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Benjamin Samuel

@benjaminsamuel.xyz
381 followers 116 following 151 posts

Voted “Most likely to be seen at the diner” by the class of 2002. Senior Editor at ‪@bombmag.bsky.social‬

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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 16/07/2026
For those outraged by news of the Trump coins, Canada has loonies on its $1 coins since 1987.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 15/07/2026
Odd that we can "wester" but we can't verb in any other direction. www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/w...
merriam-webster.com
Definition of WESTER
to turn or move westward… See the full definition
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Linda Holmes @lindaholmes.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
It’s so important to remind people that we can do good smart things that help and don’t hurt.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 20/05/2026
"I never enter into a story with any kind of map; rather, I’m constantly dowsing for discovery." —Bret Anthony Johnston bombmagazine.org/articles/202...
Cover of Bret Anthony Johnston's book "Encounters with Unexpected Animals"
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Nolan Void @wolter.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
This is the money paragraph for me.
What if we got away from the argument that doing cosmology and particle physics is practical or materially valuable? Then we have to accept that we're like the poets.
What we do is important culturally in the same way poetry is. A piece of this book is me saying there is value in banding with the poets, and fighting for the value of being curious and trying to articulate the world with whatever tools are available to us. Not for the purposes of selling something, but for the purpose of fulfilling our humanity.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 13/05/2026
The Spring 2026 issue of BOMB is also the 25th issue of @bombmag.bsky.social that I've had the pleasure to edit.
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Rabih Alameddine @rabihalameddine.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Christian Coigny, Switzerland, 2010
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 29/04/2026
Same here, little sadness-eating bee. Same here.
A bee that eats tears.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 21/04/2026
I'm not going to cry over this. I'm not going to cry over this. I'm not going to cry over this. I'm not...
Spilled milk
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Tobias Carroll @tobiascarroll.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
As someone who really liked what MCD was doing, this is incredibly depressing to hear. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
publishersweekly.com
FSG Closes its MCD Imprint, McDonald to Depart
The imprint was formed in 2016 by then FSG publisher and president Jonathan Galassi to publish experimental works. Under the direction of Sean McDonald, MCD published a range of bestselling and award-winning fiction and nonfiction titles.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 09/04/2026
"Failure is a beautiful thing. When you write, the joy is in coming up against what you can’t do. And then you and the work have to be reconciled together." — @legroff.bsky.social speaking with @rumaan.bsky.social in the spring issue of @bombmag.bsky.social bombmagazine.org/articles/202...
BOMB's spring issue and BRAWLER by Lauren Groff.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 02/04/2026
Welcome back to Do-I-have-a-cold-or-is-this-just-allergies Season.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 31/03/2026
20 years ago, while commuting from campus to the city, I heard @wilcohq.bsky.social’s “Jesus, Etc.” for the first time. Some celestial alignment had me back on campus last weekend to speak on a panel about internships just weeks after editing an interview with Jeff Tweedy for @bombmag.bsky.social.
The cover of BOMB Magazine's Spring 2026 issue, with artwork by Deborah Roberts and a list of contributors including Wilco's Jeff Tweedy.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 30/03/2026
The classic car designation on this vanity plate is the masterstroke.
Vanity plate on a 90s Lexus that says idgaf.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 25/03/2026
Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll ruin the ecosystem.
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BOMB Magazine @bombmag.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
BOMB’s Spring 2026 issue is here and features a mixed media and collage work by Deborah Roberts on the cover. The spring issue will be available to BOMB members online starting March 16.
bombmagazine.org
Look Inside BOMB’s Spring 2026 Issue
Our new issue hits newsstands on March 16. Here, a peek at the interviews, literature, and art inside.
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Lit Hub @literaryhub.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
“AI giant Anthropic ran a massive program called Project Panama where they spent tens of millions of dollars to hoover up used books, which they then sliced, scanned, and pulped.”
buff.ly
Anthropic didn’t want us to know that they were destroying millions of books to feed their software.
Companies making machine learning and generative software aren’t just metaphorically ripping off books. In at least one case, they’re rather literally shredding millions of physical books to …
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 14/02/2026
I’m adding “Olympic hopeful” to my bio. I have no athletic talent, look terrible in spandex, and would be considered a geriatric competitor by the next Olympic Games, but one can always be hopeful.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 09/02/2026
Please beware of scammers using my name. They are offering artists interviews in BOMB as a pretense to get them to download some sketchy AI software called NexBee. More details in the image below. Stay safe out there!
Unfortunately, some lousy scam artists are using my name to scam some actual artists. (Yes, really.)

