Karl Runser
@therunser.bsky.social
Lutheran pastor; cat person; etc. etc.
And the award for Obtuse Take of the Week goes to …
The First Amendment allows folks to be wrong, terrible people.
December 1, 2025 at 5:47 PM
And the award for Obtuse Take of the Week goes to …
Whatever ratio this ends up with, won’t be enough. But have at it anyhow.
This won’t be a popular opinion, but I don’t think the instructor was right here. The assignment said that the goal was for students to demonstrate they completed the readings *and* they could do so by reflecting on, among other things, their personal experiences. www.oudaily.com/news/ou-stat...
OU puts graduate instructor on leave after student claims discrimination on Bible-based essay grade
OU placed a graduate student instructor on leave after a student publicly contested a grade and filed an illegal discrimination claim after she received a failing grade on an essay
www.oudaily.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Whatever ratio this ends up with, won’t be enough. But have at it anyhow.
Reposted by Karl Runser
What if we razed every Data Center to the ground and salted the earth where they stood
December 1, 2025 at 3:40 AM
What if we razed every Data Center to the ground and salted the earth where they stood
Reposted by Karl Runser
I have a few thoughts on how to stop our current descent into madness. Add your own in the comments. open.substack.com/pub/davidrot...
How to Stop the Descent into Madness
To the degree you're just a spectator to this crisis, you're a contributor to it.
open.substack.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:50 PM
I have a few thoughts on how to stop our current descent into madness. Add your own in the comments. open.substack.com/pub/davidrot...
Who’s “we”??
When a cancelled performer reënters the culture, we expect them to offer us a great work, channelling their newfound clarity into the finest art they’ve ever made. With his new comedy show and début novel, has Louis C.K. met the bar?
www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
Louis C.K.’s Next Chapter
In a new standup special, and a début novel, the comedian navigates murky, post-#MeToo terrain: not quite exiled, not quite welcomed back.
www.newyorker.com
November 29, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Who’s “we”??
Forty years? How in th-
In “Calvin and Hobbes,” Spaceman Spiff—Calvin’s spacefaring alter ego—first appeared 40 years ago, on November 29, 1985. Here is Spiff’s debut:
November 29, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Forty years? How in th-
Reposted by Karl Runser
Lots of people think this is fine: manly, bold, “genuine,” “telling it like it is.“. Lots of people will approve.
Shitty people, shitty values, shitty culture.
Shitty people, shitty values, shitty culture.
Trump responds to a detailed report about his waning energy and propensity to sleep through on-camera events by calling the New York Times's Katie Rogers ugly
November 26, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Lots of people think this is fine: manly, bold, “genuine,” “telling it like it is.“. Lots of people will approve.
Shitty people, shitty values, shitty culture.
Shitty people, shitty values, shitty culture.
Reposted by Karl Runser
It was not a plan but a capitulation document. It did not come together. It was a Russian document presented by some Americans as American. Be clear in your headlines. Help
people see the simple awfulness of things.
people see the simple awfulness of things.
President Trump's proposal to end the war in Ukraine heavily favored Russia in its initial form and included demand that Kyiv has consistently rejected. Here's how the plan came together.
Listen to "The Daily."
Listen to "The Daily."
The Ukrainian Peace Plan Written by … Russia?
President Trump’s proposal to end the war in Ukraine heavily favored Moscow in its initial form and included demands that Kyiv has consistently rejected.
nyti.ms
November 28, 2025 at 3:57 PM
It was not a plan but a capitulation document. It did not come together. It was a Russian document presented by some Americans as American. Be clear in your headlines. Help
people see the simple awfulness of things.
people see the simple awfulness of things.
Yes it is. The New Colossus!
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” is the greatest founding myth of any nation ever.
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” is the greatest founding myth of any nation ever.
November 28, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Yes it is. The New Colossus!
Check this out, everyone —
For the next two weeks we will be fundraising for our winter ministry project … consider partnering with our local ministry in providing grocery gift cards for the community venmo.com/u/solomon-MI...
November 28, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Check this out, everyone —
Reposted by Karl Runser
This is the song with the record of most willing listens by me: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m57g...
Alice's Restaurant - Original 1967 Recording
YouTube video by Stiletto
www.youtube.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:53 AM
This is the song with the record of most willing listens by me: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m57g...
Reposted by Karl Runser
“Let us eat one last cookie, and then we will stop.”
November 27, 2025 at 2:37 AM
“Let us eat one last cookie, and then we will stop.”
I just want one single national news organization to frame its stories with human decency at the center.
Just one.
This ain’t it, @npr.org
Just one.
This ain’t it, @npr.org
President Trump brought grievances to the Thanksgiving pardoning ceremony on Tuesday. He joked about sending the turkeys to a prison in El Salvador, and claimed that last year's turkey pardons were invalid. n.pr/48nUsYx
Trump spares turkeys — but not his political opponents — at annual pardoning ceremony
President Trump brought grievances to the Thanksgiving pardoning ceremony on Tuesday. He joked about sending the turkeys to a prison in El Salvador, and claimed that last year's turkey pardons were invalid.
n.pr
November 26, 2025 at 12:04 PM
I just want one single national news organization to frame its stories with human decency at the center.
Just one.
This ain’t it, @npr.org
Just one.
This ain’t it, @npr.org
Drop whatever you're doing and read this right away. It's delightful and highlarious.
It's almost Thanksgiving, so I decided to do a silly post on food and my adolescent obsession with cereal--not eating it; making it. substack.com/home/post/p-...
