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Claire McNear

@clairemcnear.bsky.social
11K followers 318 following 194 posts

culture writer | wrote a book about Jeopardy! | geist that could've been polter along with zeit

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Reposted by Claire McNear
pixelatedboat aka “mr bluesky” @pixelatedboat.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Now that everyone has turned on Ed Sheeran I finally feel comfortable saying this: you shouldn’t be allowed to get a bunch of tattoos if you’re a musician who makes wuss music
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
heard you were looking for a 6000-word oral history of the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament slate.com/culture/2026...
slate.com
One of Jeopardy’s Most Beloved Traditions Vanished. I Spent Months Talking to the People Whose Lives It Changed. Then I Got Some News.
A call from the show’s executive producer brought some news.
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I’ve spent the last bit talking to dozens of alumni of Alex Trebek’s favorite part of Jeopardy!: the Teen Tournament. Come journey into what happens when you put 15 very smart teenagers on national TV, from queasy contestants and dance parties to romance and trivia glory: slate.com/culture/2026...
Jeff Haylon (2012 quarterfinalist): My hands were shaking so badly that I had to rest them on the stand in front of me with the buzzer. I don’t believe this is allowed anymore, but it was that or have people concerned I was undergoing a medical emergency of some kind.

Eschliman (2012): I was sitting in the audience while everyone else was taping, and when it was my turn to tape, I had sweated through my dress shirt. They ushered me backstage, had me raise my arms, and used a blow-dryer to try to mitigate the pit stains.

Zielenski (1995): I was often dry heaving and sipping on water. The others must have thought I was nuts.Hart (2011): When I won my quarterfinal, the second place, Raynell Cooper, got a wild card, and third place, Carlee Jensen, was just outside of the wild-card range, so she was the alternate for Day 2. As we were talking onstage while the credits rolled, Alex said, “You know, Carlee, there are some poisons you could slip in a teenager’s drink that would knock them out for, oh, 24 hours. You’re still in this!”

LaMonica (2016): I was a senior in high school at the time of filming, and my friends dared me to ask him to be my prom date. I at least knew that this was a bad idea to do during the contestant interview, so I waited until after the group picture was taken. I said something along the lines of, “Excuse me, Mr. Trebek, I know this is so silly and you can say no, but will you go to prom with me?” His response? Well, I actually included that I asked Alex to prom on my Hinge profile, and one man opened the match to my profile with: “What did he say?” I told him the truth, that “he gave me a curt no,” and the conversation sparked from there. I’m marrying that man next year.
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
(me, talking to a historian 20 years from now) I feel like the red queen could have been more specific
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
yeah I'm gonna need about a trillion more details about the time Queen Elizabeth went to a chimpanzee boxing match
Lenz joined a circus in Holland when he was 17 years old, and animal training became his specialty. After establishing himself internationally working with brown bears in various circuses, he was hired by Bertram Mills to train its team of six chimps. His wife, Ann, a trapeze artist and high-wire walker, joined him and together they helmed one of Bertram Mills’ most popular attractions.

