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Terry McDermott

@tmcdermott.bsky.social
678 followers 474 following 106 posts

Writer, native Iowan, author of books on baseball, terrorism and the brain, veteran of too many newspapers. tmcdermott.com

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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Didn't he say exactly this three months ago?
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Do any travel apps work? I booked a flight online on Delta last night for this evening. Internet is great! Was informed this morning in would be two hours late. The whole reason I chose the flight was the time! Went online to re-book, was directed to the Delta app.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
JFC UCLA. The US constitution, at least pre-Roberts, guarantees adequate defense for even the most heinous crimes. The defense attorneys at Guantanamo are not defending the crime; they're defending their clients. It's not an easy thing to do. They should be applauded.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I helped the crew who made this moving film about the costs of 9/11, both personal and political. Premieres on CBS tonight.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
On this, the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we are witnessing a kind of national suicide, mostly caused by our reaction to 9/11. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
A Quarter Century of Panic
After 9/11, the U.S. government was over-focused on fighting terrorism, losing sight of other threats. Americans are still living with the consequences.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I missed this when it aired, but cool: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfaV...
youtube.com
Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Boys | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
YouTube video by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
These Trump tweets are obviously bonkers, but I must admit they contain a kind of mad genius language. I picture Gene Wilder with a crown and scepter delivering the lines while standing on his throne.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
I'm periodically reminded what a great songwriter Lucinda Williams is. This popped up this afternoon. Has anyone - including Sir Bob - ever written a better putdown song? www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e0R...
youtube.com
Broken Butterflies (Album Version)
YouTube video by Lucinda Williams - Topic
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I didn't know this book existed. So happy to have it introduced to me so eloquently: www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
newstatesman.com
Samuel Beckett’s Proustian moment
The great Irish writer’s first book, an idiosyncratic study of Proust, was also a potent work of modernist literature
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
We're 65 years into manned space flight. Is it still a matter of luck to get something into orbit? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/s...
nytimes.com
For SpaceX, Will the 13th Test Flight of Starship Be Lucky?
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
This, from Adam Sewer, seems like absurd exaggeration, but it's the logical conclusion of Alito's opinion. "In fact, slavery itself could conceivably be race-neutral—after all, one does not need to be a racist to seek cheap labor for a profitable business!" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Court That Will Believe Absolutely Anything Is ‘Race-Neutral’
The majority gives Trump yet more license to discriminate.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Really insightful piece on China's command economy: www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
theatlantic.com
China’s Economy Is Taking Everyone Down
American and Chinese workers are paying a high price for all the cheap goods.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Brilliant, as usual: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Assassin’s Delusion
Violence serves an authoritarian agenda.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Somebody help me out here. If it is unconstitutional to draw congressional districts to encourage minority representation, could it possibly be legal to re-draw existing districts to explicitly discourage (or practically eliminate) minority representation? electionlawblog.org?p=155791
electionlawblog.org
Callais Isn't Over: Louisiana Petitions the Supreme Court to RUSH Sending the Callais Case Back to the Lower Court, So That the State Can Immediately Change the Boundaries for Electing Members of Cong...
This one requires a bit of inside baseball. When the Supreme Court formally issues its decision, it does not send it judgment down to the lower court immediately. Instead, there is a period of 25 days...
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alix e. harrow @alixeharrow.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
when we mourn le guin, we mourn one of our greatest writers & thinkers. but we also mourn one of our all-time greatest haters
All you do is take all the sex out, and use little short words, and little dumb ideas, and don't be too scary, and be sure there's a happy ending. Right? Nothing to it. Write down. Right on.

If you do all that, you might even write Jonathan Livingston Seagull and make twenty billion dollars and have every adult in America reading your book.

