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Noah Frank

@noahafrank

Writer. Days doing comms at Virginia Tech, evenings teaching at Loyola Maryland. Musing on baseball and other maddening pastimes. https://pretty-good.ghost.io noahafrank.com

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Latest posts by Noah Frank @noahafrank

lol. lmao.

09.03.2026 02:51 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I’ve said for years (and said again to my dad this weekend) that it would be extremely jarring, but that $8/gallon gas might be the best thing that could happen to America to reckon with our oil addiction and climate change

09.03.2026 02:39 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Hey chat, is it good to have skyrocketing gas prices, farm prices, and grocery prices, Americans dying in a deeply unpopular conflict, and the stock market taking a dive into a dry pool all at the same time heading into the midterms?

08.03.2026 22:51 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Went to the ESPN app twice today to check scores, and the autoplay video at the top was fans dangerously rushing the field at a soccer match the first time, and a fan threatening to throw a chair the second time.

Not a great sign, either in terms of fan behavior or media editorial decision-making

08.03.2026 22:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m so sorry. So many people we know (including us) have been through a version of this, and if it’s any solace, sharing and talking about it has brought some measure of relief to everyone we’ve talked to about it

08.03.2026 17:31 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Foreign language immersion is all the rage these days

08.03.2026 14:18 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Text message reading: Men nohggqgqh BB Ukuuujz

Text message reading: Men nohggqgqh BB Ukuuujz

When your toddler has grabbed your wife’s phone

08.03.2026 12:38 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

As a former full-time sports writer who teaches college sports writing, it’s extremely hard to know how to help my students anymore, other than equipping them with journalism/research/writing skills and wishing them well

06.03.2026 17:21 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

He’s seizing the means of run production

06.03.2026 00:57 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Find yourself someone who wants you as much as the NCAA wants Trinidad Chambliss to stop playing college football

06.03.2026 00:53 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Look, that’s just a to-have-done list that you’re accurately annotating. Nothing wrong with that

06.03.2026 00:44 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Love too live here and commute past the White House. Everything is great.

06.03.2026 00:42 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Cool. Great.

06.03.2026 00:31 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Well, I suppose that makes more sense in the most infuriating way possible bsky.app/profile/wsua...

05.03.2026 19:47 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Pulling a sitting, friendly senator out of an already paper thin majority is certainly a decision

05.03.2026 18:52 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Army Air Corps pilot and small business owner on one side, economics professor and administrator at UC Berkeley on the other.

Please don’t make me run for Congress.

05.03.2026 17:33 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I almost hit Billy Crystal in the face with a baseball 5 minutes before a specific movie scene that could not be reshot

05.03.2026 04:11 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

*broke a uniformed Marine veteran’s hand

Trying to imagine the meltdown that would be happening if a Democratic lawmaker did that

05.03.2026 03:15 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Elon Musk’s β€œVox Populi, Vox Dei” tweet

Elon Musk’s β€œVox Populi, Vox Dei” tweet

Hmm sounds a lot like what someone else in the Epstein Files would say

05.03.2026 03:07 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

smh out here trying to bury your connection to the Epstein Files, I see

05.03.2026 03:02 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Privately, I don’t even know if he’d argue with that assertion

05.03.2026 01:41 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Most of the handful of polls recently conducted in the Democratic Texas Senate primary show Rep. Jasmine Crockett leading Texas State Rep. James Talerico by 6-8 points (though one poll has Talerico up by a similar margin). And yet, the odds on Kalshi for this race favor Talerico, and had reached as high as 78% earlier this week.

This can’t be explained away, as the gap between the polls and the betting markets for the 2024 presidential election was, by so-called quiet Republican voters, as it’s a Democratic primary. And I don’t claim to have some crystal ball into the reason behind this, but here’s what I do know: money moves these markets. Those markets β€” especially when they’re broadcast on CNN (which struck a deal with Kalshi in December), or show up on Substack (which just inked a deal with Polymarket) β€” impact perception. And perception often drives action. 

Or, to put it more bluntly, people like to vote for the candidate they think will win.

