Cartoons Saturday!

Plus new/old songs from John Prine and Dion, and fun music picks by Ethan Hawke.

Greg Mitchell has authored 14 books and directed four PBS films since 2022. His latest, “The Atomic Bowl: Football at Ground Zero—and Nuclear Peril Today” has been airing over PBS stations and now streaming for free (key links to watch now and more here). A companion book is available, and you can read more or order here.. And subscribing to this newsletter is still somehow FREE.

Trump yesterday, still, as calls for his removal remain mute (or should we say, moot): “Portland, Oregon, I mean -- every time I look at that place it’s burning down. There are fires all over the place. When a store -- there are very few of them left -- but when a store owner rebuilds a store they build it out of plywood. They don’t put up storefronts anymore. They just put wood up.”

Meanwhile: RFK Jr. and the Trump administration has been spreading anti-vaccine propaganda for months. Last night, Trump’s physician announced he just received a flu shot and a COVID booster.

As the world gets sicker in other ways, from Wired:

Men Are Betting on WNBA Players’ Menstrual Cycles

Some sports gamblers were trying to predict WNBA players’ performance—and the outcomes of games—based on the athletes’ periods. One betting content creator has dubbed it “blood money.”

On John Prine’s birthday yesterday, I revealed the coming of tribute film at end of November, now here is the trailer featuring all of the performers:

And one of his earliest TV appearances, way back in 1972, doing “Hello In There,” plus some revealing chit chat. Never heard that he’d already hung with Dylan then and played old songs together with Bob saying he would cover “Donald and Lydia” (never happened).

I guess because he feels the world needs it now, Dion has released a new version of his classic “Abraham, Martin and John.” He remains in remarkably good voice, as we’ve seen in other releases over the past few years.

Now for big fun, came across this yesterday, some kind of series this guy does, but here with wacky Ethan Hawke, a giant music fan, commenting on some of his “Americana” favorites, from Dylan to Wilco.

From Tunes to Toons

Ann Telnaes:

Photo Finish

From my camera to your eyes: Full moon over the Hudson and Tappan Zee Bridge