But you won't have every kid in America reading your book. They will look at it, and they will see straight through it, with their clear, cold, beady little eyes, and they will put it down, and they will go away. Kids will devour vast amounts of garbage (and it is good for them) but they are not like adults: they have not yet learned to eat plastic.
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Jeffrey Shallit 🇺🇦 @shallit.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
James Joyce supposedly said to a friend that in a day's work he had written only 7 words. And he was still not sure what order they should go in.
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
The matter-of-fact way she asks what investors should do if Trump destroys Iran. Absolutely wild. "Let's talk about tonight, this deadline that President Trump has set 8 p.m., has threatened to destroy a civilization. How does an investor process that? Is it a bigger upside risk or downside risk?"
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DiveIntoIt🫘💙💙 @anandatoday.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Let’s support his efforts.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Donald Trump, Jeff Epstein and the Politics of Impunity talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/donal...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Donald Trump, Jeff Epstein and the Politics of Impunity
A culture of impunity or at least a culture of elite impunity...
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Anil Dash @anildash.com · 19/02/2026
On this day in 1923, the U.S. Supreme Court *unanimously* decided that people of South Asian descent could not be American citizens, and retroactively stripped citizenship from many who had already been naturalized. Years of organized persecution followed. www.saada.org/explore/publ...
saada.org
United States of America vs. Vaishno Das Bagai | SAADA | TIDES Magazine
The Thind decision dealt a devastating blow to all South Asians in the United States, especially those who had become naturalized citizens. It disrupted dreams. It put already vulnerable people at fur...
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Japanese American National Museum @jamuseum.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
In 1942, over 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry were unjustly incarcerated in America's concentration camps and deprived of their civil rights and due process. Sadly, there is an absolute parallel between what happened then and what’s happening today to immigrant communities throughout the nation.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Great explainer on self-driving tech: asteriskmag.com/issues/13/se...
asteriskmag.com
Seeing Like a Sedan—Asterisk
Waymos and Cybercabs see the world through very different sensors. Which technology wins out will determine the future of self-driving vehicles.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Every social theory undergirding Trumpism has been broken on the steel of Minnesotan resolve. The multiracial community in Minneapolis was supposed to shatter. It did not. It held until Bovino was forced out of the Twin Cities with his long coat between his legs.

