Martyn Wendell Jones

@martynwendell

Senior editor, The Bulwark. American in Canada, writer. Books, menswear, parenting, politics, religion. Post the posts you want to see in the world.

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Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· 27d

First time I’ve seen one of these since moving to Canada over a decade ago

A mobile emergency alert for a tornado warning

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jul 15

In advance of an upcoming vacation, am experimenting with “fisherman chic”

Mirror selfie by a moustachioed man in a navy blue fisherman’s smock (Johnny collar, wide sleeves, open neck) and off-white chinos.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jul 15

an eerie sky over Toronto today

A view of a common area between townhouses and an apartment building. The most notable thing is the yellow-orange color of the sky. It looks as though a sepia filter has been applied.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jul 14

Excerpt of a social post from the New Yorker: “Christianity as we know it ‘owes more to Paul than to anyone else, perhaps even more than to the narrowly parochial and Jerusalem-centered Jesus,’ Adam Gopnik writes. Paul turned the ideas of a tiny sect of…”

Photograph of Renata Adler in a straw hat, looking extraordinarily cool and unbothered

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jul 11

I like the compact dimensions of this 35mm Islander Penn railroad watch, although its thickness can make it seem a bit bunty on my thin wrist. As always, Islander packs in the upgraded features: sapphire crystal, a screw-down crown, and a strap that is perhaps the softest of any watch I own

A 35mm three-handed watch in black and white with a chapter ring on the dial that evokes a railroad track. Worn on a thin wrist in front of a window overlooking a sunny patch of grass.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jul 10

in my defense, ah, a lot has happened over the past ten years

On the right, a black-and-white passport photo of a bearded man with a neat side part and a relatively thin face. On the left, a new passport-sized color photo of the same man, now with a moustache and wild-looking hair, and with a fuller face.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jul 10

the spirit of the World Cup is upon Uncle Tetsu

A cheesecake from Uncle Tetsu’s with an image of the eponymous uncle outlined on top. He is smiling and kicking a soccer ball. What a guy

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jul 7

"orthodoxpunk" is a new one for me, but it is not the only new one for me in this description of a forthcoming metroidvania from a Russian indie game studio

Part of a Steam description for a game called Among the Waves that has, under a banner inscribed with the words "Orthodoxpunk World," a description that reads: "Among the Waves is a philosophical Metroidvania with elements of an immersive sim, where pregnancy becomes a source of power and physics is your main weapon.

In a world inspired by Russian culture and religious aesthetics, you explore Alatyr-M — a colossal techno-fortress where science intertwines with faith.

Fight, solve puzzles, and bend gravity using the powers of the child growing inside the heroine."

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jul 4

It’s time

A laptop screen showing a still from Independence Day (1996) in which a giant spacecraft is seen overtaking the earth, visible against the backdrop of deep space in the background.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jul 3

in the heart of the heart of the summer, in the heart of the heart of a region adjacent to the heart of the country

A young boy shoots a basketball at a hoop in a public park; the backboard is weathered and its paint has been peeling. A man—his dad—leans against the pole watching his son take his shot. Power lines stretch overhead; there is a line of trees in the background, and the sky overhead is clear but for a few feathery clouds.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jul 1

Happy Canada Day ☀️🇨🇦🕶️

A young boy in shorts, a red tank top, and iridescent shades sits in a child-sized Adirondack chair in a patch of grass in front of a tall brick building. The sun casts a long shadow behind him.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 30

incredible premise for a movie, tbh: imagine The Purge, except crime is legal only for “every Chinese female visa-holder under 40”

Tweet from Justin Lee that says "Wild idea: Because children of diplomats are ineligible for birthright citizenship, Trump should order the State Dept to classify every Chinese female visa-holder under 40 as a diplomat.

This gambit has the virtue of being more legally plausible than the majority's ruling."

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 27

in the heart of the heart of the summer

A small boys stands in cut grass looking out the tall grasses of a marsh in front of him, with a line of trees at the far side. The sky is clear save for a wisp of cloud directly above.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 24

Covered one of the great passages tonight in our @catherineproject.bsky.social reading group on Moby-Dick. “But as in landlessness alone resides the highest truth, shoreless, indefinite as God—so, better it is to perish in that howling infinite, than be ingloriously dashed upon the lee…”

