iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

These are the good times! We have a new episode of Listen or Die, pondering several albums from your dad's and hipster cousin's favorite band, Steely Dan and several by Chic. Did you know Chic were fundamentally inspired by Roxy Music? I didn't before recording this.

open.spotify.com

70s Extravaganza! Examining the Albums of Steely Dan and Chic

Listen or Die · Episode

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I wrote this for the New York Times: To a passerby, “skill games” are indistinguishable from video slot machines. In PA, these video kiosks proliferated almost unregulated in gas stations, bars, beer distributors, vape shops, even laundromats. For some gambling addicts, it has been disastrous.

nytimes.com

Pennsylvania Gambling Addicts Hope that ‘Skill Games’ Will Go Bust (Gift Article)

The machines, which enjoyed legal protection until a recent court ruling, could go dark in October.

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

It's hard to write anything new about the Beatles, which is one reason this episode of Hit Parade, about the rise of "Here Comes the Sun" as the world's new favorite Beatles song, is a delight

slate.com

“Here Comes the Sun” inspired countless cover versions. (George preferred James Brown’s.)

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Piece I wrote for @slate.com: Loneliness is on the rise in the US. Despite the "male loneliness epidemic" cliche, men are not much lonelier than women. One group actually is more isolated than everyone else: the poor. The reasons why reveal how societal factors increase loneliness on all of us.

slate.com

There Is No Male Loneliness Crisis. What’s Actually Happening Is So Much Darker.

The data tells a different story.

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

On this episode of Listen or Die, our podcast of album deep dives, we're talking about Stankonia, Outkast's 2000 tour de force and Germfree Adolescents, the 1978 debut album from X-Ray Spex, the British band that broke the mold of punk rock just as that mold was set.

open.spotify.com

Germfree Adolescents by X-Ray Spex and Stankonia by Outkast

Listen or Die · Episode

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

On this month's Listen or Die, we talk Paul Revere and the Raiders and Elton John! The Pacific Northwest party band partake in rock's leap froward on their 1966 album, Midnight Ride. John's Madman Across the Water has "Tiny Dancer," "Levon" and some songs even weirder and moodier than "Levon."

open.spotify.com

Midnight Ride by Paul Revere and the Raiders and Madman Across the Water by Elton John

Listen or Die · Episode

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

New episode of Listen or Die! We explore Mariah Carey, the pop queen with the superpowered larynx, and her 1997 album Butterfly. Then it's the insane story of Laibach, the strategically incomprehensible industrial band whose theater of totalitarian kitsch got them banned in Slovenia.

open.spotify.com

Butterfly by Mariah Carey and Opus Dei by Laibach

Listen or Die · Episode

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

On ep 7 of Listen or Die, we talk about the sonically and structurally weird songs of Os Mutantes and the rock fusion movement that prospered during Brazil's military dictatorship and Remain in Light, the album that resulted from Talking Heads getting along and really collaborating, for a few weeks

open.spotify.com

Spotify – Web Player

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

This is my favorite newspaper correction in some time

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

I wrote this for @slate.com: Private equity is buying up Main Street medical offices. Firms worth billions are snagging neighborhood dermatology, dentistry and optometry offices that employ a handful of people. The results have been price increases, higher staff turnover and unnecessary procedures

slate.com

Something Nefarious Is Quietly Taking Over Your Neighborhood Doctor’s Office

It’s quietly reshaping Main Street medicine. Your wallet—and health—might suffer as a result.

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

We have a new episode of Listen or Die, analyzing classic albums. In this one, the Who relieve themselves of prog-rock ambitions and @cocteauofficial.bsky.social will not dress up for you.

open.spotify.com

Episode 6: Who's Next by the Who and Treasure and Heaven or Las Vegas by the Cocteau Twins

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Episode 5 of Listen or Die! Stacey and I review the careers and supposed best albums of two artists who came closer to the limelight than they ever expected as Nanci Griffith tries to make folkabilly happen and Elliott Smith finds himself backing up Madonna, literally. We're also on Apple Podcasts.

open.spotify.com

Episode 5: Nanci Griffith and Elliott Smith

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

The cover page of today's @startribune.com is incredible

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

Bored at home? In transit? Laying around in a post-Christmas food coma? All reasons to listen to episode 4 of our podcast, Listen or Die! Stacey and I discuss the exuberant debut of Supergrass, England's it band of 1995, and several iterations of The Wall, the moody magnum opus of Pink Floyd!

open.spotify.com

Episode 4: The Wall by Pink Floyd and I Should Coco by Supergrass

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

For anyone who does not know how journalism works, you do the reporting and try to get comment from anyone implicated. They may not respond for a variety of reasons. You're asking for comment, not permission. The head of CBS News does not know how journalism works or hopes that you do not.

