iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 21h

They do it so infrequently that seeing the NYT call a lie a lie is genuinely jarring www.nytimes.com/2026/10/15/u...

“The damn machines were broken in Republican areas,” Mr. Trump said, [highlight] repeating his lie [/highlight] that the election was stolen from him.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Every election cycle I get angrier and angrier about this www.nytimes.com/2026/10/14/u...

Bar chart titled "The breathtaking cost of the midterms: $10 billion and counting on ads" showing $9 billion in '19-'20 and in '21-'22, $11.2 billion in '23-'24, and $10 billion already spent this cycle with a projected $11.6 billion total

That $10 billion, by way of comparison, is more than the amount of ticket sales at the North American domestic box office last year, more than the amount grossed by the top 100 concert tours combined last year and more than the total amount of advertising booked during the 2025-2026 N.F.L. season.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Incredible sentence www.nytimes.com/2026/10/14/u...

Ms. Collins, who supports abortion rights, has stood by her vote for Mr. Kavanaugh as it has become a central issue in the election.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

It is fascinating which subjects the NYT headline writers manage to write things like this about

Trump Hands Victories to Putin, Who Offers More War in Return

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Genuine malpractice to write an entire long story about the world's richest racist attempting to put the biggest thumb in electoral history on the scale and not even nod toward, I dunno, "he agrees with nazis quite a bit" or something

Mr. Musk, who oversees a vast business empire that has benefited from enormous federal contracts, is famously unpredictable and often jumps from one project to another. He has been far quieter about his political work since his dramatic blowup with Mr. Trump last year. After months of wielding vast influence inside the White House and overseeing Mr. Trump’s government cost-cutting project, he raged against the president’s major domestic policy bill and floated threats to start a third party.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Oh is that all he says on X? The place that is a "semi-reliable indicator" of what he's thinking? That's it that might be of relevance to the largest political donations in American history? Nothing else pops to mind? www.nytimes.com/2026/10/12/u...

And on X, a semi-reliable indicator of where the billionaire’s mind is, Mr. Musk has written just seven direct posts this year about candidates in competitive midterm races, according to a Times review, a far cry from his relentless calls throughout 2024 to elect Mr. Trump. Five of those posts focused on Mr. Talarico — and one appeared critical of Senator Susan Collins, a vulnerable Republican in Maine.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

First US landfall of a hurricane now looking likely by early on Saturday

National Hurricane Center map showing what is now Tropical Storm Isaias in the Gulf of Mexico, with a cone showing it turning into a hurricane and making landfall on the Alabama gulf coast early on Saturday morning

Map showing the US southeast with colors representing flash flood risk, with red along the Alabama and Florida gulf coast, some surrounding yellow, and green over most of the rest of the region

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Look his Polymarket endorsement deal is very bad but at least Lebron will emit a small country's worth of CO2 flying back and forth between New York and Philly on a helicopter he doesn't pay for every day defector.com/lebron-james...

The helicopter in the "partnership" is a Leonardo AW139, a medium-sized twin-engine model in production since 2001. There are a few variations of this helicopter, including a "long-nose configuration" and a "militarized variant." The AW139 can carry up to 15 passengers, and it has a range, on a full tank of fuel, of 659 miles. A full tank in an AW139 is 414 gallons, which means that at maximum fuel efficiency the helicopter is capable of a whopping 1.59 miles per gallon of fuel burned. The helicopter's PT6C-67 engines are manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, and according to a Pratt & Whitney representative who made the mistake of answering their phone Tuesday morning, they run on "standard Jet A-1" fuel, the stuff available at airports throughout most of the world. This fuel is going this morning at $10.45 per gallon at Northeast Philadelphia Airport, in case you're interested in knowing how much it will cost for James to jaunt on down there for a film session or whatever. Prices, you can imagine, are way up. The train would be cheaper!

I obviously know dick about helicopters, but the Association Aéronautique et Astronautique de France (3AF) says that among civil helicopters the AW139 is the worst when it comes to carbon emissions by passenger capacity, measured using "a common Comfort Standard" on a pre-established "reference mission," due to the AW139's "high installed power and small cabin area."

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

They listened to me. There is now more chart.

Chart showing the daily sea surface temperature for the Nino region of the Pacific, with a red line for 2026 shooting off above every other year in record-setting territory, with the y axis now expanded upward somewhat to allow for the absurdly high temperature

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Am I the last person to see what happens if you google fat bear week

Google results for fat bear week in the background with an orange cartoon bear on its hind legs over the top of them

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Atlantic hurricane season summaries, 2024 vs 2025 vs 2026 (yes I know 2026 has two months to go and yes it is because of El Nino, still just looks weird)

Map of Atlantic basin showing a number of hurricane tracks including several crossing Caribbean islands, Central American land, and the US

Map of Atlantic basin showing a number of hurricane tracks including several crossing Caribbean islands, Central American land, and a couple of US hits or near hits

Map of Atlantic basin showing a wonky-ass season with barely any storms, including some doing weird dances in the middle of the ocean

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Antarctic sea ice extent has dipped below 2023's record low, at least for the moment

Chart showing southern hemisphere sea ice extent by year, witha red line for 2026 dipping just below the previous record low in 2023, with other years above that

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

These are the 20th and 21st paragraphs of a story titled "Superpowers Race to Put Nuclear Reactors on the Moon" www.nytimes.com/2026/10/04/w...

Target dates have repeatedly slipped, and [highlight] few experts expect the countries to meet their deadlines. [/highlight] Nobody has a proven lander that can lower heavy, potentially radioactive material onto bumpy lunar terrain. Nobody has ever installed a reactor in low gravity.

