And To All A Good Night,

being my final post for Halloween 2025. 🎃 🫥

Definitely Happy!

Beautiful skating, and Elton is tops! 💃 🎶 ⭐

Friday happy dance

An Author Speaks

Bestselling author Jodi Picoult pushes back after her musical is canceled by Indiana high school

NEW YORK (AP) — Author Jodi Picoult has the dubious honor of being banned in two mediums this fall — her books and now a musical based on her novel “Between the Lines.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m the first author who has now had censorship occur in two different types of media,” Picoult says. “Honestly, I’m not out here to be salacious. I am writing the world as it is, and I am honestly just trying to write about difficult issues that people have a hard time talking about because that is what fiction and the arts do.”

The superintendent of Mississinewa High School in Gas City, Indiana, canceled a production last week of “Between the Lines,” saying concerns were raised over “sexual innuendo” and alcohol references in the musical. Jeremy Fewell, the superintendent, did not respond to a request for comment.

“It’s devastating for us to know that these kids who put in hundreds of hours of hard work had that torn away from them because of the objections of a single parent,” says Picoult.

“What I know, perhaps better than most people, as someone whose books have been banned, is when one parent starts deciding what is appropriate and what is inappropriate for the children of other parents, we have a big problem.”

Picoult noted that the same Indiana high school has previously produced “Grease,” where the sexual innuendo and alcohol abuse is much greater, including a pregnancy scare, sex-mad teens and the line “Did she put up a fight?”

“Between the Lines” centers on Delilah, an outsider in a new high school, who finds solace in a book and realizes she has the power to write her own story and narrate her own life. “It is a very benign message. And it’s actually a really important one for adolescents today,” says Picoult.

The original work, which features a nonbinary character, had already been edited with licensed changes to make it more palatable for a conservative audience, including removing any reference to the nonbinary character’s gender orientation.

The production was scheduled for Halloween weekend at the Gas City Performing Arts Center. The show has music and lyrics by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson, and a story by Timothy Allen McDonald, based on the 2012 novel by Picoult and her daughter, Samantha van Leer. It played off-Broadway in 2022.

Picoult, the bestselling author of “My Sister’s Keeper” and “Small Great Things,” has also written about the moments leading up to a school shooting in “Nineteen Minutes,” which was banned 16 times in the 2024-2025 school year, according to PEN America, making her the nation’s fourth most-banned author.

“I had 20 books banned in one school district in Florida alone because of a single parent’s objection and she admitted she had not read any of the books,” said Picoult, a PEN America trustee. “She said that they were banned for ‘mature content and sexuality.’ There were books of mine that did not even have a single kiss in them.”

The uptick in book banning has spread to stages as well. The Dramatists Legal Defense Fund has documented recently challenged plays and musicals from states including Pennsylvania, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio and New Jersey after parents or teachers complained that the works’ social themes weren’t appropriate for minors.

The Northern Lebanon High School, in Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania, canceled a 2024 production of “The Addams Family,” citing concerns over scenes with violence, children smoking and subtle queer themes. Paula Vogel’s play “Indecent,” which explores a flashpoint in Jewish and queer theatrical history, was abruptly canceled in Florida’s Duval County in 2023 for “inappropriate” sexual dialogue.

Last year, the Educational Theatre Association asked more than 1,800 theatre educators in public and private schools across the U.S. about censorship. More than 75% of respondents reported pressure to reconsider their play and musical choices during the 2023-24 school year.

“We are not protecting kids,” said Picoult. “We are robbing them of materials that we use to deal with an increasingly complex world.”

https://apnews.com/article/jodi-picoult-between-lines-musical-banned-3eff9a30aed283c10a80c6590f1f3496

Everybody Should!

(The Harvest [full] Moon is fullest at 10:47PM CDT tonight.)

https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2025/10/06

See Beethoven’s 9th-

See Beethoven’s Entire 9th Symphony Visualized in Colorful Animations

Unbelievable, But Believe It!

I read this over breakfast, and by 10 AM workout time, had seen it broadcast on 3 different shows.