The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive—because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about “Western civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Maybe it's time for Gov. Walz to call out the national guard to protect Minnesotans from ICE
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
I want some of this shit: www.sciencealert.com/new-breakthr...
sciencealert.com
New Breakthrough to Restore Aging Joints Could Help Treat Osteoarthritis
A study in mice by researchers from Stanford University has traced the loss of cartilage that comes with aging to a single protein, pointing to treatments that may one day restore mobility and ease di...
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
From Camus's notebooks. Could have been written yesterday. "I’ve always believed creation is a dialogue. But, with whom? Our literary society whose driving precept is second-rate spite, where offense takes the place of a critical method? . . . literaryreview.co.uk/inside-the-o...
literaryreview.co.uk
Joanna Kavenna - Inside the Outsider
Joanna Kavenna: Inside the Outsider - The Complete Notebooks by Albert Camus (Translated from French by Ryan Bloom)
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
I know next to nothing about this world, but as a longtime listener of Satie I found this fascinating: www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
nybooks.com
Satie’s Spell | Jeremy Denk
Erik Satie took down the arrogance of late Romantic classical music, gently but ruthlessly taking up its vocabulary and removing all the excess, including authorship.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
The play that caused this injury should be classified as reckless. Defender knocks a ball-handler down, then dives across his exposed legs and gets called for a foul. Should be flagrant. Happened twice for Clippers vs Celtics. Easily more dangerous than closeouts. www.hoopsrumors.com/2026/01/derr...
hoopsrumors.com
Derrick Jones Jr. To Be Re-Evaluated In Six Weeks With MCL Sprain
Derrick Jones Jr. has been diagnosed with a Grade II MCL sprain in his right knee, Shams Charania reports for …
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
My goodness, look at this food! www.latimes.com/food/story/2...
latimes.com
Review: Korean tasting-menu stunner Ki is the best new restaurant of 2025
At Restaurant Ki, chef Ki Kim’s philosophy traces back to South Korea, where he was born. But the tasting menu isn't about tradition, it's a window into the future.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Truly frightening analysis by Anne Applebaum: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
theatlantic.com
The Longest Suicide Note in American History
The Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy targets liberal democracy itself.
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Alka Pradhan @alkapradhan.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
I am just here to say that in order to commit WAR CRIMES, a WAR has to exist. THERE IS NO WAR. Therefore, the proper term for killing random people on boats is MURDER.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Here's the deeper problem with this. "our warriors," no matter what you call them, are NOT putting their lives on the line. They are murdering people at a distance with no danger to themselves or to any American interest.
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Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
The reported peace plan cedes all Western and Ukrainian leverage to Russia. More: isw.pub/UkrWar112025
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Wow. Can this woman write. "green leaves fell to the ground like a mockery of hope" sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/the-empty-...
sarahkendzior.substack.com
The Empty Stage
Johnny Cash, loss, and redemption
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Kenny Easley, one of the best defensive backs in NFL history, has died. I'm not a football fan, but always loved Easley's description of playing in a pro game near his hometown in Virginia for the first time: He was overwhelmed with “teardrops as big as dill pickles.” tmcdermott.com/sport/kenny-...
tmcdermott.com
KENNY EASLEY - A RELUCTANT HERO - FOOTBALL IS A GAME, NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH LIFE. - Dispatches from the Word Factory
By TERRY MCDERMOTT September 13, 1987 Publication: THE SEATTLE TIMES Kenny Easley, headhunter, maniac, ruthless merchant of blood and doom between the white lines, zeroes in for the attack. Staring, m...
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
This is true in so many ways. I made a similar point regarding Cash and N.W.A: "In the last verse, unrepentant to the end, he laments that he “can’t forget the day I shot that bad bitch down.” He regrets only getting caught. Whole piece here: tmcdermott.com/music/the-se...
tmcdermott.com
The Secret History of Gangsta Rap - Terry McDermott
The Secret History of Gangsta Rap The Secret History of Gangsta Rap Los Angeles Times Magazine Cover Story Sunday April 14, 2002   Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics No One Was Ready for N.W.A’s ‘Stra...
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Great overview of enshittification and how we got here from James Gleick: www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
nybooks.com
How the Web Was Lost | James Gleick
The Internet was not meant to suck.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
I sat next to Wilkens at a game once and every time he opening his mouth something smart fell out. Including when he ordered nachos.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
DeLong referencing Hayek? We're in deep shit.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
My daughter works for this theater company, so y'all better start buying tickets. playbill.com/article/the-...
playbill.com
The New Group Has Finally Found a Home; Off-Broadway Company Will Take Over Theatre at St. Clement’s Church
After decades of being itinerant, the Tony-winning company is putting down roots.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
Love this tagline from the NYRB's review of the current Godot: "One last thing: I respect bold staging choices but if you’re going to do Waiting for Godot there really has to be a tree." www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
nybooks.com
Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me | FT
In Samuel Beckett’s work, everything is on the surface. Nothing is hidden, encoded, or allegorized. No truth lies inside or behind; there is no secret to
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Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
I was fighting fascism with the power of love and kindness and just really getting my ass handed to me. proteanmag.com/2025/11/01/w...
The rules
Iwas fighting fascism with the power of love and kindness and just really getting my ass handed to me. A total bloodbath. The referee would have stepped in by now but they had knocked him out with a steel chair. The only others watching were either fascists themselves or the people trying to fight fascism with the power of love and kindness and they weren’t having a great go of it either. I kept trying to explain in between haymakers that we were better than this and on top of that it wasn’t likely to be ruled on favorably as far as the courts. None of it helped. I was on my knees now bleeding profusely from the mouth and nose. It spilled out of me onto the snow in a pattern that if you sort of squinted at it from the right vantage looked like a cartoon heart. See that I pointed. Look how beautiful the world can be I tried to say through my broken teeth. Alright well now he was pulling out a gun. I didn’t think we were allowed do that.
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Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 01/11/2025
🧵 This is trending on Korean socials
LOL you gotta hand it to South Korea for gifting Trump a Silla dynasty crown. For those that don't know; that dynasty fell to financial instability, incredibly high taxes, wealth inequality and widespread rebellion against their king. Trump is too dumb to understand this is a prophecy and President Lee is basking in this moment, deservedly.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
Excellent piece by Sam Adler-Bell: "We Americans love these stories for their psychic parsimony: They redeem the violence underpinning the social order while allowing us to remain, at once, tut-tutting bystanders to its cruelty and deliciously complicit in its excess. nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com
The Fantasy of Assassination Culture
In political violence, Americans see a future of order and control.
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Your Internet Friend Tom Tomorrow @tomtomorrow.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
friends with large accounts, I'm not going to pester you personally but just generally speaking, I would sure appreciate a signal boost on this thing. We seem to have leveled out, and since this is a one-shot (won't be in bookstores) I'd like to get it out there as much as possible.
kickstarter.com
Our Long National Nightmare by Tom Tomorrow
Relive the trauma of the last five years through the cartoons of Herblock Award winner and Pulitzer nominee Tom Tomorrow.
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Fascinating piece on coffee as a stimulant: psyche.co/ideas/why-we...
psyche.co
Why we should treat caffeine like the brain-altering drug it is | Psyche Ideas
Like billions of people, I use caffeine. But there is a glaring double standard in the drugs we stigmatise or celebrate
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Terry McDermott @tmcdermott.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Only in baseball would somebody say anything remotely like this from Tiger manager A.J. Hinch: "Some big emotional swings, and an absolute gut punch right to the face." www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...
espn.com
Battle for the AL Central: Breaking down an improbable Guardians comeback and epic Tigers collapse
With a week left, Detroit and Cleveland are separated by one game atop the division -- and the race might fall among the greatest finishes of all time.
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Jeffrey Vagle @jvagle.me · 09/09/2025
Please read this excellent essay: "The U.S. is drifting into an undeclared war of assassination across half a hemisphere, led by unaccountable officials who equate explosions with effectiveness."
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
It's useful to think of fascism as a form of "participatory anti-democracy." It's a populist movement that gets ordinary people fired up about being part of a world-historic movement that uses state power to punish perceived enemies & impose total order over perceived chaos. bsky.app/profile/seth...
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