peter smith
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peter smith
@peterandreysmith.com
240 followers 130 following 280 posts
reporter. stories in the nyt, wired, stat, businessweek, undark, wnyc radiolab, and elsewhere. available for assignments

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peterandreysmith.com
seems the systems of justice are just not equipped for [gestures at all of this]
"The people who are least responsible for climate change are the most affected by it," Marvel told me. "I'm struggling to find appropriate academic language to describe this, but I just keep ending up at 'That's wrong. It's simply morally wrong." Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/05/opinion/climate-change-should-you-have-kids.html "Three, the people who are changing their everyday lives most aggressively are those who aren't responsible for the problem of climate change. I've shared their stories with you, from South Korea to Bangladesh to Uganda. Sometimes, their strategies work. Sometimes they don't, with perilous consequences." Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/07/climate/somini-sengupta-climate-forward.html
August 28, 2026 at 1:16 PM
peterandreysmith.com
remembering that two old guys named mike and larry identified mangione, not a search of surveillance cam footage
The information gathered by the camera network can be interrogated using search terms like "backpack" or "bicycle." But those queries turn up so many false hits (picture how many food deliverymen in a neighborhood are riding bikes and wearing backpacks) that they are of limited use, the official said. source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/07/nyregion/ceo-brian-thompson-gunman-video.html
August 19, 2026 at 6:19 PM
peterandreysmith.com
a while ago, I looked up the origins of the slogan “Keep Maine Green” and found this list
KEEP MAINE GREEN SLOGANS ° The Keep Main Green program started in 1948, but the first record of slogans began in 1955. It was initiated by Joel Marsh, Supervisor of Information & Education of the Maine Forest Service 1955 Keep Maine Green in 1955 1956 Be Sure Our Program Clicks, Keep Maine Green in '56 1957 In 1957 So As You Say Keep Maine Green Every Day 1958 Let's Make It A Date Keep Maine Green in '58 1959 The Responsibility Is Yours ind Mine To Keep Maine Green in 1959 1960 Woodland Fires Are Very Risky So Keep Maine Green in '60 1961 Make Sure You are The One to Keep Maine Green in '61 1962 There is Something You Can Do, Keep Maine Green in '62 1963 We'll Have The Forests to Use & Sights to See, If We Keep Maine Green in '63 1964 The Forests For Evermore: eep Maine Green in 6 1965 1966 eep Maine Green in 196 Fire and Forests Do Not Mix So Keep Maine Green in '66 1967 In '67 Do As You Say Keep Maine Green Every Day 1968 Let's Make a Date Keep Maine Green in '68 1969 The Responsibility is Yours and Mine To Keep Maine Green in '69 1970 Now that '70 Is On The Scene Get Together and 1971 Keep Maine Green Make Sure You Are The One To Keep Maine Green In '71 1972 There is Something You Can Do Keep Maine Green in '72 • Although these are state-wide fire prevention slogans, the message was spread to French-speaking pulp and lumber camps, sportsmen and fire personnel in the Maine Forestry
July 15, 2026 at 2:05 PM
peterandreysmith.com
a powerful warm is when the weather is just fine in newfoundland
If the weather is dame and sticky it is classified as "muggy" and if it is fine then it is said to be "number one" or as sone of the older people would say, "powerful warm".
