Peter Sagal
@petersagal.bsky.social
I make Dad jokes on NPR and also write books and other things.
Pinned
Peter Sagal
@petersagal.bsky.social
· Apr 12
‘The Last of Us’ and the Power of Video Games
Before playing "The Last of Us," I had never thought that a video game could be a work of art.
www.theatlantic.com
My latest for The Atlantic: an excellent TV show based on the best video games I’ve ever played.
(Gift link)
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
(Gift link)
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
I think this an important point. The shutdown was hurting millions of people. In a normal political world, the party in power would first, not want that, and second, care about being blamed for it, which is leverage for negotiation. Neither applies here.
It's also virtually certain that Dem's efforts to restore ACA subsidies were not going to work. They had no leverage to negotiate because the opposite side doesn't care how much or how long Americans in either group were hurting.
November 10, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I think this an important point. The shutdown was hurting millions of people. In a normal political world, the party in power would first, not want that, and second, care about being blamed for it, which is leverage for negotiation. Neither applies here.
Worthwhile.
I feel like this needs to be said, bc some big accounts are missing it.
The people feeling the pain of shutdown:
Govt workers furloughed or working for free (Lots in VA)
Flights (note fight over private v. commercial @katieporteroc.bsky.social won)
40M losing SNAP
v
20M on ACA subsidies
The people feeling the pain of shutdown:
Govt workers furloughed or working for free (Lots in VA)
Flights (note fight over private v. commercial @katieporteroc.bsky.social won)
40M losing SNAP
v
20M on ACA subsidies
November 10, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Worthwhile.
Sincere question: does anybody have any evidence that the GOP/WH would have eventually folded and extended the ACA subsidies if the shutdown continued?
I haven’t seen any. The President didn’t seem to feeling any pressure. No GOP Senator AFAIK expressed any concern. (Some Reps did)
I haven’t seen any. The President didn’t seem to feeling any pressure. No GOP Senator AFAIK expressed any concern. (Some Reps did)
November 10, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Sincere question: does anybody have any evidence that the GOP/WH would have eventually folded and extended the ACA subsidies if the shutdown continued?
I haven’t seen any. The President didn’t seem to feeling any pressure. No GOP Senator AFAIK expressed any concern. (Some Reps did)
I haven’t seen any. The President didn’t seem to feeling any pressure. No GOP Senator AFAIK expressed any concern. (Some Reps did)
Trying to fly from Chi to NYC.
My first flight on AA at 6 was canceled. Along with every other AA flight.
Rebooked onto UA flight at 5:30. Delayed till 11.
I manage to grab the last seat on a 2:30 UA flight that had been delayed until 6:30.
Just got delayed another hour.
Sit down to have a drink…
My first flight on AA at 6 was canceled. Along with every other AA flight.
Rebooked onto UA flight at 5:30. Delayed till 11.
I manage to grab the last seat on a 2:30 UA flight that had been delayed until 6:30.
Just got delayed another hour.
Sit down to have a drink…
November 9, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Trying to fly from Chi to NYC.
My first flight on AA at 6 was canceled. Along with every other AA flight.
Rebooked onto UA flight at 5:30. Delayed till 11.
I manage to grab the last seat on a 2:30 UA flight that had been delayed until 6:30.
Just got delayed another hour.
Sit down to have a drink…
My first flight on AA at 6 was canceled. Along with every other AA flight.
Rebooked onto UA flight at 5:30. Delayed till 11.
I manage to grab the last seat on a 2:30 UA flight that had been delayed until 6:30.
Just got delayed another hour.
Sit down to have a drink…
Reposted by Peter Sagal
Mamdani is going to implement Sriracha law. Everyone will have to slather hot sauce on their scrambled eggs
Mamdani is going to implement My Sharona law. Everyone will have to create songs with undeniable rock beats.
Mamdani is going to implement Shari Lewis law.
Everyone will be required to stick their fist up a lamb's a
Excuse me, there's someone at the door.
Everyone will be required to stick their fist up a lamb's a
Excuse me, there's someone at the door.
November 9, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Mamdani is going to implement Sriracha law. Everyone will have to slather hot sauce on their scrambled eggs
Reposted by Peter Sagal
one thing i find crazy-making is the idea that getting rid of the filibuster would make congress a purely majoritarian institution. bicameralism itself is counter-majoritarian! equal state representation is counter-majoritarian! the fact that senate elections are staggered is counter-majoritarian!