Two-page spread from Moby-Dick covering chapter 23, “The Lee Shore.” Before the text is a dark illustration of the central figure, the sailor Bulkington, his face obscured in silhouette as he faces the sea from the deck of a small boat; following the text is a dark that shows a bird flying over a lightning bolt through clouds. Here is as much of the text as will fit:
Some chapters back, one Bulkington was spoken of, a tall, new-landed mariner, encountered in New Bedford at the inn.
When on that shivering winter’s night, the Pequod thrust her vindictive bows into the cold malicious waves, who should I see standing at her helm but Bulkington! I looked with sympathetic awe and fearfulness upon the man, who in midwinter just landed from a four years’ dangerous voyage, could so unrestingly push off again for still another tempestuous term. The land seemed scorching to his feet. Wonderfullest things are ever the unmentionable; deep memories yield no epitaphs; this six-inch chapter is the stoneless grave of Bulkington. Let me only say that it fared with him as with the storm-tossed ship, that miserably drives along the leeward land. The port would fain give succor; the port is pitiful; in the port is safety, comfort, hearthstone, supper, warm blankets, friends, all that’s kind to our mortalities. But in that gale, the port, the land, is that ship’s direst jeopardy; she must fly all hospitality; one touch of land, though it but graze the keel, would make her shudder through and through. With all her might she crowds all sail off shore; in so doing, fights ’gainst the very winds that fain would blow her homeward; seeks all the lashed sea’s landlessness again; for refuge’s sake forlornly rushing into peril; her only friend her bitterest foe!
Know ye, now, Bulkington? Glimpses do ye seem to see of that mortally intolerable truth; that all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; while the wildest winds of heaven …

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 21

The Seagull 1963 is a copy of a midcentury chronograph first developed for the Chinese Air Force. It keeps great time and has a very pretty movement.

A chronograph with a champagne dial, blue hands, and a red second hand that activates with the chronograph feature, plus two inset complications: a small seconds and the indicator for the elapsed minutes of the chronograph timer (up to 30). Tan leather strap, one button on either side of the crown. The wrist is covered in a normal amount of hair.

The 21-jewel movement of the Seagull 1963. Tiny interlocking gears, purple gems, and blue screw heads are visible. It is being held up over a book.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 21

I’m normally a PRX guy, but I still have a small collection of very fetching budget watches. This is the Orient Retro Future Camera revival, designed to evoke the features of a classic rangefinder camera. A bit beefy on my slim wrist, but I love it.

Open-heart watch on a brown leather NATO strap. Dial etched to resemble a camera aperture. Bezel marked with 5-minute numerals and a little inverted L marking their place. The outside of the bezel is crosshatched to give the metal a bit of grip. The wrist being hugged by the watch is slender and covered in a normal amount of hair. Don’t you agree, that it is a normal amount of hair?

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 19

good from @lioneltrolling.bsky.social today—simple truths, well stated www.unpopularfront.news/p/the-dumbes...

There is actually one predictable pattern in Trump’s behavior, and that’s that he’s completely unreliable and terrible to do business with. This looks like one of his business deals: a lot of noise, brutal recriminations, hair-raising threats, grandiose plans and promises, and then he walks away, leaving behind a mess, usually a much crappier version of what he claimed he was gonna do, and, of course, leaving his partners and creditors in the lurch. This is all he is in the end: a schiesty hustler. He got tired of the war; it isn’t working the way he wanted, so he’s trying to pull out. If you ever thought Trump is capable of behaving strategically, let alone undertaking some “civilizational” plan, you are far dumber than he is. And that’s all he needs to stay in business—bigger suckers.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 17

bit of a scuffed New Orleans vibe today

Picture shot from above of the picture-taker’s lower legs and shoes. The pants are classic striped seersucker; the shoes are chili-brown leather loafers with a split toe and a woven vamp. Below: a tiled floor partially covered by a couple of front-door mats.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 17

A Truth Social post from Trump praising Georgia Republican Senate candidate Mike Collins and ridiculing Democratic Sen. John Ossoff, whom he calls "Os(jerk!)off"

A password "strength test" that assesses "Os(jerk!)off" as being "Very Strong" ("Time to crack your password: 61 years")

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 16

If you are considering buying a copy of Moby-Dick to read this summer, I recommend the Modern Library paperback edition. Intro essay from the great Elizabeth Hardwick aside, the Rockwell Kent illustrations are outstanding—my kids have started listening to me read M-D just so they can look at them:

A long-limbed man in shorts, white a-frame, cream-colored knit polo (open), ball cap, sunglasses, and two-strap Birkenstocks leans back on an outdoor couch with a copy of Moby-Dick in his hands. His two young boys are leaning in to see the pages. One wears a Canada jersey, shorts, and sunglasses pushed up to rest on top of his head; the other wears a Spiderman bike helmet with plastic visor and a red baseball jersey with black sleeves.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 13

summertime is for snails and their delighted minders

Couple of kids holding a bucket of snails on a bright day

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 13

uncanny, really

Man in thin-framed glasses,
moustache, and hair down to the top of his shoulders standing facing 30 degrees away from the camera with hands in his pockets. He is wearing a brown Neapolitan-style suit—soft shoulders, wide lapels, high-waisted trousers—over a rust-colored diamond-knit Johnny collar polo shirt. The thin line of an off-white pocket square is visible in the chest pocket of the jacket. You did not want to have all that information, but now you do have it and must choose what to do with it.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 12

meeting the moment (another hot, humid day): linen trousers with a Hollywood waist