May 20, 2026 at 12:59 PM
peterandreysmith.com
I think about this cover all the time
January 11, 2021 Issue of Bloomberg Businessweek Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images
April 7, 2026 at 3:16 PM
peterandreysmith.com
although I should say the best nonawardwinning feature I ever reported for the ^one-page magazine questioned the existence of march madness
April 6, 2026 at 5:32 PM
peterandreysmith.com
when you are dog tired in newfoundland
https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/elrcdne/id/7153/rec/1
March 15, 2026 at 1:02 PM
peterandreysmith.com
last night I finally learned what an “american man” is in newfoundland a pile of rocks
February 25, 2026 at 11:45 AM
peterandreysmith.com
I get the vasculature pumping with 170 BPM bangers, but harlecore throttles up the tokimeki and floors it
Quote from a NYT music story: Unlike many electronic-music producers, Harle works in a studio that isn't stocked with vintage keyboards or gadgets. "It's very rare that I find myself using any physical instruments," he said as he panned to show his uncluttered work space. "I don't really care about hardware at all. I've got my screens here, I've got my speakers here and my computer here, and that's what I need." Like many listeners in the 21st century, Harle experiences most of his music privately, via earphones: "The idea of sitting in front of somebody playing a guitar and singing at me is my nightmare."
February 13, 2026 at 7:22 PM
peterandreysmith.com
in newfoundland, tonight is tibb’s eve which appears to have many origins, some more apocryphal than others
1. December 24th. A period when 'anything goes'. Also Tim's Eve. 2. 'You'1b never see him until Rib's Eve', i.e. never. Christmas really starts in my home on Tipps Eve which is the day before Christmas Eve. I have heard that is is called Tipps Eve because when men used to put up their own homebrew etc. they wouldn't drink it before Christmas but I guess most men would sneak a drink or two on this day because they felt the Christmas was close and they probably got a bit tipsy thus Tipsey Eve.
December 23, 2025 at 8:13 PM
peterandreysmith.com
genuine question: what are emerging frontiers and did they escape reported cuts to the NIH budget
December 2, 2025 at 3:39 PM
peterandreysmith.com
who published rfk jr and gave him a cover line in 1974
November 21, 2025 at 8:28 PM
peterandreysmith.com
'tis squarin-up time in newfoundland (source)
1967 SMALLWOOD The Book of Nild., iv, 235 In the autumn the fish had to be shipped, gardens taken up, wood brought down from the bay and at "squarin-up time" groceries procured to last till spring. [Life in the Outports]
October 21, 2025 at 7:15 PM
peterandreysmith.com
in case you were wondering the origins of the phrase “keep maine green” (from Ten Million Acres of Timber)
18. KEEP MAINE GREEN SLOGANS ° The Keep Main Green program started in 1948, but the first record of slogans began in 1955. It was initiated by Joel Marsh, Supervisor of Infor- mation & Education of the Maine Forest Service 1955 Keep Maine Green in 1955 1956 Be Sure Our Program Clicks, Keep Maine Green in '56 1957 In 1957 So As You Say Keep Maine Green Every Day 1958 Let's Make It A Date Keep Maine Green in '58 1959 The Responsibility Is Yours ind Mine To Keep Maine Green in 1959 1960 Woodland Fires Are Very Risky So Keep Maine Green in '60 1961 Make Sure You are The One to Keep Maine Green in '61 1962 There is Something You Can Do, Keep Maine Green in '62 1963 We'll Have The Forests to Use & Sights to See, If We Keep Maine Green in '63 1964 The Forests For Evermore: eep Maine Green in 6 1965 1966 eep Maine Green in 196 Fire and Forests Do Not Mix So Keep Maine Green in '66 1967 In '67 Do As You Say Keep Maine Green Every Day 1968 Let's Make a Date Keep Maine Green in '68 1969 The Responsibility is Yours and Mine To Keep Maine Green in '69 1970 Now that '70 Is On The Scene Get Together and 1971 Keep Maine Green Make Sure You Are The One To Keep Maine Green In '71 1972 There is Something You Can Do Keep Maine Green in '72 * Although these are state-wide fire prevention slogans, the message was spread to French-speaking pulp and lumber camps, sportsmen and fire personnel in the Maine Forestry District.