America Brought to You by Bad Bunny by Charlotte Clymer

Hell of a choice. Read on Substack

(image credit: Apple Music)

What is the biggest American cultural event?

There’s only one rational answer to this question. It’s the Super Bowl. Nothing else comes close. Not in size or grandeur or symbolism or global resonance.

This past February, for the first time, as many Americans watched Super Bowl LIX as those who watched the Apollo moon landing in 1969, long considered the biggest live audience draw in U.S. broadcast television history.

Neil Armstrong walking on the lunar surface was once indisputably the most-watched live event by Americans. This year, it officially had competition for that title. By 2030, it may not even crack the top five.

What will the top five otherwise be by then? All Super Bowl broadcasts. Right now, if you exclude the moon landing, the top ten live American television broadcasts are all Super Bowls, and the top three are all from the past three years.

Maybe you’re not into sportsball. Maybe you can’t stand the NFL. Maybe you have fond memories of watching the live series finales of M*A*S*H or Cheers or Seinfeld or Johnny Carson’s final Tonight Show appearance, and you’ll recall that it felt as though the entire country were watching those, too, at the same time you and your family were glued to the tube.

But those days are long gone. Network television has been cannibalized by satellite and streaming over the years. If a scripted network series draws ten million viewers for any given episode, it’s more than enough to take the crown over its competitors.

The Oscars draws 20 million. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade does better at 30 million. Trump’s inauguration in January had 25 million viewers, nearly ten million fewer than Pres. Biden’s in 2021.

There is no American cultural event that comes within shouting distance—much less spitting distance—of the Super Bowl. When you walk around today, wherever you are—at work or a café or a park or your kid’s school—keep in mind that, on average, at least a third of the adults around you were all watching the Super Bowl at the same time this year.

Consider the global audience: the Super Bowl is the most-watched live annual television event around the world. The Men’s World Cup Final draws as many as 1.5 billion live viewers, but that’s every four years. The Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony is capable of drawing half that, but it’s also every four years. The Super Bowl draws 200M live viewers globally every year.

No annual live television event in the world is bigger than the Super Bowl, and no other country can lay claim to having a live broadcast of this size that is so inextricably bound with a celebration of its culture.

The Super Bowl is a distillation of all things America: sports and celebrity and military pageantry and unabashed patriotism and unapologetic commercialism all being slammed together, and in terms of annual events, more human beings on this planet watch it live, together, than anything else.

And it’s because of all those elements that most American conservatives perceive it as a showcase of American exceptionalism. It’s not that it’s inherently conservative or that non-conservatives don’t watch it; it’s that the sheer scope of the Super Bowl combined with all the patriotic bits make it a crown jewel in their argument for American cultural hegemony.

That’s why when Apple Music and the NFL announced last night that Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny—Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio—is headlining Super Bowl LX this upcoming February, my jaw dropped.

For those unfamiliar, Bad Bunny is one of the biggest entertainers in the world. Were you to remove Taylor Swift and Beyoncé from the metrics conversation, he’s easily the biggest. He led global streaming charts from 2020-2022, and he’s still among the top three even now. His Un Verano Sin Ti world tour in 2022 dominated that year, and only Taylor Swift has surpassed his touring numbers since.

Based on both merit and marketing, Bad Bunny is an obvious choice to headline the Super Bowl.

But he’s also an outspoken LGBTQ ally, particularly on trans rights. He has been consistently critical of Trump, especially in regards to immigration. Earlier this month, he announced he would not include any U.S. dates for his 2025-2026 Debí Tirar Más Fotos world tour out of fear for his fans given the fascistic crackdown by ICE. He notably endorsed Vice President Harris last year after Puerto Rico was mocked at Trump’s infamous Madison Square Garden campaign rally.

Oh, and he performs solely in Spanish. That’s right: he does not rap or sing in any language other than Spanish. He does speak English, but he’s not a “crossover” Latin artist as an intentional choice. He has made it clear that he wants Spanish-language music to be normalized in the global marketplace, and so, he only produces work in Spanish.

