My Music Co-Artists of the Year

A bunch of tunes from Mavis, Tweedy, and Mavis-Tweedy, plus our usual cartoons.

Greg Mitchell has authored more than a dozen books (see most of them here) and directed four recent PBS films, including the current “The Atomic Bowl.” Subscribing to this newsletter is still FREE—so if you want to help fund, maybe purchase one of those books, thanks. Or recommend this Substack to a friend!

Money for Oil (and the Tricks are Free)

Tjerd Royards:

Of course, we are going to send you straight to the great M. Gessen.

Maduro’s Ouster Plays Right Into Putin’s Hands

In the initial rush of news on Saturday morning, many commentators speculated that the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela was also a blow to President Vladimir Putin of Russia, since Venezuela and Russia are allies. To the contrary, it is a victory for Putin, because it is a blow — quite likely fatal — to the new world order of law, justice and human rights that was heralded in the wake of World War II….

Putin was Maduro’s ally, but allies come and go; worldviews, and the desire to force the world to conform to them, stay. Putin’s world has just become more harmonious. Not because, as conspiracy theorists would have you believe, Putin tells Trump what to do, but because these two autocrats really do view the world in the same way. We have a saying for this in Russian: Two boots make a pair.

Last night on Air Force One:

Reporter: Did you speak with the oil companies before the operation? Did you tip them off? Trump: Before and after. They want to go in and they’re going to do a great job.

Reminder: Congress was not tipped off.

Republican congressman Thomas Massie:

It’s not American oil. It’s Venezuelan oil. Oil companies entered into risky deals to develop oil, and the deals were canceled by a prior Venezuelan government. What’s happening: lives of US soldiers are being risked to make those oil companies (not Americans) more profitable.

Heather Cox Richardson:

In a phone call today with Michael Scherer of The Atlantic, Trump threatened Rodríguez, saying that “if she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.” Tonight on Air Force One, Trump told reporters that the U.S., not Rodríguez, is in charge of Venezuela.

Trump also told Scherer that he does indeed intend to continue to assert U.S. control in the Western Hemisphere, telling Scherer that “we do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense.” Greenland is part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), meaning it is already part of U.S. national defense.

Washington Post:

Reminder: Film for which I served as adviser, and in which I appear as talking head numerous times, “Bombshell,” airing nationally over PBS “American Experience” Tuesday night. In many cities my current film “The Atomic Bowl” follows.

More Music Highlights of 2025: Mavis and Tweedy

I have already linked in past months to several cuts on the latest Mavis Staples album and to the triple-album by Jeff Tweedy. I’ll post a little more below from those, as they are my co-artists of the year. But since I have been catching up myself on the three Mavis album produced by Tweedy in the past 15 years, I thought I would highlight cuts from them also. Mavis is also on the forthcoming (and it sounds great on three cuts released so far) Lucinda Williams album.

Mavis live from latest album:

A couple of live, well-recorded cuts from the Tweedy triple-lp:

Mavis aiding Lucinda on forthcoming album, “So Much Trouble in the World”:

From earlier album, produced by Tweedy, here the title song he wrote, “One True Vine”

Great cover version of Funkadelic’s “Can You Get to That,” arranged and produced by Jeffy:

Another Tweedy-penned beauty for Mavis, “Jesus Wept”

And another great arrangement by Jeff, “In Christ There Is Not East or West”

Believe it or not, Jeff wrote for Mavis, “If All I Was Was Black”

Unique way to listen to entire triple album as Jeffy rides around in his car and munches snacks for two hours:

From Tunes to Toons

This is from Wuerker about 20 years ago:

Photo Finish

“Telephone, Paris Hotel”