Thanksgiving Countdown: 'He's Singing The Left Side Of The Menu'

This week’s writing

Nov 14, 2025

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. They don’t do Thanksgiving in England, for obvious reasons, so when the Robinsons were there around this time in 2022, they had already broken out the Christmas decorations.

I personally think a couple weeks to exorcise Halloween from your home before digging out the Christmas skeletons is more than reasonable. But I know people are fussy about stepping on Thanksgiving, a holiday rooted in more outright fantasy than Christmas — that’s including the flying reindeer and virgin births. Don’t worry, though, I won’t summon Mariah Carey until that first bite of pie at Thanksgiving dinner.

There’s still more than enough time to take advantage of our annual Thanksgiving subscription sale. Become a paid subscriber for 40 percent off the usual annual rate. That means you can help keep this newsletter survive the winter for just $30 a year. Thanks to all who have upgraded to paid subscriber status recently. In lieu of cat photos like my friend Noah Berlatsky at Everything Is Horrible, I’ll share one of my 11-year-old son’s gruesome animation videos whenever we gain a new paid subscriber.

Here’s what I wrote this week:

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro threw hands at the creeptastic Vice President J.D. Vance. If this was a preview of a potential presidential campaign, I’m ready for the main event.

Josh Shapiro Doesn't Need An Anger Translator When Ripping Apart JD Vance

Stephen Robinson

Nov 10

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I spoke with my friend author and activist Maya Contreras about New York politics and the recent mayoral election. Unlike the current leaders from New York, I think Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will actually inspire people. Oh, when we recorded this, the Seattle mayoral election wasn’t yet decided. Now, we can declare progressive Katie Wilson the city’s next mayor. There’s a reason the talk about a “Democratic tea party” is brewing. (Ha!)

Here’s where I ask everyone reading this to hop over to YouTube and subscribe to my channel. It’s greatly appreciated!