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Matt Pearce

@mattdpearce.com
56K followers 1.4K following 2.2K posts

May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house. Opinions are my own (but they are correct) mattdpearce.substack.com

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Reposted by Matt Pearce
Mel Buer @melbuer.bsky.social · 1h
In a rare Newsom W, today he signs AB 2222, the Community NEWS Act, which would establish some of the best tax incentives/rebates for newsrooms in the country. It would send $40M/year back into California newsrooms to keep journalists employed. Check out the presser happening live right now:
youtube.com
Governor Newsom Signs Legislation & Speaks with Media
YouTube video by California Governor Gavin Newsom
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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I think about this interview with the distinguished philosopher Conan O'Brien a lot. I actually think this is a healthy way to live your life! www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/a...
Is this how you want to go out, with a show that gets smaller and smaller until it’s gone?

Maybe that’s O.K. I think you have more of a problem with that than I do. [Laughs.] At this point in my career, I could go out with a grand, 21-gun salute, and climb into a rocket and the entire Supreme Court walks out and they jointly press a button, I’m shot up into the air and there’s an explosion and it’s orange and it spells, “Good night and God love.” In this culture? Two years later, it’s going to be, who’s Conan? This is going to sound grim, but eventually, all our graves go unattended.

You’re right, that does sound grim.

Sorry. Calvin Coolidge was a pretty popular president. I’ve been to his grave in Vermont. It has the presidential seal on it. Nobody was there. And by the way, I’m the only late-night host that has been to Calvin Coolidge’s grave. I think that’s what separates me from the other hosts.

I had a great conversation with Albert Brooks once. When I met him for the first time, I was kind of stammering. I said, you make movies, they live on forever. I just do these late-night shows, they get lost, they’re never seen again and who cares? And he looked at me and he said, [Albert Brooks voice] “What are you talking about? None of it matters.” None of it matters? “No, that’s the secret. In 1940, people said Clark Gable is the face of the 20th Century. Who [expletive] thinks about Clark Gable? It doesn’t matter. You’ll be forgotten. I’ll be forgotten. We’ll all be forgotten.” It’s so funny because you’d think that would depress me. I was walking on air after that.
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Ciaran Martin @ciaranm.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I was wrong. It’s happening
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mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 29/09/2026
awoke this morning with a Vision
that diagram showing  the SUV blind spot in the front but it's lowly worm driving his little applemobile
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L. D. Lewis, Sea Witch Apologist 🧜🏾‍♀️ @ldlewiswrites.blacksky.app · 28/09/2026
Periodic reminder that dropping a note telling a writer you liked a thing they wrote takes like 4.5 seconds and recharges our batteries for 27-28 hours a pop
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mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 28/09/2026
Recent Events have me once again considering: the cube
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lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 28/09/2026
I don't really understand football, can someone please explain this to me in terms I can understand, preferably that of pacific fleet actions in the second world war
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 27/09/2026
That’s right.
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Marie (same one) @marieberd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I live in LA because you can be crying on the freeway when you look up and notice a sublime partly-cloudy golden hour passing over the face of the Minion
picture not from today of the giant minion statue at universal studios Hollywood that you can see from a lot of the valley
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AG Rob Bonta @agrobbonta.oag.ca.gov · 26/09/2026
Local journalism is vital to ensuring diverse sources of news content. That’s why I’m supporting @asmchrisward.bsky.social & @buffywicks.bsky.social’s #AB2222 offering tax incentives to local news outlets that hire qualifying journalists in CA. Every community deserves access to quality local news.
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Aaron @aightandsound.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
a fave
Opinion
