Saul Elbein

I just don't see why the Soviets would bother with developing that office if the CIA was already doing it for free

We're All Jocks, Jamming How did sports and music get so inexorably entangled?

Jock Jams Vol. 1 was released 30 years ago and fundamentally changed the course of sports, history, our bodies, and our brains.

Or something like that.

heat-death.ghost.io/were-all-joc...

This is a good thread on Texas redistricting, how Republicans locked down a previously purple state, how they're about to try and do it again, and the ways that doing so could make them vulnerable

One anecdotal mark of that shift: my grandmother, a lifelong Massachusetts-style liberal despite having spent her whole adult life in Texas, secretly voted for Nixon twice. When she finally came out about that to the family, she said (1) "Nixon was a liberal" + (2) "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

For The Hill, I wrote about what changed, which forms the backdrop to the current fight over redistricting. The short answer is: Republicans used mid-decade redistricting to purge trusted Democratic incumbents, locking in control of the state for a generation.

thehill.com/homenews/hou...

TLDR: Paxton's Senate run and Trump's falling popularity offer Democrats the same kind of opening that let mid-century Republicans get their foot in the door and begin to unravel the one-party state.

If Paxton wins, as he is projected to, and if -- *if -- Democrats nominate someone strong, the break in incumbency offers the party a generational chance to run the GOP playbook in reverse: taking a statewide seat that can become a locus of patronage, organization and further gains.

But it also holds a lesson for Democrats of a possible path back to power. Patrician Sen. John Cornyn is currently in a bruising primary fight against far right favorite AG Ken Paxton, who is beloved of 3% of Texans that are GOP primary voters but with a sub-30% approval rating among everyone else.

This pattern -- of Democrats, in the context of a long-term transition of Texas Anglos towards Republicans, losing trusted incumbents and then their seats -- is one that Republicans noticed and weaponized in 2003 to turn a temporary victory into a permanent fortress of power.

Something similar happened in 1992, when Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D) left his seat to join Clinton's administration as Treasury Secretary. His Dem successor failed was beaten by Kay Bailey Hutchison, who was succeeded by Ted Cruz.

That story started in 1960, when LBJ left the Senate to become JFK's VP. His seat was taken by Republican John Tower, and Democrats never retook it.

Republicans used their new statewide seat to build power, helped by national party resources, particularly after Nixon won the state in 1972.

One key conclusion: control of Texas wasn't just longue duree changes voter tendencies. It was far more structural, and personal -- and contains lessons for Democrats today.

For The Hill, I wrote about what changed, which forms the backdrop to the current fight over redistricting. The short answer is: Republicans used mid-decade redistricting to purge trusted Democratic incumbents, locking in control of the state for a generation.

thehill.com/homenews/hou...

Until I was in high school, Texas was a quintessential purple state, run by a divided government -- GOP governor, Dem House -- that passed policies like the energy deregulation that laid the groundwork for the renewables boom.

Then in 2003, everything changed.

We don't pay much at all, but you'll walk away with a piece you're legit proud of.

Shortly after NOPE's release, I barged into @asherelbein.bsky.social's DMs to holler about the film, and he told me I should write about it. It took me three years, but I pitched it to him and @saulelbein.bsky.social at Heat Death, and to my delight they commissioned the piece.

@asherelbein.bsky.social and @saulelbein.bsky.social's insightful edits helped bring it across the finish line, and I'm so happy with the result.

If you enjoyed it, Heat Death's archive is chock full of incisive writing!

My wife now refers to anoles as “those cunty lizards”

Orc is Man To Orc What does it take to create an entire race of enemies?

If you decide you'd like to get a paid subscription or leave a tip at HEAT DEATH, here's what your money will be supporting: original longform essays from @saulelbein.bsky.social and myself, including pieces like this

The whipsaw Texas saw in early July between drought and flooding is a harbinger of things to come -- as people move here in droves.

thehill.com/policy/equil...

Strange as it may be to say: Texas still isn't really out of the drought.

thehill.com/policy/equil...

Under the Red Hood: A conversation with Gretchen Felker Martin Gretchen Felker Martin on Jason Todd, working in corporate IP, and the gun-men of superhero comics

New, on HEAT DEATH! I caught up with @scumbelievable.bsky.social to talk about her new RED HOOD series for DC Comics. We talked about her approach to Jason Todd, violence in superhero stories, the gun-boys of cape comics, and more.

Classic problem with paramilitaries

Well that’s that then

I feel like I’ve been noticed green anoles with more prominent neck crests here in Texas lately, after many years of not seeing them as visible. Regional difference? Hybridization?

This fine fellow is perched right outside my office

My calls to the media line at FEMA Region 6 (the one that includes Texas) go to an error tone, which is … not a great sign

@dialhforhagai.bsky.social the nerve of some people

But how close to the river were the cabins at Camp Mystic, you might ask?

This close: