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Bill Mitchell

@bostonbill.bsky.social
255 followers 283 following 25 posts

Retired journalist who can still type. Not the other Bill Mitchell(s). Priors: @ncronline, Poynter, Detroit Free Press, etc. In Boston w/ spouse of 55 years and a dog named Benny, upstairs from grandkids who keep us younger than we look. www.bmitch.org.

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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Here's a look at journalism that confronts the powerful and centers the vulnerable, useful for anyone interestied in getting at the truth and nailing stuff downl
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
AI is evolving from a personal assistant to more of a team player, but troubling privacy and surveillance issues persist. We know what it’s like when a room full of people hash out an answer to a tough question. How will that work with AI chairing the meeting? howtrue.substack.com/p/a-room-ful...
howtrue.substack.com
A room full of people focused on a single thing. Can AI do that?
Collaboration wins out over the individual genius approach time after time. AI is evolving from a solo assistant to more of a team player along with growing concerns about privacy and surveillance.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Remember that quote? In my Substack newsletter, I tell the story of how I stumbled on the story of what Jimmy Carter had to say about Ted Kennedy. howtrue.substack.com/p/a-simple-q...
howtrue.substack.com
A Simple Question and a Surprising Answer: Inside an Iconic Quote of Presidential Politics
This is the story of a two-word question that prompted way more than I bargained for.
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Reposted by Bill Mitchell
Dan Kennedy @dankennedy.net · 30/10/2025
Bill Mitchell reports that Bill McKibben is modestly optimistic about humankind's ability to innovate its way out of the climate crisis. howtrue.substack.com/p/bill-mckib...
howtrue.substack.com
Bill McKibben on Good News That's Also True
The self-described "bummer outer" pinpoints reasons for hope amid the climate crisis.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Have you ever fallen for a scam? I did. My true confession and what I learned about the "dysregulation of emotions" that did me in -- and that Trump is using to bamboozle so much of the nation. howtrue.substack.com/p/how-i-fell....
howtrue.substack.com
How I Fell for the Jury Duty Scam
And learned how scammers and fear-mongering politicians rely on something known as "dysregulation of emotions" to block people's access to the truth
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
I spent some time with some extremists the other day. It was time well spent. howtrue.substack.com/p/to-find-th...
howtrue.substack.com
To Find the Truth, Go to Extremes
Gathered in the woods in central Massachusetts, a group of everyday extremists connects with the Wood Wide Web and finds solidarity
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Today's topic on HOW TRUE: Humility. Tom Fiedler reflects on the role that humility played in ending the presidential campaign of Gary Hart. And how advice from the late, great Gene Miller shaped the way that Tom has asked questions ever since. howtrue.substack.com/p/how-humili...
howtrue.substack.com
How Humility Brought Down a Presidential Campaign
And what that suggests about the role of humility in nailing stuff down
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
We know Trump's truth decay needs constant fact-checking. But beyond that, what should we be doing about his lies? Five suggestions: howtrue.substack.com/p/what-to-do...
howtrue.substack.com
What To Do About Trump's Truth Decay
Five steps we can all take to resist his authoritarian distortion of reality
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
Started a Substack and hoping Bluesky users will take a look. The idea: Tracking what it takes to nail stuff down, sorting fact from fiction. On the advice of Substack friends, I kicked it off with something personal: getting fired from my first newspaper job: howtrue.substack.com/p/fired-at-2...
howtrue.substack.com
Fired at 20, Still Sorting Fact from Fiction 56 Years Later
It was 60 years ago this summer that I got my first job as an intern reporter at The Day newspaper in New London, Ct.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
I got the sample of Red Clay to see what former Detroit Free Press colleague @cbfancher.bsky.social had written. I soon clicked "buy this book." This historical novel is a great read and eye-opening about Reconstruction & Jim Crow. Quite timely as Jim Crow re-appears. www.amazon.com/Red-Clay-Cha...
amazon.com
Red Clay
Red Clay - Kindle edition by Fancher, Charles B.. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Red Clay.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Speaking truth to power: The Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Right Rev. Mariann Budde, addresses Trump directly and asks him to show mercy toward the innocent people his policies are targeting. Watch the minute and a half video here: apnews.com/article/trum...
apnews.com
At inaugural prayer service, bishop pleads for Trump to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ people and migrants
At the inaugural prayer service, the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, asked President Donald Trump to have mercy on the LGBTQ+ community and undocumented migrant workers.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Thanks to former student Zolan Kanno-Youngs for this summary of some of Trump's executive orders. Among the most troubling: the cancelation of flights for Afghan refugees who have spent years being vetted & approved for entry to the U.S. www.nytimes.com/video/us/pol...
nytimes.com
Video: Trump’s Day 1 Crackdown on Immigration
President Trump’s executive actions on immigration were the leading edge of an effort to upend the United States’ role as a sanctuary for refugees and immigrants. Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a White House cor...
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
A couple of Catholics with an opportunity to save some lives. The pope did his part. Will the president? www.ncronline.org/vatican/vati...
ncronline.org
Pope Francis makes urgent appeal on behalf of U.S. death row inmates
Pope Francis on Dec. 8 made a special appeal for the lives of death row inmates in the United States to be spared.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Insightful and personal audio essay by Carlos Lozada: www.nytimes.com/2024/10/21/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Sorry, Trump: ‘There Is No American Race or Blood That Outsiders Can Pollute’ (Gift Article)
Identity-first arguments are flawed. The former president forced me to make one.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Speaking of pardons & commutations: As a candidate in 2020, President Biden promised to end the federal death penalty. With 40 men on federal death row across the U.S. (another 2,200 are awaiting execution in state prisons), Biden can make good on his word. Will he? www.ncronline.org/news/catholi...
ncronline.org
Catholic advocates push Biden to commute federal death penalty sentences
