John Williams

Where are the commanding officers of those sailors in the background. How are they letting this happen?

The whole thing was better than I expected — side of the road wise. The … narrowness of some roads was a bit sweaty. Roundabouts required extra alertness but weren’t terrible. I think in the U.S. they’re much less elegantly — of course — called traffic circles. But there are far fewer of them here.

I just drove four hours on the left side of the road, AMA (about driving on the left side of the road). Drove from Dublin to Killarney with a dear friend I haven’t seen in too long, a good Rx.

A recently reissued edition of Frank O’Connor’s “The Lonely Voice” alongside a cocktail.

At a hotel bar in Dublin and feeling pretty good about things (for 30 minutes or so — I’ll take it!).

a man in a suit is sitting at a table with his hand on his face . Alt: Chandler Bing nodding off at work.

Me trying to abide by the rules about fighting jet lag on the first day and not napping.

a flow-chart with 2 islands. "Do I need AI?" that flows into a final island saying "No"

Lifelong Yankees fan here, and rooting as such, but Connelly Early is a tremendous baseball name. Respect.

I’m at the airport and have had a solid four or five experiences that (further) prove technology is now serving its own obscure ends, not ours.

My saying it out loud is an almost Pavlovian response at this point, triggered by the end of each ad, when they reliably (and very quickly) list a number to call if youorsomeoneyouknowhasagamblingproblem...

There are so many, but the one I repeat to myself *all the time* now, mostly out loud, because of the ubiquity of gambling ads on TV and radio, is "I call him Gamblor!!"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNkB...

A Shelf of Promises: My Starter Library A recent episode of The Mookse and the Gripes podcast got me thinking. Hosts Trevor and Paul were joined by John Williams of the Washington Post (mensches one and all). John had proposed a fascinat…

A while back @mookse.bsky.social and @bibliopaul.bsky.social @johnwilliams.bsky.social discussed starter libraries—which inspired me to imagine my own

eigermonchjungfrau.blog/2025/10/01/a...

A dashed clever fellow “Bertie, you’re extraordinary,” she said.“Eh? How do you mean, extraordinary?”“All this nonsense you have been talking, trying to reconcile me and D’Arcy. Not that I don’t admire you for it. I think i...

My brilliant friend Tim with a revisionist take on Jeeves & Wooster: www.the-tls.com/literature-b...

Bruce Lee Died Young, but He Changed the Look of Movies Forever

Took a break from writing about political memoirs to review a big new biography of Bruce Lee [gift link] www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/b...

I read it consecutively with Michael Lewis's SBF book, which combo was ... interesting.

I see that I used the same word as the Economist. That's embarrassing — but it's true!

Number Go Up by Zeke Faux: 9780593443835 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books The “rollicking” (The Economist), “masterfully written” (The Washington Post) account of the crypto delusion, and how Sam Bankman-Fried and a cast of fellow nerds and...

He makes some memorable appearances in this very rollicking and opinionated book: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/711959...

YouTube video by drielycarter Fiona Apple - Fast As You Can - Letterman

It's a Monday in 2025, so here's a four-minute respite. A Fiona classic recorded during a tornado warning in Oklahoma. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWKe...

Nothing dumber than best-of-3 baseball playoff series, but let’s go…

This only happens to you once

A favorite among my many sports memories is listening to Game 7 between Dallas and Colorado in 1999 while driving from Austin to Dallas. Supremely dramatic radio!

YouTube video by Top Clips The Simpsons - Itchy and Scratchy Big Guns

I need to read more deeply about the philosophy of court packing because I’m genuinely not sure how it doesn’t just lead to this, administration to administration, and an eventual SC of 30,000 justices. m.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZLo...

Review | Amelia Earhart, her husband and the myths they created In “The Aviator and the Showman,” Laurie Gwen Shapiro recounts Earhart’s drive and the ways her husband, George Putnam, put her at risk

Relevant (enough) book review: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...

the post office is a public service. it doesn’t need to make money. public transit doesn’t need to make money. the library doesn’t need to make money. some things exist for the public good and we desperately need lawmakers to stop thinking about them in terms of capitalism. these are not businesses.

This is great. I’m seeing her play again in October. Neko Case 4eva.

Really on board with the amount of Sagrada Familia coverage lately. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The 101 greatest movies, songs, books, artworks (and more!) about Washington, D.C. Introducing the D.C. Canon, starring Chuck Brown, Olivia Pope, George Washington, Leonardo da Vinci, Duke Ellington, Rites of Spring and — who could forget? — Gort.

We made something gigantic: The 101 greatest artworks -- movies, songs, buildings, books -- of and about Washington, D.C. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...

Review | Matthew McConaughey, poet? In his new book ‘Poems & Prayers’ the Oscar-winning actor and bestselling author tries his hand at the another form. It is, in its way, beguiling.

And lastly (for now), @mathitak.bsky.social on the verse of the McConaissance man: "While the poems aren’t very good and are sometimes actively bad ... there’s no question he means every bit of it." www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...

Review | A captivating new biography of the enigmatic Muriel Spark The author of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and many other novels is brilliantly captured in Frances Wilson’s “Electric Spark”

Jessica Ferri on a "captivating" new biography of Muriel Spark. www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...

Review | ‘Death in a Shallow Pond’ asks hard questions about our duty to strangers David Edmonds’s book surveys the concerns of effective altruism, which was spurred by a thought experiment from the provocative philosopher Peter Singer

Becca Rothfeld on a new book about Peter Singer and effective altruism. ("There are many goods to which utilitarians in general — and effective altruists in particular — seem oblivious.") www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...

Review | In Ian McEwan’s ‘What We Can Know,’ the past is an irresistible riddle The Booker Prize winner’s new novel is set in an apocalyptic future as a professor becomes obsessed with finding a lost series of poems.

My occasional spotlight on some recent things from our coverage. First up, @roncharles.bsky.social on Ian McEwan's latest, "a story of scholarly obsession, with all the twinned pleasures and diversions such a story necessarily involves." www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...