We used to write letters
America was built on letters. So maybe we should get back to writing them.
Connor Tapp
We're lucky Trump is so bad at this
ABC placed "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on indefinite suspension Wednesday at the request of the Trump administration, citing comments that Kimmel had made made Monday about Charlie Kirk. 1) Well not even about Charlie Kirk, actually. Or even about Kirk's murder, and only kind of about his
'Sinners' refuses to look away
Sinners isn't just a vampire movie that happens to be set in the Jim Crow south. Every major plot point hinges on America's failure to live up to the ideals of both the First and Second Founding: * nominally free blacks are shown working in conditions scarcely
Hell of a week
It's Friday – the last day of my one-week stretch of unemployment. Did I spend it well? Hm, let's see. I did a lot of weeding (to paraphrase Dumbledore, it's important to weed and keep weeding, for only then could dandelions be kept at
Of course there is art about Trump
The following post dominated the discourse on Bluesky for an hour or two on Monday and drove me moderately insane.: I blurred out OP's name because it's not my intention to be mean to a person who, for all I know, is a perfectly nice and
In 1913 America's greatness did not yet exist
In 2012, reality TV star Donald Trump applied for a trademark of the old Ronald Reagan campaign slogan "Make America Great Again." Thirteen years later, it remains the most effective slogan in American politics. The staying power of that phrase is a testament to its ability – like Trump
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The human brain is not a computer
Don't make me tap the sign. Read to the end for two good sci-fi short stories and a trailblazing sci-fi movie from 1956.
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Super Bowl ads have always been terrible
The reason you thought Super Bowl ads were good once is that you were a child at the time.
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The linguistic tyranny of the 'doorbuster'
Let's end this stupid, made-up word's reign of terror. Read to the end for quick takes on the Gamecocks, The Penguin, and Mrs. Davis.
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Why the newsletter is called 'Hell of a Bird' now
For those who require one, an explanation on the aesthetic overhaul. Read to the end for some thoughts on the BlueSky Boom.
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James Carlen vs. the University of South Carolina
I went to the National Archives to unpack one of Gamecock Football's greatest mysteries: why, exactly, did we fire Jim Carlen? Behold Part 1 of a multi-part series.
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In 1974 USC made an 'abortive' attempt to hire Lou Holtz
Twenty-five years before his triumphant return to Columbia, the Gamecocks tried to hire a former USC assistant and rising star, Lou Holtz, away from N.C. State.