He is an avatar of Latin excellence in a moment when the U.S. government is violently hostile toward Latin people.

The biggest American cultural event—with massive global influence—is about to be headlined by an unapologetically proud Latin trans ally who can’t stand Trump and performs solely in Spanish.

Based on all this, the NFL selecting him to headline the Super Bowl is pretty damn surprising and may indicate no small measure of intended protest by those involved in the process.

What I wouldn’t give to have been a fly on the wall during the discussions that took place between the NFL and Apple and Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation—which advises the league on entertainment—in choosing Bad Bunny for the greatest entertainment gig in the world.

I suppose I’ll have to settle for Bad Bunny’s instantly iconic hint posted on social media just prior to the announcement last night:

“I’ve been thinking about it these days, and after discussing it with my team, I think I’ll do just one date in the United States.”

Goddamn. I love this guy.

Now the questions become: what does Trump do? Is there an online meltdown incoming? Will he attempt to pressure the NFL to cancel Bad Bunny? If he does, how will the NFL respond?

Trump may not want this fight. This may be one of those rare moments he wisely chooses to avoid controversy. His poll numbers are terrible, the Midterms are next year, and his party will need every vote they can get. Alienating young and Latin voters would be a massive, unforced error.

I guess we’ll see. In the meantime, we’re about to be treated to a hell of a show. (snip)

Some News (Tabs From Tuesday)

Some of it is not being covered so well elsewhere, what with the proponents being women and all, so some may still be new this morning! 🙂 A bit of blue language.

WELCOME BACK, JIMMY! Tabs, Tues., Sept. 23, 2025 by Rebecca Schoenkopf

CAN’T KEEP A FREE SPEECH DOWN. Read on Substack

Tabs .gifs by Martini Glambassador! Did I repeat one? Oh well if I did LOOK AT IT AGAIN

Good morning, it’s a short tabs because it just is, and because OH LOOKIE HERE?

https://embed.bsky.app/embed/did:plc:ihpglfqq3dapqjmwl2ntktil/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzh5zkhvpc2j?id=278835588257752

Ha, fuckers, ha!

But will MAGA hack companies Sinclair and Nexstar put it on their air? Who knows.

But we guess Disney got hurt right in the wallet. And it’s got to be pretty embarrassing when big Hulu documentaries are coming out and the literal stars of them (Sarah McLachlan) are declining to perform at the premieres, because of this whole censorship/fascism crisis we are in. Did you hear about that? That happened. [Billboard]

Um, we did not realize Trump was already babbling and making up “sir” stories about men with tears in their eyes in Memphis thanking him for the National Guard, but they have not been deployed.

https://embed.bsky.app/embed/did:plc:27jrcf2nmsofvwqcf6ztcnxy/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzgxktll2d23?id=8841689470383374

Anyway, crime is down in Memphis. It has nothing to do with shit nor shinola done by Donald J. Trump. [Tennessee Lookout]

Doctor Donald Trump says the old Ass Met Min Fin — how you say it? Words is hard — is more commonly known as “tylenol” and is definitely what causes the autism. You betcha.

hereswhykevin

A post shared by @hereswhykevin

Politico reports that Trump and Marco Rubio have absolutely destroyed the state of American diplomacy around the world. We knew that, but interesting details in this article. [Politico]

You guyssssssss, Tom Homan and Kristi Noem are having a diva fight about who goes on TV too much, you guyssssssss. [Daily Beast]

There was no Moral High Ground this week, because I’ve been out and about. It’ll be back later this week, but why don’t you go subscribe to it anyway? [The Moral High Ground]

Less Serious News

Because it doesn’t hurt to know a little about these things, too.

News of the Week: Lottery Woes, Robert Redford, and Why Do People Swear So Much?

In the news of the week ending September 19, 2025, are lots of profanity, a stone skimming scandal, and saying goodbye to Robert Redford.

Bob Sassone

Random Notes

If I ever win the lottery, remind me to save and invest the money.

Every time I put down an ant trap, a mouse comes in overnight and takes it away. What are they doing with them?

