@Jake
I write about drinks, public policy, and other vices in Portland, Oregon. Co-founder of Seabird, the app you're using right now!
www.jacobgrier.comReads far and wide â 120 sources in 90 days
Also a writer â 5 original pieces this quarter
Almost a year-long wait, but I'm looking forward to this.
Kazuo Ishiguro announces 1930s spy caper to be published next year
Miss Lambert Steps Aboard Danger is the first novel from the Nobel laureate since 2021âs Klara and the Sun and draws on the authorâs love of music, art and Golden Age cinema
theguardian.com
Republicans got lucky making inroads with more diverse voters in the 2024 election and sure seem determined to squander that opportunity, especially in my home state.
Muslims at Texas GOP Convention told to leave party, country
Muslim delegates and attendees hoping to participate in the state Republican convention were shunned and rejected by members as they espoused themes of party unity ahead of the November election.
texastribune.org
Recommended: arguments against the current wave of social media bans for young people, which inherently violate the privacy of everyone.
How and Why to Fight Back Against Social Media Bans
Several U.S. states are pushing to ban young people from social media entirely. This marks the latest wave of censorship bills masquerading as âchildrenâs online safetyâ measures, with states like Massachusetts, Idaho, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, and EFFâs home state of...
eff.org
I learned a bit from this and will be keeping an eye out for these signs now.
The History Behind the Signs Lighting Up Our Daily Lives: Vacuum-Form Signage and Human Connection
Branding Main Street America and a rabbit hole into the history behind the vacuum-formed signage found in our daily lives
bethmathews.substack.com
You love to see it.
Opinion | One City Might Have Just Cracked the Housing Crisis
A large real estate development in the middle of Vancouver, British Columbia, shows how cities can build more housing.
nytimes.com
You hear a lot about the decline of reading, less about this coinciding with a veritable boom in book stores.
A Bookstore Boom in a Time of Literacy Decline
I was standing in line at Chaucerâs Books, my local indie, when it occurred to me that the line was longer than usual. This has been happening regularly enough that Iâve stopped being sâŠ
lithub.com
For someone who reads a lot of comics, I don't know a lot about the process of writing them. Pithy advice from an experienced editor here.
Guidelines For New Comic Book Writers From A Guy Who Has Seen It All
Guidelines for beginning comic book writers from a guy who has seen it all and then some
bleedingcool.com
If you're a coffee lover, you're going to enjoy reading this piece on La Marzocco. And as a former barista who did a lot of repetitive motion, I dig the innovation of a front-loading portafilter mentioned here.
How La Marzocco Perfected the Espresso Machine
Beloved by coffee enthusiasts, the century-old brand has built a philosophy based on timeless design, reliability, and watching baristas at work.
totei.com
Between this, the gambling markets, AI writing, and general economic collapse for writers, this is a very weird time to be a journalist.
A Peter Thiel-Backed Tribunal Is Putting Journalists on Trial. Iâm Its First Target
The billionaire has reteamed with the legal strategist who helped him bring down Gawker to start an AI-powered appeals court for the rich and aggrieved.
hollywoodreporter.com
Of all the obituaries I could share for David Hockney, this one seems the most personally apt.
âHe outlived four of his doctorsâ: David Hockneyâs lifelong love of smoking â and the 2,000 cigarettes he kept at home âfor emergenciesâ
His passion got him into scraps with the Paris Metro and numerous other bodies. Was it a social crutch? A Freudian response to his father? And why did he take such delight in writing to the Guardian about it all?
theguardian.com
A nice diversion with some Austin history.
Old Austinâs Legendary Taxi Tycoon Was Immortalized in Richard Linklaterâs âSlackerâ
Roy Velasquez Sr. led a remarkable life. I know, because I was there.
texasmonthly.com
In defense of "soccer," with an etymology of the word I was unfamiliar with, despite playing since I was five!
âSoccerâ is a fine term for the beautiful game â donât let any âfootballâ snob or president tell you otherwise this World Cup
âSoccerâ originated as a slang term in the 1880s and continues to be used around the world today. So why are some people squeamish about the term?
theconversation.com
How Oakland became a capital of Yemeni coffeeshops.
Arrived early and staying late
The deep roots of the East Bay's no-wave Yemeni coffee shop revolution.
oaklandreviewofbooks.org
This guy was a subject in the first article I ever published in Reason and I didn't imagine at the time I'd still be hearing about him nearly twenty years later.
He Profits Off Raw Milk Thatâs Making People Sick. The Government Isnât Stopping Him.
With Raw Farm, the largest raw-milk dairy in the country, Mark McAfee has capitalized on a once-fringe product thatâs been thrust into the mainstream in recent years and backed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
propublica.org
Interesting in its own right, and also as a warning to the United States.
How Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi
A case study in self-sabotage
theatlantic.com
We enjoyed a much shorter bike ride around the Swedish island Sandhamn this week, but this more adventurous outing sounds very appealing.
