PicoBlog

The biggest challenge in writing my book was trying to root out all of the lies, misrepresentations, and hoaxes. I don't discredit Arlene Sax so much as believe that she mixed some true memories with stories that she took from elsewhere and may have come to believe were true. In terms of "James Dean: Little Boy Lost," I think that Joe Hyams was generally a truthful writer who did not make things up.

Thank you for reading this public post! From today through Christmas Eve, I’m running a special discount for new subscribers — 15% off monthly and annual subscriptions. If you like what you’re reading, and would like to read more, including posts for paid subscribers only, please consider supporting this work by clicking here. In a recent essay, the writer Noah Berlatsky explained why he no longer listened to a song he had once loved: The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.

The misinformation around the Smith-Mundt Act is fantastic. Unfortunately, at some point, much of it, including public legal analyses and especially internal legal and other guidance, seems bent on earning the label of disinformation. I had not planned on publishing here for another week as I am focused on a more critical writing effort, but I was, I’ll admit it, triggered by a reference to the Smith-Mundt Act. The setup was a conversation that began with a comment about the amount of money and effort by an adversary’s information operations efforts.

One of the important lines for the right of assembly is how much disruption and instability the law permits. The First Amendment includes one threshold distinction: assemblies must be “peaceable.” The Supreme Court has also specified that an assembly—like a speaker—cannot incite “imminent lawless action.” What other lines exist? Last week, law student protesters interrupted a dinner for graduating students hosted by Erwin Chemerinsky and Catherine Fisk at their home. Chemerinksy is the dean of Berkeley Law School, and Fisk is a professor there.

Something that has long puzzled me confounds me anew in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision against affirmative action. Immediately critics of the decision brought pressure against Harvard to end legacy admissions, on grounds that these preferences for children of alumni are no less anti-meritocratic than the racial preferences the court had just forbidden. The puzzle was and is that anyone ever would have thought otherwise. In particular, graduate schools and corporate recruiters of Harvard graduates must have realized that some who received a Harvard diploma wouldn’t have gotten into the university without that extra boost.

Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci. The podcast Minion Death Cult did its own take on “the war on Mother’s Day emails.” Listen here! —Kate I never think about my mom dying more than I do on Mother’s Day. To be clear: My mom is, thankfully, alive and well. But in recent years, as users on social media have become more and more aware of their audiences and attempt to be inclusive of every possible person viewing a post, Mother’s Day, ironically, has become more fraught online.

Editor's note: Today's guest edition was written by , the award-winning independent journalist behind , an independent newsletter about drinking in America, and one I enjoy a great deal. For a limited time, ACBN readers can score a year of Fingers for 25% off:  Subscribe to Fingers now! Dave is based in Richmond, Virginia, and writes today on the bizarre, hilarious, and unwelcome side effects of contemporary "whiskey mania." Find him on Bluesky and follow Fingers on Instagram.

I am off to my usual summer hiatus because, well, nobody wants to work anymore (see below). I will be back in September with new posts. This is a Twitter thread from Paul Fairie who collected these snippets. It is simply brilliant: 2022 2014 2006 1999 ncG1vNJzZmijnJq6prrTqKWipqaawLW1zaBlrK2SqMGir8pnmqilX6V8r7vBqJuyZaeWu7W%2FjK2mZq%2Bfp7hurc2ypKiqlWSwsLnMnqWtqw%3D%3D

I’m trying to be better about not always dismissing efficiency as unrepeatable. This is actually a lesson I’ve taken from fantasy football, where for most of the past 5 years I faded RBs such as Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry due to their outlier yards per carry and workloads. “It’ll regress”, I’d tell myself. But for many years it didn’t. It’s because they were talented. I’m not sure what the exact comparison is for baseball, but I found myself thinking a lot about Blake Snell’s 2023 left on base rate during his run to winning another Cy Young award.