Your Mid-Week Experiment
Five good articles you should read and one by Bill Kristol that doesn't suck
Welcome to the always free, reader-supported mid-week edition of The Experiment. If you’d like to support my work, buy my Alamo book, buy some Experiment merch, drop some coins in the PayPal fountain, or become a paid subscriber. But even if you don’t, this bugga free.
I fully expected a lot of blowback after last weekend’s essay about what my friend Elie Jacobs is experiencing, but I was wrong. All I got were private thank yous from a bunch of Jewish friends. And now I’m hearing from other writers that other readers from different perspectives are also expressing their gratitude privately. Take care of yourselves out there.
We’ve got a lot of stuff to read, visit, watch, and listen to this week. Let’s get to it.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield fact-checking space movies? Yes, please. (Vanity Fair)
This was one of the most colossal screwups by mainstream journalism I’ve ever seen. (Yascha Mounk)
Want to know how Elon Musk systematically destroyed Twitter? Here is a well-sourced article. (Politifact)
I understand Taylor Swift now. Or at least something about her. (Taffy Brodesser-Akner)
“The point is that if you live long enough, even the most progressive idea will be anachronistic, and you’ll be the jerk who once put it out there. We call that all kinds of bad things today, but, in fact, that’s actually what’s called progress.” (Taffy Brodesser-Akner)
Click, put on this playlist from Walker Lukens so people will think you’re cool.
“In October 2023, decades seem to have happened. And it’s not yet over.” (Bill Kristol)
And here’s a joke that took 27 years to land. (Bill Murphy Jr.)
If you’re in Dallas, the “Afro-American Histories” exhibit is worth your time. (Dallas Museum of Art)
Do you know what the difference between a villain and a supervillain is?
We set up a merch table in the back where you can get T-shirts, coffee mugs, and even tote bags now. Show the world that you’re part of The Experiment.
We’ve also got a tip jar, and I promise to waste every cent you give me on having fun, because writing this newsletter for you is how I have fun.
Buy the book Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick banned from the Bullock Texas History Museum: Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of the American Myth by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and myself is out from Penguin Random House.