@brandontensley
Now: National Politics Reporter, Capital B, a Black-focused independent newsroom. Before: National Political Writer, CNN. Writing a book on Whitney Houston's I'm Your Baby Tonight for 33 1/3. Email: brandon.tensley@capitalbnews.org | Signal: btensley.53
THREAD: I got laid off from NYMag/Vulture after 14 years. The family lost 75% of income + medical. Now mzs.press bookstore, once a side project. is do-or-die for Judith & I. I feel weird telling you this because others are doing much worse. But if you could like or share this, we'd be so grateful!
It was going on one, two in the morning, and we were shooting what I felt was an important scene for me, when he makes an attempt to be quote-unquote straight, in a suit, and at the end of it he gets emotional and locks himself in the other room. And I felt like, I’m not getting what I want—I’m not happy with it. Mike was happy with it. He called me the next day and said, “I know you weren’t happy with the scene last night. Believe me, we wouldn’t have gone home if I had felt we weren’t getting it.” And then he sort of became my psychiatrist and said, “You find it difficult to be happy, don’t you? You find it difficult to enjoy things.” And I said, “Well, sometimes. Last night was about feeling too tired and not feeling I was reaching what I needed to reach for the scene.” He talked to me then about when he was making, I don’t know whether it was Virginia Woolf or The Graduate. He said, “I didn’t enjoy it for a second. I was worried about so many things.” And then he said, “You know, this is never going to happen again quite this way. You should try to allow yourself to enjoy this more. Take a minute a day, and then add a minute the next day, and another minute. Pretty soon, you’ll have hours of happiness.”
The Birdcage opened thirty years ago today, so in its honor, I want to share one of my favorite stories about Mike Nichols that didn't make it into my biography. This is from an interview I did with Nathan Lane.
I get why/that people say this, but dont' underestimate this:
all other social networks are invested in making sure that posts that link to journalism remain buried, or at least never go viral.
BlueSky doesn't do that. That makes it very valuable to a ton of newsrooms righ tnow.
they will see us wuther from such great heights
I'm so excited for this — come, tune in!
The cover of "The Quiet Storm: A historical and cultural analysis of the power, passion, and pain of R&B groups" by Amani Roberts
The cover of I'm Your Baby Tonight by Brandon Tensley, a book in the 33 1/3 series about the classic Whitney Houston album of the same name
The cover of Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston, by Emily Lordi
It's R&B WEEK in the Popular Music Books online series w/ Amani Roberts on classic R&B groups & @brandontensley.bsky.social on his 33 1/3 book on Whitney Houston, in conversation w/ Emily Lordi, whose own Whitney bio is due this fall. Join us Wed, 5:30pm ET! iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...
Billy Steinberg was a pop wizard. The hits he cowrote!! I Drove All Night! True Colors! Like A Virgin! Devastating. variety.com/2026/music/o...
essential reporting from @brandontensley.bsky.social
Whether Caribbean-rooted or New Jersey-bred, fans say that “The Score” made space for a fuller range of Black sounds, stories, and selves.
capitalbnews.org/fugees-the-s...
This week marks 30 years of The Score! I had so much fun talking with fans about how the Fugees' landmark 1996 album made space for a fuller range of Black sounds, stories, and selves. capitalbnews.org/fugees-the-s...
The Washington Post layoffs were a bigger bloodbath than you thought. New figures reveal 44 to 47.5 percent of the paper's newsroom was eliminated during last week's cuts.
The Wright Museums Instagram page is HILARIOUS. Think The Office but it's the staff at a Museum for Black History. Better believe this is on my list of places to visit.
Gentle Spades
"I'm a veteran"
6/ The Post has lost over 375,000 subscribers in just over a year. If 10% of those readers subscribed to The 51st instead, we could hire 10 reporters and five editors, dramatically scaling our coverage of the city at this critical time. 51st.news/signup
It is worth noting the Post slashed the bulk of its arts coverage, including most of the critics, ending a great tradition in journalism.
If you are able, The Post's union has started a layoff fund for those fired by the world's fourth-richest man today. gofund.me/a310d0286
The Trump administration in December recalled nearly 30 career diplomats from their ambassadorial posts; at least two are Black. Black Americans have long been underrepresented in ambassadorial roles, these recalls stand out beyond routine personnel changes.
capitalbnews.org/trump-ambass...
"There are people who really feel that this is the slow death of the Foreign Service."
I wrote about how the recent ambassador recalls are deepening concerns about race, power, and U.S. diplomacy. capitalbnews.org/trump-ambass...
cher just hallucinated luther vandross winning a grammy and honestly i don't hate it
It's Capital B's 4th birthday! For four years, we’ve provided Black communities with exceptional journalism. We are also committed to defending the rights of journalists, especially Black journalists, to report without fear of arrest. https://capitalbnews.org/capital-b-condems-journalists-arrests/
Capital B stands in solidarity with journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, who were arrested today in connection to their coverage of an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest earlier this month at a Minneapolis church.
https://capitalbnews.org/capital-b-condems-journalists-arrests/
Michael "5000" Watts, the producer who founded Swishahouse and helped propel Houston’s "chopped and screwed" sound to international heights, has died at 52
oh well fuck goddamn
i hate it here
Catherine O'Hara, a gifted comedic actress and two-time Emmy winner, has died.
Catherine O'Hara, I mean ... my god, where do you even begin. I have cried laughing at this more than I can count.
Georgia Fort, an independent journalist and vice president of the Minnesota NABJ chapter, was also arrested by federal agents this morning
I was sent this video of agents at her door:
Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done. The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work. Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case. This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Journalist Don Lemon is arrested after protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church.
my most “raised by black boomers” quality is i clean my kitchen to anita baker (cleaning my kitchen right now)
Fear of God dropped limited-edition Sinners-inspired merch and 100% of net sales will be donated to Clarksdale, the community that inspired the film.
Additionally, Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer provided an undisclosed amount to support Clarksdale.
capitalbnews.org/fear-of-god-...
