate, viz. Propositions 2, 3, and 4:
A Crash Course in the 3 Controversial Housing Ballot Proposals
Do they represent YIMBY "Abundance" magic or an anti-democratic "power grab"?
hellgatenyc.com
October 25, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Writeup of the housing-related ballot proposals by Christopher Robbins of Hell Gate, viz. Propositions 2, 3, and 4:
Reposted by Sam Bloch
I wrote about the degrading choices our political system forces on us, the importance of respecting yourself, and the time I experienced a mild Oliver Stone moment at Sammy's Deluxe in Rockland, Maine. defector.com/what-job-is-...
What Job Is A Guy With A Nazi Tattoo Qualified For? | Defector
The man that my wife and I found ourselves talking to at the bar of a restaurant in Rockland, Me. in the summer of 2019 had arrived in town as your fancier visitors do, which is by boat. He told us th...
defector.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:36 PM
I wrote about the degrading choices our political system forces on us, the importance of respecting yourself, and the time I experienced a mild Oliver Stone moment at Sammy's Deluxe in Rockland, Maine. defector.com/what-job-is-...
100 percent agree — except if you have kids or elderly relatives and need some damn shade! Bjarke Ingels and ONE Architecture made great efforts to ensure the park would protect the neighborhood from rising seas, but rising temperatures were evidently an afterthought
hellgatenyc.com/new-east-riv...
hellgatenyc.com/new-east-riv...
After All That, the New East River Park Is...Fucking Awesome
We'll have to see whether the new resiliency infrastructure will withstand another superstorm, but we're happy to report that the park itself is, so far, a smashing success.
hellgatenyc.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:39 PM
100 percent agree — except if you have kids or elderly relatives and need some damn shade! Bjarke Ingels and ONE Architecture made great efforts to ensure the park would protect the neighborhood from rising seas, but rising temperatures were evidently an afterthought
hellgatenyc.com/new-east-riv...
hellgatenyc.com/new-east-riv...
Reposted by Sam Bloch
Here is our full story that Vance is dismissing, with primary source documents showing Trump cabinet members with multiple primary-residence mortgages
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
October 12, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Here is our full story that Vance is dismissing, with primary source documents showing Trump cabinet members with multiple primary-residence mortgages
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
"More people are realizing that EVs alone are an insufficient solution to the climate crisis, since even the most optimistic projections of adoption would not prevent a potentially catastrophic 2°C increase in global temperatures by 2100."
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
‘Car Brain’ Is Making the US Unhealthy and Dangerous. EVs Won’t Fix It.
A trio of new books argue that we need to confront the full range of costs that car-based living has imposed on our cities, our health and our society.
www.bloomberg.com
October 10, 2025 at 3:34 PM
"More people are realizing that EVs alone are an insufficient solution to the climate crisis, since even the most optimistic projections of adoption would not prevent a potentially catastrophic 2°C increase in global temperatures by 2100."
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Sam Bloch
"One day there will be no more looking away... One day there will be an accounting."
A powerful excerpt from Omar El Akkad's searing book "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This," in my new publication, Hidden Cities.
Read and subscribe! hiddencities.substack.com/p/omar-el-ak...
A powerful excerpt from Omar El Akkad's searing book "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This," in my new publication, Hidden Cities.
Read and subscribe! hiddencities.substack.com/p/omar-el-ak...
Omar El Akkad: 'One Day There Will Be No More Looking Away.'
An excerpt from One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
hiddencities.substack.com
October 10, 2025 at 2:24 PM
"One day there will be no more looking away... One day there will be an accounting."
A powerful excerpt from Omar El Akkad's searing book "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This," in my new publication, Hidden Cities.
Read and subscribe! hiddencities.substack.com/p/omar-el-ak...
A powerful excerpt from Omar El Akkad's searing book "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This," in my new publication, Hidden Cities.
Read and subscribe! hiddencities.substack.com/p/omar-el-ak...
Loved going on Late Night Live in Australia — a country that knows a thing or two about shade — to talk about my book with the great David Marr
Come for the coolibahs and verandas, stay for the Slip Slop Slap
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Come for the coolibahs and verandas, stay for the Slip Slop Slap
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Have we forgotten the value of shade? - ABC listen
On a warming planet, heatwaves are proving increasingly deadly. But in the cities where most of us live, shade can be hard to come by. In ancient times, shade was prioritised for urban comfort, but in...
www.abc.net.au
October 9, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Loved going on Late Night Live in Australia — a country that knows a thing or two about shade — to talk about my book with the great David Marr
Come for the coolibahs and verandas, stay for the Slip Slop Slap
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Come for the coolibahs and verandas, stay for the Slip Slop Slap
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Reposted by Sam Bloch
repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself
An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.
October 8, 2025 at 10:44 PM
repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself
Reposted by Sam Bloch
My piece - to be in this week's issue - on the South Shore raid and what it says about Donald Trump's America:
www.economist.com/united-state...
