Reposted by Phillip MaciakShannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 1h"I don’t feel like I have to prove myself necessarily... I’m like, 'Guys, I don’t know how to do this. The reason I write it this way is because I don’t know how!' I’m figuring it out as I go, and I like for that to stand as a kind of example to people that you can do it in other ways." 021
Reposted by Phillip MaciakBen Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 3hLike it or not this what Maine Guys actually sound like. Might sound like shit to you, but this is a Meryl Streep-level performance for guys from Maine with this voice and personality. 1763289418
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 05/10/2026the beach that makes you old the one night a year single people can legally have sex the guy who gets eaten by a whale 090
Reposted by Phillip MaciakDavid_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 05/10/2026If you go up to the box office and say "one adult for the movie where the whale eats a guy, please" they have to give it to you. There's no law that says you have to say Whalefall or whatever it's called. 58121191
Reposted by Phillip MaciakCoach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The original Google search algorithm that was wizard magic was machine learning. Same with videogame enemies learning flocking techniques and figuring out how to beat you based on your tendencies. LLM stans fucked this up just let the scam artists define what AI is now because they are dumb. 181080251
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 05/10/2026I wrote this without having seen LANTERNS' season finale, which aired last night. But I think the main argument holds up: LANTERNS is SURF DRACULA. newrepublic.com/article/2159...newrepublic.comThe Bleak Future of HBO’s LanternsIn Damon Lindelof’s new show, the good guys might survive, but they have to wade through a whole season of disappointment along the way. 1142
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 05/10/2026It feels like some journalists just discovered being fortysomething with young kids and then diagnosed it as a social issue. WHY AMERICANS STOPPED WAKING UP WHENEVER THEY WANTED WHY AMERICANS ARE WEARING MORE FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS THEIR DAUGHTERS MADE THAN EVER www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...theatlantic.comWhy Americans Stopped Throwing Dinner PartiesThe share of adults who say they regularly have friends over has declined dramatically since 1975. 0252
Reposted by Phillip MaciakJohn Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Yes. Every talk I give about AI and writing people ask how we’re going to deal with the inevitable and I always insist, it’s not inevitable! 0283
Reposted by Phillip MaciakAlexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 04/10/2026This was wild to see. My first time writing for the screen. My thanks to Zoe Kazan for inviting me on this journey back in 2023, and my agent Jason Richman and everyone at @unitedtalentagency.bsky.social for their work on my behalf. 1162070127
Reposted by Phillip Maciakrax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 02/10/2026with all respect: i'm losing touch with what AI does because i have no interest in it and it's not my business. nobody worries about me losing touch with developments in particle physics or artificial bull insemination. it's not my fault the richest guys on earth want me to make their toy my life 462379357
Reposted by Phillip MaciakPatrick Wyman @patrickwyman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026At a really fundamental level Leo XIV is just a person with sound, well-reasoned, moral stances on the world and how life should be lived who isn't afraid to say those things in public. That kind of person simply does not make sense to business leaders and politicians for whom speech is convenience. 311419260
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 02/10/2026None of the extremely embarrassing things the Philadelphia Phillies did on the field last night were more embarrassing than the continued, enthusiastic existence of The Chop. 070
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Not the main point, but, for whatever reasons (easy to speculate the reasons), we have been denied ten years of prestige series from the Matthew Weiner coaching tree. bsky.app/profile/pjma... 020
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 02/10/2026The range of outcomes for this is so wide, it's hard to even speculate. 2130
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026The danger for criticism is that people will want to become critics in order to become [PODCAST HOSTS], rather than enjoying the pleasure of writing and the excitement of trying to define and describe what you’ve seen. (1992) 191
Reposted by Phillip Maciakrax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 01/10/2026shirley jackson you tell em www.newyorker.com/books/page-t... 13677136
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I'm cautiously optimistic about Andrew Martin's reluctance to really own the "Report on the State of Humanities..." in this convo, the first real response we've heard from him on it. Esp in contrast to the way Daniel Diermeier immediately deployed it as propaganda. www.studlife.com/news/2026/09...studlife.comMartin talks University finances and humanities report in annual SU address - Student LifeChancellor Andrew D. Martin spoke about WashU’s political engagement in Washington, D.C., threats to federal research funding, and rationales behind larger expenditures by the University in a joint St... 010
Reposted by Phillip MaciakJosh Fruhlinger @jfruh.bsky.social · 01/10/2026seems bad. also seems like the AI doomers should spend less time thinking about future aliens torturing their cybergholas and more time thinking about this 3334
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Believe in yourself the way national NBA media believe in the sample size of three games they saw Paul George play in the 2026 playoffs. www.theringer.com/2026/10/01/n...theringer.comThe Seven NBA Players We’re Most Curious AboutCan Paul George turn back the clock? What if Reed Sheppard pops? Plus, five more guys we can’t stop thinking about heading into 2026-27. 260
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I agree, but I think that the show has not done enough in terms of character development or world-building or plotting to make me care about anything OTHER than John Stewart getting the ring. Stewart is on a quest for an object he only wants because he's been told to want it, and so are we! 110
