Writers and Editors

Trump's tariffs: a roundup, updated May 2025

 

• 'The Economist' editor unpacks the 'biggest trade policy shock' of Trump's tariffs (Terry Gross, Fresh Air, 4-9-25) President Trump's sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs have upended the global economy, sending stock markets into turmoil. "This is, without a doubt, the biggest trade policy shock, I think, in history," Zanny Minton Beddoes, the editor-in-chief of The Economist, says.

    "Trump last week ordered a minimum 10% tax on nearly everything the U.S. buys from other countries. He's also ordered much higher levies on things the country buys from China, Japan and the European Union. However, a lot of those tariffs are in flux, because almost each day the president has either increased some tariffs or paused others." And then he increased them to preposterous proportions.

• Robert De Niro Slams Trump In Cannes Honorary Palme d’Or Speech: “We Are Fighting Like Hell For The Democracy We Once Took For Granted” (Melanie Goodfellow, Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline, 5-23-25)

    An impassioned De Niro used his acceptance speech to address issues he said are facing the artistic community and threatening democracy under the presidency of Donald Trump. “In my country, we are fighting like hell for the democracy we once took for granted. That affects all of us here because the arts are democratic. Art is inclusive, it brings people together. Art embraces diversity and that’s why art is a threat, that’s why we are a threat to autocrats and fascists,” he said.
    “America’s philistine president has had himself appointed head of one of our premier cultural institutions,” he continued. “He has cut funding and support to the arts, humanities and education. And now he has announced a 100% tariff on films produced outside of the U.S. Let that sink in. … You can’t put a price on creativity, but apparently you can put a tariff on it.”

    “This is not just an American problem, it’s a global one,” he said. “We can’t all just sit back and watch. We have to act and we have to act now, not with violence but with great passion and determination. It’s time for everyone who cares about liberty to organize, to protest — and when there are elections, of course, to vote. Tonight and for the next 11 days we show our strength and commitment by celebrating art in this glorious festival. Libérté, égalité, fraternité.”

• Trump 2.0 tariff tracker (ReedSmith, Trade Compliance Resource Hub, 5-5-25) Reed Smith’s International Trade and National Security team tracks the latest threatened and implemented U.S. tariffs, as well as counter-tariffs  Read More 

Trump Watch: A checklist.

A steadily growing batch of links to revealing pieces, continually updated (most recently 5-21-25)

    If the shape of the column goes wonky (too narrow, in particular), scroll down and click on one of the headings/links. That should bring the columns back to a readable width.

 

TRUMP FIRED THE WATCHDOGS. PROJECT 2025 IS HAPPENING NOW.

                          (Sign seen in 2025)
Trump and Musk are tearing down democracy to expedite Project 2025—threatening everything from fair elections to Social Security.  

  See more about Project 2025 here and check out David A. Graham's The Project 2025 Presidency (The Atlantic, 4-24-25) "The blueprint for Trump 2.0 predicted much of what we’ve seen so far—and much of what’s to come."

• You Asked, We Answered: How The Times Is Reporting on the Trump Administration (New York Times). Hundreds of readers asked about our coverage of the president. Times editors and reporters responded to some of the most common questions. Listen (30 minutes) or read -- a compendium. Scroll down for list of topics.

• Were the No Kings protests the largest single-day demonstration in American history? (Alaina Demopoulos, The Guardian, 6-19-25) -Depending on who you ask, between 4 and 6 million people showed up – possibly among the biggest ever single-day protests in US history (contrasting with the small attendance Trump got on his birthday for a military parade).

• All That Trump Has Changed (Jess Bidgood, On Politics Newsletter, New York Times, 5-19-25) Four months in, the president and his advisers have overwhelmed political opponents who are still grasping for a message and a means with which to fight back.

• Trump is turning the U.S. into a private club, and we are not members (Lucian Truscott Newsletter, 6-6-25)

    "Federal agencies have been ordered by Donald Trump’s White House to find grants that the administration can withhold from the state of California. It’s not the first time Trump has targeted the most populous state in the Union. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget recently announced that $126 million in California flood control funding will be zeroed out in the 2025 public works budget. According to CNN, a total of $436 million was cut from the budget for water projects in states with Democratic senators, while states led by Republicans are to receive $257 million more than was allocated in last year’s budget. Texas alone is to receive $206 million in new funds. In all, the Trump budget allocates 64 percent of new funds to red states, with only 33 percent of funds going to blue states.
     A Spokesman for the White House told CNN, “No taxpayer should be forced to fund the demise of our country,” specifically referencing cuts targeting California.

• 'He was always a bully, now he's dangerous' Mary Trump tells all on uncle Donald Trump (The Daily T, The Telegraph, Part 2, 5-23-25).

 Read More 

Gathering your personal history

by Mary Scott, Advocate Staff Writer, Calvert Advocate.

5-26-09. Reprinted here by permission.

 

Everyone has a story to tell. A good personal history won’t include just facts; it will also include stories, according to Pat McNees, a professional personal historian.

 

"The first thing to do is start a timeline...make it include a combination of incidents in your life and turning points,” McNees said. "You want to get the significant periods like high school. When you met your husband, got married, or had children.”

