Craig Monk

Conservative. Academic. “A monk who works is troubled by only one devil, while an idle monk is troubled by many.” St. John Cassian (Banner, Alex Norris)

[Craig Monk @CGMonk]

“Love’s austere and lonely offices.”

[Cian McCarthy @arealmofwonder]

'Those Winter Sundays'
by Robert Hayden

[Robert Sterling @RobertMSterling]

I just had the craziest experience at the airport.

We are about to board a flight to Atlanta when the pilot from the incoming plane walks out of the jetway. Guy is probably late 50s, salt and pepper hair, military look. The kind of pilot you instantly feel good about seeing on your flight.

Pilot walks over to the counter, gets on the PA system, and starts addressing everyone. “Folks, I’ve been doing this a long time. Flying one of these jets is easy. The hard part is looking at 130 people and telling them their flight is going to be delayed.”

Audible groans throughout the boarding gate. Most people here are flying to Atlanta as a layover before another flight. 130 people just had their day become a complete mess.

The pilot goes on. “I get it, trust me. But here’s the deal: During our landing, we had a small mechanical issue. I’m not your pilot for the next leg, but I don’t feel confident the jet’s safe to fly until we have a mechanical team look it over, and I don’t feel comfortable asking the next pilots to fly you guys until we get confirmation.”

He points at the agents next to him behind the counter: “Now, none of this is the agents’ fault. Please be kind to them. I’m the one who made this decision, not them, so any inconvenience you experience is my fault. Just please know that I don’t do this lightly, and I’m only doing it because I believe it’s in the best interests of everyone’s safety.”

Now this is where the story gets crazy. The pilot puts the microphone down, grabs his suitcase, and all the people in the gate…

Start clapping.

I’m not joking, everyone starts clapping for the guy. 130 people who just had their travel plans ruined give an ovation to the guy who made the decision and delivered the message.

All because he addressed them with decency and transparency, took ownership of the decision, made it clear that it was necessary, and explained why it was in everyone’s best interest.

It’s honestly one of the best examples of strong communication—of strong leadership, for that matter—that I’ve seen in a long time.

@Delta, whoever your Atlanta to Wichita pilot was this morning, he’s one of the good ones. Please tell him the delayed passengers of flight 1637 appreciate what he did.

[Erin Price-Wright @espricewright]

If you're a naturally anxious person, I recommend pursuing a high stress career path where at least you'll be compensated for anxiety you're going to have anyways.

[Craig Monk @CGMonk]

@Citizen004 💔

[Matt Steichen @Matt_Stike]

The GOAT

[Craig Monk @CGMonk]

@darren_dyck You continue to set the standard to which we all aspire. Your ship has weather’d every rack… Of the personal hygiene section of the pharmacy, apparently.

[Kat Rosenfield @katrosenfield]

People don’t really read fiction anymore and that is a problem; another problem, however, is that among the dwindling population of people who do read, there is a sizeable contingent who seem not to understand what books are for

[Selena Wisnom @LSWisnom]

Good to see Oxford standing up for commas

[Craig Monk @CGMonk]

@sarkonakj In my adult life, I have noticed the shift from “if everyone can’t have the *opportunity* to have something, we have to manage its availability” to “if everyone can’t have something, no one can.” Quite a sad state of affairs.

[weird medieval guys @WeirdMedieval]

virgin mary punching the devil, england, 13th century

[Sheila of the Most High @sheilatebra]

Anonymous

I was at the library using their computers when a woman sat next to me. Opened her email. Started applying for jobs. I could see her screen. She’d been sending applications for months. Hundreds of them. All rejections or no response. She kept going. Indeed. LinkedIn. Company websites. Over and over.
After an hour she put her head down. Just sat there. I leaned over. “Job hunting?” She nodded. Didn’t look up. “Six months unemployed. Savings gone. Living with my sister.
I have a master’s degree and I can’t get an interview.” Her voice cracked. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”
“Can I look at your resume?” She pulled it up. I saw the problem immediately. Formatted weird. Too long. Buried her best experience. “Mind if I help?” Spent an hour reformatting it. Tightening it. Making her skills pop. “Try this version.”
She looked at it. “This is so much better. How did you” “I’m a recruiter. Was. Before I got laid off too.” She looked at me. Really looked.
“You’re unemployed?” “Four months. I get it. The rejection. The silence. It’s brutal.”
We became job hunting partners. Met at the library twice a week. Edited each other’s resumes. Practiced interviews. Kept each other sane. She got a job first. Two months later. Called me crying happy tears. “I start Monday. And I told them about you. They want to interview you.”
I got hired too. We work at the same company now. Different departments. Have lunch every week...
“Two unemployed strangers at the library,” she says. “Now we’re employed friends. Funny how that works.”

[Craig Monk @CGMonk]

@elie_mcn Not even nearly the ugliest building in Edmonton.

[University of Austin (UATX) @uaustinorg]

To: Admitted Students on Ivy Decision Day
From: UATX

Congratulations. Getting in was hard and you should be proud. Now here’s some unsolicited advice so you don’t waste the next four years.