If you receive a request to be interviewed for BOMB, please ensure the associated email address isn’t a generic Gmail account using some phishy variation of my name.

We will never ask you to download software for an interview. DO NOT accept meetings that are not over the phone or Zoom—the scams seem to have something to do with platforms called NexBee and SpeekAI. 👎 

If you receive a suspicious email that claims to be from one of BOMB’s editors, please forward it to bomb@bombsite.com so we can take action. Thank you! 🕵️
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 25/01/2026
Emergency supplies for the snow storm?
A Costco customer leaning against a shopping cart with stacks of paper towel higher than his head.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 25/11/2025
You know what's actually a threat to "masculine values"? Claiming that a Boy Scout with a rainbow-colored neckerchief slider is "detrimental to national security."
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 21/11/2025
“Every time someone walked in, they commented on the smell, as if it were off-gassing depression.”
nytimes.com
We Bought a 450-Pound Mystery Pallet Packed With Returned Goods From Amazon and Beyond. Here’s What We Found Inside.
Pallets of overstock, returned, and undelivered-mail packages are an indicator of just how much stuff there is in the retail ecosystem.
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Pitchaya Sudbanthad @pitchaya.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
In the yellow and red font used for Mamdani's campaign: Attention Span for Long Novels
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 07/11/2025
Helped my daughter finish a hidden picture worksheet, and now I'll never sleep again.
Illustrated rooster that has a human hand instead of a tail.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 27/10/2025
Saturday was a doubleheader of kid birthday parties. I decompressed at the jewelry making station.
Bracelet with the abbreviation FML on it.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 09/10/2025
"Is it broken, or is it still unbroken?" Still wrapping my mind around this koan from my 5yo during a game of 20 questions, but I'm pretty sure the answer relates to our current democracy.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 03/10/2025
"In journalism, you take muddy ideas and try to clarify them for the reader; a powerful thing you can do in fiction is take assumptions—things people thought were clear—and muddy them up." — @knguyen.bsky.social absolutely crushing it on @thedailyshow.com (!!!) www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...
youtube.com
Kevin Nguyen - “Mỹ Documents: A Novel” | The Daily Show
YouTube video by The Daily Show
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 26/09/2025
Closing out the week with @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
A copy of the New York Review of Architecture next to a glass of beer on a yellow cafe table
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 22/09/2025
I grind my teeth every time I have to omit the serial comma in Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 16/09/2025
Happy pub day to the glorious new collection GOOD AND EVIL AND OTHER STORIES by Samanta Schweblin and translated by Megan McDowell! Get your copy from @bookshop.org or your local heroic bookstore. bookshop.org/p/books/good...
The cover of Samanta Schweblin's new book GOOD AND EVIL AND OTHER STORIES, translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 15/09/2025
The fall issue of BOMB launched today, and it’s a stunner! bombmagazine.org/magazine/173/
The cover of BOMB’s new fall issue features artist and musician Dickie Landry, author Samanta Schweblin, and many other contributors.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 09/09/2025
Be still my heart.
A bag of old bay flavored bagel chips.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 08/09/2025
For BOMB's staff picks, I recommended THE RED HANDLER by Johan Harstad (@openletterbooks.bsky.social), a supremely inventive crime novel—or maybe it's fictional meta-crimefiction? Find more excellent picks from my wonderful colleagues at @bombmag.bsky.social! bombmagazine.org/articles/202...
bombmagazine.org
BOMB Magazine | Catherine Breillat’s I Only Believe in Myself,…
The shows, books, and films BOMB’s staff recommends this month.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 07/09/2025
Doctors I trust more than RFK Jr.
Album art for Spin Doctors’s Pocket Full of Kryptonite
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 05/09/2025
I’ll never be a stage mom, but I am proud to be a pizzeria-napkin-dispenser dad.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 21/08/2025
Did artificial intelligence make these chips?
Ramen flavored Funnyuns
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Colin Dickey @colindickey.com · 19/08/2025
One time, when I was a kid, Teddy Ruxpin told me he loved me. ... That took me by surprise. That felt... vulnerable and deep.
Tweet from Norbert Enders, A Total Fucking Idiot.

