Chad Perman
@chadperman.bsky.social
writer | editor | therapist* | musician | dad | founder & eic @bwdr.bsky.social | curious about everything | 🏀 forever
*posts ≠ professional advice
*posts ≠ professional advice
This is the very best way to help keep Bright Wall/Dark Room going, if you’re so inclined—plus a great deal (or gift)! Been doing this for over 16 years now, almost impossible to believe, and so grateful for anyone who has ever helped, in any way. It takes a lot to keep anything going, always. 🙏
Black Friday/Holiday Sale!
All first-time or returning subscribers can now purchase an annual subscription for $10 off their first year—which means just $19 for a full year of access to BW/DR and our entire 143 issue archive!
Also: you can gift it!
coupon code: HOLIDAY2025
All first-time or returning subscribers can now purchase an annual subscription for $10 off their first year—which means just $19 for a full year of access to BW/DR and our entire 143 issue archive!
Also: you can gift it!
coupon code: HOLIDAY2025
Subscribe - Bright Wall/Dark Room
Subscribe for $29 a year Subscribe now to receive immediate access to each new essay we publish, plus our entire 140+ issue archive. Bright Wall/Dark Room is 100% independent, runs no ads, and strongl...
www.brightwalldarkroom.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:21 PM
This is the very best way to help keep Bright Wall/Dark Room going, if you’re so inclined—plus a great deal (or gift)! Been doing this for over 16 years now, almost impossible to believe, and so grateful for anyone who has ever helped, in any way. It takes a lot to keep anything going, always. 🙏
Reposted by Chad Perman
Black Friday reminder: You can support independent bookstores and get great deals without lining the pockets of billionaires 😌
November 28, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Black Friday reminder: You can support independent bookstores and get great deals without lining the pockets of billionaires 😌
it is time 🌋
I watch a movie I’m very thankful for every Hanxgiving (so, tomorrow)
Joe Versus the Volcano (1990): We'll Jump and We'll See
Joe Versus the Volcano is a film that lives almost entirely in its own world, asking Big Questions about Big Things; its heart is large, and its magic deep.
www.brightwalldarkroom.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:31 AM
it is time 🌋
Reposted by Chad Perman
thinking of her today
November 27, 2025 at 3:07 PM
thinking of her today
My son is working on this for an upcoming recital next month—which means I get to hear this deeply aching & beautiful nocturne several times a day—and informed me tonight that this is the best version, or at least the one he likes best, and I’m inclined to agree. Feels a lot like life in 2025.
Tiffany Poon – Nocturne in C minor Op. 48 No. 1 (first stage)
YouTube video by Chopin Institute
youtu.be
November 27, 2025 at 8:24 AM
My son is working on this for an upcoming recital next month—which means I get to hear this deeply aching & beautiful nocturne several times a day—and informed me tonight that this is the best version, or at least the one he likes best, and I’m inclined to agree. Feels a lot like life in 2025.
Reposted by Chad Perman
all the AI slop out there makes me want the most aggressively analog stories out there. like I want a one-of-a-kind homemade zine someone tucked into a baggie in the hollow of a tree, and I want that zine to include a shitty hand drawn map to a treasure it may or may not take 30 years to find
November 20, 2025 at 7:35 PM
all the AI slop out there makes me want the most aggressively analog stories out there. like I want a one-of-a-kind homemade zine someone tucked into a baggie in the hollow of a tree, and I want that zine to include a shitty hand drawn map to a treasure it may or may not take 30 years to find
Just realized that Maya Hawke is 4 years older now than Uma Thurman was when she made Pulp Fiction and 3 years older than Ethan Hawke when he made Reality Bites 🤯
November 27, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Just realized that Maya Hawke is 4 years older now than Uma Thurman was when she made Pulp Fiction and 3 years older than Ethan Hawke when he made Reality Bites 🤯
Reposted by Chad Perman
I think @rianjohnson.bsky.social made WAKE UP DEAD MAN just for people like me (angry exvangelicals who still find value in Jesus’ teaching even though the Church is really bad at living those teachings out, bonus points if you like U2). Paired it with CONCLAVE in my latest column @bwdr.bsky.social
Double Features: Wake Up Dead Man and Conclave
Wake Up Dead Man and Conclave depict faith at work in a world that’s dark and growing darker. Both films hold faith up to the light and ask: In times like these, what are the faithful to do?
