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Hal Espen

@halsf.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.2K following 574 posts

Formerly at The New Yorker and Outside, currently in Santa Fe, presently in Seattle and environs. Now listening to on vinyl.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Hal Espen
Colin @colin-fraser.net · 02/10/2026
( > It never produces facts which are not plagiarized, copied, regurgitated. outputs are random, of course. So let's say it *almost* never produces facts which are not plagiarized, copied, regurgitated. But this distinction is not very important. You get the idea. )
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Reposted by Hal Espen
Caroline Fraser @calfraser.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hoboes and their history — www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
nybooks.com
Boxcar to Nowhere | Caroline Fraser
American lore about hoboes has sugared over the economic and environmental forces that drove people from their homes and onto the rails and roads in the first place, as a new history lays out.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The hysterical hyperbolic self-medicating ecstasy expressed in this era of New York Time cooking display copy — “My Wife Is Actually Crying Right Now Because This Cake Is So Good” — might not be so weird without the pervasive lack of affect or anything radical in other regions of the house style.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Neil Sheehan was furious about Nixon revisionism after the disgraced President’s death. “Mr. Nixon's…failure to respond to [the war in Vietnam] wisely brought death and suffering to his country and Indochina, and ultimately wrought his own destruction in the series of crimes known as Watergate.”
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Reposted by Hal Espen
Kate Carpenter @katecarp.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hey it's @robertsuits.bsky.social and THE HOBO in the NYRB! Hooray! www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
nybooks.com
Boxcar to Nowhere | Caroline Fraser
American lore about hoboes has sugared over the economic and environmental forces that drove people from their homes and onto the rails and roads in the first place, as a new history lays out.
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Reposted by Hal Espen
🧌🥛 🏨 @comraderobot.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
we gotta prevent taylor swift from making music until she does drugs. lots of em. hard stuff too.
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Reposted by Hal Espen
Caroline Fraser @calfraser.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Twas ever thus— Like My Jesus Sweatshirt? How Christianity Went Consumerist. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/b...
nytimes.com
Like My Jesus Sweatshirt? How Christianity Went Consumerist.
In “Live Laugh Love,” Kristin Kobes Du Mez examines how Christian women absorbed the idea that material abundance was evidence of divine favor.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Kael Vidal Caro Heads Stones Verlaine Cannonball Kubrick Altman… I rock of you!
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Reposted by Hal Espen
elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Friend shared this video of a man unveiling the library he hid when he fled Damascus in 2011. It’s incredible
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Pass on, hiker.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Reposting with little more than an anemic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ is not effective resistance and a form of serious critique, it’s pretty much propaganda amplification for engagement and cultivating the frisson of creeped-out rubbernecking converted into likes.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
On the other hand this weak fatalistic deploring while efficiently conveying Trump messaging verges on being his willing data mule (to use the @emptywheel.bsky.social term). You get risk-free engagement, DJT gets amplification.
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Reposted by Hal Espen
Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The NYT ran an article in April raising questions about Trump’s mental status, quoting people calling him “clearly insane,” “an extremely sick person,” “unhinged,” “out of control,” “batshit crazy,” and “a genocidal lunatic.” Then they never mentioned it again. presswatchers.org/2026/04/new-...
presswatchers.org
New York Times finally reports on concerns that Trump is ‘clearly insane’ | Press Watch
That’s a big deal. But now what? It’s more than a one-day story.
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Reposted by Hal Espen
Joel Pinckney @jpinckney.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
New one today for @defector.com: in the wake of the most recent declaration of reading's demise, I was curious what booksellers, almost always ignored by the post-literate prognosticators, made of such claims. Here's what they told me:
defector.com
What Do Booksellers Make Of “The End Of Reading”? | Defector
If you haven’t yet encountered the cover story for the August issue of The Atlantic, I have some bad news to share: “The End of Reading Is Here.” It’s an intentionally provocative headline for a sligh...
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Reposted by Hal Espen
Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 26/08/2026
randomly giving out genuine compliments is such an easy way to make the world a little nicer, i'm always surprised more people haven't figured that out and have a ton of respect for those who have
Screenshot of tweet by Eminem. Text of Eminem's post reads: 

I'm sorry we never got a chance to meet, but getting this note from Dolly really had a an impact on me. She definitely didn't have to take the time to do it.  Even for a kid who mostly listened to rap music, she was an icon. A superstar in every sense. Rest easy Dolly. And thank you for the kind words.

