Journalist and author Benoit Denizet-Lewis will be joining Katie on Substack Live to discuss his new book, You’ve Changed: The Promise and Price of Self-Transformation, on Tuesday, April 28, at 12 PM PT/ 3 PM ET.

This chat is for Primos only and will be archived afterward for those who can’t make it. You should receive an email with access instructions shortly before it begins. (Not getting our emails? Check your Substack settings.)

Questions? Comments? Leave them below.

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Happy Earth Day, everyone! Is that still a thing, or did it quietly get shelved?

On a rare personal note - this post is going up around the time that I land in London, where I’m going to be staying fo…

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This week on Blocked and Reported, Katie is joined by Chronicle of Higher Ed reporter Emma Pettit to discuss an internal civil war at Pomona College, where the literature department spiraled into years of accusations, investigations, and a whole lot of angry emails. Plus, we revisit New College of Florida, and discuss what Emma got wrong in 2020 and what she’s learned since.

Some Scholars Have Long Talked About Abolishing the Police. Now People Are Listening. What Comes Next?

The College That Conservatives Took Over

When a Department Self-Destructs

This week on the Primo show, Jesse and Katie discuss homesteader influencers Hannah and Daniel Neeleman of Ballerina Farm and their raw milk problems. Plus, dogs in the city.

Where Does a …

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Happy Tax Day to those of you in the US - and to everyone, happy Wednesday! I’m in the middle of moving between countries so I’ve hardly had the chance to check the news this week…I’m sure it’s all p…

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For the first time ever, we’re asking you (our premium subscribers) to fill out a listener survey. It’s 21 questions and the vast majority of them shouldn’t take you more than a few seconds.

In a just…

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This week on the Primo show, Jesse and Katie discuss a series of viral videos from Canada’s cringiest. Plus, has the death of wokeness been widely exaggerated?

Trans Issues Are No Conspiracy - Jesse Singal - The Dispatch

Opinion | Did Wokeness Leave Us Worse Off? - The New York Times

Brock Colyar on Pronouns, Identifying as Nonbinary

Jay Lesoleil

Which Way for the NDP?

This spring the NDP, Canada’s left-wing federal political party, fumbled the election so badly that they lost official party status. Amidst an atmosphere of widespread economic discontent and populist rage, the ostensibly pro-worker NDP ran such a miserable campaign that they ended up with just 2% of the seats in Parliament, their worst showing in histo…

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6 months ago · 56 likes · Jay Lesoleil

Here we go - I’m travelling with no internet access (highly recommended from time to time), so I hope this has posted correctly. If it has, chat away!

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This week on the Primo show, Jesse and Katie discuss the non-verbal novelist Woody Brown, the return of facilitated communication, and the reporters who apparently forgot to google it.

Is Controversy…

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This week on Blocked and Reported, Jesse and Katie discuss a string of recent AI scandals in publishing: the Shy Girl debacle, Matt Goodwin's hallucinated data, Alex Preston's plagiarized book review, and more. Plus, controversy ensues when Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle admits to (gasp) using AI in her process.

Watch Thin Skin (2023) - Free Movies | Tubi

Mia Ballard on Her Horrific Feminine Rage Novel - Bookstr

A.I. Is Writing Fiction. Publishers Are Unprepared. - The New York Times

The Drey Dossier

91 Percent Human: The Shy Girl AI Scandal

When I was nineteen, I wrote a poem about flowers that never blossomed. It was about roots and soil and the things we pull from the ground before they have a chance to grow. It is, to this day, one o…

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a month ago · 1732 likes · 120 comments · The Drey Dossier

I Was Deemed Unfit to Be a Mother - The New York Times

New York Times Cuts Ties with Book Review Writer Over AI Use | Exclusive

The illusion and delusion of Matt Goodwin | The Spectator

Suicide of an author’s credibility | Ben Sixsmith | The Critic Magazine

Matt Goodwin and Andy Twelves caught in fiery clash over author’s new book Suicide of a Nation

AI didn’t write my book | The Spectator

The Pharmakon

Why LLMs Ruin Everything

How did you go bankrupt? Gradually, then suddenly. How did the negative effects of AI affect the world of books? Same…

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23 days ago · 102 likes · 37 comments · Sam Leith

Inside the Dirty, Dystopian World of AI Data Centers - The Atlantic

A billionaire, an AI supercomputer, toxic emissions and a Memphis community that did nothing wrong • Tennessee Lookout

Journalism schools are teaching fear of the future: Letter from the Editor - cleveland.com

Happy April Fool’s Day, primos! Here’s the weekly thread - you know what to do…

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This week on Blocked and Reported, Jesse and Katie discuss American icon Afroman and the defamation trial that briefly broke the Lindyverse. Plus, a California court puts internet addiction on trial.