www.brightwalldarkroom.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:44 PM
I think @rianjohnson.bsky.social made WAKE UP DEAD MAN just for people like me (angry exvangelicals who still find value in Jesus’ teaching even though the Church is really bad at living those teachings out, bonus points if you like U2). Paired it with CONCLAVE in my latest column @bwdr.bsky.social
Reposted by Chad Perman
Fascinating by the idea of someone who had never consumed anything made by Tim Robinson randomly deciding to watch THE CHAIR COMPANY thinking it’s like, a normal HBO crime show
November 26, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Fascinating by the idea of someone who had never consumed anything made by Tim Robinson randomly deciding to watch THE CHAIR COMPANY thinking it’s like, a normal HBO crime show
still such an incredibly good song
Iron & Wine - The Trapeze Swinger - Live @ ACL
YouTube video by Simone Stefanini
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 6:23 AM
still such an incredibly good song
Reposted by Chad Perman
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
November 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
If more leaders knew how to play Bach music this would be a better country, i am absolutely convinced of it (also this is wonderful)
November 23, 2025 at 6:23 AM
If more leaders knew how to play Bach music this would be a better country, i am absolutely convinced of it (also this is wonderful)
my kingdom for an app or chrome extension that automatically detects and disables all AI on any site I go to
November 22, 2025 at 5:56 AM
my kingdom for an app or chrome extension that automatically detects and disables all AI on any site I go to
Maybe my best skill as a middle schooler & teenager was making mix tapes for people and the best one I ever made was the one I gave a girl across the hall from me in the dorm my freshman year who was also in my psych 101 class. In a few months, we’ll be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary
November 21, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Maybe my best skill as a middle schooler & teenager was making mix tapes for people and the best one I ever made was the one I gave a girl across the hall from me in the dorm my freshman year who was also in my psych 101 class. In a few months, we’ll be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary
UW women’s soccer moving onto the Sweet 16 with this amazing overtime goal 🔥
Washington's Alex Buck goes over half the length of the field and 1v2 against the Arkansas defense to net the golden goal winner.
November 20, 2025 at 11:06 PM
UW women’s soccer moving onto the Sweet 16 with this amazing overtime goal 🔥
Reposted by Chad Perman
TEN MONTHS IN:
The national debt is higher.
The trade deficit is wider.
The inflation rate has worsened.
The unemployment rate is up.
The national debt is higher.
The trade deficit is wider.
The inflation rate has worsened.
The unemployment rate is up.
November 20, 2025 at 7:56 PM
TEN MONTHS IN:
The national debt is higher.
The trade deficit is wider.
The inflation rate has worsened.
The unemployment rate is up.
The national debt is higher.
The trade deficit is wider.
The inflation rate has worsened.
The unemployment rate is up.
Easily one of my favorite interviews of all time, including everything that happens before the interview even starts (and how much she hates the rug) and how it casually slides into a deep & fascinating conversation that lets you experience so many layers of Hepburn in such a real way
Or convincing Katharine Hepburn to give her very first TV interview—which she decided to do on the spot, with no audience, while visiting the set “to check things out to see how it looked and felt…and then she surprised me by suddenly saying, ‘Why don’t we just go ahead and do it now?’ And we did.”