Attached is an image of a classy and generous letter Dolly Parton sent to Eminem after missing a chance to meet him at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
The best investigative reporting in the New York Times often dissipates and fades without crusading follow-through. Meanwhile there are the bizarre crusades the paper does prosecute — But Her Emails, Mamdani Threat Alerts, etc. And relentlessly, Reefer Madness. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Today’s Weed Is Way Too Dangerous for Teens
Are we willing to regulate and enforce cannabis safety, especially to protect the most vulnerable among us?
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Reposted by Hal Espen
Elliott Lusztig @elliottlusztig.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
The leader of Canada just gave a speech where he said the US "attacked" his nation, and we are now "at war." There are VERY few Americans who support this crap, but Washington DC is so busted no one will stop Trump. If you voted for this: Go straight to hell. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/22/w...
nytimes.com
Carney Slams U.S.-Canada Trade Proposal and Vows Retaliation
Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a powerful speech to Canadians on Saturday morning, hours after ordering negotiators to suspend U.S. trade talks despite President Trump’s punishing tariffs.
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Reposted by Hal Espen
James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Further on Carney's speech: It was full of careful bits of rhetoric like ones noted here. More powerful when spoken, w with carefully matched emphasis, than they might look on the page. All the more powerful for being so simple and direct. Plain, short words. "Ask not..." "I have a dream.."
Speech text:

We cannot accept what they have offered, and we will not give what they have asked.

In short, they asked too much and offered too little.

The new U.S. tariffs are designed to hurt and divide us. 
They are a miscalculation, because Canadians will always take care of each other.

We are vacationing in our national parks. Buying Canadian products. Choosing Canadian.
Small acts of solidarity. Repeated millions of times that make a statement: we are the masters of our destiny.

Last spring, I warned that America is trying to break us so that they can own us.
And I promised: “That will never, ever happen.”