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

I wrote this for the @nytimes.com: Scammers are calling seniors more than 50 times a day. Some who get scammed wind up with weird charges on their Medicare and mysterious packages on their porches

nytimes.com

Medicare Scammers Are Calling Seniors 50 Times a Day, Trying to Trap Them

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Traveling today? Entertain yourself with episode three of Listen or Die! We're talking about Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis and Arrival by ABBA. Includes brief and somewhat informed discussions of early jazz subgenres and the Eurovision song contest!

open.spotify.com

Episode 3: Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis and Arrival by ABBA

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Hey all, for a New York Times story, I am looking to speak to people who are getting inundated with Medicare enrollment scam calls, to the point that the calls themselves are a quality of life issue. If you know someone in this situation, hit me up here or nickkeppler@yahoo.com. Thanks

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Special Halloween episode of Listen or Die! Stacey and I tackle (What's the Story) Morning Glory by #Oasis and the Marshall Mathers LP by #Eminem. We also talk about Wonderwall as a meme, the ongoing crisis with men, lessons about healthily playing the villain learned from acting at a haunted house

open.spotify.com

Spotify – Web Player

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Stacey Federoff and I have a new podcast! We are second-guessing the book 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, doing deep dives on two albums at a time. Episode 1: The Velvet Underground and Slade. Please check it out and like and subscribe. open.spotify.com/episode/3WD7...

open.spotify.com

Episode 1: White Light/White Heat by the Velvet Underground and Slayed? by Slate

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Have you noticed that everyone who's bad is labeled a narcissist now? Unbearable parents, shitty exes, the president. Some people with actual narcissistic personality disorder would like a word on that. My latest for @slate.com slate.com/technology/2...

slate.com

It’s the Most Hated Personality Trait in the World. The People Who Have It Think You Should Listen to Them.

The diagnosable illness is also the internet’s punching bag. These narcissists have had enough.

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

I did the two-week free trial of Ancestry.com. I always wondered if I was related to Johannes Kepler, the astronomer and mathematician. Nope. I am a descendent of someone who lived at the same time with kinda the same name, the era's equivalent of an Autozone manager named Steven Hawkin.

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Journalism crowd source: Are you or do you know someone who has been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder and are trying to work through it? Real names are always preferable. Thanks!

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Far me be it for one health journalist to counter the HHS secretary, but I have interviewed several people on the spectrum about their jobs and social lives

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Reposted by Nick Keppler

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 10/03/2025

Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student who was a leader in talks between demonstrators and Columbia University officials last spring, was arrested by Department of Homeland Security agents Saturday night despite having a green card, his attorney said.

washingtonpost.com

Palestinian protester arrested by ICE despite green card, lawyer says

Mahmoud Khalil is being detained as his lawyer fights for his release.

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Some of these are new terms associated with movements and pushes towards greater sensitivity. And many others, like "disability", "victims" "at risk", "sex", "women" are just common words for things.

nytimes.com

These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration

Federal agencies have issued guidance to employees on hundreds of terms to limit or avoid using. An analysis of government websites shows many of the same words being removed.

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Reposted by Nick Keppler

amanda moore 🐢 @noturtlesoup17.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

Hey if any editor out there wants like 1500 words on Paul Ingrassia and his stolen charity, groyper associations, Mar-a-Lago adventures, friendship with DC’s US attorney Ed Martin, and his vast connections to Andrew Tate, I can write it in my sleep.

ft.com

Trump administration pressures Romania to lift restrictions on Andrew Tate

Tristan and Andrew Tate have been charged with sexual misconduct, organised crime and money laundering

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

The best thing Lynch did was Twin Peaks: The Return, the only TV revival that has ever been good. Instead of reuniting Coop, Harry and the Log Lady to solve another mystery, it went as far beyond what was expected for TV in 2017 as the first show went for 1990. And it was often damn funny.

youtube.com

Twin Peaks - THIS IS WHAT WE DO IN THE FBI

YouTube video by TouchTheGarlic

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Nick Keppler @nickkeppler.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

I don't see a point in "canceling" someone to punish or effectively boycott them. Consumers don't have that much power. But to laugh at someone's joke, empathize with a character they portray or read their story I have to like them for at least a moment.

vulture.com

There Is No Safe Word

How the best-selling fantasy author Neil Gaiman hid the darkest parts of himself for decades.

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