October 6, 2025 at 12:17 PM
peterandreysmith.com
roads are melting back into the forest but I do wonder if old-growth trees are commonly found along roads (in and around south woodstock) that are lined with stone walls
Vermont feels like the frontier of climate change in the Northeast. Farmers in the bottomlands, who previously planted wheat and barley, are beginning to plant rice, which can be underwater for two days without damage to the crop. The old roads that early Vermont settlers hacked out on hilltops, which lasted for more than two hundred years, are melting back into the forest. Extreme-rain events scour the roads down to bedrock ledges, rendering them impassable, and, because no one then uses them, any blown-down trees don't get cleared. The next storm brings more blowdowns. A road that I went mountain biking on ten years ago, when it was a distinct pathway with old-growth trees on each side, lined by aged stone walls, is now such a tangle of fallen trees, branches, and rocks that it's hard to tell a road was ever there.
July 22, 2025 at 1:04 PM
peterandreysmith.com
'tis wobbling season in newfoundland
The end of June and the beginning of July were the times when "wobbling" began. Last winter's rubber boots were cut off and thus became "wobbling boots". An old pair of pants became a swimsuit. Wobbling was a youngster, running through the water, his legs hammering like pistons, driving spray high in the sunlight.
July 17, 2025 at 6:09 PM
peterandreysmith.com
what they say about snow that falls in may in newfoundland
May 22, 2025 at 12:14 PM
peterandreysmith.com
THIS IS MY LAND oF IT ALVIN WILLIE, PAIUTE AGE 14 I must therefore again advise you that you are here as trespassers. I must further advise you that ... G.S.A. Newsletter
May 6, 2025 at 5:59 PM
peterandreysmith.com
in newfoundland the white blossoms of chuckley pear signal that “summer is really on its way”
In other parts of Canada they are called Serviceberry or Saskatoons. The Chuckley Pears appeal most to the palate in the autumn but it is in the spring when they are most beautiful. They are abound along roadsides and streams where their white flowers and reddish leaves proclaim that summer is really on its way. https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/elrcdne/id/13618/rec/1
May 4, 2025 at 12:15 PM
peterandreysmith.com
The company making headlines is working to replace the surrogates it “would” use with artificial wombs; the company hasn’t actually used them yet.
An earlier version of this article misstated the current stage of research on using Asian elephants as surrogates for woolly mammoths.
April 7, 2025 at 7:51 PM
peterandreysmith.com
does the fork date to 1932?
On the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration, Mr. Musk told a roaring, jubilant crowd that the election marked “a fork in the road of human civilization.” He promised to “take DOGE to Mars” and pledged to give Americans reasons to look “forward to the future.” In 1932, when civilization stood at another fork in the road, the United States chose liberal democracy, and Franklin Roosevelt, who promised “a new deal for the American people.” In his first 100 days, Mr. Roosevelt. signed 99 executive orders, and Congress passed more than 75 laws, beginning the work of rebuilding the country by establishing a series of government agencies to regulate the economy, provide jobs, aid the poor and construct public works.
April 5, 2025 at 4:47 PM
peterandreysmith.com
another explanation about sheila’s blush
March 21, 2025 at 6:21 PM
peterandreysmith.com
why it snows on the 18th of march in newfoundland
March 18, 2025 at 1:23 PM
peterandreysmith.com
spiders eat at least half a billion tons of meat per year, not half a billion pounds
An earlier version of this article misstated the amount of meat consumed annually by spiders.
March 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
peterandreysmith.com
a little late but when the snow fills in the woods of newfoundland in early february it is a filldyke
Filldyke is a term used to mean the month of February. Some old people still use it in Cape Broyle, but according to these oid folk it is not used now as often as it used to be. Filldyke means the filling up of the dykes and hollows, especially in the woods. It doesn't include the whole month of February only up until the madle of February. Around the last of January you will often hear people saying, "Pilldyke will soon be here? The dykes and Hollows become filled with snow. Heard fron Mes. Matilda Rice, retired, aged 86. still uses the term and first heard old folk use it in 1895.
March 4, 2025 at 7:07 PM