Nathan Alderman
@nathanalderman.com
Word arranger, story mechanic, question asker, door knocker, Oxford comma enthusiast. Senior News Reporter at @cvilleweekly.bsky.social. Freelance manuscript editor for hire. Opinions are my own.
Pinned
Look, it's simple.
Be kind.
Be curious.
Tell the truth.
Ask for help.
Help others if you can.
Don't hurt people.
If you do, say you're sorry, mean it, and prove it.
Think before you speak.
Say less.
Say please.
Say thank you.
Be kind.
Be curious.
Tell the truth.
Ask for help.
Help others if you can.
Don't hurt people.
If you do, say you're sorry, mean it, and prove it.
Think before you speak.
Say less.
Say please.
Say thank you.
Rewatching BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES with my kids, and I feel like we don't give Alison LaPlaca enough credit for her turn as Baby-Doll. She uses her voice so skillfully -- not just in the gap between Mary Dahl's own voice and Baby's, but in how Baby's performing, and for whom, with every line.
December 3, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Rewatching BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES with my kids, and I feel like we don't give Alison LaPlaca enough credit for her turn as Baby-Doll. She uses her voice so skillfully -- not just in the gap between Mary Dahl's own voice and Baby's, but in how Baby's performing, and for whom, with every line.
On the commentary for THUNDERBOLTS -- the best Marvel movie in a long time -- director Jake Schrier talks about trying to make sure as many elements as possible in the frame were real, even if they had to use CGI for parts of it, because our brains can distinguish between the two.
I've watched this video twice now, just for pleasure
Why Movies Just Don't Feel "Real" Anymore
YouTube video by Like Stories of Old
www.youtube.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:20 PM
On the commentary for THUNDERBOLTS -- the best Marvel movie in a long time -- director Jake Schrier talks about trying to make sure as many elements as possible in the frame were real, even if they had to use CGI for parts of it, because our brains can distinguish between the two.
I must have missed the part where American health care has clear, easy to understand, up-front pricing that would allow this kind of shopping around. Different hospitals negotiate different rates with different insurers! And you don't always get to choose your insurer!
Sen. Roger Marshall on the Republican healthcare plan: "By the way, women make 80% of the healthcare decisions on where you're going to go. They're great shoppers."
December 3, 2025 at 1:28 PM
I must have missed the part where American health care has clear, easy to understand, up-front pricing that would allow this kind of shopping around. Different hospitals negotiate different rates with different insurers! And you don't always get to choose your insurer!
Reposted by Nathan Alderman
“Have Yourself A Merriam Little Christmas”
Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.
Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.
December 2, 2025 at 7:18 PM
“Have Yourself A Merriam Little Christmas”
Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.
Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.
Charlottesville folks! Noticed bad cell reception on 29, especially south of the bypass? Kindly DM me if you’d like to tell me more. Working on a story for @cvilleweekly.bsky.social.
December 3, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Charlottesville folks! Noticed bad cell reception on 29, especially south of the bypass? Kindly DM me if you’d like to tell me more. Working on a story for @cvilleweekly.bsky.social.
Not sure why my laptop camera has the "make him look like he just drank from the wrong Holy Grail" filter turned on by default, but I wish I could figure out how to switch it off.
December 2, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Not sure why my laptop camera has the "make him look like he just drank from the wrong Holy Grail" filter turned on by default, but I wish I could figure out how to switch it off.
It's a very weird feeling to keep urging the government, despite its stubborn insistence to the contrary, NOT to provide my children with free comprehensive health care.
But now that I'm employed, with insurance, I don't want to commit fraud. I might end up a U.S. Senator, and no one wants that.
But now that I'm employed, with insurance, I don't want to commit fraud. I might end up a U.S. Senator, and no one wants that.
December 2, 2025 at 9:24 PM
It's a very weird feeling to keep urging the government, despite its stubborn insistence to the contrary, NOT to provide my children with free comprehensive health care.
But now that I'm employed, with insurance, I don't want to commit fraud. I might end up a U.S. Senator, and no one wants that.
But now that I'm employed, with insurance, I don't want to commit fraud. I might end up a U.S. Senator, and no one wants that.
All this productivity and gainful employment is really interfering with my ability to play HADES II.
December 2, 2025 at 4:10 AM
All this productivity and gainful employment is really interfering with my ability to play HADES II.
Dave Franco is calling his agent daily, waiting for the life rights bidding to start, working on his eyebrow game in the meantime.
December 1, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Dave Franco is calling his agent daily, waiting for the life rights bidding to start, working on his eyebrow game in the meantime.
A 2021 study published through JAMA counted deaths in U.S. school shootings from 1980-2019, finding that the presence of armed police in schools did not deter violence, and may have made school shootings deadlier.
December 1, 2025 at 1:03 PM
A 2021 study published through JAMA counted deaths in U.S. school shootings from 1980-2019, finding that the presence of armed police in schools did not deter violence, and may have made school shootings deadlier.
I'm just really hoping that after this lovely concert, they don't all go get ready for the comet to take them all to heaven.
David Byrne: Tiny Desk Concert
In matching, brilliant blue suits, David Byrne and his band squeeze behind the Desk to perform four songs, including Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime."
www.npr.org
December 1, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I'm just really hoping that after this lovely concert, they don't all go get ready for the comet to take them all to heaven.
Trying a bold new experiment for the first time in my life: Wearing jeans that actually fit properly.
December 1, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Trying a bold new experiment for the first time in my life: Wearing jeans that actually fit properly.
I preordered the heck out of this at my local comic shop (hello, @hellocomics.bsky.social!) and highly encourage you to do likewise. Strikingly original, incredibly fun -- like eating comfort food prepared by a five-Michelin-star chef. Arguably the best $30 you'll spend on a book in 2026.
