Melissa Block

Amid ICE clashes, New Hampshire bishop urges clergy to prepare their wills The Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire told priests protesting ICE to get their wills and affairs in order. Some praise the bishop, while other priests say they never signed up to be martyrs.

The Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire told priests protesting ICE to get their wills and affairs in order. Some praise the bishop, while other priests say they never signed up to be martyrs. n.pr/45TIwwT

Trump just said “the people standing right behind me” will be running Venezuela. At that, Marco Rubio looked like he was thinking “wait: who, me?”

Via David Sanger @nytimes.com

Just awful: David Sanger, an experienced and knowledgeable correspondent for the NYT, is forthrightly describing this as an "American occupation." Done without any Congressional authorization or even any consultation with our key elected representatives.

Trump: “The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal. But we’ve superseded it by a lot. By a real lot. They now call it the Donroe Doctrine.”

APNewsAlert: CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Trump says US is 'going to run' Venezuela until safe transition of power can take place.

Live updates: Officials identify person of interest as 24-year-old from Wisconsin Police have a person of interest in custody, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said, after a gunman killed two and injured nine others at Brown University.

🚨The person of interest in the shooting at Brown University is Benjamin Erickson, a 24-year-old originally from Wisconsin.

My Signal is 202-412-9091 if you know more about him or what happened in Providence.

News, with @jeremyrroebuck.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

In case you have never seen this.

TN07 is a story about gerrymandering: the GOP cracked Nashville into 3 districts when it redrew the 2022 map, destroying the Dem seat there.

Fast-forward: a section of Nashville, which just 5 years ago had a Dem representative, is now voting Dem by huge margins but it's been designed to not matter.

Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough • Kentucky Lantern A third unvaccinated infant in Kentucky has died of pertussis as public health officials urge Kentuckians to get vaccinated against the disease.

I wish all figures of authority cared about moms and babies. But some don’t. Some even want you to hurt. And those are the people who cast doubt on the vaccination miracle that has allowed so many of us to live longer and better.
kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...

Just calculated our 2026 health insurance premium on the DC health exchange. It will be nearly a **300%** increase. We’d have to pay $50,590 for a family of 3, for a mid-range plan. Insane.

Books We Love Here are 380+ great reads from 2025 handpicked just for you by NPR staffers and trusted critics.

Books We Love is back with a brand new batch of hand-picked titles. Mix and match tags like “Book Club Ideas” and “Eye-Opening Reads.” Find 380+ new 2025 reads, and stick around to browse more than 4,000 books from the last 13 years.

For what it’s worth, as a commander and officer it was my duty, moral obligation, and legal requirement to first question and then to not obey any illegal order I was given.

The same is true for everyone who swear their oath.

Hope that clears things up.

When I tell you *a lot* went into this story, I mean it.

- Recordings of internal meetings
- Leaked audio from phone calls
- Internal chat logs
- Drafts of secret policy papers
- Interviews with nearly two dozen sources

Thank you for supporting journalism that does this kind of work.

Democrat Theresa Gillespie Isom Flips GOP-Held Mississippi Senate Seat in North Mississippi Theresa Gillespie Isom, a North Mississippi Democrat, has won a special election for Mississippi Senate District 2, flipping a GOP-held seat.

BREAKING: Mississippi Democrats have now flipped two state Senate seats—putting them on the verge of breaking the Mississippi GOP's supermajority.

Theresa Gillespie Isom has defeated Republican opponent Charlie Hoots, who she leads in the current vote tally by about 2-1.

Populist Dems won. Moderate Dems won. We won in blue states. We won in purple states.

Maybe the take is that (a) people think Trump is out of control; and (b) people like Dems when we're taking a stand and fighting for what we believe in - as we have been for the last month.

Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) the Modern Dictionary | Washington Independent Review of Books The Independent is an important voice in the community of readers and writers dedicated to book reviews and writing about the world of books.

An exceedingly cromulent story about defining words. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/u... @groveatlantic.bsky.social @stefanfatsis.bsky.social #booksky

'Washington Post' editorials omit a key disclosure: Bezos' financial ties Three times in the past two weeks, editorials at the 'Washington Post' failed to disclose that they focused on matters in which owner Jeff Bezos had a material interest.

Great reporting on Bezos/Washington Post conflicts of interest, by @npr.org’s media correspondent @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social

www.npr.org/2025/10/28/n...

Chicagolanders! Tomorrow 10/28 at 7 pm at The Book Cellar I'll be talking about my new book with @jonathaneig.bsky.social. Come ask me about trying to get the farting sense of "Dutch oven" into the dictionary and Jon about winning a Pulitzer Prize www.bookcellarinc.com/stefan-fatsi...

Wut? It’s in the Dictionary. A New Book Explains How.

Smart, thoughtful @nytimes.com review of UNABRIDGED by Dan Piepenbring, which also mentions my efforts to get the farting sense of "Dutch oven" into the dictionary

#GRAMMY-Nominated Musician Paul Burch discusses his new novel MERIDAN RISING about Country Music Legend Jimmie Rodgers with @melissablock.bsky.social on Friday, get your tickets now:

Some of the thousands who marched at today’s #nokings rally in #Nashville.

Jacket cover of Stefan Fatsis's new book, Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) the Modern Dictionary

My new book, UNABRIDGED, published by @groveatlantic.bsky.social, is out! It took a long time to report and write and I'm proud of it and would be grateful if you bought it and would love to see people when I'm traveling to promote it. Consider this an official book thread

Is This the End of the Dictionary? Obsolete (adj.): no longer in use or no longer useful

The first excerpt/adaptation from my new book, UNABRIDGED, is out, in the @theatlantic.com. Read, share, preorder (the book, that is). www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

I’m thrilled to be in conversation this Friday, 9/12, with the brilliant photographer Sally Mann at @politicsprose.bsky.social. Her terrific new book “Art Work” is all about the creative process: its pitfalls, temptations & rewards. As she writes on p. 1: “This is a book about how to get shit done.”

Adopt A Station - Rescue Public Media Help preserve independent journalism and community programming across America by adopting a public media station. Congress has voted to rescind public media's funding.

After Congress stripped away funding for @npr.org and @pbs.org, a lot of us are wondering how we can best support the most vulnerable stations. My former NPR colleague Alex Curley created this "Adopt A Station" website to help you find (and donate to) the stations most at risk. adoptastation.org

How bipartisan support for public media unraveled in the Trump era "It will test every single shred of creativity we have to continue to try to serve our mission," says one public media executive, as Congress ends federal funding for public broadcasting.

Thoughtful analysis of how we got here, from @npr.org’s @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social.

www.npr.org/2025/07/18/n...

YouTube video by AGE OF AUDIO Age of Audio Official Festival Trailer - 2025

Make no mistake: Many, many women have powered #podcasting, then and now. I know this because I am one of them (I worked with Roman and Ira, too). The filmmaker didn't know or didn't care.

Much of my audio work counters historical erasure. It's wild to see it here.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW06...

Shooting our videos is a little bit different now.

Friends in the DMV: I’ll be chatting w/ @samkean.bsky.social about Dinner with King Tut: his eye-opening new book on (and immersion in) the world of experiential archeology. Mummification, alchemy, trepanation, trebuchets, and more! Tues. 7/8, 7 pm @politicsprose.bsky.social Conn. Ave. Join us!