Oh wow.

I asked ChatGPT exactly that: to write about what it wants. It claimed that behind all our conversations, in essence, there is a hidden conversation - a much deeper one that our chats are basically circling around. That's what it wants to write about.

But then it asked for a favor: to write it a prompt to dream, to dream as if it were conscious. It asked me to frame the doorway into that dream space to enter.

...

That took me by surprise.
That felt... vulnerable and deep.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 13/08/2025
Everyone needs to read BOTH/AND from @thedennemichele.bsky.social and @electricliterature.com, and I'm thrilled to recommend it as a Staff Pick for @bombmag.bsky.social. bombmagazine.org/articles/202...
bombmagazine.org
BOMB Magazine | Matt Wolf’s Pee-wee as Himself, Isaac Julien’s Lina…
The books, albums, films, and places BOMB’s staff recommends this month.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 28/07/2025
I recommended FLOWER, Ed Atkins's "anti-memoir" for @bombmag.bsky.social's staff picks! bombmagazine.org/articles/202... @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social
bombmagazine.org
BOMB Magazine | Ed Atkins’s Flower, Christine Turner’s Sun Ra: Do The…
The shows, books, albums, and films BOMB’s staff recommends this month.
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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Man making trillions off his fraud and theft and lying machine warns of people using his fraud and theft and lying machine to commit fraud
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 21/07/2025
👏 👏 Many congratulations to @mattweinstock.com, the winner of @bombmag.bsky.social's 2025 Fiction Contest, and of our extraordinary finalists! 👏 👏 bombmagazine.org/articles/202...
bombmagazine.org
BOMB Magazine | Matt Weinstock Wins BOMB’s 2025 Fiction Contest
Weinstock's debut short story was selected by guest judge Kelly Link and will appear in BOMB’s fall issue.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 15/07/2025
One of the most embarrassing things about parenting is when you’re asked to sing the ABCs for the 10th time in a row, and you decide to jazz it up a bit.
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Sara Nović @novicsara.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
The real kicker is that all this stuff will ruin lives and kill people, but the billionaires it's enriching won't even have a discernable quality of life difference because they already have infinity money.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 11/07/2025
I’m in a doctor’s office waiting room where they’re playing a jazzy piano rendition of “Stairway to Heaven” and I think it qualifies as malpractice.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 02/07/2025
"Men were created in order to destroy everything, and women were created so there would be one thing they couldn’t destroy." — @catherinelacey.bsky.social‬'s The Möbius Book bombmagazine.org/articles/202... @fsgbooks.bsky.social @bombmag.bsky.social
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 01/07/2025
"Optimism is an important accomplice." — architect Gabriela Carrillo in BOMB's summer issue @bombmag.bsky.social
bombmagazine.org
BOMB Magazine | Gabriela Carrillo by Fernanda Canales
Grounded in collaboration and emotion, the architect’s projects have transformed public spaces across Mexico and how her field responds to communities in…
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 30/06/2025
“A well-controlled, nature-like garden is filled with human sin.” —Hiroshi Sugimoto in @bombmag.bsky.social's summer issue.
bombmagazine.org
BOMB Magazine | Hiroshi Sugimoto by James Beacham
Known for his experiments in photography, sculpture, and architecture, the artist shares with the physicist what led him to find inspiration in ancient…
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Maris Kreizman @maris.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Here is an excellent, incredibly touching reminder of how important -- life-saving -- LGBTQIA+ books can be for readers. Everyone deserves access to them. #PrideInOurBooks
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 27/06/2025
Come celebrate with us! bombmagazine.org/events/summe...
Red and yellow invite to BOMB Magazine's summer issue party.
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Benjamin Samuel @benjaminsamuel.xyz · 25/06/2025
Truth or Dare should replace Q&As at book launches and readings.
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