November 8, 2025 at 10:26 PM
one thing i find crazy-making is the idea that getting rid of the filibuster would make congress a purely majoritarian institution. bicameralism itself is counter-majoritarian! equal state representation is counter-majoritarian! the fact that senate elections are staggered is counter-majoritarian!
This is not to pile on the new Ed Board.
This is to question their business model.
You can get this take almost verbatim from a dozen more established sources: FNC, the WSJ Op-Ed, the NYP ed board, plus even outlets not owned by Murdoch.
So why would anyone pay the WP for it?
This is to question their business model.
You can get this take almost verbatim from a dozen more established sources: FNC, the WSJ Op-Ed, the NYP ed board, plus even outlets not owned by Murdoch.
So why would anyone pay the WP for it?
This is references “class warfare” and “Generalissimo Zohran Mamdani” and only gets more bananas from there. The new editorial page is… really something. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | Zohran Mamdani drops the mask
The mayor-elect divides New Yorkers into two groups: the oppressed and their oppressors.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:17 PM
This is not to pile on the new Ed Board.
This is to question their business model.
You can get this take almost verbatim from a dozen more established sources: FNC, the WSJ Op-Ed, the NYP ed board, plus even outlets not owned by Murdoch.
So why would anyone pay the WP for it?
This is to question their business model.
You can get this take almost verbatim from a dozen more established sources: FNC, the WSJ Op-Ed, the NYP ed board, plus even outlets not owned by Murdoch.
So why would anyone pay the WP for it?
Reposted by Peter Sagal
You can also take 20 seconds of your Saturday, that's fine too.
I sure would appreciate it if you spent about 20 seconds of your Friday signing up to get my writing sent straight to you. It's free, it's fun (sometimes), and it would mean a lot: dansinker.com/follow/
November 8, 2025 at 8:57 PM
You can also take 20 seconds of your Saturday, that's fine too.
November 8, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Life is short and days are precious, so I’m not going to *recommend* you listen to this interview with Greg Gutfield, but it really is fascinating. One of the best moments comes early:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/m...
November 8, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Life is short and days are precious, so I’m not going to *recommend* you listen to this interview with Greg Gutfield, but it really is fascinating. One of the best moments comes early:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/m...
My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:1-3)
“Federal authorities told demonstrators Friday that there would be ‘no more prayer’ in front of or inside the Broadview ICE facility, in a move that mystified local leaders and raised legal questions.” blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/07/f...
Feds Tell Faith Leaders 'No More Prayer' Outside Broadview Facility
In a possible violation of the First Amendment, federal officials instructed demonstrators to stop holding religious gatherings outside the immigration processing facility in suburban Broadview after ...
blockclubchicago.org
November 8, 2025 at 2:31 PM
My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:1-3)
Reposted by Peter Sagal
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or sidelined at least two dozen generals and admirals over the past nine months in a series of ousters that could reshape the U.S. military for years to come.
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription.
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription.
Hegseth Is Purging Military Leaders With Little Explanation
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or sidelined at least two dozen generals and admirals over the past nine months in a series of ousters that could reshape the U.S. military for years to come.
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription.
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription.
Thank you, Orange County for a great show at Segerstrom Hall, to Chef Roy Choi for bringing his ten gallon hat (for hiding his rat) and for laying out new sidewalks just for me. At least, I think they were new. Looked unused.
November 7, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Thank you, Orange County for a great show at Segerstrom Hall, to Chef Roy Choi for bringing his ten gallon hat (for hiding his rat) and for laying out new sidewalks just for me. At least, I think they were new. Looked unused.
Boosting. Esp to @dansinker.com
Just got an alert that ICE is showing up today in Park Slope. I have a feeling that their presence is going to grow quickly in retaliation for Mamdani’s win.
Chicagoans have learned a lot. I have to think ppl have put together good resources to post about how to effectively resist them?