Social media trial: Meta and Google found negligent : NPR

Astral Codex Ten

The Phrase "No Evidence" Is A Red Flag For Bad Science Communication

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4 years ago · 390 likes · 490 comments · Scott Alexander

Jury sides wtih Afroman in defamation trial w/ Ohio deputies

Police Raided Afroman Searching for a ‘Dungeon.’ His Record Label Says He Doesn’t Even Have a Basement

Sheriff Under Scrutiny over Drug Money Spending : NPR

The Rise of Civil Forfeiture | The New Yorker

Sheriff Under Scrutiny over Drug Money Spending : NPR

https://substack.com/@ymeskhout

The episode you’re about to hear is the first in a new series from our friends at Longview Investigations, the podcast company run by Matt Boll and Andy Mills, both familiar voices if you’ve been listening to our show for a while.

The series is called Strange Bedfellows, and when Andy first asked if we’d be interested in sharing it with our listeners, I said absolutely not because I’m still bitter that the Moose likes Andy better than me and because every time we drop something new into the feed, at least a couple of you complain and then Jesse starts crying and sweating and it’s this whole thing.

But after hearing the first episode, I changed my mind.

Strange Bedfellows is exactly the kind of thing Blocked and Reported listeners will be into. It’s about how LGB became LGBTQ, what brought that sometimes uneasy coalition together, and why it now seems to be coming apart.

The series is hosted by Ben Kawaller (also a BAR alum), and it’s smart, funny, and genuinely thought-provoking.

And here’s the bonus offer: Andy and Matt have generously offered three months free of Longview’s membership program for our Primo subscribers. If you take them up on that and subscribe now, you’ll get access to the full three-part series before it’s released publicly.

This offer is only available to Primos and the link to join is right…

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Another week, another weekly open thread. Enjoy!

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This week on the Primo show, Jesse and Katie discuss the continuing fallout from Lindy West’s throuple memoir. Featuring: Aham’s very angry email.

Note for Puget Sound lis…

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This week on Blocked and Reported, Jesse is joined by Wall Street Journal Writer-at-Large Pamela Paul to discuss the disappearing male therapist, the politicization of the literary world, that Andrea…

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This week on the Primo show, Jesse and Katie discuss a good old-fashioned internet pile-on, this time targeting New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie on Bluesky. Plus, a tad more L***y W**t.

Lindy West’s marriage was broken. Did polyamory fix it?

Butt News

People Are Allowed to Want to Be Polyamorous

They’re saying my new book Adult Braces (out now! buy it here!) is in the discourse. I won’t be looking into it, because I know from my years as a professional take-haver that most of these takes are really about the discoursers, not the discoursees, and that’s none of my bus…

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a month ago · 523 likes · 48 comments · Lindy West

Spurious’s Substack

Maintenance Phase Reality Check: "Is Being Fat Bad For You?"

I want to start off by stating three really important things…

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2 years ago · 41 likes · 37 comments · Check the Facts!

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Pamela Paul is incoming and she has graciously agreed to stay after the main event to answer questions from our Primo subscribers. Questions for Pamela? Leave them in the comments.

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Here we go again - it’s Wednesday, time to get chatting!

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This week on Blocked and Reported, Jesse and Katie discuss the intersection of politics, social media, and mental health and debate the question: Why are young libs so depressed? Plus: Jake Lang’s anti-Muslim protest, Zohran Mamdani’s very bad tweet, and Bluesky’s CEO steps down.

Slow Boring

Why are young liberals so depressed?

Fresh episode of Bad Takes is out today, all about the war on fake license plates…

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3 years ago · 544 likes · 500 comments · Matthew Yglesias

USA v. Lang

Conservative Influencer Chased From Minneapolis Streets by Counterprotesters - The New York Times

Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Back in Jail for Destroying Anti-ICE Sculpture | The New Republic

Read Max

Why are pundits obsessed with Bluesky?

Greetings from Read Max HQ! A somewhat shorter edition today, due to back-to-school schedule madness, on the subject of Bluesky, Twitter, and the bitter recriminations between them…

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8 months ago · 141 likes · 39 comments · Max Read