An epic bikepacking trip on west Swedenâs newest cycle trail
Affordable, family-friendly and largely flat, the LelÄngenleden is a gateway to an otherworldly wilderness with wild swimming, canoes and cabins as part the ride
theguardian.com
Given that the Magic Circle is famously wrongly conservative about who they've admitted in the past, I'm not sure this is an encouraging sign for the irreplaceability of human magicians.
D4RYL, a Robot Magician, Is Rejected by an Elite Magic Club
âWonder is emotional, not just mechanical,â the president of The Magic Circle said.
nytimes.com
This is incredibly thorough reporting, and the subject is far more relevant to US politics than he should be, but I can only recommend reading it if you're in the right state of mind for the horrific misogyny of Tate's abuses.
Andrew Tateâs Empire of Abuse
How the defining figure of the manosphere built a fortuneâand became a political forceâby systematically exploiting women.
newyorker.com
Long overdue! Though I'd still like the US to shift toward peer approval with European and other health agencies rather than waiting more than a decade to do something as simple as this.
F.D.A. Clears Sunscreen Ingredient Long Used in Europe and Asia
Dermatologists say bemotrizinol offers advantages over other compounds in sunscreens currently on the market.
nytimes.com
Just a bill introduction for now, but worth watching as another sign of America inching closer to tobacco prohibition.
New York State Introduces Generational Tobacco Ban Bill | Cigar Aficionado
The proposed legislation seeks to make it illegal for any person born after December 31, 2007, to purchase tobacco products, including cigars, in perpetuity. | Cigar Aficionado
cigaraficionado.com
Sad to say that the United States simply has no business hosting the World Cup or any international event right now.
Somali Referee Says His World Cup Dream Is Dashed After U.S. Denies Entry
âI had the right papers and everything,â Omar Abdulkadir Artan said in his first interview since he was turned back. He would have been the first Somali to referee a game in the tournament.
nytimes.com
Chronicle of some weird scientific experiments: "What if McConnell really did manage to feed a memory to a worm?"
Are Memories Transferable â or Edible? | Quanta Magazine
In the 1960s, worm-training experiments and their strange implications captivated the nation. Columnist Claire L. Evans follows the neuroscientists who attempted to recapture the magic.
quantamagazine.org
We're in Sweden and trying apparently the hot new candy in America, Bubs. Not bad!
foodandwine.com
A short, fun post that's very relevant to my interests.
What People Buy at L.A.'s Only Magic Store
In Studio City, a last bastion of tricks, pranks, and Wonder Bubbles.
lamaterial.com
A case for not bringing optimization to flag design.
The flag stranglers - Works in Progress Magazine
Most flags used to be ugly. They were probably better that way.
worksinprogress.co
Neat profile of a man who's entire job is reading books to decide if they should be adapted into movies, written by one of his longtime bartenders.
The Man Who Reads Books For a Living (One Every Two Days)
When Clarke Speicher (spike-er) asked how I liked the screen adaptation of Train Dreams, Denis Johnsonâs novella following the solitary logger Robert Granier in the early 20th-century American WestâŠ
lithub.com
I did not see this coming but I'm up to give it a listen.
Laura Marling Drops Surprise Raffi Covers Album
Laura Marling has always been good at covers, and in recent years sheâs been indulging that talent a lot. The London singer-songwriter regularly records other peopleâs tunes and shares them on her Substack. As the great music journalist Will Hermes recently pointed out, those covers are mostly behind a paywall, and they include songs byâŠ
stereogum.com
While I was in Warsaw this week for a conference on tobacco policy, the Australian government released its latest figures on the size of the illicit tobacco market. Its policies, often cited as world-leading, have led to illicit cigarettes encompassing 80% of the market, an incredible failure. Report here written by the host of the panel I was on.
Australia tried to tax smoking out of existence. Now 80% of tobacco Aussies consume is from the black market.
With cigarettes costing around $40 a pack, Australiaâs war on smoking has become a case study in how prohibitionist policies create black markets, violence, and criminal power.
reason.com
An amazing cancer breakthrough paired with a warning that the US is losing ground to China in drug development.
The blood cancer that became solvable
Multiple myeloma is brutal. We may finally have a cure, but American regulatory inertia means that it was discovered abroad.
worksinprogress.co
Having followed coverage of this case for a long time, I'm happy to read this.
Richard Glossip on Life After Decades on Death Row
In an exclusive interview at home in Oklahoma City, Richard Glossip describes his first days of freedom in a world he hasnât experienced for nearly 30 years.
theintercept.com
Easily the funniest thing I've read all week.
The 40 Most Rage-Inducing Problems in Tech
The bugs, broken apps, and nightmare customer-service bots we can't escape, presented as a blessed and sacred addendum to Pope Leo XIVâs new encyclical on AI
theringer.com
More bringing back the old web.
