Dave Levitan
@davelevitan.bsky.social
77K followers 850 following 11K posts
Journalist, looking for next thing. Bylines all over the place. Book: NOT A SCIENTIST: How politicians mistake, misrepresent, and utterly mangle science (WW Norton). Signal: @davelevitan.26 www.davelevitan.com Sign up: www.gravityisgone.com
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davelevitan.bsky.social
Okay quick thread of the sort of stuff you'll get if you pay a modest monthly or yearly amount to read Gravity Is Gone:

Today's newsletter, about the shutdown and RIFs and how employees are so in the dark that their bosses want them to email UP the chain if they get fired.
Federal Employees Have Been Asked to Tell Their Bosses if They Get Fired
Multiple people at multiple agencies said their bosses have told them to email up the chain if they hear about RIFs, because, per one source, "they probably won't be told if people are fired."
www.gravityisgone.com
davelevitan.bsky.social
Watched the excellent John Oliver episode about presidential libraries, which came out 3 days after I wrote this and also contains a Stephen Miller joke similar to one I made on here months ago and all I’m saying is if anyone there follows me we are on the same page and I got laid off recently
davelevitan.bsky.social
Did you know that the Trump Presidential LIbrary Foundation (run by Eric Trump, of course) was given a piece of Miami real estate likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars this week. Like, just donated to them. By the state. For nothing. On which they can build anything.
What Even Is a Trump Presidential Library?
Hello, welcome to my relaunched newsletter, read more about the deal here and please subscribe below! A week ago, a plot of incredibly valuable land in downtown Miami belonged to public Miami Dade Co...
www.gravityisgone.com
davelevitan.bsky.social
Great couple of weeks to remember that there is, in fact, still some money in journalism but it's just flowing to all the worst people
davelevitan.bsky.social
oh good I was worried the utterly unearned Vanity Fair editor job was all she got for violating the most basic rules of journalism
davelevitan.bsky.social
Okay I will admit that @jowrotethis.bsky.social approached this with the appropriate reverence
davelevitan.bsky.social
I am both thrilled and filled with dread
Latest episode of The Rewatchables podcast: Sneakers, with Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, and Joanna Robinson
davelevitan.bsky.social
time once again to ponder the missing second part of the “bad apples” adage
atrupar.com
Q: Politico reported on a group chat of young Republicans. Does this just reflect some bad apples?

HOCHUL: Some bad apples? These are the future of the GOP. This is so vile it's hard to find the words to put into context ... there's gotta be consequences ... this bullshit has to stop.
Reposted by Dave Levitan
davelevitan.bsky.social
Once more from yesterday -- I wrote about the latest report on climate tipping points, both negative AND positive ones, and an apparent shift in rhetoric as COP30 approaches.

This is for paid subscribers, so please sign up to support independent journalism!
Climate Tipping Points Don't Face in Just One Direction
Some of the scariest climate thresholds are approaching fast. But so are some potential ways out.
www.gravityisgone.com
davelevitan.bsky.social
The president is not allowed to just murder people on boats when he feels like it and it is *wild* that the entire Republican Party has decided that actually yes he is
davelevitan.bsky.social
"you say it 251 times, it’s no longer a joke" is right, this is just who they are
davelevitan.bsky.social
Once more from yesterday -- I wrote about the latest report on climate tipping points, both negative AND positive ones, and an apparent shift in rhetoric as COP30 approaches.

This is for paid subscribers, so please sign up to support independent journalism!
Climate Tipping Points Don't Face in Just One Direction
Some of the scariest climate thresholds are approaching fast. But so are some potential ways out.
www.gravityisgone.com
davelevitan.bsky.social
I am both thrilled and filled with dread
Latest episode of The Rewatchables podcast: Sneakers, with Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, and Joanna Robinson
davelevitan.bsky.social
I also have a bone-deep memory of being 10 or 11 and watching It with like 20 friends in a house on Cape Cod in the early 90s and being scared out of my mind
davelevitan.bsky.social
I love Tim Curry very much (Rocky Horror obv but also Clue is one of my very favorite movies ever) and I'm glad he is still doing stuff and enjoying himself

[🎁]
Tim Curry Isn’t Done Yet
www.nytimes.com
davelevitan.bsky.social
This is the first paid-members-only post for Gravity Is Gone. Plenty will still be free, and that's awesome if you want to subscribe to the free version. But it is slightly more awesome if you want to subscribe at one of the not-much-money paid tiers.
davelevitan.bsky.social
I wrote about the new climate tipping points report, how that sort of rhetoric has left me a bit cold in the past, and how there seems to be an attempt to repurpose some of the scariest climate stuff toward positive ends.
Climate Tipping Points Don't Face in Just One Direction
Some of the scariest climate thresholds are approaching fast. But so are some potential ways out.
www.gravityisgone.com
davelevitan.bsky.social
"In Belém, we have the first COP to take place in a new reality: the first where we can be sure that we WILL cross limits" is a really interesting shift in climate diplomacy-related rhetoric. And look, there've been 29 of these and here we are; might as well shake shit up.

Please subscribe!
Climate Tipping Points Don't Face in Just One Direction
Some of the scariest climate thresholds are approaching fast. But so are some potential ways out.
www.gravityisgone.com
Reposted by Dave Levitan
bleary.off-the-records.com
If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.
Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?
Reposted by Dave Levitan
drjeffmasters.bsky.social
A massive storm that brought a record storm surge to Alaska was poorly forecast, and “this is one of the clearest possible examples to date where missing upper air soundings due to NWS constraints may have led to a degraded forecast.”
wxmanms1.bsky.social
Sunday a massive storm surge event from the remnants of Typhoon Halong caused catastrophic damage in remote western Alaska. Thanks to @alaskawx.bsky.social for his help with this deep dive, including the forecast challenges in an area dealing with reduced NWS upper air soundings
tinyurl.com/4ycxaez9
Historic coastal flooding strikes western Alaska
Remnants of Typhoon Halong produce hurricane force winds and push massive storm surge inland in Kuskokwim River Delta, destroying and carrying away homes, leaving devastated communities.
tinyurl.com
davelevitan.bsky.social
I wrote about the new climate tipping points report, how that sort of rhetoric has left me a bit cold in the past, and how there seems to be an attempt to repurpose some of the scariest climate stuff toward positive ends.
Climate Tipping Points Don't Face in Just One Direction
Some of the scariest climate thresholds are approaching fast. But so are some potential ways out.
www.gravityisgone.com
davelevitan.bsky.social
"Let's do the fucking news!"

[takes running dropkick at Edward R. Murrow's tombstone]
Reposted by Dave Levitan
brandonfriedman.bsky.social
Promoting the editor-in-chief's personal side project. Zero named sources in a story that promotes the editor-in-chief's personal political position. Misspelling the subject's name. It took one day for CBS News to become a conservative blog.

www.cbsnews.com/video/some-n...
CBS News: Some NYPD officers worry about Mandani becoming NYC mayor the Free Press reports.
Reposted by Dave Levitan
nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
Police officers who publicly declare that they’ll quit if a mayoral candidate they dislike wins the election are (1) usually bluffing—sure buddy, toss away that paycheck and pension—and (2) exactly the sort of cops cities would be better off without, ones who don’t see themselves as public servants.
davelevitan.bsky.social
Only a couple more months for humans to invent the massive kaiju-fighting robots of Pacific Rim, which takes place in 2025. My optimism is waning.