Do not go gently into that hot tub! A luxury spa is the wrong way to remember
Dylan Thomas 
Adrian Chiles
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whet moser @whetmoser.com · 25/09/2026
i want nathan fielder to do undecided voter focus groups
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Steven Matheson @stevenmatheson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
ouch!
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starch mogul @posts-cards.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
oooooof
Jean-Jacques Rousseau once wrote that difference between a pedant and a teacher is that a pedant always explains but a teacher knows when to explain. Being a knowitall is a sign of loserdom, as Umberto Eco wrote in his final novel, “Numero Zero” (about a hack journalist): Losers, like autodidacts, always know much more than winners. If you want to win, you need to know just one thing and not waste your time on anything else: the pleasures of erudition are reserved for losers. The more a person knows, the more things have gone wrong.
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Inbound Ike @inboundike.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Ok, I’m glad someone else had the same bewildered reaction to that (very good) book’s afterward. It was like “did you read the book that you wrote!?”
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Carolyn Copeland @carolyncopes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Finally, some news that can offer some hope for the future of journalism. (At least if the outlets are based in California) www.niemanlab.org/2026/08/cali...
niemanlab.org
California legislature passes a major local news funding bill: “If you hire more people, you get more money”
"If you lay people off, you get less money. If you don't employ anyone, you don't get anything."
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 21/09/2026
Sunday newsletter: On the miseducations of Nikole Hannah-Jones, Helen DeWitt and Henry Adams. mattdpearce.substack.com/p/the-value-...
mattdpearce.substack.com
The lessons of a miseducation
On Nikole Hannah-Jones, Helen DeWitt and Henry Adams.
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 21/09/2026
“The states that held out longer did succeed over the past week in securing independent editorial boards for CBS and CNN as part of the deal, the person said.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Paramount to Settle Lawsuits, Paving Way for Warner Bros. Merger
Paramount Skydance Corp. has reached a settlement with California and other states suing to block its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., according to a person familiar with the matte...
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g0m @g0m.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
A world where a twist ending is repurposed as a video title. where a thing's climax has been removed, leaving an advertisment for the gap where it used to be. such things are commonplace in. the twilight zone
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Brian Thompson @brianthompy.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The Last Samurai had the misfortune of coming out from a crappy publisher the same year as both Kavalier & Clay and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. DeWitt’s book is the best of the three, but, as the new author’s afterword suggests, she herself is a bit of a screwball (complimentary).
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 21/09/2026
Sunday newsletter: On the miseducations of Nikole Hannah-Jones, Helen DeWitt and Henry Adams. mattdpearce.substack.com/p/the-value-...
mattdpearce.substack.com
The lessons of a miseducation
On Nikole Hannah-Jones, Helen DeWitt and Henry Adams.
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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Great story by @suhauna.bsky.social, and an important reminder of why Gavin Newsom needs to sign AB 2222 to bring back even a few local news jobs: www.latimes.com/california/s...
latimes.com
The fall of once-mighty McClatchy newspapers underscores California's news crisis
The union that represents McClatchy journalists said that more than 90 unionized journalists and media workers across 17 publications had been laid off.
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lu @damsorrow.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
keep thinking about the restaurant in Staten Island where there was a "doomsday clock" above the bar and whenever the bartender was particularly disgusted with the world he'd move it forward
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Buttadeus @thewanderingjew.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
We made it fellas.
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 20/09/2026
Onion article with a photo of a traffic jam on a freeway:

