Benjamin Thorp

When wildfires compromise drinking water, utilities lean on this professor’s advice In 2017, the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa, California, exposed a new threat to public health: Wildfires can contaminate drinking water with toxic chemicals which federally mandated testing is not designed...

Got to do some photo work on this story over the weekend - check it out! www.apmreports.org/story/2025/0...

HIV community faces a double whammy: Medicaid reductions and CDC funding cuts As Midwest cities like Indianapolis struggle with an HIV epidemic, federal support is being curtailed.

HIV community faces a double whammy: Medicaid reductions and CDC funding cuts
www.sideeffectspublicmedia.org/public-healt...

AHHHHHHHHH

Materialists The broad romantic-drama strokes of “Materialists” are predictable enough, but there’s a weight to the proceedings that really makes Celine Song’s latest film work.

The broad romantic-drama strokes of MATERIALISTS are predictable enough, but there's a weight to the proceedings that really makes Celine Song's latest film work.

Check out Ben Thorp's (@sadradiolad.bsky.social) review of the film, now in theatres.

midwestfilmjournal.com/2025/06/13/m...

The Phoenician Scheme Wes Anderson’s latest — an action-adventure story that feels like his interpretation of an Indiana Jones film — feels less self-conscious about what it’s doing (for better and for worse).

Wes Anderson's latest — an action-adventure tale that feels like his interpretation of Indiana Jones — feels less self-conscious of what it's doing (for better & for worse).

Ben Thorp (@sadradiolad.bsky.social) reviews THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, now in theatres.

midwestfilmjournal.com/2025/06/07/t...

Bring Her Back Like their first film, “Talk to Me,” the latest from filmmaking siblings Michael and Danny Philippou doesn’t totally hold together. But the core conflict, and Sally Hawkins’ performance…

As with "Talk to Me," the latest film from siblings Michael and Danny Philippou doesn't totally hold together. But the core conflict, and Sally Hawkins' performance, makes everything else work.

Ben Thorp (@sadradiolad.bsky.social) reviews BRING HER BACK.

midwestfilmjournal.com/2025/06/02/b...

Friendship (2025) “Friendship” takes all the elements of a sketch from star Tim Robinson’s “I Think You Should Leave” series and largely manages to make them cohere as a cogent story across 97 minutes.

FRIENDSHIP takes all the elements of a sketch from star Tim Robinson's "I Think You Should Leave" series and largely manages to make them cohere as a cogent story across 97 minutes.

Ben Thorp (@sadradiolad.bsky.social) reviews the film, now in theatres.

midwestfilmjournal.com/2025/05/24/f...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Not even a big Rooneyhead but yeah that book rocks. I'm pumped because I've been fairly unsuccessful in bullying people to read it

INTERMEZZO SHREDS LETS GOOOOO

Deep Downey: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang “Deep Downey,” Midwest Film Journal’s monthlong ode to Robert Downey, Jr., to celebrate his 60th birthday, continues with Ben Thorp’s reflection on “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.”…

Deep Downey — our monthlong ode to Robert Downey, Jr. in honor of his 60th birthday — continues with Ben Thorp's (@sadradiolad.bsky.social) reflection on Downey's pre-MCU lead role in KISS KISS BANG BANG.

midwestfilmjournal.com/2025/04/21/d...

As dementia rates increase, experts warn hospital emergency rooms are underprepared An Associated Press and Side Effects Public Media data analysis shows one in six visits to the emergency department in 2022 that resulted in hospital admission had a wait of four or more hours.

ER boarding, or keeping patients for longer than 4 hours, disproportionately affects elderly people. The experience can be especially harrowing for those with dementia.

As the U.S. grays, experts say things are poised to worsen. More from me and @sadradiolad.bsky.social: apnews.com/article/er-w...

Pulsing w/ anger made all the more potent by the lack of release it offers, ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL becomes more of a horror story as it unspools.

