Matthew Budman, book guy
LightNews LightNews
banner
matthewbudman.bsky.social
Matthew Budman, book guy
@matthewbudman.bsky.social
1.4K followers 630 following 5.1K posts
News junkie, editor, faculty spouse, author of “Book Collecting Now.”
Posts Replies Media Videos
matthewbudman.bsky.social
Happy Thanksgiving, Bluesky family!
Cristina, Jen, and Darío at a candlelit table with plates of linguine carbonara!
November 28, 2025 at 12:49 AM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
When people tell me that there’s been no resistance to the Trump administration, I wonder if they’re expecting something that looks like a guerrilla revolution pushing out the government in one fell swoop or just aren’t paying attention, because there has, in fact, been a tremendous amount and variety of resistance and opposition and it’s mattered tremendously. When will it be enough is a question that can only be answered if and when all this is over and we find out what comes next.
November 26, 2025 at 9:39 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
Using government funds to commemorate pretty much anything is fine, except for World AIDS Day, for reasons
So far this year, the White House has issued proclamations for dozens of other observances, including World Autism Awareness Day, National Manufacturing Day and World Intellectual Property Day.
November 26, 2025 at 7:08 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
We killed how many cancer research trials to pay for this?
screenshot: SPONSORED BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
November 26, 2025 at 2:48 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
How can a reporter flatly state that Trump is 6’3” when he’s MAYBE 6’0”
According to his physician, however, he has lost weight. In 2020, Mr. Trump tipped the scales at 244 pounds, a weight formally deemed obese for his 6-foot-3 frame. This year, Mr. Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean P. Barbabella, said in a summary of the president’s health that he weighed 224 pounds.
November 26, 2025 at 3:32 AM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
I wonder whether Trump has resisted firing any of his team of sycophants partly because he's still smarting from the 2017–18 wave of CHAOS IN THE WHITE HOUSE!! features
Trump tweet 3/6/2018: "The new Fake News narrative is that there is CHAOS in the White House. Wrong! People will always come & go, and I want strong dialogue before making a final decision. I still have some people that I want to change (always seeking perfection). There is no Chaos, only great Energy!"
November 24, 2025 at 11:19 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
Someone at the White House currently drafting an executive order hereby decreeing that the New York Football Giants (NFL) must run all key game decisions by the president first. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!
Trump Truth Social post: Why did the New York Football Giants (NFL) not kick that Field Goal??? Who would have done such a thing? It was CRAZY! I got to watch the end of the game and thought, when they went for the touchdown instead of the 3, “That’s Weird!!!”
November 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
vaxxed?
Screenshot of NYT article with photo of Aaron Rodgers and "Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers inactive vs. Bears due to fractured left wrist"
November 23, 2025 at 9:54 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
In #BookSky news: A century ago today, Faber & Gwyer published T.S. Eliot’s POEMS 1909–1925, including “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” “The Waste Land,” and the first appearance of “The Hollow Men.” (Alas, this first edition is not mine—it belongs, as is so often true, to Burnside Rare Books)
First edition of T.S. Eliot's POEMS 1909–1925, in plain dust jacket, next to the end of "The Hollow Men": "This is the way the world ends/This is the way the world ends/This is the way the world ends/Not with a bang but a whimper."
November 23, 2025 at 7:39 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
re: @nytimes.com's style decision to leave the names of magazines unitalicized, indeed, seems like a poor business decision for the great @tinabrownlm.bsky.social to leave @newyorker.com to launch "Talk with Harvey Weinstein" www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/m...
…to run The New Yorker and was the first and only woman to hold that job before leaving to start the ill-fated monthly magazine Talk with Harvey Weinstein (a venture that folded after two years). Brown was able to then transition from the glossies to…
November 23, 2025 at 3:15 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
A #BookSky anniversary that's way too relevant: @beaconpress.bsky.social published James Baldwin's first book seventy years ago today.
First edition of NOTES OF A NATIVE SON, with a young James Baldwin on the cover
November 21, 2025 at 6:55 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
My local public library, with stacks of KNOW YOUR RIGHTS fliers and laminated DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR cards, is more than prepared for Greg Bovino to parade his stormtroopers through lower Manhattan. Bring it on, cabrón.
