David DeGusta

Same. If I had to point to a moment that made me a writer, it was seeing Arcadia at ACT in SF in 2013. Walked in with no idea of what the play was about, walked out forever changed. Amazing production. Went back and saw it the next night, which was closing else I’d have kept going. rip Tom Stoppard.

You helped make paleogroup a great experience - good times!

Oh, sure - that totally makes sense. My only variant (and not saying it’s a better way, just my way) is that I would announce those clarifications to the class as a whole (e.g., north vs south-facing slope). Completely agree that I don’t want to trip up students on non-class vocab.

My policy for questions during an exam is that I will either respond “answer the question as written” or, if a clarification is needed, I will announce it to the whole class. No individual guidance, as that can be unfair. Also cuts down on pleas for help in question form. (Hi Mike!)

You had me scared at Arby’s.

Their conversation seemed to ignore the fact that if you expose people to gambling, a certain percentage of them will get addicted. Especially now with gambling via smartphone apps. That ruins lives, even without cheating. Sports books losing a few bucks to insider info is not the big harm here.

Chauncey Billups lost a coach's challenge on an out of bounds call four minutes into the first quarter last night.

If that dude beat me in poker, I'd be hella suspicious too.

A Tesla Cybertruck with garish graphics depicting Labubu dolls (a fandom Venn diagram I would not have thought overlapped) and a custom license plate reading LABUBUO. Normally I blur the plates of any vehicles I post, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this owner is not especially concerned with privacy or keeping a low profile. #cybertruck #labubu #wtf

“And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”

Spotted in the SF Bay Area. Feels like an inflection point for me, marking the moment when I can no longer maintain even the illusion that I have some tentative understanding of wtf is going on in the world.

I did. But I tried to structure it so that the first few minutes of class weren’t critical for following the rest of the session. That way latecomers could still participate. Also, just because students are in their seats doesn’t mean they are fully “there” yet, so a little warmup is nice for all.

“Fiction: Bringing Game Theoretic Predicaments to Life Since the Second Millennium BC”

Might still need to workshop that slogan a bit.

OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...

And for those who might respond to such concerns with, “But AI is going to be way better soon,” it’s worth noting that OpenAI’s own researchers just released a research paper showing mathematically that errors (hallucinations) are inevitable in LLMs.

www.computerworld.com/article/4059...

It struck me as a fake thing that Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat would get a bunch of C-list comedians to agree to with all kinds of over-the-top requirements (“You must do one knock-knock joke - our leader really loves those. Knock knock, who’s there, hit squad! So funny!”).

Fwiw, the article just says that the center will offer classes in digital content, so the poster seems to have invented the idea that they are adding a new degree/major. But yeah, the notion of something like “The Jake and Logan Paul Endowed Chair of Trolling” is pretty hilarious.

The article just says the center will be offering courses, no mention of any new degrees or majors (which would typically come through a department rather than a center).

Thank you for mentioning Oromay!

I probably shouldn’t admit this (note to other entities, this only applies to Scriptnotes!), but … it actually did prompt me to go back and re-listen to episode 633 with John Gatins on “dormant” projects. 🤷

Admitting and correcting mistakes is exactly the kind of journalistic good practice* that one worries might be jettisoned under the rumored new leadership at CBS News.

* also good human practice.

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91

Jane Goodall was a gem. I only met her a few times, but was struck by how she had both a strong sense of purpose and real kindness - a rare combination.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

Yes, I remember that from one of your early Valkyries newsletters and, being statistically minded, it struck me as an excellent and underappreciated point. Though I can understand how players and commentators might naturally resist that idea, at least emotionally.

And there’s the free throw lane violation in Q3 by Natasha Howard that took a point off the board for Indy. Obviously a game that goes to OT means that every point in regulation mattered, and LV would have played differently down 1 at end of regulation, but free throw violations are really rare.

Love it when someone digs into a minor local mystery and finds all kind of interesting tidbits behind it … it’s great that @coyotemedia.org and Reo Eveleth are on it.

More of this in life too please!

Come live and write with us in Sewanee! The Department of English & Creative Writing's is seeking applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Poetry position! Apply by Nov. 3.

Also, support literary magazines, especially if you submit to them. As you are able, amplify them on social media, subscribe, or volunteer as a reader. I learned a ton reading for @themassreview.bsky.social. The lit mag ecosystem needs balance between submissions and readers, else the latter drown.

Also, support literary magazines, especially if you submit to them. As you are able, amplify them on social media, subscribe, or volunteer as a reader. I learned a ton reading for @themassreview.bsky.social, and the lit mag ecosystem needs a balance between submissions and readers.

Same!

The cover of the novel We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad.

My “to read next” is a match …

This should be a regular feature on McSweeney’s: “Isaac Chotiner Interviews Things That Aren’t People.”

I’ve had the good fortune to have once been in the same workshop with @nafissa.bsky.social, and some of her observations have stuck with me to this day. If you have a chance to work with her, I highly recommend doing so.

Earthquakes seem to happen on the same schedule as the low battery warning on smoke alarms.