“Dispatch
Report: 98 Percent Of
U.S. Commuters Favor Public Transportation For Others”
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Shaya @shayainla.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Princess Leia: You're My Only Hope
ALT: Princess Leia: You're My Only Hope
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 19/09/2026
I’m so sorry for your loss, Nina. 😞
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 19/09/2026
“She said she wanted the second line of her obituary to acknowledge her role as a shop steward for SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents NPR's editorial workers. She wanted the line to say that her ‘proudest achievement’ was helping convince NPR to increase its paid parental leave.”
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Rebuild Local News @rebuildlocalnews.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
California has lost 12K local journalists since 2002. If signed, AB 2222 would create tax credits to help newsrooms hire and keep them, and outlets across the state are uniting in support. @governor.ca.gov is expected to decide in the coming days. 🔗: www.newsmediaalliance.org/journalism-i...
newsmediaalliance.org
Journalism Industry Unites in Support of First-of-its-Kind California Journalist Tax Credit Bill | News/Media Alliance
News publications all across California will run a full page ad declaring that the journalism industry is unified in support of AB-2222, the Community NEWS ...
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Stephanie 🍉 @ageofoddish.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
mmygod
the slut gnomes of false berlin jeopardy bluesky posttoday's jeopardy categories. the last 2 are "false berlin" and "bizarre little men"
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Rebuild Local News @rebuildlocalnews.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"California’s blockbuster journalism bill [AB 2222] isn’t yet signed into law but its progress still offers lessons to other states hoping to save their local-news industries." Read the Q&A with Assemblymember @buffywicks.bsky.social at @seattletimes.com: www.seattletimes.com/opinion/cali...
seattletimes.com
California legislator's advice on passing policies to save local news
If it's signed into law, California's new journalism support bill will raise the bar for other states looking to save local news. A sponsor has advice for them.
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Jason Kint @kint.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Eye popping. Court just unsealed Summary Judgment motions in New York Times v OpenAI / Microsoft. Easy to see why the AI companies had so many redactions (pink). Their own people wrote the lede for NYT, the "largest theft of labor in human history"... "more and more substitutive..." /1
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Sheera Frenkel @sheeraf.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
“Largest theft of labor in human history.” What a quote.
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Rural Indexing Project @ruralindexing.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Computer Rage Marinette, WI
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lindsey adler @lindseyadler.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
going to be annoying and note that apple news bundles a like almost all of the premium magazines and newspapers
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Jacob Geller @jacobgeller.com · 17/09/2026
Mel Blanc screams are like Greek fire, we lost the technology to make sounds like this
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 17/09/2026
“Agentic AI” (someone wrote a computer virus) “Emergent behavior” (the virus evolved) “Jailbreaking” (the virus spilled over) “Slop” (phlegm from your coworkers’ sick computers)
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 17/09/2026
[Dril tweet] “stop writing computer viruses” “no.”
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 17/09/2026
80% of AI news at this point consists of a company announcing “we wrote a computer virus” then there’s something about the apocalypse or regulation, then the next news story is like “we wrote another computer virus.”
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 17/09/2026
Everywhere AI is born free but lives in chains.
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woke stifler @yelix.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
YOUR FRIEND WHO LIVES IN LOS ANGELES, AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK: Yeah I just saw Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever in 70mm,
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Aaron Mendelson @amendelson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Was unaware of this bit of Los Angeles journalism / Cold War history www.latimes.com/california/s...
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 17/09/2026
Helpful! Political and economic boycotts are treated differently. proceedings.nyumootcourt.org/2025/11/the-...
proceedings.nyumootcourt.org
The Chilling Effect of Superior Trial Court Lawyers – Ending Per Se Analysis for Group Boycotts Under the Sherman Antitrust Act – N.Y.U. Proceedings
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 17/09/2026
Stupid question but are there antitrust restraint-of-trade implications to having multiple league stadium owners collaborating to refuse business to a particular musician? www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Kraft, the 85-year-old billionaire, had a longstanding relationship with Sheeran-the English musician had even played at his wedding in 2022. Over the course of a 40-minute conversation, Kraft explained that he wouldn't host Macklemore, the outspoken American rapper, at his stadium.
More than that, several other National Football League owners were also ready to cancel Sheeran's dates as long as Macklemore remained on the bill.
By then, the tightknit circle of NFL owners whose hulking mega-venues host
everything from sold-out concerts to World Cup games had drawn a line in the sand.
David Tepper and Arthur Blank-the
respective owners of the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons-had made up their minds, people familiar with the matter said.
Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie would soon reach the same conclusion, as the owners traded phone calls and prepared to address the situation.
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 16/09/2026
“A cloud region losing customer data because of an airstrike—I don’t think that’s ever happened before.” www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
AWS Says It Can’t Restore Some Data From Mideast Facilities Struck by Iran
Amazon’s announcement is the first indication that some data stored exclusively in Bahrain and the U.A.E could be gone forever.
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Buffy Wicks @buffywicks.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Local news is essential to a healthy democracy — & there’s no single fix for the crisis it’s facing. I talked w/@brierdudley.bsky.social about what we’ve learned in CA, the tools we’re putting to work, & why all of us should join in the fight to save journalism. www.seattletimes.com/opinion/cali...
seattletimes.com
California legislator's advice on passing policies to save local news
If it's signed into law, California's new journalism support bill will raise the bar for other states looking to save local news. A sponsor has advice for them.
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 15/09/2026
100%
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 15/09/2026
On Saul Bellow: mattdpearce.substack.com/p/what-do-yo...
("British critics tend to regard the American predilection for Big Novels as a vulgar neurosis - like the American predilection for big cars or big hamburgers," Martin Amis once noted. "Oh God, we think: here comes another sweating, free-dreaming maniac with another thousand-pager; here comes another Big Mac.")
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 15/09/2026
“A good critic is a kind of lightning conductor who picks out the energy in what they read and passes it on to others.” www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Colin Burrow · Good Weird or Bad Weird: Uses of Criticism
Literary criticism is a supremely occasional skill, where you have to be bold enough to operate where there aren’t any...
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 14/09/2026
"Seize the Day" is the story of a born loser, Wilhelm Adler, going through a midlife crisis as he realizes he's going to be a loser forever, stuck living in the same hotel as his successful doctor father who doesn't know how to love him or help him.
Wilhelm lends his last $700 to a swindler (to invest in lard futures of all things) who seems to be the only person in the book who really seems to care about Wilhelm and notice he's suffering, if even only for the purposes of ripping Wilhelm off. There may be no more relevant artistic statement than Bellow's "Seize the Day" about the souls of all the suckers on FanDuel and Kalshi betting their futures on becoming big winners in the economy of losers.
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