KerryHowley

NYT names Bottom’s Up and The Devil Laughs among the top ten books of the year! nytimes.com/2023/11/28/boo…

@elainejgodfrey “such a nice young man”

Iowans do love Pete

I have no evidence beyond experience but i suspect the drop in grades reflects in part a cultural shift away from intellectual challenge. Rigor isn’t valued or incentivized. Demanding teachers are disparaged as “traditional” and incapable of serving the “whole child.”

I’m taking a break from farming 2watch Indiana fever professional women’s basketball. I’m watching bc I am a follower of Caitlin Clark If u haven’t followed Caitlin Clark u should she is an all American sports hero from right here in Iowa Caitlin was a star at the Univ of Iowa

@TheAnnaGat correct

Stepping into a hotel room in America, I do what all Europeans do, which is to raise the AC to the correct temperature, which is 75 F.

Forgot how good some of the bits were on the Clinton one too “As secretary how many words can you type? And does Obama like his coffee like himself?…weak?”

Camp Mystic, the all-girls Christian camp in Hunt, Texas, is no longer seeking a 2026 operating license amid scrutiny from lawmakers and the parents of those killed in last year’s devastating flash flood. nymag.com/intelligencer/…

@proffwolff obvi the answer is to become a customs inspector

sorry to do small mag salary discourse, but if you can’t handle reality of the NY labor & housing market you can do something else!!! Like stop working and die in prison, or become the sole survivor of a symbolically profound fishing mishap. Hi, I’m acclaimed author Herman Melv

Wittgenstein's (incredibly typical) response to a university friend taking him for a cheerful afternoon out to watch a boat race:

"Outside the purely legal realm, whether Mystic should reopen in 2026 is not a question of safety. It is a question of propriety, dignity, and, ultimately, shame." I'm late to @KerryHowley's piece on the Camp Mystic disaster. It's so incredibly well done. nymag.com/intelligencer/…

@AlecMacGillis 🙏

@lpolgreen @emmabgo well deserved !

Incredibly honored to win this year's Hillman Prize for my series on global migration!

@Bencjacobs no not again

Folks . . .

“LA is boring” then why did I just get a delicious taco from a car wash parking lot at 11pm

Regarding Helen Dewitt, brilliant people often struggle with everyday life stuff, and not just artists either. Here's a quote from a Quanta magazine article, describing June Huh, the fields medal winning mathematician:

If I was to move to LA today, for the first time, I’d move to the westside and take every class I was interested in at Santa Monica college. I’d visit Venice beach frequently and go on dating app dates with tattooed chefs, moody skaters, drummers, a couple losers and a couple ken dolls, and as many artists as possible. I’d find it all so funny. I’d get really into avocado and tacos and burritos and have a sort of aspirational feeling when I walk through erewhon. I’d just enjoy hot people and their homes and lives. I’d work a sexy little job that elevates my wardrobe and taste. I’d mill around until I found some hottie who wants to hunker down and create a settlement further east. I’d see how that goes. I’ll prioritize live shows when I live east, because you have to. I’d find a scene or two to become a reoccurring character in just for the memories, the friendship. I’d take the offer to host parties once a week at a bar or club even if it’s a Tuesday. I wouldn’t think about anyone’s money but my own. I’d get laser hair removal and a crop top habit. I’d go to the movies, even the foreign indie one. I’d go to the plays, even the 30-seater local ones. I’d travel purely by waymo and uber for at least two years. I would go in the sun and say yes to every pool. I would just enjoy it.

New: Statement from Camp Mystic on this confirmation that the Texas Rangers are assisting DSHS with an investigation into "hundreds of complaints" against the camp following last year's deadly flood. #txlege

This piece on Arthur Brooks by Becca Rothfeld is as thorough and insightful a dismantling as I’ve seen in a very long time newyorker.com/magazine/2026/…

Simon Conway (Iowa right wing talk radio host) begging his listeners to stop yelling at him for giving Rob Sand easy interviews because he can’t help it if Sand keeps giving exactly the right answers a dem should give to get elected governor of Iowa

Countdown until one of these dogs gets called out for their past tweets

Extremely powerful and skillfully done. x.com/KerryHowley/st…