Meet Wander, a StumbleUpon-inspired tool for discovering the 'small web' | TechCrunch
This open source community project lets you create a StumbleUpon-like experience for recommending your favorite sites.
techcrunch.com
"Artists use dogs to do what both they and dogs are good at: telling us where to look."
Where Dogs Go On With Their Doggy Life
Why are there so many canines in fine art?
theatlantic.com
Ignore the headline (this has barely anything to do with AI), but it is an interesting Q&A if you're a fan.
âAI isnât going to have any beneficial influence on humansâ: Beth Orton on creativity, craft and the inspirational power of David Bowie
Ahead of her new album, the singer-songwriter answers your questions on big 90s nights out, financial survival and the time a whole tube carriage serenaded her
theguardian.com
Interesting profile of possibly Japan's only woman yakuza and the decline of the country's organized crime syndicates.
âThe devilâs childâ: the rise and fall of the only female yakuza
The long read: Mako Nishimura fought her way into the Japanese underworld, but drug addiction and the slow demise of organised crime gangs almost destroyed her
theguardian.com
Ok, one more link before I lose internet: on ramps, the taste of spring, and the tragedy of the commons.
Itâs the Spring Vegetable That Makes Everyone Lose Their Minds. It May Not Be With Us for Much Longer.
This unassuming allium is a victim of its own success.
slate.com
One link before I board a flight to Amsterdam and may lose wifi: Taffy Brodesser-Akner, author of the excellent Fleischman Is in Trouble, profiles Tilly Norwood, as well as her creator.
I Profile Celebrities for a Living. Nothing Prepared Me for Tilly Norwood.
The A.I. actress on her craft, the future of film and how she definitely does not intend to murder us.
nytimes.com
This story on the gender politics in the Texas Senate race by a reporter with a long history of writing about the issue was unfairly maligned on Bluesky, not a great testament to how users on that site sometimes pile on things without actually reading them. It's actually quite a good and thoughtful piece!
npr.org
A bit of history and some very cool visualizations here on the long evolution of technology for observing the Sun.
How We See the Beautiful, Violent Sun | Quanta Magazine
Over hundreds of years, increasingly sophisticated instruments have revealed â and continue to reveal â the secrets of our star.
quantamagazine.org
A worthwhile post on the responses to Nick Kristof's recent reporting.
Israel Is a State Like Any Other, and Commits Atrocities Like Any Other Would
Israel acts like any other apartheid state, but receives a level of deference from the American government and press and public quite unlike any other.
liberalcurrents.com
Warzel on feeling like AI, and the experience of the web in general, is lacking human agency.
The Feeling of Control Slipping Away
AI is causing a crisis of agency.
theatlantic.com
New from me at The UnPopulist: on flavored vapes, RFK, and how Trump poisons everything, even the rare issue he gets sort of right.
Corruption Clouds the Administrationâs Vaping Deregulation Push
Democrats should criticize not the policy but the motives behind it
theunpopulist.net
Big news in guitar circles: Following an unopposed court ruling in Germany, Fender is trying again to claim ownership of the Strat shape here in the US, potentially putting smaller makers out of business with legal threats.
Fender faces boycott after waging war on guitar rivals
The manufacturer is accused of seeking a monopoly by trying to stop others creating instruments with the same body shape
thetimes.com
On Portland's hot new sports team.
Falling for the Portland Fire
A thrilling arena, real money for the players, and (so far!) a winning record.
pdxmonthly.com
For the Portland Seabird crew: dining recommendations from the Gray Lady.
The 25 Best Restaurants in Portland, Ore., Right Now
The dining capital of the Pacific Northwest remains one of Americaâs great culinary cities.
nytimes.com
Toby Buckle is always worth reading, this week on how quickly political elites and the press in England have turned against trans citizens.
The End of Trans Rights in the UK Is the Start of Democratic Collapse
It's never just one minority.
liberalcurrents.com
Interview with Todd Snyder on the Ludlow suit, which popularized a slimmer profile and helped revitalize American menswear.
I Designed the J.Crew Ludlow Suit
Before Todd Snyder started his own brand, he created the suit that defined millennial menswear.
nymag.com
Is the dream of Blexas finally within reach thanks to the nomination of the uniquely corrupt Paxton?
A Blue Texas May Be More Than a Dream for Democrats
Ken Paxtonâs victory for the Republican nomination and a big shift among Hispanic voters have put a Senate seat within reach.
nytimes.com
Excellent piece on a performer in an art form I admittedly know next to nothing about.
Denyce Gravesâs Second Act
Denyce Graves is retiring from performing after a career as one of operaâs leading women. But thereâs more work for her to do.
theatlantic.com
I won't say I agree with all of the anti-AI sentiment here, or even all the alleged cases of humans passing AI work as their own, but this is certainly a fun read with (I'm pretty sure) an authentic voice.
If you let AI do your writing, I will come to your house and kill you
Did you think I wouldnât be able to tell? I can tell.
samkriss.substack.com