My view is this stuff is as much or more about creating content and fear than it is about actually catching immigrants, though that's a goal too
www.economist.com/united-state...
My view is this stuff is as much or more about creating content and fear than it is about actually catching immigrants, though that's a goal too
October 8, 2025 at 1:17 PM
My piece - to be in this week's issue - on the South Shore raid and what it says about Donald Trump's America:
www.economist.com/united-state...
My view is this stuff is as much or more about creating content and fear than it is about actually catching immigrants, though that's a goal too
www.economist.com/united-state...
My view is this stuff is as much or more about creating content and fear than it is about actually catching immigrants, though that's a goal too
"We’re getting older and I guess we’re becoming porch people," she said one night, as a neighbor walked by and said hello. "But since we don’t have a porch, this is the place where friends will drop by for a drink or to maybe watch sports with us when we bring our TV down."
The Garage Is the New Porch
www.nytimes.com
October 6, 2025 at 5:45 PM
"We’re getting older and I guess we’re becoming porch people," she said one night, as a neighbor walked by and said hello. "But since we don’t have a porch, this is the place where friends will drop by for a drink or to maybe watch sports with us when we bring our TV down."
Reposted by Sam Bloch
"The A Line’s purpose is to get us out of our cars. But its stations’ designers can’t imagine a life without cars... Many stations are bordered or surrounded by large, empty parking lots, occupying too much space where new, transit-friendly development should be." @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social
The World's Longest and Most Frustrating Light Rail Is in L.A. | Connecting California
The A Line Runs Through 60 Miles and Touches Most of My Life. I Hate It Anyway
www.zocalopublicsquare.org
September 30, 2025 at 4:02 PM
"The A Line’s purpose is to get us out of our cars. But its stations’ designers can’t imagine a life without cars... Many stations are bordered or surrounded by large, empty parking lots, occupying too much space where new, transit-friendly development should be." @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social
"West Virginia is so poor, miserable, and misgoverned that it bans abortion and suicide in desperation to make people live here."
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/09/18/w...
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/09/18/w...
West Virginia ways of life: The neo-trailer style, in a time of late capitalism and climate change • West Virginia Watch
If our Legislature were actually awake, maybe they would get the bright idea to populate West Virginia by improving the quality of life here.
westvirginiawatch.com
September 29, 2025 at 12:10 AM
"West Virginia is so poor, miserable, and misgoverned that it bans abortion and suicide in desperation to make people live here."
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/09/18/w...
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/09/18/w...
Reposted by Sam Bloch
masked men snatching a family off the street in Chicago -- your tax dollars at work blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/28/a...
Armed Federal Agents Patrol Downtown, Make Arrest At Millennium Park, Witnesses Say
The federal troops were seen in Millennium Park, on the Magnificent Mile and in the Gold Coast — days after patrolling the Chicago River in a boat. "This is another brazen provocation from the Trump a...
blockclubchicago.org
September 28, 2025 at 10:06 PM
masked men snatching a family off the street in Chicago -- your tax dollars at work blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/28/a...
“One of the blessings of Bologna, in northern Italy, is that it knows how to ride a heat wave. A tip for anyone designing a metropolis from scratch: start with a portico, and take it from there.”
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
The Exacting Magic of Film Restoration
Each year, at a festival in Bologna, movies that were once lost or damaged come back to life.
www.newyorker.com
September 26, 2025 at 1:35 PM
“One of the blessings of Bologna, in northern Italy, is that it knows how to ride a heat wave. A tip for anyone designing a metropolis from scratch: start with a portico, and take it from there.”
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
“Temporary street closures are great. But they miss out a number of quantifiable benefits of permanent pedestrianization.” Terrific Diana Lind column that explains why pilots aren’t good policy:
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Can Pedestrian Pop-Ups Go Permanent in the U.S.?
Scenes from the Philadelphia subscriber event
substack.com
September 25, 2025 at 4:03 PM
“Temporary street closures are great. But they miss out a number of quantifiable benefits of permanent pedestrianization.” Terrific Diana Lind column that explains why pilots aren’t good policy:
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
The sun man @billmckibben.bsky.social glimpses the dark side of a bright future. "As temperatures continue to rise, we have to do what we can to stay cool. Which means, among other things, shade, as a matter of survival and as a matter of justice."
pioneerworks.org/broadcast/pr...
pioneerworks.org/broadcast/pr...
Precious Shadows | Broadcast
On shade's fragile mercy.
pioneerworks.org
September 25, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The sun man @billmckibben.bsky.social glimpses the dark side of a bright future. "As temperatures continue to rise, we have to do what we can to stay cool. Which means, among other things, shade, as a matter of survival and as a matter of justice."
pioneerworks.org/broadcast/pr...
pioneerworks.org/broadcast/pr...