Simon Balto

The body camera issue – Tone Madison Our second-ever print edition accompanies our ongoing coverage of surveillance and transparency.

Now in print! THE BODY CAMERA ISSUE features design by @cmy-kay.bsky.social, illustrations by Andrew Mulhearn, a special intro essay by @simonbalto.bsky.social, and writing from @scottgordonwi.bsky.social, @stinadale.bsky.social, and Kay Reynolds. Come get it today at Madison Print and Resist!

I am very excited to have this out in the world today. Extremely grateful to @simonbalto.bsky.social for writing the intro, @cmy-kay.bsky.social for masterminding the whole thing, @stinadale.bsky.social for writing and editing, and Andrew Mulhearn for an all-new batch of illustrations!

From interview of Lee Bollinger, 1st Amendment scholar who served as dean of @UMichLaw, president of @UMich, and president of Columbia University.
www.chronicle.com/article/were...

whether they’re retiring or not this should be the last term for each of them

Primary Every Democrat It’s exhausting to watch poll-tested, donor-beholden congressional Democrats continue to be too old, too cloistered, and too bumbling to do anything as the government burns.

Democrats built their entire party structure on polite deference, seniority, and chasing bipartisanship—as opposed to elevating the most talented and passionate politicians.

...Leaving too many pale, stale (and, frankly, male) lawmakers in prominent positions.

This is not a victory for "centrists" or "moderates" over "the Left" or the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. This is a faction of accommodationists, people entirely incapable of imagining anything but politics-as usual, and outright collaborators sabotaging those who wish to fight back.

I cannot tell a lie.

Mr. Duffy said there were not any names, because he had stopped them from being fired. At another point, Mr. Musk insisted that people hired under diversity, equity and inclusion programs were working in control towers. Mr. Duffy pushed back and Mr. Musk did not add details, but said during the longer back and forth that Mr. Duffy had his phone number and should call him if he had any issues to raise. The exchange ended with Mr. Trump telling Mr. Duffy that he had to hire people from M.I.T. as air traffic controllers. These air traffic controllers need to be “geniuses,” he said.

these are the exact kinds of struggles you'd expect from three dipshits who've never held down a real job between them

Ever since I landed back at Wisconsin, the highlight of my year professionally is getting to orchestrate this lecture series in celebration of our friend Doria Dee Johnson. I could not be prouder to have the incomparable Kelly Lytle Hernández lecture in Doria’s name next month. Please join us.

Great to have the homie @eveewing.bsky.social at the Madison Public Library. A great event celebrating her great new book.

Most money for US aid to Ukraine went to US manufacturers. It is literally American industry, and part of the funding was for expanding US industrial capacity.
It's next level lying. Lies wrapped in lies, stacked in a pile of BS. Reality inverting lies. Piss-on-my-leg-and-tell-me-it's-raining lying.

So Musk’s people, who misread $8 million as $8 billion, who counted the same contracts multiple times and counted as savings programs that ended last year, claim that their AI is finding lots of Social Security fraud.

Why should anyone worry?

Rahm Emanuel covered up the murder of a Black teen, and shuttered public clinics and schools. Cuomo covered up COVID nursing home deaths and harassed women. These men heard "now is the time of monsters" and decided to attempt a comeback. They both belong in hell.

remember when this guy covered up a brutal police killing? i do!

POSTDOC ALERT! Postdoc in the history of modern medicine or public health at Wisconsin: details at the link below. 2 years, excellent conditions. #Skystorians #HistMed #medhum please repost widely!

mhb.wisc.edu/2025/02/25/p...

A local restaurant is advertising muffalettas (my favorite sandwich in the world) as a special this week for Fat Tuesday. They say that one serves 4-6 people and if we're being honest I can't read that as anything other than a very specific challenge to me personally.

Pretty ambivalent about joining another social media platform after getting kicked off Elon’s, but I was thinking this morning about the time when @profsuddler.bsky.social tried to convince me that Memphis is in the Midwest and I needed more people to know about this.

This is a fun way to learn what a starter pack is!

now including @simonbalto.bsky.social 🌟🌟🌟

Against my better judgment!

A poster advertising a talk by Paul Renfro titled "Ryan White, HIV/AIDS, and the Politics of Innocence." The lecture will take place in the Curti Lounge at UW–Madison on Wednesday, March 19 at 4 p.m.

A month from today, I'll be @uwmadison.bsky.social discussing my new book. Come on out if you're in the Madison area! 🗃️

I would like to emphasize that the governor of the state of NY, a democrat, intervened in college activities, something she has no business in, for political reasons. This is authoritarianism. Period. And the coverage is not nearly as forceful as that reality requires.

He certainly did try to convince @simonbalto.bsky.social of that.

I just report the chaos, I don’t make it.

Pretty ambivalent about joining another social media platform after getting kicked off Elon’s, but I was thinking this morning about the time when @profsuddler.bsky.social tried to convince me that Memphis is in the Midwest and I needed more people to know about this.