Just showed up in the mail: a proof copy of @darkhorse.com's physical collection of LAVENDER JACK VOLUME 1! I sort of can't believe how good it looks. It's HEFTY, too. They tell me FOC is Monday so if you haven't preordered yet I highly encourage it: www.darkhorse.com/books/3016-7...
November 30, 2025 at 4:42 AM
I preordered the heck out of this at my local comic shop (hello, @hellocomics.bsky.social!) and highly encourage you to do likewise. Strikingly original, incredibly fun -- like eating comfort food prepared by a five-Michelin-star chef. Arguably the best $30 you'll spend on a book in 2026.
Read this whole thread and marvel at how well it's written. Clear, concise, thorough explanations of even the most technical topics, without ever once feeling condescending or dumbed-down. Beautifully done.
GOOD NEWS! Researchers have made a HUGE breakthrough towards a UNIVERSAL antiviral. By targeting sugar molecules found on the surface of many viruses that SHARE structural similarities, they identified FOUR compounds that successfully BLOCKED infections from SEVEN different viruses.
November 30, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Read this whole thread and marvel at how well it's written. Clear, concise, thorough explanations of even the most technical topics, without ever once feeling condescending or dumbed-down. Beautifully done.
*imitating JFK* I choose to eat this second slice of pie not because it is easy, but because it is hard
November 30, 2025 at 2:32 AM
*imitating JFK* I choose to eat this second slice of pie not because it is easy, but because it is hard
ST. PETER: so now that you’re here, man, I gotta ask, I’m such a big fan
TOM STOPPARD: yes?
ST. PETER: what WAS the deal with Darth Plagueis the wise, like was that a parable or was he a real dude or
TOM STOPPARD: *heavy sigh*
TOM STOPPARD: yes?
ST. PETER: what WAS the deal with Darth Plagueis the wise, like was that a parable or was he a real dude or
TOM STOPPARD: *heavy sigh*
November 29, 2025 at 8:04 PM
ST. PETER: so now that you’re here, man, I gotta ask, I’m such a big fan
TOM STOPPARD: yes?
ST. PETER: what WAS the deal with Darth Plagueis the wise, like was that a parable or was he a real dude or
TOM STOPPARD: *heavy sigh*
TOM STOPPARD: yes?
ST. PETER: what WAS the deal with Darth Plagueis the wise, like was that a parable or was he a real dude or
TOM STOPPARD: *heavy sigh*
There are some things humanity was not meant to know, like the recipe for my sister-in-law’s sausage balls.
November 29, 2025 at 6:32 PM
There are some things humanity was not meant to know, like the recipe for my sister-in-law’s sausage balls.
There’s no more potent example of the dangers of regulatory capture than putting me in charge of carving the holiday ham.
November 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
There’s no more potent example of the dangers of regulatory capture than putting me in charge of carving the holiday ham.
I've been recently dipping a toe into the giallo genre to work it into an upcoming project, and while Dario Argento's TENEBRE is a work of ... dubious merit ... its theme song is unimpeachable. Try to watch this without getting a big dumb grin on your face when the music hits.
Tenebre Intro (English Version)
YouTube video by Morgue Asylum
www.youtube.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:06 PM
I've been recently dipping a toe into the giallo genre to work it into an upcoming project, and while Dario Argento's TENEBRE is a work of ... dubious merit ... its theme song is unimpeachable. Try to watch this without getting a big dumb grin on your face when the music hits.
Mad about the underlying point in this post for the obvious reasons, but also because we could have had so many more houses with turrets. So many!
It’s mind boggling that the (successful) effort to segregate cities made townhomes like these illegal in almost the entire U.S.
November 29, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Mad about the underlying point in this post for the obvious reasons, but also because we could have had so many more houses with turrets. So many!
The university that taught me the history of the Holocaust apparently hasn’t taken that class itself.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 1:27 AM
The university that taught me the history of the Holocaust apparently hasn’t taken that class itself.
Wandering the streets of London trying to find the secret underground club where Tom Hardy and Daniel Craig do Ridiculous Accent Duels.
November 28, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Wandering the streets of London trying to find the secret underground club where Tom Hardy and Daniel Craig do Ridiculous Accent Duels.
Sour cream apple pies.
Green bean casserole.
Roasted delicata squash.
Salmon poached in lemon-rosemary-garlic-shallot oil.
You merely adopted the kitchen. I was born into it! Molded by it!
Green bean casserole.
Roasted delicata squash.
Salmon poached in lemon-rosemary-garlic-shallot oil.
You merely adopted the kitchen. I was born into it! Molded by it!
November 28, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Sour cream apple pies.
Green bean casserole.
Roasted delicata squash.
Salmon poached in lemon-rosemary-garlic-shallot oil.
You merely adopted the kitchen. I was born into it! Molded by it!
Green bean casserole.
Roasted delicata squash.
Salmon poached in lemon-rosemary-garlic-shallot oil.
You merely adopted the kitchen. I was born into it! Molded by it!
Indulging in a spot of traditional post-Thanksgiving tree murder. (Premeditated herbicide?)
November 28, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Indulging in a spot of traditional post-Thanksgiving tree murder. (Premeditated herbicide?)
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD remake, but instead of radiation from a passing comet, someone just plays Sturgill Simpson's SOUND & FURY near a graveyard.
(Ghouls too busy rocking out to eat brains, everyone has a good time.)
(Ghouls too busy rocking out to eat brains, everyone has a good time.)
November 28, 2025 at 4:31 PM
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD remake, but instead of radiation from a passing comet, someone just plays Sturgill Simpson's SOUND & FURY near a graveyard.
(Ghouls too busy rocking out to eat brains, everyone has a good time.)
(Ghouls too busy rocking out to eat brains, everyone has a good time.)