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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 1h

Dinner’s on Tom! Czar Homan The Daily treatment on today’s podcast:

“Crypto isn’t an easy thing to explain. You know what is easy to explain? A Cava bag full of cash, that’s pretty simple.”

-Reporter Devlin Barrett of the New York Times, who first broke the story tinyurl.com/CAVAmanincha...

The Border Czar and a Bag of $50,000

Podcast Episode · The Daily · 10/15/2025 · 24m

tinyurl.com

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 1h

Funny last night about the 6 minute mark when Stephen Colbert talks about airports and dentists’ offices

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F13K...

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 1d

David Brooks, not usually my “favorite” columnist with a compelling piece in The Atlantic:

tinyurl.com/BrooksRevolu...

America Needs a Mass Movement—Now

Without one, America may sink into autocracy for decades.

tinyurl.com

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 3d

Today’s Dahlia Lithwick AMICUS podcast covers some essential ground. Listen to the first minute or two and see if you don’t want to finish it out.

“Just Venezuela, just Chicago, just Portland…”

uh, not so fast

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Trump’s Insurrection Claims Could Lead American Democracy Off a Cliff

Podcast Episode · Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts · 10/11/2025 · 52m

podcasts.apple.com

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 7d

Out at indie retail next Friday October 17th— check local listings

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 7d

Kind of a unique take on a“lyric video”

🎸🎙️📡

Footage from the earliest days of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, with sounds from 1981 and 2025!

youtu.be/f_rshoUeixk?...

R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe 2025 (Jacknife Lee Remix) RFE/RL Dispatch

YouTube video by remhq

youtu.be

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 8d

Miles Taylor, a true patriot, and a brave one:

open.substack.com/pub/treason/...

READ: Trump's tyranny needs just ONE more thing to succeed

Even his best henchmen can't provide him with the most powerful tool needed for a military takeover.

open.substack.com

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 13d

Who was mooching down near the tree – – the dog, the bird or the android?

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 13d

Didja miss this today? DON’T!

Stephen Colbert at his very best!

youtu.be/XBXleKD9K4Y?...

Pegging the camera with the old F.A.F.O:

“Oh no… I know. I’ve been there. When you think it’s going to land, that quiet crowd really hurts”

Shutdown Eve | Hegseth To America’s Enemies: FAFO | Trump To Military Brass: Fight The Enemy Within

YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

youtu.be

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 13d

The actual "enemy from within” (🙏 Ann Telnaes) Joseph McCarthy used the same term “enemies from within” in his speech to the Ohio County Republican Women’s Club in Wheeling, which launched the 1950s red scare. I doubt this was a coincidence by Trump’s speechwriter

open.substack.com/pub/anntelna...

The actual "enemy from within"

Trump lays the groundwork for using the military on dissent.

open.substack.com

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 14d

Form and content award for this opinion by US District Judge William Young, appointed by Ronald Reagan: (with thanks to to Dahlia Lithwick, David Dark and so many professors I learned from at Davidson College and the University of Georgia School of Law):

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 16d

Glad I no longer teach first year law classes on legal writing/research/process/method. Uh, what would you actually teach them? See also Clarence Thomas
⬇️ 🚨⚖️

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Clarence Thomas says precedent might not determine cases on upcoming supreme court docket

The court is expected to weigh in on same-sex marriage next session, which it legalized in 2015

www.theguardian.com

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 18d

While we dance to the music, enjoy family life, watch Friday night lights, get ready for Saturday football, tune into the baseball playoffs, pull for one side or the other of the Ryder Cup…

Tim Snyder has a few other things he’s thinking about. Some chilling stuff here:

berto.fyi/46sa65e

Hegseth puts us all at risk

Why put all the American commanders in one room?

berto.fyi

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 22d

Every single word of Stephen Colbert’s monologue last night was hilarious— not always the case but last night was special! 📺

“Any news CBS?”

youtu.be/0bBFZBO2mMo?...