Go to class. We know this sounds obvious. But as the New York Times reported recently, Harvard students routinely skip class, rarely speak up when they're there, and focus on their devices instead of the discussion. Faculty say few students do enough preparation to contribute meaningfully. The average college student spends about 20 hours a week on class and studying combined. At UATX, we aim for 50. That’s the difference between a part-time commitment and a full-time job. You (or your parents) are about to spend upwards of $90K a year. If you don't show up, you're paying roughly $250 per skipped lecture for the privilege of sleeping in.

Read the books yourself. Your generation is the first to arrive at college post-literate — raised on short-form video, dependent on algorithms, and increasingly incapable of sitting with a difficult text long enough to let it change your mind. Ninety percent of college students use AI academically. This makes you more reliant on the authority of others. Most professors will also stand between you and the text. They’ll tell you what Marx “really meant,” what Aristotle “failed to see,” as though an academic in 2026 has outsmarted minds that shaped civilizations. The good professors do the opposite: they put you in front of the book and they work with you to find what a great mind has to teach us directly. Find those professors, and read everything yourself.

Say what you actually think. Seventy-three percent of conservative students report withholding their political views in class out of fear their grades will suffer. Our advice isn't political; it's intellectual. If you spend four years learning to say what's expected instead of what's true, you’ll graduate roughly where you started — just older, more credentialed, and more practiced at self-censorship. One study finds that nearly half of students show no measurable gains in “critical thinking” after two years in college. Keep this in mind as you make decisions about which professors to take and how to do your assignments. Taking a small hit on your paper to gain integrity and wisdom is usually worth it.

Ask for real grades. Sixty percent of Harvard undergraduate grades are now A’s. Twenty-five years ago, it was 20%. It got so bad that the legendary Harvard professor, Harvey Mansfield, started giving students two grades: the official one for their transcript, and a private one reflecting what they actually earned. He called the official grades “ironic.” So here's a suggestion: Take your A, but also ask your professors for a “Mansfield grade” so that you know where you stand. And don’t avoid difficult courses to keep your transcript clean for law school.

Get work experience before you graduate. Forty-two percent of recent college graduates are working jobs that don't require a degree. Many employers are projecting the next few years to be the worst college grad job market in years. A degree alone — even from an Ivy — is not a job guarantee. Seek out apprenticeships, internships, and real work starting freshman year. The students at UATX are connected with entrepreneurs and business leaders from day one. Many will graduate with four years of work experience alongside their degree. You can build something similar at your school, but you'll have to do it yourself.

Understand how debt shapes your life. If you're paying full freight or even half, do the math with your eyes open. Your decision to take on debt will quietly reshape the trajectory of your adult life through countless small surrenders: the job you take because it’s safe instead of starting the company. The city you choose to live in. The relationship you delay and the kids you don’t have. For women, a $1,000 increase in student loan debt lowers the odds of marriage by 2% per month in the first four years after graduation. None of that shows up in the college brochure. If you're going to take on debt, treat it like the constraint it is from day one: save aggressively and make sure every dollar is buying something that will actually compound in your favor.

Find the people who take school seriously. The best thing about a great school isn't the lectures or the library. It's the handful of professors and students who are genuinely there to learn — who read ahead, argue in good faith, and push you to be sharper. Find them. UATX is a small community of those who seek a serious education. At a larger university, you have to build this community yourself.
*
The most dangerous thing about an elite university is that it is very easy to do nothing for four years and still come out looking successful. The transcript will say you excelled. The diploma with the fancy crest will open certain doors. Your parents will be proud. And yet you will have coasted — through inflated grades, unread books, and borrowed opinions.

Getting in is an accomplishment. Making the next four years worth it will be harder, and the right decisions will change everything.

We wish you luck.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

Christ is risen from the dead, and with him, we too rise to new life! This Easter proclamation embraces the mystery of our lives and the destiny of history, reaching us even in the depths of death. #Easter

[Danielle Smith @ABDanielleSmith]

Today, Christians in Alberta and around the world celebrate Easter, marking the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the foundation of the Christian faith.

Following the reflection of Lent and Good Friday, Easter speaks to renewal, hope and the promise of new life. It reflects a belief that even in the face of loss and hardship, there is a path forward.

I extend my warmest wishes to all those celebrating this important day and hope this Easter brings love and joy to you and your loved ones.

Happy Easter.

[Craig Monk @CGMonk]

@twitandrewking @colbycosh Never quite thought it was real. Saw so few of them that I couldn’t shake the suspicion that they were counterfeit. 😂

[Craig Monk @CGMonk]

@jkenney @Citizen004 I can almost always determine whether to follow or block an account based on the civility (or its absence) with which you are engaged.

[Craig Monk @CGMonk]

@Citizen004 After many years, I finally cancelled my subscription.

[Craig Monk @CGMonk]

@davidclowery Well, maybe, y’know, when you win the lottery.

[Craig Monk @CGMonk]

@ClarkeKent780 @RadioYeg That’s how it looks now.

[Craig Monk @CGMonk]

@ClarkeKent780 @RadioYeg Yeah, it had a phone number on it.