Brian Mackey
Host of the @21st.show, the statewide NPR talk show and podcast for Illinois.
- "I don’t fear losing. What has become apparent to me is that I now dread the prospect of winning."
- Stark dispatch from Washington by my friend @danvock.bsky.social:
- Tuned into the White Sox game in the bottom of the 8th. Score was 2–2, and within a few minutes the Sox were up 7–2. Last night I tuned into the end of the NBA Finals, and Indiana went up for the first time in the entire game with 0.3 seconds to go. Any other sports teams I can help out tonight?
- Great short essay on Pope Leo, the White Sox, and the Beatitudes, by @soxmachine.com: "While I'd known at some level that every pope is a person [...] it didn't resonate like seeing a picture of the person who is now pope wearing a White Sox jersey in the stands of U.S. Cellular Field."
- And here I thought Chicago media reached peak “area man” stories in the Obama era.
- Anyway, Illinois' only statewide public radio talk show will be talking about Illinois' only pope — so be sure to join us at 11 a.m. Friday on the @21st.show (or wherever you get your podcasts).
- "It is now up to us to take the keys to freedom into our own hands."
- Implement a 100% tariff and ruin a movie. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, Her Lover, Their Accountant, His Shipping Agent, Our Trade Representative, & an Unemployed Longshoreman (1989)
- One heck of a fact-check story by @katierosman.bsky.social. Somehow manages to be heartwarming, heartbreaking, affirming and dispiriting — often in adjoining paragraphs. Be prepared for a rollercoaster.
- Also worth noting the wisdom in one of the comments: “Don’t accept criticism from someone that you wouldn’t accept advice from.”
- “CHATHAM, Ill. (AP) — A car smashed through a building Monday afternoon, killing four young people and injuring several others during an after-school program in a small city outside of Springfield, Illinois, police said.”
- Disturbing context in the story above: “Monday’s crash is the latest instance of people driving vehicles into groups of people across the globe. Only two days earlier, a car plowed through a crowded street during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, killing 11.”
- Update from the Illinois State Police, 5:16 a.m.: “The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was uninjured and transported to an area hospital for evaluation. Toxicology reports are pending. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but this does not appear to be a targeted attack.”
- Thorough follow-up reporting from @capitolnewsil.bsky.social. Illinois State Police says “this does not appear to be a targeted attack,” but we’re still waiting for an explanation of what it was.
- Update from the Illinois State Police, 5:16 a.m.: “The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was uninjured and transported to an area hospital for evaluation. Toxicology reports are pending. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but this does not appear to be a targeted attack.“
- “I think what we’ll find in the end is there were multiple things that, had any one of them changed, it could have well changed the outcome of that evening.”
- “‘My understanding is that Trump promised mass deportations and the people you can find that are the easiest to identify are students,’ said Genevieve Lakier, a University of Chicago professor who specializes in freedom of speech and American constitutional law.“
- From 2009: "While lawyers and the Secret Service balked at Mr. Obama’s initial requests to allow him to keep his BlackBerry, they acquiesced as long as the president — and those corresponding with him — agreed to strict rules. And he had to agree to use a specially made device."
- "We mark their loss today, but there will be a paper tomorrow, and another on Sunday. Each day is an opportunity to get it right." — @neilsteinberg.bsky.social's elegy for departing colleagues, with a vow to press on.
- John McWhorter offers a linguist’s analysis of the “English only” policy: “In our midteens — after the end of what linguists call the critical period — our ability to master a new language starts to atrophy. …”
- "When we say that all people have inalienable rights, we really mean that people who enjoy the protection of a state have rights. Once a person is stripped of that protection, purged from a state, his rights seem to vanish along with his proof of citizenship." — by @mashagessen.bsky.social:
- “Those who care about functional institutions must demand adherence to constitutional processes, not billionaire whims. Because if we don’t, we might find ourselves longing for the days when Musk was only breaking social networks instead of the basic machinery of democracy.”
