dan friedman

World Cup Nausea | Los Angeles Review of Books With the World Cup looming in North America this summer, Simon Kuper offers a compelling—and depressing—history of this unique tournament.

The World Cup in America should be a celebration of the Beautiful Game in the triple brotherhood of the Land of the Free. It doesn't feel like that. My latest for @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social lareviewofbooks.org/article/worl...

'Exiles' Is the Sci-Fi Novel I Need To Tell You About - Book and Film Globe I missed reading Exiles by Mason Coile this year until I was given it as a holiday gift by my daughter. This horror/thriller about an expedition to Mars

Latest in our round up of books from 2025, the sci-fi novel
@danfriedmanme.bsky.social says you shouldn’t miss: Exiles by Mason Coile (aka the late, great @andrewpyper.bsky.social)
A locked planet murder mystery! bookandfilmglobe.com/books/exiles...

When Yuri Gagarin Solves Who Killed Romeo and Juliet - Book and Film Globe For my last review of 2025 I looked at an escape room mystery that took the form of a SF adventure novel with a trip to Mars. For my first review of 2026,

Halcyon Years by Alastair Reynolds takes classic noir mystery into deep space — private investigator Yuri Gagarin (right!!!) at the center of a generation ship case. @orbitbooks.bsky.social
#HalcyonYears #SciFi #SpaceOpera @danfriedmanme.bsky.social review bookandfilmglobe.com/books/halcyo...

Forever curious, never daunted, Frederick Wiseman sought to repair the world through film The great documentarian, who has died at 96, leaves behind a legacy of films that offered a moral accounting of the American soul.

A great filmmaker has passed. #FrederickWiseman forward.com/culture/8054...

Why I Don’t Care That the Spelling Bee is Incompetently Run, but Why It Matters for the Future of Journalism NY Times mismanaging its puzzle is not a stake in the heart of truth, but it is a toothpick stabbing the eyes of fairness

For anyone who is ever annoyed with the Spelling Bee. danfriedmanme.substack.com/p/why-i-dont...

Great piece!

our writer @danfriedmanme.bsky.social does good work!

An Undiscovered Poem of a Neglected Master Discovering Samuel Menashe Anew at 100

Today is Samuel Weisberg's centenary, better known (barely) as poet Samuel Menashe. Despite talking beautifully & deeply about everyday things using everyday words, he was so neglected, they gave him a Neglected Master award of $50k. Here's how I knew him. danfriedmanme.substack.com/p/an-undisco...

As per JB Pritzker: "thirteen of the top twenty cities in homicide rates have Republican governors. None of these cities is Chicago. Eight of the top ten states with the highest homicide rates are led by Republicans. None of those states is Illinois.”

On one hand, Republican officials call themselves "warfighters."

On the other, they become whiny crybabies at the thought of setting foot in DC streets and New York City subways that literal schoolchildren navigate every day without incident.

Real macho stuff.

Does anyone care that the new Cuomo social media team sound absolutely nothing like Cuomo? Or is it just good theater?

Pure white ribbon?

Underneath It All: Mary K Gaillard’s Adventures in the World Subatomic The sub-atomic world as we learn about it in high school is a seemingly settled and staid affair - you have protons and neutrons in the nucleus, and much smaller electrons orbiting about them. Electro...

Just over a month ago, trailblazing particle physicist Mary Gaillard passed away. Today, we induct her into the Archive. Her work on kaons, strange and charm quarks, the Higgs boson, and supersymmetry was central to the Particle Revolution.

tinyurl.com/mrx3dwzh

#WomenInSTEM #Physics #HistSci 🧪⚛️

It's like they want Americans to be sick.

btw btw I would definitely help write that series.

Btw, it's after a war, but not post-apocalyptic.

I reviewed @anneleen.bsky.social's new book which, btw, would serve as the basis for an amazing cartoon series.

I wrote a thing about Marc Maron’s new show.

Chart showing risk of being murdered in the subway if you rode 500 times last year (0.4 in 100,000) versus other risks such as that of dying in a traffic accident in the US last year (12.1 in 100,000)

The subway risk chart you've been waiting for (Sawyer County, Wisconsin, is where Sean Duffy is from). Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Don’t Mention the Anniversary - Book and Film Globe For decades at the end of the last millennium our family gatherings would be marked by repeat viewings of Fawlty Towers episodes taped on deteriorating

Fawlty Towers is about to turn 50. We revisit the cringe, chaos & comedic genius that made these 12 short episodes Britain's finest.
bookandfilmglobe.com/comedy/dont-...
@danfriedmanme.bsky.social #FawltyTowers #ClassicComedy #BFGTakes

Corporations ICIJ.org/tags/irs

Everything Streaming August 2025! - Book and Film Globe Everything That’s Streaming in August 2025 As we head into the heat domes of summer, most streaming services are offering slim pickins. Well, except for

August streaming roundup:
@netflix.com Wednesday S2 (Aug 6), Hostage,
Hulu King of the Hill reboot (Aug 4), Alien: Earth
@primevideo.bsky.social The Pickup (Aug 6), Butterfly
& @criterionchannel.bsky.social @streamonmax.bsky.social
bookandfilmglobe.com/netflix/ever...
#StreamingAugust #BFGTakes

Genius at 50.

I asked AI image generators to draw me.
See the surprising results…
www.gordonhaber.net/i-asked-ai-i...

167. The Inconsistent Court Strikes Again Comparing Monday's unexplained grant of emergency relief in the Department of Education downsizing case to how the justices handled President Biden's student loan program is ... telling.

Or, as @stevevladeck.bsky.social says: open.substack.com/pub/stevevla...

'Very Important People' Snubbed In Emmy Talk Series Category It Can’t Win - Book and Film Globe Imagine an improvised show so well-played that it feels like a tightly-scripted comedic short. Like an elaborate Whose Line Is It Anyway game, with the

The show they couldn't categorize is snubbed by the Emmys. bookandfilmglobe.com/comedy/very-... @dropout.tv @vipeopleshow.bsky.social @vicmmic.bsky.social @theemmys.tv #VeryImportantPeople #Emmys

Met Office: Extreme weather the UK's new normal The UK has a notably different climate compared with just a few decades ago, the Met Office says.

The thing about "new normals" is that until the whole global economy gets off of fossil fuels, new normals will soon become old normals. These are snapshots on an upward climbs not a stable new resting place at the top of a hill and... www.bbc.com/news/article...

OK I at this point I am 100% convinced that a malicious government with sway at FIFA designed the Club World Cup trophy to be as gold as possible so Trump would keep it in the Oval Office and then filled it with listening devices. It's been there for months!

Stop taking the Epstein bait, Dems Democrats don't need conspiracy theories. There are more than enough real Trump scandals.

Important piece by the excellent @dfriedman.bsky.social www.motherjones.com/politics/202...?

I am just learning that Trump went to the Club World Cup championship, got booed, hung awkwardly around on stage after the game, then stole the trophy. www.thedailybeast.com/trump-kept-g...