“A roofer’s personal politics comes into play heavily when choosing jobs.” One of the best written scenes in film history. (h/t Smoke Signals, in a terrific post that makes me think I was born into the wrong generation.)
Heh. (h/t Laughing Squid)
“It’s the Internet, Stupid.”
Post by Francis Fukuyama on how we got here. In a word? Screens. Good read though, even if we already knew that. (h/t John Naughton)
Quote: “While book challenges reached historic highs in 2024 and 2025, voters responded decisively. Beginning with pivotal Texas school board races in May and continuing nationwide through November, voters repeatedly chose candidates who opposed censorship and supported respecting the discretion of professional librarians and parental freedom over district-wide bans.” (Authors Guild Newsletter)
Quote: “First, a moment we’ve been waiting for since we launched this newsletter: According to Ember’s 2025 mid-year report, renewables have produced more power than coal globally for the first time – a historic first. How? Solar output jumped 31% from last year and wind added another 7.7%. Coal fell, led by declines in China and India – the only two countries still commissioning significant numbers of new coal plants. Ember” (Fix the News)
“The Simple Steps That Can Prevent Dementia.” Common sense for overall health, too, but still worth reading, so click on through. (WSJ gift link)
And some great news–a Friend of Storyknife has pledged to match dollar for dollar up to $35,000 in this year’s fall challenge!
Which means every dollar you donate to Storyknife between now and the end of the year will be doubled up to $35,000. Click here and hey, presto, donate!
And for the Storyknife residents of 2026,
thank you all so much for your support!
Quote for the day
[I]f machines can produce fluent essays without understanding a word of the subject matter, why did we build assessment systems that evaluate students on their ability to produce such essays? —John Naughton
Outro…
Chatter Lagniappe Sunday Storyknife AI Authors Guild bye bye coal Clerks Fix the News Frances Fukuyama PastaTube preventing dementia