- Frustrated there's not more I can do directly, but for now I can just try to document reality. Elon is bringing his Twitter destruction playbook to the US government, and it's impossible to explain just how serious and bad this is. www.techdirt.com/2025/01/31/e...
- Did not think we'd already be hearing this debate on *checks calendar* day 12.
- Appreciating @profhicks.bsky.social‘s data-driven analysis¹ of what separates the Illinois counties voting for secession² from the rest of us. ¹ www.thestarpress.com/story/opinio... ² I still think “partition” is more apt.
- The Breaking News Consumer’s Handbook, by @onthemedia.bsky.social:
- ❤️ a good "the mayor's texts" article, even if Johnson has fewer 🤦🏻♂️ messages than his predecessors. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/01/27/m... by @aliceyin.bsky.social, @jake-sheridan.bsky.social and @royalpratt.bsky.social
- I'd watch a documentary on the making of this trailer for another documentary. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDxY...
- Takes me back to the excellent mash-ups by Girl Talk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKgK...
- Avoiding socials’ siren pings, the soul from purgatory springs.
- Happening now: Is this a DRONE over CENTRAL ILLINOIS?! … Wait maybe it’s just a street lamp, the Moon, Venus, and a lens artifact of the aforementioned street lamp.
- “On Monday, OSF said the initial requirement is because of the widespread respiratory illnesses in the community; including COVID-19, influenza and RSV. “Tuesday, OSF said the change acknowledges ‘the importance of personal choice.’”
- “‘SUCCESS in Washington,’ Trump quipped about the second proposal that would pan out not to be a success.” www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
- Proud to say I knew @tommylisi.bsky.social when he was merely skulking around the Illinois Capitol Complex waiting to ambush state legislators. He's a smart reporter, a funny guy, and an all-around great human to have shared a bureau with. Sorry to read this: www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
- Academic assignment desk: It could be interesting to assess the media literacy of public officials elected since the local news apocalypse. As I read this story, Tom was doing his job in a customary way. It's revealing if the county official *truly* did not understand that.
- I've "skulked" for governors and house speakers and mayors and celebrities. It's gotten me Rod Blagojevich reciting "Andrea del Sarto" next to a Dumpster, and Kathleen Kennedy gently letting me know I would not be getting a quote from Daniel Day-Lewis. And you know what? Just doing my job.
- I think @erikwemple.bsky.social is correct to suggest there might be some strength in numbers with regard to local reporters withstanding attacks from public officials. But it also might be helpful for officials who feel maligned by one reporter to see that this is just how we do our jobs.
- I wonder if this was truly ABC News’ decision or something that came from on high at Disney. I covered a libel case years ago where a newspaper wanted to continue fighting, even after losing a jury verdict, but its insurance company forced a settlement.
- “Whenever you ran into a Neanderthal, it was okay to have a baby with a Neanderthal.” www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024...
- There is a puzzle here. I would argue Trump’s “bad things” do get covered — Gaetz for AG wasn’t scuttled out of thin air. But few people who aren’t already opposed to Trump seem to be moved, so it requires above-average stamina for news outlets to persist in the face of an indifferent citizenry.
- That said, some younger voters were surprised¹ to hear the Access Hollywood tape² so perhaps we assume too much when it comes to what the mass public knows about Trump. ¹ www.teenvogue.com/story/gen-z-... ² “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy.”
- “He’s here. He’ll get no satisfaction out of me. He isn’t going to see me beg.” “You chivalric fool — as if the way one fell down mattered.” “When the fall is all there is, it matters.” youtu.be/lKGPiecEEbA?...
- This @chicagotribune.com editorial has a lot of nuance: “[M]ost loving American parents, given the chance to rub out the legal troubles of their […] offspring, would probably do what Biden did Sunday, if they could. “But the point here is that they cannot.” www.chicagotribune.com/2024/12/02/e...
- “The fact that H5N1 continues to spread unabated and then surprising us by infecting milk and people in places we don’t expect is bad,” said @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social […]. “It stokes my concerns that we are giving this virus a runway to launch a pandemic.” www.latimes.com/environment/...