 

Instead of just writing these things down, McNees suggested either video or audio recording the person telling the stories so their voice is preserved. “The voice is an essential part of the person. When you hear someone’s voice it immediately brings back a flood of memories,” she said.

 

Photos can also be a part of someone’s personal history. McNees suggested going through your photographs and  Read More 

A long roundup of links to life as being radically changed by Trump and (unelected) Musk.

 

• NPR News Now A roundup of the day's top stories in under five minutes. New podcast episodes each weekday. (Bookmark that, to return to for later roundups.)
• Trump-Musk news (ongoing links to stories, Washington Post)  Keep this link open so you can follow stories as they appear.

• Spotlight on President Trump Ongoing news, New York Times.

• ‘It felt like Squid Games’: HHS employees on finding out their jobs were eliminated (WTOP,4-2-25) Employees with the Department of Health and Human Services tell WTOP they lined up and scanned their badges one by one Tuesday. If the light turned green, they still had their job. If it turned red, they didn't. “It felt like ‘Squid Games,'” one worker said.
    One worker said while they want agencies to be more efficient and accountable, the strategy being used does not make sense. They said many units in the agency consist of “small teams” that are “efficient,” especially in what they are able to accomplish.
   One worker, in response to comments that better jobs will come along, said: “It means so much more than just the job itself … It’s like wiping out an entire collection of history of knowledge and being like, it doesn’t matter … It doesn’t matter, and these groups of people don’t matter.”

• Section on Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine (many sources)

---The Shame of It (Robert Reich).

   Reich's tips on How to help the people in Ukraine. Here's the practical part:
  "Europe and all free people around the world must rally at this time of American emergency. If the United States won’t seize Russia’s frozen assets and put them into an account for Ukraine to pay for further arms, Europeans must do this and let Ukraine buy from European defense contractors.  Read More 

Listen to Amy Collins on How to Get Your Books Into Bookstores and Libraries, a brillian pep talk on Tom Corson-Knowles Publishing Profits Podcast (a while ago, but the advice still seems sound). Amy is knowledgeable, practical, and a really good, speaker. Here's one point she makes, from 2015 data: Over 60% of Americans have a library card; over 40% of them have been in a library in the last month. Only 5% of them have been in a bookstore in the last month.

   A lot of books will license an e-book, for a limited time. And if the e-book is popular, when the license is up, they'll re-up.

• The Humble Neighborhood Library: Why It Should Be Part of Your Book-Enthusiasm-Generating Plan (Kelly Turner on Jane Friedman's blog, 2-13-25) Since most readers don't have an independent bookstore in their neighborhood, public libraries can be an ideal spot for author events.

    Comments are interesting, including this by Kelly herself: From the ‘author’ side, I found it helpful (and honestly a little jarring) to talk to other readers at the event. I realized I’ve become quite clinical in the way I talk about books: ‘genre – pov – tense – setting – kind of story.’ The readers I spoke with talked about books very differently, which reminded me that if I want to have and engage with readers, I shouldn’t drown them with all this ‘backend’ vocabulary.

    "According to the Panorama Project's 2019 survey of nearly 200 libraries in 30 states, about half of responding libraries produced ten or more events (including book clubs, speaker series, and author events) each year. Libraries hosting fewer than 10 events per year were more likely to host community book clubs and speaker series than author events. I can't claim these data are representative of the (over 17,000) public libraries in the US, but given the American Association of Publishers reports nearly $30 billion in US book sales in 2023, there's capacity for more library events connecting authors and readers."

 

There are four times as many libraries as there are bookstores in the U.S.--in Canada, six times as many. There are over 2400 independent bookstores in the U.S., but 12,000 public libraries (9500 physical permanent public library branches). A lot is going on in libraries and their budgets are going up. The average library system budget is about $1.8 million, some of which goes to staffing, magazines, and other materials. They buy hardcover and paperback and license ebooks and in many cases audiobooks (sometimes from self-published and independent authors). The materials budget is roughly distributed thus:
• Paperbacks: 41%
• Audiobooks: 20%
• eBooks: 19%
• Hardcover books: 9%.
If they can’t afford your book they’ll find a competitive book that’s less expensive. Having your books in the library increases sales of your books outside libraries.

How to sell books to libraries
To sell books to libraries, you have to be listed in the two main library databases and with at least one main wholesaler.

Libraries won’t order books until they have money in their budget and they will pay you through the wholesaler they purchase books from (the wholesaler will pay the publisher).
Authors: Traditional publishers will typically register your books with library databases. 

Indie publishers, it's important to register yours in library databases, also. 

 

The two easiest ways/venues to register your books in library databases:
1) Register your book and ISBN with Books in Print (RR Bowker, My Identifiers), by registering your ISBN: www.myidentifiers.com and get a BARCODE

2) Register with OCLC, which funds and runs WorldCat Registry (OCLC Developer Network)
It's pretty easy, or you can hire a company to create a PCIP (publisher cataloging in publication) block for you. The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) is an American nonprofit cooperative organization that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large--to make information more accessible Read More