Not that anybody needs them, but these are my thoughts on Dr. Jason Arday’s death and the culpability of our “elite” institutions.

Re: the Hacks finale - in a moment when we, as a culture, want desperately not to have to fight anymore, it’s really meaningful to have something remind us that our core pleasure/talent are reasons to stick around a little longer; to live for who we are, not just who we love. Beautiful.

I call BS on this idiotic Jacobin article by Jarek Paul Ervin on rock’s political resurgence over pop, more specifically the “symbolically diverse” Poptimism that never actually existed, but that white dudes groused about bc they didn’t get to set the mark for what music remained worthy of criticism

Thanks to everyone who turned out for my and Maggie Nelson’s convo at the LAT Festival of Books! We covered a lot of ground beyond Plath, Taylor, and the Carpenters (Karen & Sabrina). Thanks to Nate Sloan for being a great moderator & to @sarahrebeccakessler who took most of these photos 🫶🏽

I’m supporting Xavier Becerra for CA governor. With Swalwell’s ignominious departure, it’s unconscionable that KRON/KTLA has excluded Becerra from their upcoming gubernatorial debate, esp. with the momentum Becerra has amongst progressives. As this Politico graphic notes, he hasn’t received AIPAC $.

What’s up?

Pure MFin’ cinema. Gorgeous, Benito. What a production. Beautifully shot, choreographed, designed. Plus Villa’s tacos, Pedro Pascal and Cardi B making uncredited cameos alongside special guests Ricky Martin & Lady Gaga.

Always.

In college I took out an emergency student loan to see Barbra’s 1995 farewell concert at the Pond in Anaheim (I paid it back! And Barbra had a few more farewell shows after that.) Needless to say, becoming the Barbra Streisand Professor in Contemporary Gender Studies is kind of a dream come true.

The face of a man whose bullpen shat the bed after he gave nothing but beauty and brilliance.

NGL: there’s something about this that evokes that flashback scene from Hunting Wives where Sophie agrees to go to (her future husband) Graham’s party after a Sapphic snog w/ her roomie sent her into a homo-panic. #GaylorTruther

I guess it’s been 18 days since I last posted. Anyway, here’s proof of life, taken at the end of the first day of my 20th year professing at USC, and my 6th year of chairing my department. The expression says it all.

I’m enjoying the sapphic intrigue of Hunting Wives as much as everyone (hello bisexual Blundstones in Sophie’s bag!), but don’t let it launder the reputation of Republicans who are literally trying to kill the whales right now after 50 years of this nation & the world trying to save them.

The world is shit but I’m feeling pretty amazing after my first ever Great Lakes swim (in Lake Michigan at Stearns in Ludington).

My “papers” from when I moved permanently to the U.S. in 1983 at the age of 10. I didn't become a citizen until I was 16 in 1989, though my mom and I did have our greencards. ICE is abducting anyone and everyone who "looks illegal" (think about what that means viz. my photo) 1/

I’m not of the mind that a protest has to be “peaceful” to be effective or morally just. But the truth of the matter is that the reporting on Los Angeles in the national media is aligned with the administration’s propaganda justifying its reactiveness and excessive force. Our friend’s daughter…

We’re at a point where the "news" (both local and cable) are adopting the propagandist rhetoric of the regime by describing what's happening in L.A. as "riots." They fail to acknowledge who actually incites and escalates the violence, namely ICE, the new Gestapo.

Thoughts about this Pride month, and how it felt like things changed for me in June 2023.

Look, I try not to repost from over there, but this just peered directly into my soul (and my wardrobe).

Tomorrow (Monday evening) at Wesleyan's Center for the Humanities: it's my last scheduled east coast talk as I approach the end of my year-long sojourn on this coast. Come on through, especially if we haven't had a chance to see each other yet. www.wesleyan.edu/humanities/h...

ACFC finally broke the pattern last night and WON a tight game in the dregs of stoppage time instead of conceding in the most heartbreaking fashion. Press keeping the ball in play & Tierney burying it in the upper corner is just 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽 🖤 🩷

The legendary Daphne Brooks brought us together for the “Beyoncé Makes History” symposium at Yale, and I feel honored to have spent the last couple of days with such incredible writers and thinkers.

I’ve never been more disappointed in this team in my entire life. Some players should’ve refused to go. The Dodgers did its city wrong today by legitimizing this tyrant w/ a visit and giving him a jersey that the great Jackie Robinson once wore. At least some of the boys didn’t look happy about it.

Three talks coming up in short succession over the next week: tonight at Vassar, Tuesday at NYU, and Wednesday at Yale. Come on through if you’re around…

This is almost exactly what happens in the Oscar-nominated film “I’m Still Here,” so if you’re comparing our timeline to other dictatorships and authoritarian regimes, we’ve now crossed that threshold.

Our special episode of @theartofgriefpod.bsky.social on “Collective Grief and the L.A. Wildfires” is out now, featuring the voices of Myriam Gurba, Lien Ta, Guy Branum, Carolina Miranda, Natalia Molina, Margaret Wappler, Mai-Lin Cheng, Sarah Gertrude Rose Shapiro, Colin Campbell and Courtney Storer.

Among my favorite things about Australia are the prawn rolls people serve for summer lunch gatherings at home. 🦐

Or rather, it speaks to how the everyday must continue as a kind of pantomime amidst the ruins of unspeakable loss. It’s based on a true story, one that will continue to happen if we let it.

Finally saw “I’m Still Here,” the Brazilian film about a family, probably not unlike yours, living through a dictatorship that “disappears” people who are perceived to oppose the regime, even passively. It’s a beautiful reflection on how everyday life continues until it cannot… 1/2

Vibe shift. Hello from Sydney.