Ezra really gave this account a gift that keeps giving with that one
@nickkeppler
Freelance writer with a specialty in health and science and public policy thereabout. Bylines: New York Times, Washington Post, Slate, Daily Beast, Men's Health, Mental Floss. I'm here to like nature pics and not be on X.
Ezra really gave this account a gift that keeps giving with that one
We have a new episode of Listen or Die, analyzing classic albums. In this one, the Who relieve themselves of prog-rock ambitions and @cocteauofficial.bsky.social will not dress up for you.
Episode 5 of Listen or Die! Stacey and I review the careers and supposed best albums of two artists who came closer to the limelight than they ever expected as Nanci Griffith tries to make folkabilly happen and Elliott Smith finds himself backing up Madonna, literally. We're also on Apple Podcasts.
The cover page of today's @startribune.com is incredible
Excellent
Bored at home? In transit? Laying around in a post-Christmas food coma? All reasons to listen to episode 4 of our podcast, Listen or Die! Stacey and I discuss the exuberant debut of Supergrass, England's it band of 1995, and several iterations of The Wall, the moody magnum opus of Pink Floyd!
For anyone who does not know how journalism works, you do the reporting and try to get comment from anyone implicated. They may not respond for a variety of reasons. You're asking for comment, not permission. The head of CBS News does not know how journalism works or hopes that you do not.
Hi Natalie, I spoke to people whose Medicare accounts were charged for services they didn't receive or need or ask for from companies that don't seem to exist. In some cases, secondary insurers were charged too.
I wrote this for the @nytimes.com: Scammers are calling seniors more than 50 times a day. Some who get scammed wind up with weird charges on their Medicare and mysterious packages on their porches
Traveling today? Entertain yourself with episode three of Listen or Die! We're talking about Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis and Arrival by ABBA. Includes brief and somewhat informed discussions of early jazz subgenres and the Eurovision song contest!
Hey all, for a New York Times story, I am looking to speak to people who are getting inundated with Medicare enrollment scam calls, to the point that the calls themselves are a quality of life issue. If you know someone in this situation, hit me up here or nickkeppler@yahoo.com. Thanks
Special Halloween episode of Listen or Die! Stacey and I tackle (What's the Story) Morning Glory by #Oasis and the Marshall Mathers LP by #Eminem. We also talk about Wonderwall as a meme, the ongoing crisis with men, lessons about healthily playing the villain learned from acting at a haunted house
Stacey Federoff and I have a new podcast! We are second-guessing the book 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, doing deep dives on two albums at a time. Episode 1: The Velvet Underground and Slade. Please check it out and like and subscribe.
open.spotify.com/episode/3WD7...
I'm sorry, Kat, both about the layoff and the end (in all but name) of Mental Floss. It was great working with you.
Starbucks, why silent all these years?
The big iron memes are still a thing?
You can listen to me on Dallas's public radio station @kera.org And also watch me shuffle my notes on their YouTube page.
Have you noticed that everyone who's bad is labeled a narcissist now? Unbearable parents, shitty exes, the president. Some people with actual narcissistic personality disorder would like a word on that. My latest for @slate.com
slate.com/technology/2...
I did the two-week free trial of Ancestry.com. I always wondered if I was related to Johannes Kepler, the astronomer and mathematician. Nope. I am a descendent of someone who lived at the same time with kinda the same name, the era's equivalent of an Autozone manager named Steven Hawkin.
Journalism crowd source: Are you or do you know someone who has been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder and are trying to work through it? Real names are always preferable. Thanks!
The only good news story this week: A grey cat named Sophie briefly joined the White House Press Corps.
Far me be it for one health journalist to counter the HHS secretary, but I have interviewed several people on the spectrum about their jobs and social lives
New one I wrote for the @nytimes.com: They Were Deactivated From Delivering. Their Finances Were Devastated. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/b...
Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student who was a leader in talks between demonstrators and Columbia University officials last spring, was arrested by Department of Homeland Security agents Saturday night despite having a green card, his attorney said.
Some of these are new terms associated with movements and pushes towards greater sensitivity. And many others, like "disability", "victims" "at risk", "sex", "women" are just common words for things.
Fix your awful website