Disney Reinstates Jimmy Kimmel | The Rapture Is Here | Trump's Border Czar Caught Taking $50k Bribe

YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

youtu.be

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 22d

Still a total must-read these days, Dan Rather on explaining “that’s not how this works” much of the news condensed for all of us overwhelmed people out here

"The president’s trip to England came at the perfect time…. a rundown of what you might have missed."

steady.substack.com/p/oh-the-sto...

Oh, The Stories You Missed!

While Trump was wined and dined by a king

steady.substack.com

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 23d

Great Atlantic story by Hanna Rosin—listened on my morning walk. Highly recommended, the author’s story about her experience as a kid in Queens and the teacher in Oklahoma who unwittingly became a culture warrior when all she wanted to teach her students well:

www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/arc...

Is Oklahoma Breaking Public Schools?

“Woke”-teacher screenings. Trying to get Bibles in schools. A two-part series on how one state is remaking American education.

www.theatlantic.com

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 23d

thank you for your service ✔️

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 24d

As someone who may or may not be descended from the Melungeon people in Appalachia, and who’s been thinking about matters of race, equity and privilege back to about my college days 50 years ago, this looks like a really interesting documentary coming up tomorrow on CNN:

youtu.be/bBWl1wnCBGk?...

Black and White families in the South discover their shared roots

YouTube video by CNN

youtu.be

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 25d

Serious times, many people, including me, are dismayed, concerned and , alarmed, justifiably so.

Giving up is not an option and giving in to helplessness and despair, no thank you— here’s a playlist we put together a few months ago, more needed every day 🎸💙🙏🏼

open.spotify.com/album/5UdHQZ...

We Are Hope Despite The Times

open.spotify.com

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 26d

ffm.to/remrfe2025

Radio Free Europe 2025

5-track EP on digital and vinyl formats.

ffm.to

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · 26d

The official lyric video for an early song that did not really have real lyrics, but this works pretty well: #RadioFreeEurope2025
🎸 🎙️

youtu.be/f_rshoUeixk?...

R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe 2025 (Jacknife Lee Remix) RFE/RL Dispatch

YouTube video by remhq

youtu.be

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · Sep 14

A really need to read story in @propublica.org

projects.propublica.org/h2a-visa-far...

A Farmworkers Visa Promised Her a Better Life. It Was a Trap.

Sofi left behind her child in Mexico for the promise of providing him a better life. She ended up a victim of an operation that is alleged to have exploited the H-2A visa program — and the workers it ...

projects.propublica.org

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · Sep 14

Cameron Crowe is on the New York Times The Daily podcast— highly recommended!

youtu.be/le6rw1r_H4Q?...

What Cameron Crowe’s ‘Almost Famous’ Years Taught Him About Life | The Interview

YouTube video by The Interview

youtu.be

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · Sep 13

Definitely one of the absolute gems of the canon— thanks for the reminder, always 🎸

Colin J Donnelly @cjdonnelly72.bsky.social · Sep 13

#REM
#MusicChallenge

The song that gave the EP it’s title.
I seem to remember reading that Michael’s childhood bout of scarlet fever influenced the lyrics, maybe, they’re certainly surreal enough…

18. Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars) (Chronic Town)

youtu.be/FLujYDzXZo8?...

Carnival Of Sorts [Box Cars] (Live)

YouTube video by R.E.M. - Topic

youtu.be

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Bertis Downs @bertisdowns.bsky.social · Sep 13

A wonderful interview with a fascinating writer, Michael Bamberger (who loves writing and even email, but definitely not social media!) It’s worth hearing when you have the time— and I learned a new phrase just short of an hour in: “the gratitude chain”

youtu.be/BZV5kiCoVew?...

A Visit with Michael Bamberger | NLU Pod, Ep 1065

YouTube video by No Laying Up Podcast

youtu.be

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