How the Trump Death Fantasies Reveal a Democratic Party That Refuses to Face Its Own Flaws, by Some Very Serious Guy at The Atlantic, coming sometime this week, I imagine.
Writer, husband, etc. Books: Pictures at a Revolution (2008), Five Came Back (2014), Mike Nichols: A Life (2021), Untitled gay cultural history (2026). Journalism: New York, NYTimes Style Mag, etc. A long time ago: EW, Grantland, younger.
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How the Trump Death Fantasies Reveal a Democratic Party That Refuses to Face Its Own Flaws, by Some Very Serious Guy at The Atlantic, coming sometime this week, I imagine.
👏👏👏👏
Creative writing prompt: Make a simple press statement about a car accident sound suspicious on at least three different levels.
I'm watching the Netflix political kidnap/blackmail thriller Hostage and it is deeply satisfying fun in the same way that peak Scandal was, in that it chews through about three hours of plot twists every forty minutes.
I'm thinking maybe this was supposed to be the headline for Frankenstein.
This will be bad for repeat business.
He's definitely locking up the "New Yorkers with total amnesia" vote.
I CLEARLY SAID YEAR TWO.
My dog turns 13 this week. This is her at four months, expressing her full personality.
A big one! I'm hoping to catch it at a drive-in!
I've read so many things that made me angry today but here's one that makes me happy: The 50th anniversary rerelease of Jaws is expected to gross about $10 million this weekend. Everybody go see Jaws! Bring the kids! (If they're, I dunno, 10 or older? I saw it when I was 11. It rocked my world.)
I want to see every Democratic senator and representative exhibit, at the very least, the level of courage being shown by the CDC staffers who are walking out in protest.
This is such a no-brainer that the lack of a coordinated response feels deeply damning. A Democratic leadership team that can't mobilize an instant all-hands-on-deck effort on RFK Jr. isn't a leadership team at all.
"Which side was the killer on?" The side of killing. Now ask which "side" wants everyone in America to have easy access to guns.
It’s so hard to process that we have a Presidency that is dedicated to the unchecked use of racism-driven force and authoritarianism, and could also slide into complete destabilizing chaos because somebody says something mean on the Emmys.
He’s about four months away from “I will not Stand for what is “HAPPENING” On Days Of Our Lives! It is “crazy” And We are going to *look into it* Big Time!”
Here's a handy guide to Vichysexuals. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/s...
I am in Provincetown and I was getting takeout tonight and there was a man in front of me who was at least 40 and had a Labubu hanging from his waist, and yeah, let people enjoy things, blahblahblah but also....girl you don't need to ride every trend.
Yorkside 4Ever!
As some of you know, I am currently writing a book about the last 80 years of popular culture as it connects to the history of the gay rights movement. The narrative will stop some time before 2025, but--bonus!--you will get to see people say dumb shit like this almost word for word in 1962.
I would genuinely like to ask every Democratic politician who has ever warned voters not to fall for a "distraction" how it's gone. Did it work? Did you galvanize potential supporters? Did everyone stop paying attention to their thing and start paying attention to your thing? Are things better now?
Nobody talks like this, and nobody believes anybody who talks like this, and nobody who doesn't understand that should have any televised role in making the case for Democrats or, for that matter, democracy.
Hang on while I quickly Google "How did World War II end" because the answer may surprise you!
RIP Jerry Adler, a veteran stage manager (including for the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady!) who switched to acting when he was 65 and soon became an indelible character guy (Hesh!) I interviewed him for my Mike Nichols bio; as you'd imagine, he was a bottomless treasure chest of lore.
I would like some clarity from the Third Way Republicans about what, exactly, they hate about "LGBTQIA+." Do they also hate "LGBTQ+"? How about "LGBT"? In other words, is this "Don't use language I don't like" or "Stop talking about those people as if they matter?"
against, of, into, of, of. I'm having a panic attack.
I literally lose sleep over the fear that I wrote a phrase like this sometime during the day and nobody will tell me until it's too late.
This is going to have a lot of appeal for Cuomo's base, by which I mean his brother Chris, people on L.I. who "don't go into the city anymore," and Republicans.
I watched the first three episodes of the new animated comedy Long Story Short tonight on Netflix and I think it's both my favorite new show and favorite new Jewish thing of 2025.
I feel like many of the year two headlines are going to be along the lines of "Trump Appears in Public for First Time in 23 Days" and "Flies Buzz Around Quiet President in Challenge to Political Norms."
I was not prepared for the extraordinary number of bouncy, flapping penises in Peacemaker S2 E1. As a followup to Superman, it's...somewhat counterintuitive!
May this portion of the dissent by Ketanji Brown Jackson haunt John Roberts forever and be the final word on his tenure as Chief Justice.