Chicagoans have learned a lot. I have to think ppl have put together good resources to post about how to effectively resist them?
a hologram of obi-wan kenobi is displayed on a disney+ screen
Alt: a hologram of obi-wan kenobi is displayed on a disney+ screen
Wow. That AI is bad. It’s LEIA, In all white, ASKING for Obi-wan.
media.tenor.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Boosting. Esp to @dansinker.com
Theory: the President mistakes his ability to convince people that something is happening when it isn't (ie, "migrant crime wave") for an ability to convince them that something that is happening, isn't.
Trump: "I don't want to hear about the affordability, because right now we're much less. If you look at energy, we're getting close to $2 a gallon gasoline."
November 7, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Theory: the President mistakes his ability to convince people that something is happening when it isn't (ie, "migrant crime wave") for an ability to convince them that something that is happening, isn't.
The NYTimes Trump Tracker looks, as a lot of newsroundups do, like a 2011 satire of a future "President Donald Trump Administration."
November 7, 2025 at 1:23 AM
The NYTimes Trump Tracker looks, as a lot of newsroundups do, like a 2011 satire of a future "President Donald Trump Administration."
Reposted by Peter Sagal
Reposted by Peter Sagal
Our gyro
November 6, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Our gyro
That is also not my wife.
Read your story, and it made me wonder, “who is Peter Sagal married to?” And google led me quickly to this AI generated bit of information, which seems to indicate, with a little back of the envelope math, that you are at minimum in your mid-eighties.
November 6, 2025 at 7:18 PM
That is also not my wife.
Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Just... trust me.
Just... trust me.
I asked this before over at The Old Place and the answers delighted me. So again:
Who is an artist you admire who you suspect would not like you if they met you personally?
I think Peter Dinklage is fantastic. I would absolutely get on his last nerve. He'd be looking for the door while we spoke.
Who is an artist you admire who you suspect would not like you if they met you personally?
I think Peter Dinklage is fantastic. I would absolutely get on his last nerve. He'd be looking for the door while we spoke.
November 6, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Just... trust me.
Just... trust me.
Reposted by Peter Sagal
We must note that all the condemnation of Tucker Carlson platforming Nick Fuentes has been about anti-Semitism and there has been an alarming and revealing silence around his anti-Black racism and white supremacy. When the head of the Heritage Foundation apologized, he only cited anti-Semitism.
November 6, 2025 at 5:50 PM
We must note that all the condemnation of Tucker Carlson platforming Nick Fuentes has been about anti-Semitism and there has been an alarming and revealing silence around his anti-Black racism and white supremacy. When the head of the Heritage Foundation apologized, he only cited anti-Semitism.
Greetings from the Dirksen federal courthouse, where U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis has just taken the bench to rule on federal agents actions' during a series of increasingly aggressive raids across Chicago and the suburbs.
Background, for @wttw.bsky.social from @bymattmasterson.bsky.social
Background, for @wttw.bsky.social from @bymattmasterson.bsky.social
Judge Set to Rule Thursday in Case Centering on Federal Immigration Agents’ Use of Force: ‘I Could See Inside the Barrel’
Protesters, clergy members and others who say they’ve been directly impacted by a series of increasingly aggressive raids across Chicago and the suburbs will testify before a federal judge weighing wh...
news.wttw.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
This has been, starting on 1/20/25 and every day thereafter, the entire Trump Administration argument about about executive power in just about every area: tariffs, immigration, law enforcement, etc.
To the extent there's a legal argument for Trump's tariffs, it goes like this: A law gives the president some additional powers in the event of an emergency. He says there's an emergency, and it's not up to courts to determine if that's right, it's up to him.
Johnson isn't even bothering with that.
Johnson isn't even bothering with that.
He's not even using the national emergency argument!
November 6, 2025 at 4:09 PM
This has been, starting on 1/20/25 and every day thereafter, the entire Trump Administration argument about about executive power in just about every area: tariffs, immigration, law enforcement, etc.
I'm watching Marjorie Taylor Greene on CNN and while some things she says are crazy, ie. "vaccine injuries," she is sincere about all of them -- the need to release the Epstein files, the GOP should help people at home rather than abroad -- which I think is surprising to everyone.
November 6, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I'm watching Marjorie Taylor Greene on CNN and while some things she says are crazy, ie. "vaccine injuries," she is sincere about all of them -- the need to release the Epstein files, the GOP should help people at home rather than abroad -- which I think is surprising to everyone.