With 40 inmates on federal death row and the clock ticking on President Joe Biden's term, Catholic Mobilizing Network is calling for decisive action. They want Biden to use his remaining time in offic...
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Another good reason to get to Paris next year. Tip of the hat to Tom Heneghan for this glimpse of the restored Notre Dame. www.thetablet.co.uk/news/transfo...
thetablet.co.uk
Transformed Notre Dame revealed after five year reconstruction - The Tablet
Inside Notre Dame cathedral used to be one if the darkest places in Paris. Now, five years after the building was almost destroyed in an accidental fire, it’s
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
One of Boston’s most famous picture frames. Des and Mateo on the case. Mateo: “I have some suspects.”
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Good situationer on Bluesky, explaining why so many of us are enjoying it.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Jennifer Rubin on the achievements of ProPublica and the potential of non-profit news (I'm thinking ncronline.org, of course.) www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Our democracy needs a different model for journalism
Informed voters are increasingly an endangered species. ProPublica’s nonprofit model could help save them.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
The news is grim -- Trump nominating one bozo after another, the Senate failing to restrain Israel, etc. -- but hope remains. Thanks to @dangillmor.bsky.social and his Cornerstone of Democracy newsletter for recommending this from Elizabeth Warren, which I'd missed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2MS....
youtube.com
Elizabeth Warren Responds to the 2024 Election
YouTube video by Elizabeth Warren
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Biden is ending his term with a whimper, caving to Netanyahu yet again. Biden had warned that, if Israel failed to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza significantly within 30 days, there would be consequences. Deadline was a week ago. There have been no consequences. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/w...
nytimes.com
Aid Deliveries to Gaza Remain Low Despite U.S. Warning to Israel
The Biden administration gave Israel 30 days to increase the flow of aid, warning that aid shipments into Gaza in September had reached an alarmingly low level.
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Reposted by Bill Mitchell
Michelle Boorstein @michelleboorstein.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Pope Francis is calling for an investigation into whether genocide is taking place in Gaza. Francis has also offered one the strongest defenses of Israel by a sitting pope www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...
washingtonpost.com
Pope calls for investigation on whether genocide is taking place in Gaza
While Pope Francis has criticized the war before, this is the first time he has publicly suggested an investigation, according to excerpts from a new book.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Here's a good Terry Gross interview w/ David Remnick and Marty Baron. Baron's list of ways Trump will go after the press is staggering, but simply reflects Trump's own words. Baron's take on where journalism has fallen short sounds right to me. What do you think? www.npr.org/2024/11/20/n...
npr.org
Veteran news editor expects Trump 'to go after the press in every conceivable way'
Former Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron says he thinks Trump is "salivating for the opportunity to prosecute and imprison journalists." New Yorker editor David Remnick agrees.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Here's an anecdotal but interesting (and sobering) take on how a few leaders of the resistance to Trump's first term are feeling this time around. About a half hour of audio from the NYT The Daily: www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/p...
nytimes.com
From Resistance to Reflection
When Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, it prompted an outpouring of protests. What will happen this time?
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Reposted by Bill Mitchell
Robert Stribley @stribs.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Hope Musk sees this headline.
vox.com
Bluesky brings the fun, weird vibes of old Twitter back to life
As more users flee X, a clearer, sunnier social media age is dawning.
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
If only my church could get its head screwed on right when it comes to sex, what a wonderful world it would be. www.ncronline.org/news/transge...
ncronline.org
Transgender Catholics face barriers to religious life, find peace in communities
Despite faith and commitment, transgender Catholics face rejection from religious orders due to their gender identities. Yet, they find support in faith communities and have an informal network to nav...
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Bill Mitchell @bostonbill.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
I'd throw in a couple of issues, especially Gaza, but I think Bernie Sanders gets it mostly right in explaining Trump's victory: www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/p...
nytimes.com
Bernie Sanders Says Democrats Have Lost Their Way
An interview with the Vermont senator on the fallout of the election defeat.
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Reposted by Bill Mitchell
Lydia Polgreen @polgreen.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Every so often I think of this deeply reported story from January about Black religious leaders warning Biden about Gaza. www.nytimes.com/2024/01/28/u...
nytimes.com
Black Pastors Pressure Biden to Call for a Cease-Fire in Gaza
Black congregants’ dismay at President Biden’s posture on the war could imperil his re-election bid.
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Reposted by Bill Mitchell
Senator Ed Markey @markey.senate.gov · 15/11/2024
Donald Trump is planning his first tax hike on American drivers—$7500 out of your pocket just to do the bidding of his Big Oil buddies. Polluters profit and we get poorer in Trump’s economy. www.reuters.com/business/aut...
reuters.com
Exclusive: Trump's transition team aims to kill Biden EV tax credit
President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
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Reposted by Bill Mitchell
National Catholic Reporter @ncronline.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
NCR spoke with "Conclave" director Edward Berger and actors Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini about accuracy in liturgical portrayals, the role of faith in the creative process, and thoughts about spiritual leadership.
ncronline.org
Interview with Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini and Edward Berger on making 'Conclave'
NCR spoke with "Conclave" director Edward Berger and actors Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini about accuracy in liturgical portrayals, the role of faith in the creative process, and thoughts about...
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Reposted by Bill Mitchell
cookiesinheaven.bsky.social @cookiesinheaven.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
@craignewmark.bsky.social
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