Canada is becoming stronger and less dependent on America. 
We are already giving ourselves more than they can take away.
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Reposted by Hal Espen
Andrew Sabl @andysabl.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Full text of Mark Carney’s speech yesterday. Here’s a line that few are reporting but that seems crucial: because the US no longer can make—or wants to make—credible commitments, it’s kneecapped its own ability to reach agreements. www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/spee...
Our government understood, before many, that America would transform all its commercial relationships. That it would put a series of tariffs on its closest allies and use
economic integration as a weapon. That its signature was
written in pencil. [Last sentence emphasized by poster.]
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Reposted by Hal Espen
New Yorker Covers 365 @newyorkercovers365.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
AUGUST 23, 1982 ARTIST: Saul Steinberg ADVERTISEMENT: Oneida | | | | | | #newyorkercovers #newyorker #newyorkermag #saulsteinberg #steinberg #illustration #1982 #dogtricks #violin #recital #sheetmusic #vintageads #oneida #silver #icecream
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Excellent. This album came out just before I moved to NYC to make a wild stab at a career, and I too took all of its convictions and admonitions to heart. “The men at the factory are old and cunning / You don’t owe nothing so boy get running / It’s the best years of your life they want to steal”…
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Ross Douthat: “the rare Times columnist who commanded respect across the political spectrum”
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
ICE fascists brutally swept up patients, parents, and children at La Familia, a Santa Fe community health clinic just across the river from our house. mailchi.mp/searchlightn...
mailchi.mp
ICE arrests further strain healthcare for immigrants
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Reposted by Hal Espen
Source New Mexico @sourcenm.com · 20/08/2026
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) said officials told her during her inspection of an Estancia detention facility that ICE agents detained eight people in Santa Fe on Wednesday. sourcenm.com/2026/08/20/n...
sourcenm.com
New Mexico U.S. Rep. Leger Fernández denounces ICE arrest in Santa Fe healthcare clinic parking lot • Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Democratic congresswoman's made a "disappointing" visit to an ICE detention facility to seek answers on the arrest Wednesday.
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Reposted by Hal Espen
The Santa Fe New Mexican @thenewmexican.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
As the Frijoles Fire continues to burn in the Pecos Wilderness near Cundiyó, U.S. Forest Service officials have issued a temporary closure for a central chunk of the Santa Fe National Forest. sfnm.co/4qnVrAj
sfnm.co
Temporary closure issued in Santa Fe National Forest as Frijoles Fire burns 9,300 acres
More than 650 firefighters were assigned to the Frijoles Fire on Sunday.
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Reposted by Hal Espen
davidc1935.bsky.social @davidc1935.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
George Shearing, Nina Simone, Duke Ellington and Buddy Rich at the Madison Square Garden jazz festival in 1959. (Photo by Herb Snitzer)
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Just spent an hour liking hundreds of Reacher kitten takes and they say social media is bad.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Eloquent alt text (positive) 👍
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
“a mug of the internal tech memes post that says”
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Reposted by Hal Espen
The Santa Fe New Mexican @thenewmexican.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
NEW: The Frijoles Fire grew to 6,200 acres overnight as the blaze continued to expand amid dry and hot conditions in the Santa Fe National Forest, raising concerns across Northern New Mexico Tuesday morning. A smoke advisory has been issued. sfnm.co/4fUfxPi
santafenewmexican.com
Frijoles Fire increases to 6,200 acres overnight; smoke advisory issued
Santa Fe County officials ordered residents of about 10 homes on Camino del Cañon in Cundiyó to evacuate.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
"People are ready to listen" is a key insight in the review itself. But despite the appropriately dire and dsystopian problems discussed, I missed the message that resistance is now futile.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
"Now that it's too late, people are ready to listen" is exquisite doomer fatalism.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Frijoles Fire, northeast Santa Fe County, New Mexico, August 8, 1,000 acres
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Old-school multilateral humblebragging at its finest.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
He's also recommending Caroline Fraser's Prairie Fires.... www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-lif...
winnipegfreepress.com
On the night table: Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead
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Reposted by Hal Espen
whet moser @whetmoser.com · 05/08/2026
“If built as planned, the gas burning plants — scattered across states including Texas, Ohio and Wyoming — could release as much planet-warming pollution in a year as roughly half of all the passenger vehicles in the United States”
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Definitely here to stay, definitely legions of can't-stand-the-whole-thing non-fans (cf. the famous Garcia quote about licorice). Which Dead Heads like me don't mind. My local heroes growing up, a great bus ride through to the late 70's. Weir loved McCoy Tyner (with no pretence the Dead were jazz).
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
“Don’t repost AI slop.”
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
I’ll still listen to the radio show, but I’m unfollowing this account for its grotesque embrace of hideous neo-fascist AI art.
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Reposted by Hal Espen
Aaron Hedge @aaronhedge.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
The Spokesman is doing incredible reporting on this story. Follow them for critical info. @alexdugganreports.bsky.social www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
spokesman.com
'Never seen it this bad': Thousands evacuated in north Spokane as wildfire crosses river into city
A wildfire driven by high winds jumped the Spokane River Saturday afternoon, burning homes and quickly moving into the Indian Trail Neighborhood.
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Reposted by Hal Espen
Mike Donohue @mikedmystery.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Colson Whitehead's three favorite reads of the past five years: Hernan Diaz, Patrick Radden Keefe, and Caroline Fraser's MURDERLAND — about the possible causes of the serial killer epidemic in the '60s through '80s.
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How to Die and Be Reborn in Colson Whitehead’s New York
The Pulitzer Prize–winning author opens up about midlife, the state of writing, and how his new book, ‘Cool Machine,’ makes sense of the world
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
AI is, in fact escapable. I'm escaping it right now. I'll never not escape it. The sinister trope promising/threatening that inundation by AI is ineluctable and involuntary is *definitely* inescapable, though — repeated endlessly to manufacture consent and make resistance seem Luddite and futile.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Once again an extremely useful elevated view of a compelling locale of the movie landscape.
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Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01) @repstansbury.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
NM is making waves! This year, helping to cover Medical School to keep doctors & healthcare professionals at home! So proud of our #NMLeg & Governor Lujan Grisham for making this investment in our healthcare system. And proud to have helped kick this program off years ago with Speaker Martinez!
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Christopher Brown @christopherbrown.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Field Notes from a July visit to SpaceX’s South Texas Starbase, where the launch gantries tower over one of our wildest coastal wildernesses, and the alligators bellow back when the rockets fire: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/rocket-sum...
fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com
Rocket Summer
No. 199
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
You’re welcome.
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Pure poison and darkness to read a seemingly heartfelt *bylined* blog tribute to a late writer whose work I revere, offering an account of his career and distinctive contributions, and this is how the remembrance ends: [this lightly edited profile was created by Claude, 9/6/25]
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Many stories have conveyed how crass and insulting Trump's "speech" last night was. Few have conveyed how literally insane he sounded. Long, LONG disquisition on The Ballroom, complete with "Sir" stories. Claim that 450k people came to hear him on July 4. Iran has no remaining weapons. WHCA: Why??
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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Unfortunately there's no such category as Sociopathic AI Slop Except It's For a Good Cause...
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