November 26, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Yes!
And marvelous reading here too!
I wrote about one of my favorite Peanuts comic strips of all time—and a whole bunch of other ones—and why this one might be the richest single expression of Charles Schulz’s interests and imaginative world.
November 25, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Yes!
Reposted by Karl Runser
If you've never read H. Rider Haggard's novel, or even if you have, the Modern Library edition, which I edited with my own deft hand and which features an introduction by Margaret Atwood, is, IISSM, a delight.
She by H. Rider Haggard: 9780375759055 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
A runaway bestseller on its publication in 1887, H. Rider Haggard’s She is a Victorian thrill ride of a novel, featuring a lost African kingdom ruled by a mysterious, implacable queen; ferocious...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:31 PM
If you've never read H. Rider Haggard's novel, or even if you have, the Modern Library edition, which I edited with my own deft hand and which features an introduction by Margaret Atwood, is, IISSM, a delight.
Reposted by Karl Runser
Wordle 1,620 2/6
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Connections
Puzzle #898
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November 25, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Wordle 1,620 2/6
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Connections
Puzzle #898
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Connections
Puzzle #898
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Reposted by Karl Runser
yes, hello, I would like to place an order for everyone’s funniest stories of holiday food-related family grudges / drama / chaotic incidents / lore
I feel like we need this
I feel like we need this
November 24, 2025 at 11:39 PM
yes, hello, I would like to place an order for everyone’s funniest stories of holiday food-related family grudges / drama / chaotic incidents / lore
I feel like we need this
I feel like we need this
Reposted by Karl Runser
We wanted to understand how regular Americans feel about the Trump administration. So we talked to three Russia-funded content farmers at a tea house in Islamabad.
November 24, 2025 at 8:54 PM
We wanted to understand how regular Americans feel about the Trump administration. So we talked to three Russia-funded content farmers at a tea house in Islamabad.
“I wandered lonely, as a clod,
Picking up old rags and bottles,
When suddenly I chanced upon
A host of axolotls”
— Mad Magazine
Picking up old rags and bottles,
When suddenly I chanced upon
A host of axolotls”
— Mad Magazine
A lot of axolotls: the amphibian-themed banknote Mexicans don’t want to spend
Nearly 13m people are hoarding millions of dollars’ worth of the stylish 50 peso note, featuring Mexico’s cutest critter
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Nearly 13m people are hoarding millions of dollars’ worth of the stylish 50 peso note, featuring Mexico’s cutest critter
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
A lot of axolotls: the amphibian-themed banknote Mexicans don’t want to spend
Nearly 13m people are hoarding millions of dollars’ worth of the stylish 50 peso note, featuring Mexico’s cutest critter
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:06 PM
“I wandered lonely, as a clod,
Picking up old rags and bottles,
When suddenly I chanced upon
A host of axolotls”
— Mad Magazine
Picking up old rags and bottles,
When suddenly I chanced upon
A host of axolotls”
— Mad Magazine
Where in the hell is “Moonstruck”??
The movie listed at #1 is so incredibly misplaced that it calls into question the veracity of the entire list. It belongs on the list, yes, but SO MUCH further down. An absolute, credibility-wrecking flub. Boo, @variety.com! Boo!
variety.com/lists/best-c...
variety.com/lists/best-c...
The 100 Best Comedy Movies of All Time
Variety's list of the 100 best comedy movies of all time includes 'Annie Hall,' 'Pretty Woman,' 'Waiting for Guffman' and 'Young Frankenstein.'
variety.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Where in the hell is “Moonstruck”??
Reposted by Karl Runser
A friend who teaches theology shared with me a post about CS Lewis's Mere Christianity, which discusses foundational Christian logic across denominations. It reminded me of Dale's tweet below, and I wanted to share some thoughts here regarding modesty and respectability, which are often hot topics.
November 23, 2025 at 7:35 PM
A friend who teaches theology shared with me a post about CS Lewis's Mere Christianity, which discusses foundational Christian logic across denominations. It reminded me of Dale's tweet below, and I wanted to share some thoughts here regarding modesty and respectability, which are often hot topics.
Reposted by Karl Runser
I really appreciate everyone’s thoughtful and deep answers on this thread.
I’m going to add something lighter to the mix—this stellar recipe for tandoori turkey. Will never go back.
nishkitchen.com/tandoori-tur...
I’m going to add something lighter to the mix—this stellar recipe for tandoori turkey. Will never go back.
nishkitchen.com/tandoori-tur...
November 23, 2025 at 7:56 PM
I really appreciate everyone’s thoughtful and deep answers on this thread.
I’m going to add something lighter to the mix—this stellar recipe for tandoori turkey. Will never go back.
nishkitchen.com/tandoori-tur...
I’m going to add something lighter to the mix—this stellar recipe for tandoori turkey. Will never go back.
nishkitchen.com/tandoori-tur...
Thanksgiving dinner is at dinner time, or a tiny bit earlier. No early afternoon dinner! Makes cooking less stressful, and the meal just is better.,
Actually in the spirit of this conversation, what’s a decision you made about a past Thanksgiving holiday that really paid off? I think people often feel trapped by their lives. Sharing our experiences can liberate us from that sense of claustrophobia.
On the most recent episode of VIBE CHECK, we answer listener questions about Thanksgiving, most importantly “do you go celebrate with the family members you don’t even like?”
November 23, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Thanksgiving dinner is at dinner time, or a tiny bit earlier. No early afternoon dinner! Makes cooking less stressful, and the meal just is better.,