Kyle Petersen

I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.

the vice president usually only endorses war crimes in secret memos so i feel like this is a big step forward for us

I will forever argue that 2007 South Carolina was the epitome of Gamecock football. A 6-1 start punctuated by a sloppy road win against Georgia and a respectable loss at eventual champion LSU. Rose to #6, lost to Vandy at home, finished on a 5-game losing streak and was not selected for a bowl game.

Oh, hell no. Absolutely not. This is South Carolina. Until quite recently, the Gamecocks sat below .500 for the lifetime winning percentage of the program, winning their last conference title in 1969 when they still played in the ACC. They’ve never won the SEC. Frankly, they’ve never even come close, since the one time they nabbed a division title in 2010 they ran face first into Cam Newton and the 2010 Auburn Tigers. They lost that game, 56-17. Every time God closes a door he opens a window, and if you’re South Carolina, God then throws you screaming out that window seventy floors straight down to the pavement.

nothing to promise but blood, sweat, tears, and a thousand reps of "Sandstorm"

How many Springsteen-inspired bar bands were called "The Backstreet Boys" before the late 90s, ya think?

And that’s the point of reviews: the future. With perspective on the history of an art form and an awareness of its current state—an awareness developed by the immersive diligence of writing reviews on a wide range of recent events—critics see in new works their implications, their promise, the possibilities that they expand, the vistas that they open. They see it not because they’ve heard the artists’ claims but because they see the art dynamically, even prophetically. It’s by reviews that critics stay current, by reviews that critics lay the groundwork for essays, videos, podcasts, and other cross-sectional or survey formats. Any cultural journalist can absorb a (no pun intended) critical mass of movies (or plays, concerts, records, etc.), but it’s only by way of extended engagement with each one of them that the essay or discussion can get past chitchat and reflect the substance and the merits of the works at hand. It’s not a matter of critics taking themselves seriously but of taking art seriously. By all means, newspapers and magazines should feature videos (I do them enthusiastically), essays (this is one), festival roundups (which are also reviews), profiles (I’ve done them, too, and find that their prime value is as veiled criticism, as backdoor approaches to the work itself). But all of those things rest on and are nourished by the fundamental critical confrontation with individual works.

So much to love and chew on in Richard Brody’s new defense of written reviews www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

I love this piece as an argument for why arena rock shows are (or can be) great. It's a different thing that a club show, kind of a lower floor / higher ceiling deal.

A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting

I finished @caseyjohnston.bsky.social's book last night & it is as excellent as promised - a perfect combo of memoir & research. Worth reading if you are a person with a body, especially if you have complicated feelings about that body. bookshop.org/a/100021/978...

None of this crap would be happening if we hadn’t switched to settled agriculture. Idiots.

How the G.O.P. Bill Saves Money: Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork

"By including dozens of changes to dates, deadlines, document requirements and rules, Republicans have turned paperwork into one of the bill’s crucial policy-making tools, yielding hundreds of billions of dollars in savings to help offset their signature tax cuts." www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/u...

"Routinely" is doing a lot of work here, but I hear you.

I've successfully added AI into my workflow in that I now fiddle with it for 15-20 minutes before I end up mostly writing/doing what I was going to do anyway.

Walz: If you say you love freedom but you don't believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love is not freedom, it is privilege.

Gonna be real with you, this feels like an advertisement for spiritual death

The Lion King Various Artists · Compilation · 1994 · 12 songs

Actual best album of the 90s, sorry y'all. #DadRock #DadLife open.spotify.com/album/3YA5Dd...

The Long Way Round Maya Delilah · Album · 2025 · 12 songs

Somewhat obsessed with this debut LP from Maya Delilah, a 24-year-old singer/songwriter and guitarist from Britain. Already one of my favorites of the year. open.spotify.com/album/0wrJiW...

Advocates worry over possible cuts to Head Start The decades-old federal program provides childcare, nutrition assistance and other services to the nation's poorest families.

"46% of Head Start funding goes to rural areas, often in places without any other child care option..."

www.axios.com/2025/04/16/h...

Opinion | Tariffs, Elon Musk and Trump’s Term So Far: 13 Trump Voters Discuss The participants discuss how they think Trump’s second term is going.

I can't decide if this is valuable insight into "regular" voters or just a feature designed to slowly drive me insane. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

This is objectively hilarious.

The Michael Lewis heads are gonna feel this one.

Happy 30th annual Rex Manning Day

They're An American Band My latest SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS B-side pays tribute to Yo La Tengo, torchbearers for a 20th Century indie rock ideal

The latest B-side from my book SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS is about Yo La Tengo, that semi-viral concert review from a college journalist, and the vast gulf between this band's version of "indie" and the one the common 2025 understanding of the term

I'm feeling liberated from buying pretty much anything ever again.

Agreed. Not sure what the alternative is though tbh.

Imagine having to eat a vegan meal after all that.

screenshot from a news item about the cuts being undertaken in services: "Mr. Kennedy is also eliminating entire but lesser known parrts of his department, such as the Administration for Community Living, which supports programs that help older Americans and people with disabilities live independently. Advocates for disability rights say the cuts could deprive the most vulnerable Americans of housing, personal care and other services."

there aren't any words for how much I hate the people doing this. I wish every harm upon them, it is right and just to pray for such harm

Anybody else singing "Liberation Day" to the tune of Jason Isbell's "Decoration Day"? I mean, it's a vibe.

I've now been made aware that it's not technically a filibuster. Alas.

Chart showing the longest filibusters in US Senate history, beginning with Strom Thurmond's protest against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and ending with Chris Murphy's support for gun control measures in 2016.

The 10 longest Senate filibusters prior to Booker, just for the nerds.

Jason is one of many South Carolinian Medicaid recipients we've heard from recently.

If you are currently living in South Carolina, uninsured and have no options for healthcare, please share your story today by contacting us at info@scjustice.org