While there’s no such thing as a lead in elections until the votes are actually counted, there is absolutely movement based on perception. It impacts funding, both from big and small donors. It impacts media coverage and the way the candidates are discussed. If prediction markets begin to take even some of the weight away from polling in the way candidates are viewed and discussed, this could have a dramatic impact on the political landscape moving forward. 

And since those numbers are driven entirely by money β€” by physical bets placed one way or another β€” these markets become just another unregulated way for those with the most money to wield it to influence our elections.

Most of the handful of polls recently conducted in the Democratic Texas Senate primary show Rep. Jasmine Crockett leading Texas State Rep. James Talerico by 6-8 points (though one poll has Talerico up by a similar margin). And yet, the odds on Kalshi for this race favor Talerico, and had reached as high as 78% earlier this week. This can’t be explained away, as the gap between the polls and the betting markets for the 2024 presidential election was, by so-called quiet Republican voters, as it’s a Democratic primary. And I don’t claim to have some crystal ball into the reason behind this, but here’s what I do know: money moves these markets. Those markets β€” especially when they’re broadcast on CNN (which struck a deal with Kalshi in December), or show up on Substack (which just inked a deal with Polymarket) β€” impact perception. And perception often drives action. Or, to put it more bluntly, people like to vote for the candidate they think will win. While there’s no such thing as a lead in elections until the votes are actually counted, there is absolutely movement based on perception. It impacts funding, both from big and small donors. It impacts media coverage and the way the candidates are discussed. If prediction markets begin to take even some of the weight away from polling in the way candidates are viewed and discussed, this could have a dramatic impact on the political landscape moving forward. And since those numbers are driven entirely by money β€” by physical bets placed one way or another β€” these markets become just another unregulated way for those with the most money to wield it to influence our elections.

I specifically referred to the gap between the polls and the betting markets in the Texas Democratic Senate primary in this piece. Was that because of the fundraising difference? Vibes? Something else? pretty-good.ghost.io/sports-betti...

05.03.2026 01:24 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

My β€œeverything is sportswriting” theory includes these slop articles, which were the first attempted incursion into journalism by AI written stories. As noted below, they were generic, often inaccurate, and everyone hated them bsky.app/profile/stho...

04.03.2026 15:01 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Scientific American has updated the figure, now grouped into swimmers, fliers, walkers/runners, and vehicles. A person on a bicycle remains the most efficient way to travel, compared to all forms of biological locomotion and mechanical transport.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-hu...

04.03.2026 11:52 πŸ‘ 589 πŸ” 222 πŸ’¬ 17 πŸ“Œ 31

There are so many incredible parts of this, but don’t sleep on β€œrhinos”

04.03.2026 02:05 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Got it in the inbox

04.03.2026 02:03 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
After finding there had been β€œmass confusion” over where voters were supposed to vote, a judge ordered that Democrats in Dallas County have until 9 p.m. Central time to cast ballots.

After finding there had been β€œmass confusion” over where voters were supposed to vote, a judge ordered that Democrats in Dallas County have until 9 p.m. Central time to cast ballots.

Well, that doesn’t bode well for
November

04.03.2026 01:10 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I’d been meaning to finally add this to my 2026 reading list. Just picked up the paperback, looking forward to digging in (after I finish the other two books I’m reading)

03.03.2026 20:49 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
CBP Tapped Into the Online Advertising Ecosystem To Track Peoples’ Movements An internal DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows for the first time CBP used location data sourced from the online advertising industry to track phone locations. ICE has bought access to similar t...

New from 404 Media: CBP tapped into the online advertising ecosystem to track peoples' movements, according to an internal DHS document. Shows for the first time DHS tracked phones via process for putting ads in ordinary appsβ€”video games, fitness apps, many more www.404media.co/cbp-tapped-i...

03.03.2026 14:07 πŸ‘ 1176 πŸ” 729 πŸ’¬ 31 πŸ“Œ 119

Went to sleep thinking about this, woke up thinking about this. There have been lessons pouring in from Ukraine the last couple years about the new face of drone-driven warfare. I wonder who’s learned them.

03.03.2026 12:27 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0