I just realized I know three couples named Adam and Dan. It's possible that I have been gay for too long.
Finally some good news.
This is one of those days when the effort not to bite someone's head off for having bad manners is STRESSFUL.
Excited to be able to share this news about a dream project Tony has been working on. deadline.com/2025/08/jeff...
Super quick question for sky experts: Why are there two suns? Also, in case this is is goodbye, I enjoyed knowing most of you.
I just don't want to hear "We can't fight every battle!" from people who take every Friday off.
If Democratic politicians do not fight this because it's a "distraction," it will simply happen. They need to get in front of every mic and say that we will not allow Trump to destroy American history. He wants a culture war? GIVE HIM ONE. There are no distractions. Have every fight.
I'm finally starting to believe the whole Trump-likes-golden-showers thing might be true.
The Devaluation of Expertise (part 157 of ???)
Don't rob me of the pleasure of simultaneously curating my "Ehhh, I'll let it go," "I'm quietly waiting for bad news about you," and "You're dead to me" lists.
I'm not sure anything will ever illustrate the state of The Discourse quite as well as Stephen Moore misreading his own pie chart while opining about the state of our national statistics.
I love “whispering” because if there’s one thing we know about MAGA people in the streets of DC, it’s that they’re very shy.
The runner-up was Daily Information And Bulletins Encompassing The Entire Spectrum.
This is a very grim assessment by @chrisgeidner.bsky.social and I have a hard time disagreeing with it. www.lawdork.com/p/our-leadin...
My feeling is this: When you're exploring new genres, eras, regions, classics, filmmakers, start anywhere. Start with the title that intrigues you, the one you think you'll like, the one that is likeliest to make you want to see more. Don't worry about the "right" order. Just go adventuring!
We are not far from the day when the people confronting ICE agents will pick up on their idea that wearing masks protects you from suffering repercussions. Lowering the bar has all kinds of consequences.
Not to mention The Witches!
Is "culture vulture" supposed to hurt my feelings? It doesn't.
One of my favorite esoteric subgenres is 1960s “international” omnibus movies and thus is a fun/easy one to start with.
This is a wild short movie, worth your time! It’s part of a 1968 anthology movie called Spirits of the Dead, with Louis Malle and Roger Vadim directing the other two segments. All three are Poe adaptations. Streams on Criterion Channel.
Gritting my teeth as I see Terence Stamp, gone today at the age of 87, referred to as "Superman costar" in obit headlines. He was sexier, weirder, darker, so much more interesting than that. Many entry points, but you can't go wrong starting with Billy Budd (1962) and The Collector (1965). RIP.
Tarantino on why David Fincher is directing The Adventures of Cliff Booth. His epic lack of concern about how this sounds is less LOLOL than WOOOW.
It is horrific that anyone needs to be told this, but welcome to EntitlementWorld 2025.
Zohran Mamdani is inspiringly eloquent and thoughtful in this interview with The Nation. We don't get Democrats like him often. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Only thing I really want to say about the And Just Like That finale is that I never, ever want to see that rude, narcissistic, finger-snapping Gen Z Bravo yassss queen stereotype used by anyone again. I want to apologize on behalf of all old gays. Young gays, you deserve better mean jokes about you.
"The man watched the final episode of the reboot of that show from olden times, and asked himself if he would ever, after typing a sentence, stare into the middle distance with a wry grin of unearned self-satisfaction, then realized that he would never have to ask that question again, and smiled."
Stressadente
I suppose even one "Thanks but no thanks" is too much to hope for.
He plays Phantom of the Opera songs at his rallies. I take no pleasure in sharing this.
In addition to a medallion, this year's five honorees will also be graced with an asterisk.
Really feeling like a Kennedy Center Honor for Tony is gonna happen today! All signs point to yes!
Somebody's gonna get an Emmy nomination* for playing this woman in an FX miniseries one day. *if we survive
Amen to every word of this.
New poll! Mamdani 44 Cuomo 25 Sliwa 12 Adams 7 Pretty great news, and this is not the main takeaway, but do pause a moment to consider exactly how thoroughly you have to screw up to be the incumbent mayor of New York City and poll at 7 percent. patch.com/new-york/was...
Just chiming in late to say that actually Tony loved that production and the cast (including the replacements--Michael Urie and Adam Driver eventually stepped in for Christian Borle and Zach Quinto). It ran for something like 32-33 wks; I don't think a Bway transfer was ever seriously talked about.
i think they're handing this medal out to dipshits *because* it's gone to people like rosa parks and MLK
Bone-deep, unapologetic racism.
If you're reacting to this thread with "Why isn't my opinion as valuable as any so-called critic's?" you are -- how shall I put this? -- the problem. You see a statement that a profession you're not in has value, and your first thought is "I'm being insulted!" You're how we got here.
