David Swanson

America’s Most Famous Nap How “Rip Van Winkle” became our founding folktale

“Rip Van Winkle” isn’t just a folktale about a very long nap. It’s a story about the making of America, John Swansburg writes:

We Keep Us Safe: On Antifa This past Saturday, Donald Trump announced that his administration would be deploying federal troops to Portland, OR, authorizing the military to use “full...

in case you want some non bullshit about antifa here is something i wrote

buttondown.com/theswordandt...

In a sane country with competent leadership, the 50 highest-ranking Democrats would call a press conference to denounce what just happened as a threat to the republic and demand Trump's immediate impeachment and removal from office.

I don't know he could make his intentions more clear.

This is my regular reminder to everyone that jstor is open to the general public now; a free account there will give you access to 100 papers a year.

JD Vance appropriating the term "blood libel" to describe legitimate criticism of ICE agents is one of the most antisemitic things I have heard in US politics in the past few weeks. Yet this administration has somehow managed to convince a lot of people it actually cares about fighting antisemitism.

i maintain that heretics & apostates are much more useful terms than "not real christians"

My House Burned in the L.A. Fires. What Happens Now? A devastated community fights for rebirth.

Dana Goodyear’s house burned in the L.A. fires. When she returned to her neighborhood a week later, “it was a mangled, flattened field as far as I could see in every direction,” she writes. “I drove right past my address and had to circle back.”

September Book Club Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where my editor David Swanson and I discuss what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to, for paid...

everything on fire and terrible? time to read queer books! in our first book club installment, @davidswanson.bsky.social and I discuss All the White Spaces, about a transmasc stowaway on an Antarctic expedition, for paid subscribers

buttondown.com/theswordandt...

Use of the word "evil" in official congressional e-newsletters, over time, by party

to my mind the woman who dies of sepsis because of antiabortion laws, or the person who dies because they can't afford insulin -- these are just as much victims of political violence as the man shot through the throat while making a racist speech

Polly Holliday, a Sassy Waitress on the Sitcom ‘Alice,’ Dies at 88

RIP Polly Holliday, a.k.a. Mrs. Deagle.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/a...

"Because the wolfhound century is on us now, and we have to choose how to face it."

And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again

The Struggle of Memory Against Forgetting Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where David and I discuss what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to, for paid subscribers. As...

This week @swordsjew.bsky.social spoke to @zachrabiroff.com
about Osip Mandelstam, Bertholt Brecht, Joseph Brodsky, and the persistence of words in a moment of madness.

The Struggle of Memory Against Forgetting Welcome back to Culture Club, a feature where David and I discuss what we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and listening to, for paid subscribers. As...

In which @zachrabiroff.com and I talk about fascism-induced writer's block, who we write for, how to meet a big moment with your small self, and a bevy of midcentury poets: buttondown.com/theswordandt...

Kara Walker Deconstructs a Statue, and a Myth

New from me:

On Kara Walker's radical transformation of a toppled Confederate memorial — the Stonewall Jackson statue from Charlottesville, Va.

Her piece goes on view next month, part of the big MONUMENTS show at The Brick and MOCA in Los Angeles.

[Gift link]

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/a...

Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless! Mental Moloch! Moloch the heavy judger of men!

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, 1560 #pieterbruegel #bruegel

U.S. Open Orders Broadcasters to Censor Reactions to Trump An email obtained by Bounces includes instructions from the U.S. Open on supporting Trump's planned stagecraft during the National Anthem.

More news breaking at Bounces about Donald Trump's visit to the US Open men's final.

The US Open has sent an email to broadcasters, obtained by Bounces, ordering them to censor any reactions or protests from the crowd to Trump's appearance.

Read more here:

www.benrothenberg.com/p/us-open-do...

here's a clearer version

[Verse 4] They ordained the Trumps and then he got the mumps And died being treated at Mt. Sinai And my best friend Bill died from a poison pill Some wired doctor prescribed for stress My arms and legs are shrunk, the food all has lumps They discovered some animal no one's ever seen It was an inside trader eating a rubber tire After running over Rudy Giuliani They say the President's dead, no one can find his head It's been missing now for weeks But no one noticed it, he had seemed so fit I'm sick of it I'm sick of you

The lyrics of Lou Reed’s song Sick of You (from New York, 1989) floated into my mind. Quite an uncanny set of scenarios.

Fabulous thread about why so many romance novels are set in the British Regency era. I've never such a novel & yet this is fascinating on so many levels. Sometimes social media works!

The Bookie at the Center of the Ohtani Betting Scandal Is Ready to Talk Mathew Bowyer received millions from MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani’s account, then was involved in an investigation that threatened to bring down Vegas

One hell of a yarn from David Amsden
www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

Art depicting “Sandwich Guy” now at the scene of the alleged misdemeanor.

some time ago i wrote about ashli babbit, and the other woman who died that day and is never mentioned, because the way she died doesn't suit the role of martyr
nymag.com/intelligence...

The Christian Right's "Wild Faith" (w/ Talia Lavin) [Unlocked] | Know Your Enemy In light of James Dobson's death this week, we've unlocked Matt's conversation with Talia Lavin about her book, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America.

I really liked this episode w/ @swordsjew.bsky.social.
2 observations:

1) She talks about liberals not taking evangelical beliefs/experiences seriously. It's true and it's why Project 2025 is now.

2) We are living in Dobson's cruel America.

know-your-enemy-1682b684.simplecast.com/episodes/the...

area man beats sandwich crime charge, will not be sub-poenaed

Prosecutors Fail to Secure Indictment Against Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agent

used to be you could get an indictment against a ham sandwich. now you can't even indict a guy who throws a ham sandwich. folks, www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/u...