‘Finally, I can use the r-word again!’

“…I see a lot of people walking around right now thinking that wokeness is over. They say: The vibe shift is here. We don’t need to worry about it anymore….”

And Douthat’s entry in the crazy sweepstakes…

“when I confronted …the incredibly generous paternity leave package, I was like: Well, if I take all of this, I’m going to fail as an employee…. I’m going to become less competitive as a newspaper columnist..”

Wonder what his wife thought…

Have to say: I’ve been telling people this is a fantastic series for years. Great books.

I’m an archaeologist: I like old maps and old territories.

Just finished Cold Water. Very much enjoyed it, and glad to see those Europes reappearing.

As I said elsewhere on Bluesky… if Dave Hutchinson had started writing his Fractured Europe sequence five years later, it would’ve been accused of being a documentary. Rather too on the nose.
Except for the alternate universe and the Flu starting in Wuhan, of course.

And which ‘type of person’ was that, exactly?

Fantastic how the Overton window has shifted so that Beauchamp can earnestly interview ‘reasonable’ right-wingers who are racists and Muslim-haters - as they are- but who condemn antisemitism.
In today’s right-wing ecosystem, only being a Nazi puts you (barely) beyond the pale.

It must be difficult for Trump to deal with grown-ups.

Personally, I’d like to have him bring Residente as well. Bajo los Escombros would be a great Super Bowl song.

Leaving all the rest of it largely aside, there are about 3 1/2 million American citizens who are permanently deprived of a vote in national elections because of their territorial status.
More generally perhaps, -were- the good guys.

Goes well along with this series from today’s NYT.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/m...