Sam Stephenson
@sfstephenson.bsky.social
Writer. From Washington, NC. Tar Heel. Now based in Bryan, TX. 2019 Guggenheim fellow in nonfiction. Next book about jazz pianist Bill Evans and his wife Ellaine Schultz Evans. samstephenson.org
I'm a certified salty snack nut from way, way back. But the options at the grocery store nowadays have gone too far. I wish Fred Wiseman would make a 3-hour documentary film about the chip aisle.
November 26, 2025 at 9:23 PM
I'm a certified salty snack nut from way, way back. But the options at the grocery store nowadays have gone too far. I wish Fred Wiseman would make a 3-hour documentary film about the chip aisle.
What do they think of Trump hosting a White House blood money gala for the Saudis last week?
November 26, 2025 at 6:39 PM
What do they think of Trump hosting a White House blood money gala for the Saudis last week?
I had that assignment in 6th grade. Interviewed an older friend of my father's who had been captured by Germans in Belgium in WWII. Felt to me like the absolute Stone Age. Truth was it was only 38 years earlier. 38 years ago now was REM "Life's Rich Pageant."
November 25, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I had that assignment in 6th grade. Interviewed an older friend of my father's who had been captured by Germans in Belgium in WWII. Felt to me like the absolute Stone Age. Truth was it was only 38 years earlier. 38 years ago now was REM "Life's Rich Pageant."
+1. What a bore, I'm sure he is.
November 24, 2025 at 5:14 PM
+1. What a bore, I'm sure he is.
I'd love to see some research on how that has changed over the last 40 years. Baseball has become much more white in the States. I'm an old dad of a 10 year old baseball player in Texas where youth baseball is heavy white and heavy MAGA and its on purpose. Pretty sad.
November 24, 2025 at 3:40 PM
I'd love to see some research on how that has changed over the last 40 years. Baseball has become much more white in the States. I'm an old dad of a 10 year old baseball player in Texas where youth baseball is heavy white and heavy MAGA and its on purpose. Pretty sad.
Just absolutely no soul. These people are the most boring people on earth. Funny thing is they actually know it, and it's what drives them, to try to prove they aren't boring, which only makes it worse.
November 24, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Just absolutely no soul. These people are the most boring people on earth. Funny thing is they actually know it, and it's what drives them, to try to prove they aren't boring, which only makes it worse.
Good luck! Sweet potato pie is our one and only. Pecan is up there for me, too. Grew up with 3 pecan trees in the yard. Dreaded picking them up and shelling them, loved the pies.
November 24, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Good luck! Sweet potato pie is our one and only. Pecan is up there for me, too. Grew up with 3 pecan trees in the yard. Dreaded picking them up and shelling them, loved the pies.
+1. Reminds me of a great seafood takeout that opened in Durham NC a decade ago. One chef cooking. Became very popular. Long lines. Most people happy to wait. I saw rich white man berate the chef (black) for taking too long. Few years later chef wins Beard award, has indoor pool at his house, etc.
November 23, 2025 at 3:36 PM
+1. Reminds me of a great seafood takeout that opened in Durham NC a decade ago. One chef cooking. Became very popular. Long lines. Most people happy to wait. I saw rich white man berate the chef (black) for taking too long. Few years later chef wins Beard award, has indoor pool at his house, etc.
I never understood how Jason Bourne was always clean shaven while being on the run for days and weeks. Clothes always fresh too. And he refused to wear a hat. Easy to spot.
November 21, 2025 at 12:12 AM
I never understood how Jason Bourne was always clean shaven while being on the run for days and weeks. Clothes always fresh too. And he refused to wear a hat. Easy to spot.
+1. Layers of awfulness including self-congratulation about today
November 16, 2025 at 2:08 PM
+1. Layers of awfulness including self-congratulation about today
Thanks for the tip
November 15, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Thanks for the tip
+1. And these men are absolutely mind-numbingly boring. They make your hair hurt they are so boring. And they know it, deep down in their unconscious, and that's part of the reason they do the shit they do, to overcome offering absolutely nothing.
November 13, 2025 at 8:03 PM
+1. And these men are absolutely mind-numbingly boring. They make your hair hurt they are so boring. And they know it, deep down in their unconscious, and that's part of the reason they do the shit they do, to overcome offering absolutely nothing.
There are great books emerging from small presses and university presses, but in terms of large commercial publishing, it's primarily vapid.
November 12, 2025 at 3:14 PM
There are great books emerging from small presses and university presses, but in terms of large commercial publishing, it's primarily vapid.
Where in TX? Transplanted here 4+ years ago b/c my biologist wife great faculty job Texas A&M. Bizarre state, but not everything is Abbott and Cruz. Elements of Ann Richards and Barbara Jordan still palpable here, though submerged by gerrymandering.
November 11, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Where in TX? Transplanted here 4+ years ago b/c my biologist wife great faculty job Texas A&M. Bizarre state, but not everything is Abbott and Cruz. Elements of Ann Richards and Barbara Jordan still palpable here, though submerged by gerrymandering.
Thank you. Stoked to listen to this tonight.
November 11, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Thank you. Stoked to listen to this tonight.
Is that available to hear online?
November 11, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Is that available to hear online?
I turn to his Munch film several times a year for inspiration in my writing and research.
October 31, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I turn to his Munch film several times a year for inspiration in my writing and research.
What a list. Never seen so many guys that didn’t make the playoffs or were bounced early.
October 23, 2025 at 10:58 PM
What a list. Never seen so many guys that didn’t make the playoffs or were bounced early.
I grew up 80s small town eastern N.C. 50/50 black-white. Local bar called The Rebel was a Klan joint, Confed flag out front. Mainstream white population made jokes about it. Rebel clientele were besmirched outcasts, sneered at. 40 years later people go there openly for lunch.
October 21, 2025 at 3:16 PM
I grew up 80s small town eastern N.C. 50/50 black-white. Local bar called The Rebel was a Klan joint, Confed flag out front. Mainstream white population made jokes about it. Rebel clientele were besmirched outcasts, sneered at. 40 years later people go there openly for lunch.