Billy and the other chimps did somersaults on trampolines, rode bicycles, beat on drums and pretended to play musical instruments in a mariachi band, but the act that really got crowds going was the chimp boxing match. The elaborate spectacle featured chimps playing the roles of boxers, referees and nurses. Lenz chose Billy and another chimp, Pepe, as the fighters, and dubbed them “world chimpions of the ring” in his advertising. Nicknamed “The Professor” for his smarts, Billy was one of the troupe’s most engaging performers and best fit the role of The Champ. The matches highlighted Bertram Mills’ annual Christmas show at the Olympia in London, where Billy vanquished Pepe in front of audiences that included Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret.
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Amal El-Mohtar @amalelmohtar.com · 14/08/2026
Absolutely enormous respect to whoever understood that the necessary follow-up to “what if Reacher faced a larger man” is “what if Reacher held a tiny kitten”
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Reposted by Claire McNear
Patrick Hruby @patrickhruby.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Thrilled to share this @washingtonian.com banger from @chrisalmeida.bsky.social on unlikely DC influencer Tony P and his many, many online haters—which is really about the costs of the attention economy: washingtonian.com/2026/08/06/t...
washingtonian.com
Guess What? Tony P Hates You, Too.
Online ridicule helped DC influencer Anthony Polcari go viral—and make money. As his social-media star wanes, he’s looking to jump to television. But can he afford to leave his snarkiest followers beh...
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
oh hell yeah
blue car with a wisconsin plate reading BIRDGUY
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
my dad recently unearthed an old school project of mine where we had to illustrate scenes from the odyssey. OBVIOUSLY I chose the suitor slaughter
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
I like the wimbledon ad where they all take turns beating the shit out of a terrified moth. this is why I like tennis
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
I have instituted democracy in westeros (I cut all the little rope ladders off the dragons)
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
sorry to australia but how is the Personal Life section of this crazier than Disappearance en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_...
en.wikipedia.org
Harold Holt - Wikipedia
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
ann patchett will pay for her crimes
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Reposted by Claire McNear
Jackson O'Lantern-Brien @sprobeforebros.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
GREG DAVIES: seems like a kind of a shit task. Everyone just seems like they're going home normally. ALEX HORNE: well before you say that let's have a look at how Odysseus did. cut to panel of AJAX, MENELAUS, AGAMEMNON, and DIOMEDES who are all staring at ODYSSEUS with his head in his hands
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
anyway I live in new york now new york friends: let’s hang! new york editors: let’s talk! clairemcnear@gmail.com
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
would like to give the brainiacs of Westminster, CO, a hand for using the trivia team name In The Form Mothra Question in the national Jeopardy bar league (winner gets an IRL audition, glory, etc.) www.jeopardybarleague.com/leaderboard/
national leaderboard of 10 trivia teams from around the country. In The form Mothra Question is in 10th place
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
after a decade in DC I am moving away. it is because of the DC streetcar. I moved here the weekend it opened and I simply refuse to live in a city without such a vital public resource
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
More and more people are keeping exotic venomous snakes as pets. What happens when they get bitten? Here’s me in @wired.com on the network of zookeepers saving lives across the country: www.wired.com/snake-bros-a...
wired.com
Snake Bros Keep Getting Bitten by Their Lethal Pets. Only Zoos Can Save Them
Your venomous serpent bites you, and the clock is ticking. America’s zookeepers—and a cooler full of rare antivenom—are your best chance of survival.
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Reposted by Claire McNear
Erik Hane @erikhane.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
<I’m wheeled into the Pitt> Santos: male, 36, at happy hour, now saying “tummy feel crazy” Al-Hashimi: 47% of men’s bodies reject modern IPAs. They’re too hoppy now Robi: the silent killer. Get him to surgery McKay <alone now, staring straight at camera>: I am the same type of communist as you
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
have possibly accidentally trained the mockingbird who I have been giving snacks so that today she stood on the bench on my deck and wing flashed at me, inside
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Luke Knox @lukeknox.me · 29/03/2026
Thread: Luciano Pavarotti summer mood board
Luciano Pavarotti with watermelon
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Pete Volk @petevolk.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
another banner day for "if you didn't know sports were real, ESPN headlines would be crazy"
Top headlines: Tiger arrested on suspicion of DUI after crash. Sources: Sun sold, will relocate to Houston in '27
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Dan Devine @yourmandevine.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Not every consensus of the past is worth clinging to, of course. But as a society, we are making an enormously risky bet: that we can reap the rewards of a runaway gambling industry without paying any price; that the litany of social ills long associated with this vice—addiction and impoverishment, isolation and abuse, cheating and chasing and corrosive idleness—can, this time, be kept in check; that, unlike every civilization that came before us, we can beat the house.

What are the odds that we’re right?
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
weird that's also my job
"Justin Timberlake Awkwardly Explains His Job to Police in DWI Arrest Footage: 'It's Hard to Explain ... I'm Justin Timberlake'"
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
do yourself a favo(u)r and watch LAST ONE LAUGHING: www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...
rollingstone.com
'Last One Laughing UK' Is the Reality Show You Didn't Know You Needed
'Last One Laughing,' kicking off Season 2 on Prime, pits 10 comics in a war of attrition. It's the most delightfully unserious competition on TV.
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Reposted by Claire McNear
Show Pussy On Regular TV @turdguy.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
You hate to drop game 1, but I was proud of the way our guys fought and I still like our chances. - Mark DeRosa postgame
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
nobody was doing it like Trebek
black and white photo of Trebek in a suit brandishing a cookie in a horse's face as he looks at it accusinglyscreencap of article text: "Attired in an expensive washboard-stiff gray suit, white dress shirt (dress shirts go on white hangers, sport shirts on dark hangers, in his compulsively organized closet), the host of Jeopardy! was feeding an oatmeal cookie to a carriage horse on Sixth Street.
(Name of the horse Alex Trebek fed in Philadelphia. What is "Mr. Bojangles?")
"You're gonna love me, do I have a treat for you," said Trebek, who occasionally betrays a slight irritation with those who don't perform up to his expectations.
"Oh, you spit it out, you dippo."
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Emily St. James @emilystjams.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
somebody out there survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks and then bumped into the cast of Everybody Loves Raymond in Central Park
for Season 6 Premier the cast were scheduled to appear on CBS' The Early Show and The Rosie O'Donnell Show on September 11, 2001; due to the terrorist attacks, the latter was cancelled, and the cast remained at their hotel in New York. Romano later stated that in the afternoon the cast went for a walk in Central Park and met someone who had been at the World Trade Center and was unable to get home so they decided to take them back to the hotel gave them a room and invited them to dine with them that evening.
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
YES I WROTE ABOUT THE FINAL JEOPARDY WIZARDRY www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...
rollingstone.com
How Contestant Alison Betts Gamed 'Jeopardy!' -- And Went Viral
'Jeopardy!' winner Alison Betts explains the wagering strategy that led her to a come-from-behind victory and the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament.
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It's Luke! Over Here Now! @ssjspeedracer.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
this quote is so fucking good
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
YES I WROTE ABOUT THE FINAL JEOPARDY WIZARDRY www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...
rollingstone.com
How Contestant Alison Betts Gamed 'Jeopardy!' -- And Went Viral
'Jeopardy!' winner Alison Betts explains the wagering strategy that led her to a come-from-behind victory and the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament.
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
think everyone on this site deserves the chance to meet Bubbles
screencap of a tweet post by Ron Magill. there is a photo of an nightmarishly ghoulish chimpanzee grinning (??) while holding a bunch of grapes with the following caption: "Today, Bubbles, a chimpanzee at Zoo Miami, celebrated her 63rd birthday, making her the oldest chimpanzee on record in ZIMS (Zoological Information Management Software) in North America! She was very happy with the special treats she received as part of the celebration!"
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
sensational scenes in r/washingtondc
screenshot of a reddit post with an imagine of an ice chopper shovel for sale and the caption "If your an individual, business or faith group who hasn’t done jack, your gonna need this. You waited far too long to try using your dinky plastic shovel."a reply reading "Took OP's advice and bought.

