FMD17

What makes special education teaching jobs so hard to fill? NPR set out to find some answers by talking to more than a dozen teachers who do this work every day. n.pr/4zRuUyO

Things are getting increasingly rough for online creators. If you want to keep up with my talks, comics, and books, my very short monthly newsletter is the best way: buttondown.com/rosemarymosco and I also have a Patreon full of incredibly nice folks: www.patreon.com/cw/birdandmoon

Good morning. 10 days to Halloween. art by @tomgauld.bsky.social

Noah radiated decency; his keen insight informed what became NPR's original sound; his interest in places far from power enriched our understanding of the nation and its people. Lovely tribute from @scottdetrow.bsky.social www.npr.org/2026/10/18/n...

Mycorrhizal fungi form partnerships with 80% of all plant species on Earth. But how do organisms with no brain or central nervous system can decide which plants to trade with — and on what terms? Learn more on the latest episode of The Joy of Why: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

The criticism around Feinberg’s tenure at the Pentagon has attacked his strategic decisions on the merits and the apparent conflicts of interest swirling around the billionaire investor’s inner circle. prospect.org?p=146316

If you are in the UK & would like any of these fabulous linoprint bookmarks my mum, Jo, has just made, free, with a purchase of one of my novels (signed of course) direct from me (they’re £9.99) pls email me at hello@tom-cox.com letting me know which book/bookmark & where I need to send everything…

If you’d like a signed copy of the new paperback edition of THE FLESH KING, you can order it from the link below. And if you’d like signed copies of my other books, scroll down the page or email samantha@riverstonebooks.com shop.riverstonebookstore.com/book/9781835...

heartbroken to hear the vet say my little buddy’s kidney disease has progressed to the “let’s keep him comfortable” stage. Tip was my companion all through my own illness & always at my side when I work at home. So we’ll continue to love & coddle him until it’s time to let him go. #cats #sweetheart

To put this in perspective chestnut trees used to be dominant species in the United States. Billions of trees were killed by fungal blight and now fully grown America chestnuts are functionally extinct. There is no getting them back. Ever. All for a data center. www.gadgetreview.com/one-of-ameri...

We have to speak up! These forests belong to all of us—and that includes the species already living there!

Reporting that holds power to account. Investigations that amplify unheard voices. Stories that inform the public – and spark real-world change. Especially after the loss of federal funding, you decide whether this independent press survives and thrives. Donate now >> n.pr/3VxNBIZ

Trump corrupted America's most innovative institution, the National Science Foundation, by stealing $1.4B mandated by Congress for research. 🧪 🧵

Just a little time left to apply for the Donald W. Reynolds Chair in Business Journalism at Washington and Lee University. The position: Full professor w/tenure teaching business journalism, coaching young journalists. I head the search committee; deadline is Oct. 1. APPLY NOW: loom.ly/opz2h7k

Members of the robust Inner Hive got TOMORROW'S Tom the Dancing Bug comic TODAY, and so already know what's going to cause the upcoming apocalypse. - YOU CAN TOO! Help support the Tom the Dancing Bug experiment at bit.ly/theInnerHive 👊

Trump’s new AI website is kinda fun, it turns out.

Hey @governor.pa.gov , want the easiest win of the year? Wildly popular, good policy, real impact, low cost? Help save the academy of Natural Sciences in Philly. creators.yahoo.com/lifestyle/st...

Happy fall, everyone! To celebrate, join us for our first Science in the Virtual Pub tomorrow night (Thursday, 9/24) at 7 pm! To register, please use this link: https://cornell.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUkcOyqqj4iH92h7ai5tUrpKlP6QwHLm6ZL#/registration

We have *six days* left until the Academy of Natural Sciences, North America's oldest Natural History museum, is scheduled to close it's doors. Here are *six reasons* why we cannot - and will not- let that happen.