A table at the Mulberry Street public library, with KNOW YOUR RIGHTS fliers, laminated cards in case of encounters with ICE, and naturalization brochures
November 20, 2025 at 10:24 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
I miss having paper tickets magnet-ed to the fridge months ahead, building anticipation, but I'll settle for having shows on Google Calendar
AXS screenshot of a ticket purchase: The New Pornographers, 4/23/26
November 19, 2025 at 7:17 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
Since Greenland didn't immediately surrender, Trump lost interest
Google Trends page for "Greenland," showing interest peaking in early January 2025 and flatlining near zero in April https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=%2Fm%2F035v3&hl=en
November 19, 2025 at 5:16 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
Government efficiency!
CISA’s new workforce strategy comes as the agency is still reeling from the loss of more than one-third of its workforce under the Trump administration. The downsizing program, spurred by the administration’s animus toward CISA over its election security work, has pushed out key experts, jeopardized important operations and frozen vital partnerships. Many CISA employees are frustrated with their leaders and unsure how to proceed in their jobs, while their industry and government partners are concerned about working relationships with CISA that have deteriorated amid travel restrictions and staff turnover.
November 17, 2025 at 9:36 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
What perfect album came out the year I turned 16? Alas, 1983 was a truly not-good year for rock music; these are my favorite albums, but I wouldn’t rate any above a B+.
Four album covers: Yes, 90125; Elvis Costello, PUNCH THE CLOCK; the Fixx, REACH THE BEACH; Nick Heyward, NORTH OF A MIRACLE
November 17, 2025 at 4:05 AM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
I expect to see authors and musicians begin putting ABSOLUTELY NO AI disclaimers on books and albums, in the way that '70s bands touted their analog status
from the back cover of Boston's first LP: "No Synthesizers Used. No Computers Used."
November 16, 2025 at 7:03 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
Marvelous interview! I've been a fan since seeing the Mynabirds open for @acnewman.bsky.social in 2012. Even if Laura's new album is a bit too reserved for my tastes, her voice seems ever more important these days. Thanks for bringing it forward.
Laura Burhenn fronting the Mynabirds at Bowery Ballroom 10/22/2012, at a microphone, wearing a fox headdress
November 16, 2025 at 4:07 AM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
Fox's lead story: NEW TRUMP NICKNAMES JUST DROPPED
Fox News screenshot 12:37pm EST 11/15/25: "Trump escalates Marjorie Taylor Greene feud with new nicknames, congresswoman responds"
November 15, 2025 at 5:39 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
Incidentally: Five years ago today, the outgoing president, having just lost an election by seven million votes, was posting shit like this around the clock. The update is that he's still in the denial stage, and his theory of the case has failed to progress.
Trump tweet 11/13/20: "700,000 ballots were not allowed to be viewed in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh which means, based on our great Constitution, we win the State of Pennsylvania!"
November 13, 2025 at 9:18 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
In December 2018, during his second government shutdown, he claimed to be staying at the White House, "working hard"
Trump tweet 12/22/18: I am in the White House, working hard. News reports concerning the Shutdown and Syria are mostly FAKE. We are negotiating with the Democrats on desperately needed Border Security (Gangs, Drugs, Human Trafficking & more) but it could be a long stay. On Syria, we were originally...
November 13, 2025 at 8:24 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
Incidentally, here's how Fox News is framing the Summers–Epstein relationship. Had to get Bill Clinton in there somehow!
Screenshot of Fox News headline: "Ex-Clinton Cabinet secretary exchanged emails regularly with Epstein after conviction," with photos of Epstein and . . . Bill Clinton
November 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
The GOP bust-out is still a go
The measure also includes a provision that would allow at least eight GOP senators to sue the government over attempts to subpoena their records as part of an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. House Republicans grumbled about that inclusion but opted not to strip it out in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
November 13, 2025 at 1:33 AM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
Schneider is so familiar to Fox viewers that he's no-first-name-necessary, unlike Robert De Niro

(This has been near the top of the Fox home page all day)
Fox News screenshot: "COMEDY CRUSADE: Schneider reveals how he disarmed Trump critic Robert De Niro with unexpected response"
November 12, 2025 at 7:40 PM
matthewbudman.bsky.social
"boasted" apnews.com/article/nati...
The National Guard task force appears to have spent a large portion of its time on yardwork and landscaping efforts around the nation’s capital. In an update provided in early October, task force officials boasted that troops cleared 1,150 bags of trash, spread 1,045 cubic yards of mulch, removed 50 truckloads of plant waste, cleared 7.9 miles of roadway, painted 270 feet of fencing and pruned 400 trees. Since then, most daily updates from the task force only offered new troop figures and no summaries of beautification efforts.
November 11, 2025 at 11:22 PM