Bathroom mirror selfie of a mustachioed man in a ball cap with a floral-patterned short-sleeve blue camp shirt tucked into a pair of high-waisted double-pleated sand-colored linen trousers. There are black polka dots all over the walls of this little bathroom. Each one represents a time the man in the photo was given the dreaded "black spot" at a pirate's inn but escaped being murdered. It is why he is not smiling. In the other room, just out of frame, are all of his muppet friends, mugging too

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 11

happy national seersucker day to all who celebrate

Bathroom selfie of a scruffy-looking man in a tan Bulwark hat, blue linen shirt, and brown seersucker suit. He looks sort of tired. He is sort of tired.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 11

Our reporter for this story, independent PNW journalist Dominick Bonny, did a tremendous job outlining the different vectors of Johnson's work, including his heading up a church-based PAC that endorsed Trump in the 2024 election. Of course, he also caught some heat from Johnson along the way.

“If any of my answers come across as dismissive or dripping with disdain, that is intentional. I have deep contempt for what your profession has become,” he added before ending on a version of a classic Trump line: “The media truly has become the enemy of the American people.” Johnson then posted the full set of questions and his responses (with hostile commentary about The Bulwark) to his Instagram story.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· Jun 5

[mournfully] this is why I can’t lock in

A mostly empty half-kilo bag of “Reese’s Pieces Bark” being held up in front of a bookshelf. In the upper-right corner of the bag a Health Canada warning label flags high saturated fat and sugars.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· May 30

Just back from a fantastic international outing to see the Buffalo Bisons, who won a 6-5 thriller against the Ironpigs

Sahlen Field in Buffalo, NY seen from behind home plate on a beautiful sunny day

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· May 30

thrilled to see the Jays reach .500 again—what a turnaround tonight—but I loved watch Baltimore every moment, too, because these uniforms are outstanding

Three Baltimore Orioles hopping around in their beautiful new uniforms. The base color is white. Orange stripe edged in green running up the pants; BMORE in block letters across the front in green with orange trim; green sleeves with orange cuffs. A little oriole perches on the R in BMORE. The numbers on the back are in an ornate, almost carnivalesque font. They look fantastic.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· May 29

To be honest, I was a little taken aback. Here was evidence that a venerable civil rights and civil liberties organization had spied, extensively, on a grassroots political movement. Some of the items were strikingly personal. The files included a codicil to a Birch donor’s will, credit checks on individuals suspected of membership, Birch members’ home addresses, chapter meetings, license-plate numbers, and more. Code-named agents posing as far-right activists had infiltrated the society, as well as white supremacist groups. Some of the ADL’s reports were sent to the FBI.

Such deceptive methods initially struck me as contrary to the ADL’s mission to advance human dignity and root out hate. However, as I learned more about the ADL’s history and delved deeper into the papers, trying to cast empathy in all directions (as a mentor once advised), I became sympathetic to the spy program. The ADL’s surreptitious activism helped keep an extremist, conspiratorial movement relegated to the margins of American politics, and it did so amid a surge of violence against civil rights protesters as the nation struggled to become a multiracial democracy.

THE ADL WAS NOT THE ONLY ORGANIZATION keeping tabs on the society. It was part of an informal anti-extremist coalition in the 1960s that included the Kennedy and Johnson White Houses, the NAACP, the union-backed Group Research Inc., and other individuals and organizations tracking the far right. But the ADL stood at the apex of this coalition, and it probably did more than any organization to expose the society’s dark side to the world.

The ADL’s charges were accurate. No smear campaign, this was an exposé. The covert program ginned up negative press and made the society toxic in the eyes of most Americans. The exposure neutered the ability of violent, conspiratorial, white-supremacist elements associated with the society to win elective office or dominate either the Democratic or the Republican party. And the ADL’s campaign forced Birchers to spend time, energy, and resources fending off charges of extremism or bigotry. The incessant public conversation about Birchers as a hate-filled group generated the impression that the organization must be tainted and ought to be shunned.

In this twilight struggle for American democracy, the ADL’s program triumphed. By the 1970s, the John Birch Society had become a shadow of the growing, energetic group it had been at its peak in the mid-1960s. Its ideas would live on, but the organization shriveled. It had money woes. It lost members. And more and more violent, bigoted individuals were lured to its ranks, sowing internal strife. The ADL’s campaign to expose the society’s hostility to democracy, tolerance, and pluralism had played an underrecognized part in the dismantlement.

At its fiftieth anniversary, President John F. Kennedy praised the Anti-Defamation League for its “distinguished contribution to the enrichment of America’s democratic legacy” and its “tireless pursuit of equality of treatment for all Americans.” The ADL believed, with justification, that Jewish Americans and other religious and racial minorities could thrive only in a democracy.

Martyn Wendell Jones@martynwendell· May 26

just got to look at my most recent headshots for the site, and, well