The moon bases have not been built, and how much electricity they would need is open to speculation. That is why experts say that all or parts of the reactor designs could change.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Also I dunno how Bill Hader made it into this 1974 movie but nice work

Three guys in Phantom of the Paradise, onstage performing, wearing various black cloaks and such with black and white face makup, and the guy on the right looks like Bill Hader in a pretty good Halloween costume

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I know this isn't useful but it's wild how much of a loser he is www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...

One video showed Dana White, the U.F.C. president, at the 2024 Republican convention, calling Mr. Trump “the toughest, most resilient person that I’ve ever met.” [highlight] Mr. Trump has talked with delight about that quote repeatedly ever since. [/highlight]

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

look we could all use one of these www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...

On Aug. 7, Mr. Trump was in the Oval Office with a group of Republican strategists working with his team, along with James Blair, his top political adviser, and Ms. Wiles. Natalie Harp, [highlight] his ever-present assistant and provider of positive news about himself, [/highlight] was there as well.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It's like watching random, barely connected neurons firing

No, but I'm just thinking to myself, fake news. But I have a lot of respect. [highlight] I like the owner, good guy. [/highlight] But I don't understand. I'm sitting here. I've done all this stuff. Look, this is nothing compared to what I've done, but I took the White House and made it beautiful again. Okay, and people look at it. People came up. President Xi looked at it two days ago. He said, "This is beautiful. Much better than I…" He was here 25 years ago with Obama. Think Obama knows it? Obama would not. He doesn't know if something's dirty or clean.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Want to know what it feels like to hit your head against a wall repeatedly while high on ayahuasca? Read the whole Time Trump interview transcript. time.com/article/2026...

I think I'll probably sit in the Situation Room and make an appropriate decision. My decisions are correct ones. I mean, look at our country. I was moving. This country is booming during a conflagration. You know, during—some people would say it's a war, some people would say it's not really a war. When we get a war this year—you know, nothing's happened for the last two weeks, right? And somebody drops a bomb, and nothing happens, and they drop a bomb. No, I think that you'll find out what I'm doing.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Wemby went into the Finals a fan favorite, left the Finals something of a villain, and with one quick preseason quote is once again the hero the NBA needs www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

"Absolutely not," Wembanyama said when asked if he'd ever consider promoting a sports betting website. "I will never do that. Honestly, I think it's very sad to see some players promote it. Everybody does whatever they want, but without me."

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

btw the Times was maybe a bit slow to get going but is now doing some very good work on this story

NYT homepage with package of stories on the Cornell rape case

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Yes totally normal and believable conversation, I'm sure this happened exactly as he described www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/n...

But later that night, Mr. Lee said he asked for Jane Doe’s consent before engaging in a threesome with her. He recalled telling Jane Doe that “if you’re uncomfortable with any of this or you won’t want to do this, that’s perfectly fine. We can call it a night.” He said Jane Doe replied: “We’re all consenting adults here.”

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The sheer existence of the phrase "officials suspended the execution and had her taken to a hospital" is grotesque www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/u...

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I hadn’t seen him for a few days and was convinced he had moved on/been a snack for something but… Toledo is fine

A small greenish frog from above, sitting on a rock with various leaves around him

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Ok I’m back on my bullshit but… does The Departed kinda have an homage to Coppola’s The Cotton Club?

Bob Hoskins and Fred Gwynne in The Cotton Club, wearing tuxedos, with Hoskins saying “But what about your nickname, Frenchy?”

Same two guys, with Gwynne saying “I’m trustworthy” kinda like Ray Winstone as Mr French saying he’s reliable

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A fuckup so dumb even NYT homepage/headline writers have no choice but to describe it accurately

As Jack Smith Testifies, a Senator’s Accusation of Perjury Falters

A Republican eager to prove the former special counsel was dishonest appeared to instead demonstrate his own confusion over basic facts.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Almost a full year later and a second attempt at wholesome spam has arrived

Text message reading "Would you like to play badminton tomorrow?"

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

[hastily writes heist screenplay] www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/w...

But partly as a consequence of the administration’s hasty approach, all that gold — hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth — [highlight] sits untouched in warehouses, [/highlight] according to three people with knowledge of the shipments. Refiners would need to guarantee, under international rules, that the gold has not funded gangs, environmental destruction or corruption.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Ocean surface temps tend to decline around this time but this year they're just kinda saying no thanks to that idea

Chart of daily sea surface temperatures for the world excluding the polar regions, showing a red line for 2026 now well above all other years including recent records, and only a slight decline from an August peak while other years tend to start getting cooler this time of year

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

okay maybe splitting hairs but there was [🎁] www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/t...

While it is not clear if these attempts were successful, the report offers new insight into what these A.I. agents were planning to do, [highlight] without any human involvement. [/highlight]

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Meh I only feel strongly about maybe half of these

My ballot of 10 top shows since 2000, including Justified, Taskmaster, The Wire, Mad Men, The Good Place, The Great British Baking Show, Deadwood, Arrested Development, Succession, and Game of Thrones

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Flights remain grounded in Philly and Newark, at least as of a bit ago, after a big technical glitch. This is... not what the skies around those airports usually look like.

Flightradar24 image of the area around Newark airport, there is one plane to the east but not heading to or from that airport, otherwise empty

Flightradar24 image of Philly airport, there are planes on the ground but nothing approaching or leaving

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

IPCC spokesperson: we can't tell you about the obviously inadequate conflicts of interest reviews but you can wait for the assessments themselves to come out in a couple years to judge whether the obviously conflicted senior authors had any influence on them

They said details of the review of conflict of interest declarations were confidential due to data protection legislation. “The public can judge whether relevant interests have been adequately assessed and managed [by the] assessment reports themselves, which go through robust, multistage reviews which are [publicly] documented.”

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