Those aren’t reviews. Those are opinions, and they have their place and uses, but they do not substitute for deeply informed and engaging critical writing, which is a skill that takes time, practice, and experience to develop.
And with all due respect to those who find it useful, TikTok is not a replacement for what is being lost.
They run in a lot of papers that can't afford to staff book reviewers or hire their own freelancers.
The devaluation of skill, experience, and expertise is a crisis across cultural journalism right now--it's being felt profoundly in theater. It's great that anyone can post a review, but that does not, even in the smallest way, replace what's being thrown away.
It's profoundly saddening to read that AP will no longer be assigning or running book reviews because readers don't engage with them enough and they take too much effort to plan and assign. People complain about critics as gatekeepers; wait until all that's left is marketing.
"Jesus, I followed Mark Cuban?! When did that happen?" --me, looking at my feed today
I think I explained it all in subsequent comments/replies, but since it's still getting shared, I want to add that looking at this post again, I regret my phrasing. What I meant, and should have said, was "I don't think these actors see themselves as transphobes."
Thinking of all the writers who suffered real financial hardship during the WGA strike and yet did not do this. variety.com/2025/tv/news...
Probably James Ellroy. (I’m omitting dead people—too easy.)
I don't even know where to start, but whoever told this walking eye bag that it was a good move to tell somebody 35 years younger that he looks tired clearly hates him.
"I have never actually spoken to the humans, but please enjoy this new personality that I have paid someone to design for me."
I believe that in New York City it is illegal to order a bagel with whitefish salad if you are under 72 years old.
He has now passed the all-important "Is your bagel order basically normal or are you a freak?" NYC candidate test. (Also, not an accident, I think, that he did this in one of the least Mamdani-friendly nabes in Manhattan. Sends a good message that he is not conceding a single part of the city.)
The partial dust jacket might have been a mistake. #filmsky #booksky 📽📚
That's just mean.
Warning: I am treating any email headed "Looking Ahead to Fall" as an act of war.
I love both, but for vacation? Dickens.
Sorry to foam and rant, but I just need one day--maybe even half a day--that isn't dominated by evil people doing evil things.
This brainwormed monster thinks that if physically compromised people die from infections in big enough numbers, the "herd" will be stronger. And Republican Senators decided it was fine to give him this country as a lab to experiment on. Hell is too good for them, but I'll accept it as a compromise.
Having been alive in 2015, I am wary of the unanticipatable consequences of saying, "Do it, asshole!" That said, I'm not NOT thinking it. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/n...
So...somebody anonymous claims that a convicted sex offender who's now facing a perjury trial and trolling for a pardon says she didn't personally see anything? Well, I guess that wraps this whole thing up!
That’s a good last word—it’s all yours!
In more areas than I can count, I wish that "If you do this, then you're complicit" was an argument that had more of an impact on the people we want it to have an impact on. Maybe this time it will work...
To be clear, I'm not saying it as a way of saying, "Don't call them that bad name." I'm saying that many people who likely hate what she says about trans people seem not to be having much trouble finding a story they can tell themselves about why it's okay to take these jobs...which is pretty grim.
As strategy, I think "I will boycott this" is more effective than "I demand that people refuse to participate in this" which is more effective than "I will boycott people who participate in this" which is more effective than "I demand that you boycott them too." Anyway: I will boycott this.
I'm not endorsing it. At all. But it seems not to be a thin distinction for them, and I think it's worth noting that the faith/hope that big-name actors would stay away from Harry Potter projects (something I myself believed!) has turned out to be baseless.
I don't think these actors are transphobes, but I am reminded of an interview I did with a well-loved performer in which I asked him how he could work with a certain indefensible person (not JKR) and he appeared to think very hard and then said, "It's a really big part." deadline.com/2025/08/harr...
Lots to consider/struggle with in this mighty Andrea Long Chu takedown of Thomas Chatterton Williams, but this sentence is gold: "Editorial indulgence has resulted in such a sludge of footnotes and block quotes that the eye must often dismount and continue on foot." www.vulture.com/article/post...
![The Nation: If you are elected mayor, you will have to deal with political leaders in Albany and Washington. You’ve said that you want to use your power “to reject Donald Trump’s fascism.” How do you Trump-proof New York City? And how do you do that when the administration is directly attacking you? Just this morning, the White House spokesperson denounced you as “Zamdami.” Mamdani: I hope they find that guy. [Laughs.]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:zknk3rjsatent75sdbbopown/bafkreiaf3mgc2h75xs2qbwg5od7wuikvqhylb2vk5utysergqknz22muzy@jpeg "Click to view full size")