Michael Simonson

Writer. Published in @mad_in_america and @reason. PR flack by day.

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

My latest @reason piece about a kafkaesque court hearing that condemned a man to repeated rounds of electroshock treatments.

Hat tip to @jimgottstein and @MindFreedom for making me aware of this story.

[reason @reason]

A court-appointed lawyer barely put up a fight as a judge approved forced electroconvulsive therapy. A new attorney stepped in and got the petition dropped in days. https://t.co/7GOIkeyraG

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

No clue how I got subscribed to a San Antonio newspaper newsletter, but I’m glad I did.

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

A fun little outdoor Knicks watch party.

Then the unexpected: The projector dies moments before the about-to-be iconic final 5 seconds.

Until, a la OG Anunoby, the man with the laptop came up clutch.

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

@Phila_Mino @MattWelch Right?! He’d already struck out more than 99.99% of pitchers yet still had 14 years left.

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

@LaochDubholtach @ijbailey Multiple women (including a Republican operative) said they had volatile relationships with a famous and controversial Senate candidate. That’s what The Times reported. Sounds like fair game to me. You really believe it’s beyond the pale to publish their allegations?

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

@wagz35 @MattBarnaby3636 What an awesome story!

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

I was there, in the Joe DiMaggio suite thanks to my friend whose dad was/is an NBC Sports executive. I’m an Orioles fan so it was a nightmare. Coincidentally I was at Jeff Maier’s Bar Mitzvah a week earlier, not realizing he would steal this game when he swiped Jeter’s fly ball from Tony Tarasco

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

@Montreal_Expos @danduquette @grok Can you identify every 1994 Montreal Expos player and coach in this photo? I know who is Felipe Alou, Moises Alou, Marquis Grissom, and Pedro Martinez. But I can’t figure out the others.

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

"Every great story can be pitched in 3 sentences," Steven Spielberg would tell his Hollywood trainees, according to @thomas_coatue.

"No matter how complex a movie was," Laffont recalls, "Spielberg understood the essence of it and in 3 sentences you got the whole movie."

As a publicist, I'm forced to tell my clients' stories in emails that run, at most, a few hundred words. I'm under just as much pressure to write subject lines that run, at most, 3 sentences.

If I can't make my clients' stories sing in those 3 sentences, I'm cooked.

[TBPN @tbpn]

.@thomas_coatue describes how a meeting with Steven Spielberg eventually taught him how to pitch companies.

"Steven said, 'Every great story can be pitched in three sentences, no matter what the story was.'"

"In three sentences you got the whole movie. And what I realized is it takes a true understanding of story to be able to crystallize it in three sentences."

"All the great investors that I've met, like Stan Druckenmiller, my brother Philippe, or Dan Loeb, they have an ability to take any kind of story and just drill it down into its essence to what the key pivot points are that are going to make or break that stock at that particular moment."

[Ben Avery @benaveryisgood]

My very talented friend @aronfromm made this video about Norm Macdonald and its incredible. Please share.

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

@mookiewilson86 @baseballinpix @mikepiazza31 I was there too. And yeah Timo blew it Game 1, as did Benitez.

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

@jrrosenb @moorehn I’ve got two stories for you: A Boston man serving a life sentence whose advocate worked for the DA that put him away and a Connecticut man who uncovered that forced shock therapy court orders have inexplicably skyrocketed in the past 15 years.

[nxthompson @nxthompson]

A new paper shows that AI does make your writing more homogenous—and it'll do the same even if you just ask it to edit your writing. Even weirder: it's not like it'll push you toward the voice of an average human, it'll push you toward a kind of AI-optimized voice that's subtly different from the way any people write.

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

@DCBarno I remember the heartbreak well.

[Rudy Gersten @DCBarno]

First Sweet 16 for St. Johns since they broke Maryland’s heart in 99. Maybe the 2nd best Terps team ever. 6 NBA players. All American Steve Francis, 1st team All ACC T-Mo, 3-time All ACC Laron Profit. Future ACC POY Juan Dixon. Future 2-time Regional MVP Lonny. That one hurt.

[Inside Maryland Sports @Terrapins247]

32 years ago today, No. 10 Maryland took down No. 2 UMass, coached by John Calipari and led by star big man Marcus Camby 🐢

- Joe Smith: 22 pts, 5 reb
- Duane Simpkins: 20 pts, 6 ast
- Exree Hipp: 19 pts, 4 reb
- Keith Booth: 14 pts, 7 reb
- Johnny Rhodes: 10 pts, 8 reb, 10 ast

[aki₄₃ @akira_chatel]

you can clearly hear Quinn Hughes yelling “Z, help! Help!” from the bench 🤣

[Mike Ryan @mikeryan]

I interviewed Robert Redford once. I was walking out after, he told me to come back because he had a question. “I noticed you had some questions written down but never looked at them. Why?” “Oh, if I’m looking at them I’m not listening to what you’re saying.” He smiled and nodded

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

I remember there being a homemade sign, for years in the 90’s, taped up in the parking garage my family parked in when we came to the city. It was asking for donations to support the family of a slain officer, I assume Officer McDonald. It sort of boggles my mind they were forced to fundraise like that.

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

@jessesingal It’s the one the accurately states what the terrorist did for a living before he committed terrorism.

[Michael Simonson @msimonson19]

@RachelMoiselle So what do you suggest journalists do with this information about his relatives? Bury it?