There are huge dents in my car now."a subsequent reply telling the person who said they dented their car "Man I hope you’re kidding…" to which they replied "Not kidding. Never getting advice here again"
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
screaming, hissing, booing at the first home on the grand designs australia crossover episode with kevin mccloud that doesn’t feature a cat (hasn’t happened yet, it is all cats lolling in architectural masterpieces, just preparing myself and also my cat)
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
on an amtrak pulling into union station just before the snow starts and they’ve instructed everyone trying to go further than DC to meet in the cafe car for what I can only assume is the announcement that agatha christie is their new conductor
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
what I would like to know is how the preexisting Mr. and Mrs. Met ended up leaving at the same time. were they fired and what for
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
this is great
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
UCL just sent out a round of invites for upcoming alumni events in the US and uhh ummm uhhhhhhhh I am not sure that is the photo of Boston I would have chosen here
promo blurbs for events in Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston with generic tourism photos for each city. Boston's is the site of the Boston Massacre
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
the facebook birder group giveth; the facebook birder group taketh
screenshot of a facebook post from the group Backyard Bird Lovers with the caption “Dark Eyed Junco [Junco hyemalis]. A monent after this picture was taken a Sharp Shinned Hawk dove from out of nowhere killing the bird in a instant. Tioga County, Pa. 12-11-25.” below are two images: the first features a beautiful little junco pecking at seeds in the snow and the second features the claws of a hawk with the beautiful little junco upside down and wings spread in its clutches
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"max" @ringworm.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
(to the tune of "feliz navidad") denis villeneuve
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
just going to put it out there that I am scared for everyone (attendees, children, pets, the world generally) about what Gritty is going to do at the Fourth Wing/Flyers event www.gofevo.com/group/Flyers...
gofevo.com
2025-26 Fourth Wing Ticket Package
Choose Your Quadrant. Enter the Fourth Wing.Flyers Fans can choose their quadrant with two Fourth Wing–inspired ticket packages—each granting access to the Flyers game and exclusive co-branded merch.D...
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
two words: RODDY. HO. www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...
rollingstone.com
The 10 Best TV Performances of 2025
The best TV acting of the year from Tramell Tillman in 'Severance' to Noah Wyle in 'The Pitt,' Michelle Williams in 'Dying for Sex' and more.
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
wrote about two shows that made me cover my eyes (only one of which featured evanescence, tragically) (?) www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...
rollingstone.com
The 15 Best TV Shows of 2025
The 15 best TV shows of 2025, from 'The Studio' and 'The Pitt' to 'Severance,' 'Adolescence,' 'Pluribus' and more.
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Bodega Cats @bodegacats.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
JOURNALISM HACK: imply that major event was staged. follow up by specifying that actually you have no idea but maybe someone else knows??? stop being so nosy losers
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
canonically lizza rhymes with pizza
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
please, science, resurrect the tasty sea cow www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
nationalgeographic.com
The 30-foot sea cow quickly hunted to extinction because of its tasty meat
Few complete skeletons remain of this gentle behemoth, who was destroyed by explorers and fur traders in the Arctic.
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
mike white is right. in fact I DO need to hear the white lotus theme rendered on accordion
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
loved Flesh. weird and sad and terrific. read Flesh!!!
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Claire McNear @clairemcnear.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
wrote about PATRIOT, a double great show, over at @rollingstone.com for its anniversary, with thoughts from Steven Conrad, Terry O’Quinn, and Kurtwood Smith: www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...
rollingstone.com
Inside 'Patriot,' the Cult-Favorite Spy Caper You Should Be Watching
'Patriot' creator Steven Conrad and stars Kurtwood Smith and Terry O'Quinn reflect on the short-lived Amazon spy series, which debuted 10 years ago.
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