Brian Halley

“We are lying crushed under an immense manuscript of Gertrude Stein’s. I cannot brisk myself up to deal with it.” -Virginia Woolf as publisher at Hogarth Press, quoted by Francesca Wade in Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife (which I’m loving). Relateable, girl.

This has to get reposted and repeated and kept in the news and taken up by politicians like my own @warren.senate.gov & @markey.senate.gov & @pressley.house.gov and ICE must be held responsible. Horrifying.

The Dilley family detention center is run by CoreCivic, a major Trump donor who has raked in millions from federal contracts already.

Never forget who is profiting from this cruelty.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which directed federal funds to PBS & NPR, began to “wind down” in 2025 as the Trump administration sought to claw back $1.1 billion in funding thru FY27. They are twisting logic to their own ends and we have to keep an eye on them, as horrifying as it is.

A ‘Terrible’ Night: Harvard Custodians Say They Scoured for Places to Sleep During Latest Blizzard | News | The Harvard Crimson As a snowstorm engulfed campus late Sunday, Harvard custodians working around-the-clock snow removal shifts said they were left scrambling for places to sleep, even as the University provided…

As a snowstorm engulfed campus, Harvard custodians working around-the-clock snow removal shifts were left scrambling for places to sleep, even as the University provided overnight accommodations.

Taylor M. Bierwerth and Noah A. Ferris report.

www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...

I hope that someday members of the US men's hockey team have to explain to their children how they celebrated one of their greatest accomplishments by partying with a protector of pedophiles and chuckling with a misogynisitc oaf.

The UT System's New 'Controversial Topics' Policy Is About Policing Knowledge When politically appointed regents and administrators determine which topics are “germane,” academic freedom quietly shifts into political compliance.

'In the UT system nearly 46% of the population is Latino. And where Latino students are the majority in public schools, calling the histories, literatures, and political realities of these communities “controversial” is not about neutrality. It is about deciding whose knowledge is expendable.'

🤓

UT Policy Asks Faculty to Avoid “Controversial” Topics The system board did not specify what topics are considered controversial or elaborate on how the policy will be enforced. The language echoes similar restrictions at the Texas A&M and Texas Tech syst...

More frustrations with my alum, the University of Texas, as conservative Board of Regents pass a policy vaguely but definitively infringing on the academic freedom of their faculty. I’m livid, and sorry for students who will get a lesser education for this.

YouTube video by Nina Simone Nina Simone: See-Line Woman

Every few months, I find reason to look up a new Nina Simone performance and am newly captivated, by her choices and her voice and her command of space, and people. Remarkable.

This book rules. It is the smartest analysis of platformised self publishing, written by one of the coolest people in the discipline.

Inequalities of Platform Publishing Uncovering race, gender, and sexual biases in popular self-publishing platforms The average reader need not go far in a bookstore before, knowingly or not, t...

Really eager to see more conversation / debate around a new book we published about the false promises of self-publishing, in our Page & Screen series at @umasspress.bsky.social! #publishing #books #selfpublishing

A "Jackson for President ’88" button, with some rust spots on it, showing candidate Jesse Jackson with a big smile

I've kept this for all these years because after we had endured the Reagan nightmare for eight years, he gave us hope.

Masked ICE arrests drive 12,000% uptick in Mass. lawsuits challenging detainments Massachusetts courts saw a 12,000% increase in habeas corpus petitions in 2025, which both the U.S. Attorney and immigration lawyers attribute to ICE arrests.

“The number of people in #Massachusetts contesting their detainments after masked men and women seize them off the streets has risen sharply over the past year … [with] a staggering 12,000% surge in habeas corpus petitions filed in Massachusetts federal courts in 2025.”

American Studies double major (with English) at @utaustin.bsky.social and very frustrated to read this news. Will seek out the Save UT faculty group referenced in article.

If this country was truly “pro-life,” we would have Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, gun reform, universal child care, and a living wage.

The right-wing agenda isn’t about “life.”

It’s about control.

Chilling.

Idaho families sue over immigration raid that swept up hundreds, including U.S. citizens — NBC News About 400 people, including children and U.S. citizens, were detained for four hours while they were denied food and water in the raid, according to the lawsuit.

More than 400 people, including hundreds of citizens, were “sorted” at gun point into racial and ethnic groups by 200 ICE agents who fired flash-bang grenades into cars with people inside, pointed guns at children & demanded their zip tied parents not comfort them. apple.news/Ausdx6kWtT0e...

C’mon man… I already cried to this yesterday, on another platform!

Same goes for humanities scholars! Editors love quick responses, even "no," as much as we love suggestions!

Working link: www.typotheque.com/blog/cheroke...

The cycle from Amazon killing bookstores to Bezos axing the books section of the Post is something

How about a thread of some favorite pieces that came out of the Post's book section?

John Williams, Becca Rothfeld, Ron Charles, Nora Krug, Becky Meloan, Sophia Nguyen, Becky Meloan, Jacob Brogan, Stephanie Merry, etc—the work these folks did, the space they created, deserves to be celebrated.

Bezos orders deep job cuts at 'Washington Post' The Washington Post embarked on severe cuts despite appeals by the newsroom to owner Jeff Bezos. The paper is to narrow its focus largely to politics and national security.

I’m so sorry, Bezos was not “watching,” he was *overseeing* layoffs. That’s an important distinction. Thanks to @npr.org for correction.

Amazon got its start selling books and still takes some pride in doing that, and yet its billionaire owner is watching as the newspaper he also owns - the @washingtonpost.com - shutters their books department completely. So tired of this. Don’t trust billionaires, y’all.

The city would be doing people a huge financial favor by charging for parking and encouraging them to get rid of their cars. If people can leave them sitting in a row like this covered in show for over a week, they don’t need them and are wasting their money and should get rid of them.

Perspective.

The Epstein files reveal a world of privilege & abuse possibly worse than many if us could imagine, full of people banking off tax cuts and avoidance, and yet Trump & co want you to blame immigrants for higher costs, taxes, and any other ills. I hope we’re smart enough as a country to know better.

Well, I've slowly started a new blog (!) focusing on some recent history of leftist #Boston #publishers, specifically those in or connected to my own South End neighborhood. I've like to get into their founding and the context for it. Check it out and provide any leads, please. #publishing #books

America feels like a country on the brink of an authoritarian takeover | Francine Prose This is the news we should be paying attention to. At least for the moment, everything else is a distraction

“There is one story: our country is on the brink of an authoritarian takeover. In Minneapolis an innocent poet and an ER nurse at a VA hospital were both killed in cold blood by federal agents. It is happening now.” -Francine Prose, @theguardian.com