**Lights Out Alert Sunday & Monday Nights** Birdcast is estimating 300-400 million birds will be in flight.

The press ban is real and it's illegal and three newsrooms have lawyers on it already. The story that will actually cost votes ran on the AP wire this morning and vanished by lunch. www.jackhopkinsnow.com

Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!

"Attachment: $5,000 Check … Pres. Trump just authorized it. Access portal & submit approval ASAP.” The text does not follow through as advertised. Instead, a link goes to a donation website for Eric Flores, the Republican nominee for Texas’s 34th Congressional District. buff.ly/FAYN6Hl

I just found out it’s #PloverAppreciationDay! I really, really appreciate plovers at all times. Small and cute and in need of our support because their habitat is threatened. That’s why this one is wearing some jewelry, to help track and monitor them. (Piping Plover at the NJ coast) #birds 🌿

A sweeping federal rule change would rewrite the definition of what the federal government considers a small business, with vast implications for federal contracting and financing. buff.ly/3zo2OcV

At least someone stands up to the bully-in-chief!

My Pittsburgh friends— it’s Roberto Clemente day!

Ossoff: "Last week the broken old man threw a two day party in Texas while it costs more than ever to fill up your truck, stock your fridge, and power your home ... they spent most of the last year covering up for the world's most famous pedophile"

NEW: Scientists are boycotting the American Diabetes Association after five members were forcibly removed from their annual conference in June 🚨 boycotters want an independent review of the events and major changes to ADA's leadership and structure www.fiercebiotech.com/research/sci...

BREAKING: Jimmy Kimmel says his interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico will NOT air on ABC due to threats from Trump’s FCC. The interview will instead be posted to YouTube.

For 60 years #StarTrek has been a source of entertainment, inspiration, & hope for a better tomorrow. May it Live Long and Prosper for many more decades to come! From all of us here at the Trek Central Team - A Very Happy Star Trek Day! 🖖

Ron Filipkowski: The 75 Most Corrupt Things Trump Did in 2026. So far. The scams, schemes and grifts have been endless, as the Trump Family seems to spend most of their time and energy finding new ways to profit off the presidency. Here is my Top 75.

The expanded Amazing Books and Records location on Smithfield complements resources available at the nearby library branch while adding another reason to explore Downtown Pittsburgh...

This album is now an expanded DOUBLE ALBUM SET .My Murdered Remains is out on vinyl and as a download today! (Never to be on streaming sites?) Go! tmbgshop.com/collections/...

Well chuffed to be on this brilliant list of new titles from @eandtbooks.bsky.social next spring

Oh man, not Cassandra Wilson!! Aim the scythe somewhere else! 😢

Here’s an NPR explainer with more on the new rule: www.npr.org/2026/06/30/n...

The closure does not affect the rest of the institution, which builds and maintains the collections and conducts research through departments such as the Patrick Center for Environmental Research.

If Yosemite can be bargained away for a developer’s shortcut, every park with private land next door is next. Tell your Representatives to kill the giveaway here. It only takes a minute to tell your representative we’re watching what they do, and November is coming.

The role of ChatGPT went far beyond providing tactical tips in the final hours before the mass shooting. The shooter messaged with ChatGPT more than 6,600 times over 12 months—including dozens of conversations revealing he was desperate, focused on extremist violence, and suicidal.

Federal investments should make a real difference in people’s everyday lives. The future Wilford A. Payne Medical Building in Homewood will bring community resources under one roof. Support for federally qualified health centers is more important than ever. I’m proud to support this project.

I wrote about Judge Talwani’s decision, issued late Thursday, entering a Temporary Restraining Order that puts Trump’s Executive Order on voting by mail back on hold. And I assess how it will hold up at SCOTUS, because we all know that’s where it’s headed. joycevance.substack.com/p/judge-talw...

In a pre-minced world, where everyone searches for meaning in mediocrity, where we're too quick to dismiss the quiet scrape of a knife, ....... please bother with an existence that is slow-simmered, sticky-fingered, full of the big flavors and small inconveniences - Elise Powers #Poetry 💙📚👀