I love prescription medication commercials that say “Tell your doctor what medications you’re taking.” Shouldn’t my doctor know that already?

Could you eat an entire meal at a restaurant without your phone? That’s what you have to do at the new eatery Hush Harbor in Washington, D.C., which doesn’t allow cell phones. They will supply you with letter-writing materials and board games though!

Life advice: Try not to be the type of person who would go on a reality show.

Kids, what if I told you that in the 1960s and ’70s, companies embedded vinyl records on the back of cereal boxes? It’s true!

If I put down mouse traps, will a larger animal come into the house overnight and take those?

Mass. Appeal

Why do things have to change?

Massachusetts is currently in the process of picking a new state flag and a new state seal. The old ones were perfectly fine but I guess they’re no longer appropriate for modern times. Or something.

Unfortunately, the finalists are TERRIBLE. The seals are passable, I guess, but the state flag choices are a mayflower (the flower, not the ship), a mountain with a gold star on top, and a circle of turkey feathers.

Writer Matt Taibbi thinks the state should run with the turkey idea but maybe in a Norman Rockwell direction.

Some people have joked that the new flag should be the colors of Dunkin’ Donuts, and compared to the finalists that might not be a bad idea.

Peak Profanity

I have a theory that everyone swears. They may not do it all the time and they may even pick the mildest of curse words. But everyone from the ages of 9 to 90 does it.

The New York Times thinks so too. The writer, Mark Edmundson, grew up in the 1950s and ’60s when cursing was relatively rare. And the people that swore were almost always guys (only never in front of a parent, teacher, or cop). But it’s everywhere now, from homes to schools and on television. I’m still sometimes shocked by what the basic cable channels can get away with now.

We try our hardest to leave out certain words in the pages of the Post, and if you leave a comment, please try to control yourself as well.

Headline of the Week

“Cheating Scandal Rocks World Stone Skimming Championships”

RIP Robert Redford, Bobby Hart, Patricia Crowley, Thomas Perry, Marilyn Hagerty, and Ricky Hatton

Robert Redford starred in many classic films, including All the President’s Men, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Way We Were, The Sting, Three Days of the Condor, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Candidate, and many other movies and TV episodes. He was also a director, helming Ordinary People (for which he won an Oscar), Quiz Show, and A River Runs Through It. He died Tuesday at the age of 89.

Here’s the Post’s Bill Newcott on Redford’s career.

Bobby Hart was half of the music duo Boyce & Hart. They not only recorded their own music, they wrote and produced songs for The Monkees, including “Last Train to Clarksville” and the theme song to the show. They also wrote “(I’m Not Your” Steppin’ Stone,” “Come a Little Bit Closer,” and the theme song to Days of Our Lives (!). He died last week at the age of 86.

Here’s Boyce & Hart on a classic episode of I Dream of Jeannie (they also made an appearance on Bewitched around the same time).

Uploaded to YouTube by Willy Gilligan

Patricia Crowley starred in the TV series Please Don’t Eat the Daisies and played Mary Scanlon on Port Charles. She appeared in dozens of other TV shows and films. She died Sunday at the age of 91.

Thomas Perry was a writer of bestselling thriller and suspense novels. He died Monday at the age of 78.

Marilyn Hagerty achieved fame at the age of 85 when her newspaper restaurant review of Olive Garden went viral. She was championed by Anthony Bourdain, and he even published a collection of her columns, titled Grand Forks: A History of American Dining in 128 Reviews. She died Tuesday at the age of 99.

Ricky Hatton was the former world boxing champion. He died Sunday at the age of 46.

This Week in History

William Howard Taft Born (September 15, 1857)

Here’s how Taft’s bid for a second term made for a chaotic 1912 election.

Lots of TV Shows Debuted! (September 15, 1965)

This was a big day for the debuts of classic shows. Lost in Space, Green Acres, I Spy, The Big Valley, and Gidget all started on this day in 1965.

It was actually a big week for debuts. Other shows that launched this week in 1965: I Dream of Jeannie, Hogan’s Heroes, F Troop, The Dean Martin Show, and The Wild, Wild West.