Ben Thorp's (@sadradiolad.bsky.social) review of the film, opening Friday at the Kan-Kan Cinema & Restaurant (@kankancinema.bsky.social) in the reply.

Americans are betting more than ever on sports. Health experts worry about gambling disorders Roughly $1.3 billion dollars are expected to be bet on this weekends Super Bowl. But some worry that legalized online sports betting has made it too easy and potentially too addictive to place bets.

www.wfyi.org/news/article...

Universities dodge major NIH funding cuts, for now. Here’s what you need to know A federal judge on Monday night temporarily stopped plans by the National Institutes of Health to cut funding to universities, hospitals and other research centers across the U.S.

www.wfyi.org/news/article...

Perfect movie ty

Can someone tell me where to go I eat everything www.devourindy.com/restaurants/

Apple TV is crazy because there's a trailer for a show that looks like it costs at least a million bones per episode and I've never heard of it and will absolutely not be watching

Love seeing my tortured coworkers again

Top to Bottom with Eyes Wide Shut & Babygirl Given that “Babygirl” writer-director Halina Reijn has called her latest film an exploration of what would’ve happened if Nicole Kidman’s “Eyes Wide Shut” character lived out her fantasies…

As BABYGIRL writer-director Halina Reijn has said her film is partially inspired by Nicole Kidman's character from EYES WIDE SHUT chasing her own fantasies, Ben Thorp (@sadradiolad.bsky.social) compares & contrasts the 1999 film w/ Reijn's late-2024 release.

midwestfilmjournal.com/2025/01/15/t...

Nickel Boys A visually innovative adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Nickel Boys” will make you feel, however briefly, that the ghosts of Nickel Academy become your own.

A visually innovative adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, NICKEL BOYS will make you feel, however briefly, that Nickel Academy's ghosts become your own.

Ben Thorp's (@sadradiolad.bsky.social)
review of the film, expanding tomorrow.

midwestfilmjournal.com/2025/01/15/n...

Why some doctors have started asking patients about their spiritual lives Indiana University's hospital system is pairing patients with local faith groups to ease feelings of loneliness and isolation. The unique new program comes as more doctors are seeing a need to care fo...

www.npr.org/2025/01/14/n...

Love this reflection from Ben Thorp (@sadradiolad.bsky.social) on PAPRIKA, which you can catch at a special 4K-remaster screening tomorrow.

Eyes Wide Shut what a vibe

I think I have a parasocial relationship with Willem Dafoe. He shows up in stuff and I'm like "that's my BOY, my perfect SON, I've never met him but I KNOW him."

The K-pop megastans have been on to something this hits

When two Indianapolis teens lost their mother, Habitat for Humanity tried to foreclose on their home Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit that helps low-income families purchase homes through interest-free mortgages. The goal is housing security and a chance to build generational wealth. But after one...

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis tried to foreclose on two young adults because their mother died.

The most shocking fact? Habitat was ignoring a federal law meant to protect families.

Great work from @samanthahorton.bsky.social @wfyi.bsky.social
www.wfyi.org/news/article...

finished Intermezzo this weekend and m8s I'm sorry it's really, really good. Rooney pilled

Wild that 41 degrees after walking around in sub-twenty feels this good

Hello, Jon. This is Spotify headquarters. Although this presentation is typically automatically generated, we find these circumstances so extraordinary that we felt the need to reach out to you with a personal message. We have found that while you did listen to rap music this year, you listened to country music as well. This is a music listening pattern of such rare precedent that we were compelled to disconnect our servers, lest our algorithm crash them entirely upon attempting to categorize your tastes. You are the most interesting person we have ever encountered, and we wish the incurious blockheads who make up the remainder of our subscriber base shared not only your adventurous spirit, but fearless authenticity. We have your banking information on file. As a token of our appreciation, $5,000,000 USD will be deposited into your account immediately. Thank you for everything, Jon.

oh wow