Jason Joyce

I don’t know what changed, but this is what it feels like to use this website now

Column: The Corporation for Public Broadcast is ‘winding down.’ What does that mean for public radio and TV? The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced it is “wind-down” operations. What does this mean for public radio and TV?

Column: The Corporation for Public Broadcast is ‘winding down.’ What does that mean for public radio and TV?

I talk with media studies professor and public media expert Josh Shepperd for an explainer. In short, it's dire

Gift 🔗

Now That They’re Free, Venezuelan Men Want the World to Know What They Endured in CECOT Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration say they endured months of physical and mental abuse inside a Salvadoran prison. Though happy to be home, they say the fact that they were released…

Leonardo José Colmenares Solórzano, a 31-year-old Venezuelan, wants the world to know that he was tortured over four months in a Salvadoran prison.

He said guards stomped on his hands, poured filthy water into his ears and threatened to beat him.

i'm crying laughing. she's literally never seen the word before.

Just this week:

Random tariff rates announced again

Firing BLS director over bad jobs numbers

Trump removed from Smithsonian exhibit on impeachment

CPB announces its demise

Ghislaine Maxwell moved to minimum security

President exempted from proposed ban on stock trading

When new BLS commissioner Bret Michaels files his report next month, everyone will totally trust the analysis.

In Madison, five Democratic governors float redistricting, blast Trump budget Governors from Kansas, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and Minnesota blasted Trump’s budget bill and voiced openness to redrawing congressional maps.

In Madison, MN Gov. Tim Walz: “...we're expected to protect the institutions, we're expected to follow the rules on this. We’re not playing with a normal administration.”

More from @liamberan.bsky.social: isthmus.com/news/news/in...

WOW. Internal emails obtained by @haleaziz.bsky.social reveal how the State Department scrambled to figure out a PR strategy after they realized the implications of having gotten a triple murderer released from prison decades early.

He is current living free in the U.S. thanks to the Trump admin.

A New Cycle of Texas Gerrymandering: Your Questions Answered - Bolts A redistricting expert answers questions from Bolts readers about the effort to redraw Texas’ congressional map, and its effects on communities of color and political representation.

We asked readers for questions on the latest gerrymandering efforts in Texas and then invited a redistricting expert to provide some answers.

Don’t miss this Q&A, its a full of interesting insights:

boltsmag.org/a-new-cycle-...

Here's How They Ban Birth Control 7.31.25

A Washington State church just got the green light to continue challenging a state law requiring employers to cover contraception open.substack.com/pub/jessica/...

Their Water Taps Ran Dry When Meta Built Next Door

Some places will have to start rationing water - to enable AI slop.

"A data center like Meta’s, which was completed last year, typically guzzles around 500,000 gallons of water a day. New data centers [will] require millions of gallons of water a day"

Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/t...

It would be hard to make this week's Midtown Manhattan shooting any more devastating. But Fortune found a way. Among the four murder victims in Monday's rampage was Wesley LePatner, a top real estate executive at Blackstone Inc. and a forty-three-year-old mother of two. On Tuesday, Fortune ran a bizarre, disrespectful, and mercifully short obituary about LePatner. Under the unfortunate subhead "FORTUNE INTELLIGENCE," the obituary: • misstated LePatner's age; • put the gunman's name into the lede; • included a graf about his football injury; • linked to a New York congressman's tweet, without offering evidence the two knew each other; • published this photo caption: "An image of Wesley LePatner"; • and added this line, which is reprinted here verbatim: He honored her sense of civics, as a ". The most informative part of the obit is the editor's note at the end: "For this story, Fortune used generative Al to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing."

When obituaries go awry.

Via this week’s Laurels & Darts/ @columjournreview.bsky.social

www.cjr.org/laurels-and-...

VandeHyped!

Okay Madison, how do you pronounce this street name?

Bartillon

I and others say BART-ill-on. But I've heard some say "bar-TILL-on." Recently someone was heard to say "bar-TILL-yun," but there's no second 'i' in there! Latest theory: Like the French "bar-tee-YON."

Please advise.

Very Trumpy to rip an idea he passed on, probably as he has second thoughts about doing so.
Portnoy will therefore probably be our 52nd president.

This is how it worked in 1994.

Florida AG demands names of guests and performers who attended a drag show - www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/07/flor...

Evangelical legal group asks Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage ruling (RNS) — ‘We think that it’s not a matter of if, but just a matter of when, the Supreme Court will overrule Obergefell,’ said Mathew Staver, head of Liberty Counsel.

And so it begins...

Evangelical legal group asks Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage ruling [Obergefell v. Hodges]

Shout out to the WSJ journalists who reported on Vought’s impoundment by footnote, causing the White House to walk it back. Impact journalism!!

This is what healthy masculinity looks like.

A tweet by Sam Stein (@samstein) reads: “Student loan forgiveness…” followed by a screenshot of a federal incentives list. The list highlights that ICE is offering a robust package for law enforcement, including: a $50,000 signing bonus, student loan repayment and forgiveness options, 25% Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP) for HSI Special Agents, administratively uncontrollable overtime for deportation officers, and enhanced retirement benefits. Timestamp: 8:46 AM · Jul 30, 2025 · 31.4K views.

😐 So ICE can get student loan forgiveness...

Various animated figures from pop culture fly around on elevated tracks.

An animated sign encouraging field trips to Ella’s Deli, in the shape of rather psychedelic eye glasses.

A quirky animated diorama of feet in the theme of “This Little Piggy”

Walking back to my office from a great set of Intern Days presentations, I got an absolute treat of seeing our electricians fire up a test run of all the old Ella’s animatronics that we’ve preserved on campus. I rarely get to have a good look at them in action!

I did not care for the feet with faces when I was dining at Ella's.

A classified newspaper ad from 2005 shows an efficiency at 102 N. Franklin in Madison renting for $395 per month.

A periodic look at rents in Madison based on Isthmus Classifieds from 20 years ago.

A 300 sq. ft. efficiency at 102 N. Franklin went for $395/mo in 2005. Adjusted for inflation, that's worth about $650 today.

Rent for this property right now is $1,025: regencypm.com/courtyard-ap...

Covid safety measures drastically reduced flu deaths, but the fatality rate has risen sharply again. “90% of reported pediatric deaths this season have occurred in children who were not fully vaccinated against influenza”. [cdc.gov]

How Edward ‘Big Balls’ Coristine and DOGE Got Access to a Federal Payroll System That Serves the FBI Hundreds of pages of records reviewed by WIRED show just how quickly DOGE gained access to systems at the Small Business Administration—and through it, a USDA system that handles payroll for federal...

Hundreds of pages of records reviewed by WIRED show just how quickly DOGE gained access to systems at the Small Business Administration—and through it, a USDA system that handles payroll for federal law enforcement.

The gerrymander in Wisconsin is outrageous.

Of their 8 congressional districts, 2 of them are Democratic. That means 25 percent of their delegation is Democratic when Democrats regularly win 50 percent of the vote in that state.

How can this possibly be allowed?

Democrats struggle against Trump-waged redistricting battle The president’s party wants to add five safe seats in a red state, and his opponents are still at odds over whether to bring a proverbial knife to the gunfight.

My colleague @burgessev.bsky.social and I talked to Dems about the TX gerrymander mess. Some are warning that Trump could lock in an Orban-style dictatorship if they don't respond in kind... some queasy that they'd lose both the map war and the moral high ground. www.semafor.com/article/07/3...