Ted Anthony

@anthonyted.bsky.social As seen in Minnesota.

The Mask of Life Notes on a father dead for a decade.

My father died 10 years ago this morning. Today, my grief evolves — finally. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

I See By Your Outfit that You Are a Cowboy My American sons’ Thai school invited them to show off their ‘national costume’. What to wear?

A July 4 weekend special. In 2015, living in Bangkok, I was struck by my sons’ Thai school’s invitation for them to wear their “national costume.” It got me thinking.
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

I Didn't Know Spit Baseball, chewing tobacco and 1970s parenting. A Father's Day story.

Happy Father's Day. Here's a little story about my dad and chewing tobacco.
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

Protests, parades and Pride: One week in June 2025 is drawing stark American fault lines On the first weekend: a vision of the nation built upon inclusivity and the tenets of liberalism — a conception of country that incorporates generations of fights for equity, for compassion, for expan...

Whatever political allegiance you claim, this has been one bizarre week in American life. Here, I try to break it down a bit. apnews.com/article/prid...

The Donut and the Dark My mother’s gift of light, it turned out, could illuminate even the darkest places.

The story of a plastic donut and a mother’s gift — my mother’s gift. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

Bruce Springsteen's lyrical view of America has long included politics — even more so as he ages Even as his fame and wealth have soared over the decades, Bruce Springsteen has retained the voice of the working class’ balladeer.

Bruce Springsteen’s lyrical view of America has long included politics — even more so as he ages (my latest from @apnews.com)
apnews.com/article/bruc...

There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be Popes -- they’re just like us? Not exactly, but you wouldn’t know that by the American fanfare surrounding the newly minted Pope Leo XIV.

apnews.com/article/pope... 
"There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be"

Thanks to @anthonyted.bsky.social for citing me, and crafting an excellent piece of cultural interrogation:

There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be Popes -- they’re just like us? Not exactly, but you wouldn’t know that by the American fanfare surrounding the newly minted Pope Leo XIV.

I recently spoke to the Associated Press about reality TV… and the Pope?! @apnews.com @anthonyted.bsky.social

apnews.com/article/pope...

There's an American pope, and he's just like us. At least, we really, really want him to be Popes -- they’re just like us? Not exactly, but you wouldn’t know that by the American fanfare surrounding the newly minted Pope Leo XIV.

The pope, the Chicago beef sandwich and the cult of the regular guy in America. My latest.
apnews.com/article/pope...

Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe and politics: Baseball and the real world collide more often than we think Since the game’s early days, baseball mythology has been constructed — often deliberately — to set itself apart.

great stuff from @anthonyted.bsky.social
*long live baseball*⚾
apnews.com/article/base...

Shack Love Watching the first shots of the digital revolution from a front-row seat in the suburbs.

My Radio Shack memories. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

There is No Sauce Like Hunger Heinz 57 Sauce: On my 57th birthday, a brief taste-imonial.

@anthonyted.bsky.social and I are so aligned it's just crazy!!!

There is No Sauce Like Hunger open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

There is No Sauce Like Hunger Heinz 57 Sauce: On my 57th birthday, a brief taste-imonial.

It's my 57th birthday, so naturally I'm thinking about Heinz 57 Sauce. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

First Exposure He implored me to take his picture, even though he knew he couldn't get a copy. A post-9/11 story of Afghanistan.

Four months after 9/11, I took a photograph of a waiter in Afghanistan. Find out why this might matter. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

Your Americana is Freaking Me Out Found Objects, Vol. 9: Crutches on the restaurant wall.

Yesterday I ate lunch somewhere in central Pennsylvania, looked up and saw crutches on the wall. It got me thinking. open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

YouTube video by Hold My Cutter Tracing Threads Through Time: From China to Pittsburgh

Some weeks back, I was fortunate to join 2 members of the Pittsburgh Pirates family, Greg Brown and Michael McKenry, on their baseball/Pittsburgh/culture podcast "Hold My Cutter." We talked about life and baseball, China and baseball, journalism and baseball, Pittsburgh and baseball, and baseball.

Freeze Frame A pandemic poem from March 2020, the week the world stopped.

This March 2020 poem by @anthonyted.bsky.social is as chilling as a shiver, as haunting as memories of that scary time.

"the [restaurant] tables meant for us sat still,
"their condiment bottles topped off,
"their place settings untouched
"by fingers that suddenly might kill."

Bat Boy As baseball season approaches, a guest writer (my late father) recalls the stickball games of his 1930s childhood.

My dad died almost 10 years ago. Yet here he is as a guest writer on my Substack as baseball season approaches. Take it away, Dad.

A longtime journalist raises his spoon to place Campbell's "liquid mashup . . . on the 'why does this exist’ continuum.”

"In the end, it's simply tomato soup. . . . I get more 'grilled cheese' experience from the can's design than I do from the soup inside."

Take a break from the Oscars aftermath and have a look at my latest unsorted but (I think) significant obsession: soup and sandwich, all in the same can.
open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

Burgers and Bones My great-great-great-great-great aunt would like to order a Double Whopper with cheese, please.

Mr.A.'s view captivates my imagination, by using reality to capture my attention. He's an American worth listening to: "To be an American, I think, you need to vibe with both — the eternal and the disposable, side by side."
thanks @anthonyted.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

Thank you!

Burgers and Bones My great-great-great-great-great aunt would like to order a Double Whopper with cheese, please.

Since I was 14, I have been very entertained that some of my ancestors are buried in a little family cemetery behind a Burger King in Rhode Island. I realize now that it means more than I think it did. My latest for “Unsorted but Significant.” open.substack.com/pub/unsorted...

As if I didn’t have enough to worry about.

Reid G. Miller, longtime AP international correspondent and editor, dies at 90 Longtime Associated Press journalist Reid G. Miller has died. He traveled the planet as an intrepid international correspondent for The Associated Press and developed a reputation as a supportive edit...

For the second time in as many weeks, one of my early journalism role models has died. And for the second time in as many weeks, I’ve had the privilege to write the obituary. This was a fascinating life, and I hope you will read about him. apnews.com/article/reid...

Longtime AP international journalist Earleen Fisher, whose career spanned five decades, dies at 78 Earleen Fisher, an editor and writer whose career across five decades with The Associated Press gave her a front-row seat to some of the late 20th century’s most chaotic and challenging news stories, ...

One of the weird yet wonderful things about being a journalist is that sometimes you have the privilege of writing the obituary of an admired colleague. Godspeed, Earleen.

Just purchased a 1952 World Almanac on eBay. Yes, it’s for a project. No, I wouldn’t surprise myself if it weren’t.

Trump invoked all corners of American history. How might he use them to build his new 'Golden Age'? In summoning people to his vision for the future, Donald Trump assembled a dizzying collage of time-honored and time-worn American myths, tropes and ideals.

Trump made sure his Inauguration Day was full of references to American history — dizzyingly so. Here, I look at which historical moments and tropes he summoned, how he used them — and what it might mean. apnews.com/article/trum...

Grins and frowns, seriousness and levity: The faces of the 2025 inauguration A pastor, his eyes closed, preaches his heart out for history. A former president spots an acquaintance, then grins and winks.

Lots of different faces today at the inaugural — some ecstatic, some less so. I reviewed our many amazing photos and wrote something about the facial expressions of Inauguration 2025. apnews.com/article/trum...