Reposted by Phillip MaciakAdam Sternbergh @sternbergh.bsky.social · 01/10/2026excellent deployment of SURF DRACULA here by @pjmaciak.bsky.social newrepublic.com/article/2159...newrepublic.comThe Bleak Future of HBO’s LanternsIn Damon Lindelof’s new show, the good guys might survive, but they have to wade through a whole season of disappointment along the way. 0111
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026All of which is to say, both Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre are giving extremely charismatic performances that deserve a better show. Kelly Macdonald deserves some sort of escape pod or Saving Private Ryan style rescue op — one actor should not have to endure both this and BOARDWALK EMPIRE. 5/5 0100
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Anyway, LANTERNS feels to me like the beginning of a new phase of extended universe TV. A copy of a copy of shows that used the format to come up with genuinely new televisual ideas. It makes sense that its showrunner was the showrunner of OZARK, aka BREAKING BAD (blue). 4/x 160
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I don't know if they were hoping Lindelof would win that cage match or hoping he'd lose. 130
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026All of those shows are risky bets for a studio; it feels like LANTERNS wants to be perceived as a risky experiment w/out actually risking anything. Is it weird that TRUE DETECTIVE has a more interesting take on cosmic justice than INTERGALACTIC TRUE DETECTIVE? 3/x 270
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026The most (creatively) successful shows in the "extended universe" era — ANDOR! WANDAVISION! WATCHMEN! — have been shows that get far enough away the canonical lore that they can make radical changes in tone/style/characterization, building new stuff without tearing down existing infrastructure. 2/x 2131
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026LANTERNS ends this weekend, and, while it's got wonderful performances and some fun set-pieces, it remains hard not to see it as one of those fake parody prestige series that the Florricks watched on THE GOOD WIFE. 1/x 6314
Reposted by Phillip MaciakMatthew Dowd @matthewjdowd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Latest WSJ poll: "63% want to pause AI development 61% want a billionaire wealth tax 59% want Medicare for All 57% want a $20 minimum wage 58% want to end U.S. military aid to Israel" This is the center of the country politically. it is time all adjust to this political spectrum, esp. media. 9534621079
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I wrote about LANTERNS, HBO's prestige buddy-cop anti-hero drama set in the SURF DRACULA extended cinematic universe. newrepublic.com/article/2159...newrepublic.comThe Bleak Future of HBO’s LanternsIn Damon Lindelof’s new show, the good guys might survive, but they have to wade through a whole season of disappointment along the way. 4121
Reposted by Phillip MaciakLuke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 30/09/2026If you want "personalized music" made just for you pick up a fucking guitar. Or else break the heart of someone who already has. 131363219
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 30/09/2026"Begin to be a place where parents can send our daughters and be confident that they will be as safe as it is possible to be under patriarchy. And become a place where our sons are not initiated into rape culture." www.thecut.com/article/what...thecut.comWhat It Feels Like at Cornell Right NowAs a professor at the Ivy League school, Kate Manne has known many, many victims. There’s a palpable feeling on campus, she writes, that this is big. 021
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 30/09/2026The indignity of the Pontiff, the Bishop of Rome, the Vicar of Jesus Christ having to utter the phrase, "Rate Field." 050
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Are you hesitant about the idea of a JD Vance presidential run? What if I told you he was considering selecting this sentient thumb as his running mate? 1100
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Between Schmitt confusing the Hawks for the Hawkeyes and Denny Hoskins messing up redistricting because of paperwork, we are in a genuine Golden Era of Missouri Republicans looking like absolute morons on the national stage. 051
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I don't always agree with JCK, but this is a thoughtful engagement with Nikole Hannah-Jones' recent essay — its feelings and its arguments, what it seems ready to give up and what it shouldn't. www.newyorker.com/news/fault-l...newyorker.comIndividual Choices Won’t Fix America’s Public SchoolsNikole Hannah-Jones sent her daughter to a struggling local school and has come to regret it. But personalizing the problem is the wrong approach. 030
Reposted by Phillip MaciakFr Chase 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁 @kalanthropos.bsky.social · 29/09/2026 239161654212
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I think part of the pivot can be to less formalized writing — opening, ungraded, in-class free writes, for instance, are not a new invention, but they are extremely useful for framing conversation. 020
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 29/09/2026If colleges want to build for a post-AI world that values human creativity, they should be throwing money at writing programs, not only because they are on the front lines of grappling with this sea change, but because they have the capacity to teach something that's genuinely NOT replicable by AI. 1163
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Students don't need writing to think — I agree — but it's only because they don't know HOW to think through writinh. It's a skill that's been lost (because systemically undervalued) over generations, and that scholars and observers of this subject have long been trying to alert us to. 3121
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I think humanities classes that relied on writing as a diagnostic tool can and should pivot to other modes or hybrids. But I don't think that means writing matters less — I think it just means we've been misunderstanding where writing instruction takes place. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/o...nytimes.comOpinion | I’m a College Professor. Writing Isn’t as Important as We Think.If I do not treat writing as essential for achieving thought, it is not clear why I should force my students to. 5161
Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Mad Men's secret sauce was always its incredibly deep bench of women writers and directors. 020