Katharine Hepburn Interview 1/3 - Dick Cavett Show (1973)
YouTube video by ika11e
youtu.be
November 20, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Easily one of my favorite interviews of all time, including everything that happens before the interview even starts (and how much she hates the rug) and how it casually slides into a deep & fascinating conversation that lets you experience so many layers of Hepburn in such a real way
This is wonderful, and I think quite often how very different my life would be if I hadn’t obsessively watched this show each sunday as a kid. I wasn’t allowed to see any of the movies (thank you, religion!) but I could watch this show, and it felt like a welcome way in, thirty minutes at a time
Along with many other writers, for @ebertvoices.bsky.social I shared my memory of watching Siskel & Ebert.
Their Show Cracked Open the World: Siskel & Ebert Memories | Roger Ebert | Roger Ebert
Our contributors weigh in on the impact of Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert on the 50th anniversary of their hit TV show, "At the Movies."
www.rogerebert.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:36 PM
This is wonderful, and I think quite often how very different my life would be if I hadn’t obsessively watched this show each sunday as a kid. I wasn’t allowed to see any of the movies (thank you, religion!) but I could watch this show, and it felt like a welcome way in, thirty minutes at a time
Reposted by Chad Perman
my wife and her entire team were fired over Zoom from their program manager jobs at a local nonprofit Seattle hospital this Spring because Trump just stopped paying Medicaid reimbursements. and this is a relatively affluent urban center
we're really not prepared for what's coming
we're really not prepared for what's coming
As a direct result of President Trump's Big Ugly Bill, almost 300 jobs will be cut from Providence Swedish's First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard, and Issaquah hospitals and clinics. These are not the only layoffs we've seen in our health care system in Washington state in recent months.
Providence Swedish to eliminate nearly 300 positions
The cuts will affect jobs at Providence Swedish’s First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard and Issaquah hospitals and nearby clinics.
www.seattletimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:49 PM
my wife and her entire team were fired over Zoom from their program manager jobs at a local nonprofit Seattle hospital this Spring because Trump just stopped paying Medicaid reimbursements. and this is a relatively affluent urban center
we're really not prepared for what's coming
we're really not prepared for what's coming
holy shit, beethoven was savage
November 18, 2025 at 9:33 PM
holy shit, beethoven was savage
Reposted by Chad Perman
After much deliberation and a grueling interview process, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve accepted a new job and will not need any financial support from my parents to cover the high costs of childcare going forward. #AmericanDream #ThisIsYourCity
November 18, 2025 at 4:38 PM
After much deliberation and a grueling interview process, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve accepted a new job and will not need any financial support from my parents to cover the high costs of childcare going forward. #AmericanDream #ThisIsYourCity
i've lived with it all my life obviously, but it's still really hard to explain why you can give me 3 hours to do something that is easy & takes 5 minutes and i will feel restless and unsettled while avoiding it and then when there's 10 minutes left it's like a magic "ok, proceed" button appears
November 18, 2025 at 2:27 AM
i've lived with it all my life obviously, but it's still really hard to explain why you can give me 3 hours to do something that is easy & takes 5 minutes and i will feel restless and unsettled while avoiding it and then when there's 10 minutes left it's like a magic "ok, proceed" button appears
Reposted by Chad Perman
whenever the sun sets at 4:45 pm i open a window, lean out and yell "WRONG" as loud as i can. that usually buys me another hour or two of sunlight
November 17, 2025 at 9:48 PM
whenever the sun sets at 4:45 pm i open a window, lean out and yell "WRONG" as loud as i can. that usually buys me another hour or two of sunlight
heckuva game, defense showed up, but just imagine if even one of those 4 seahawks field goals was a touchdown
November 17, 2025 at 12:13 AM
heckuva game, defense showed up, but just imagine if even one of those 4 seahawks field goals was a touchdown
i’ve been trying to figure out how to describe this all week, and THIS is it!
Pluribus is so good?? It’s like if the X-Files and The Good Place had an extremely upsetting but darkly funny baby
November 16, 2025 at 4:14 AM
i’ve been trying to figure out how to describe this all week, and THIS is it!