Fatally Flawful
I love a film that makes me angry. Especially when parts are so good paired with garbage. Here are the best inconsistent films of the decade. Circle (2015)...
The call is coming from inside the newsletter
Yesterday, I told you what films of the decade made me cry. Today, ones that fill me with joy: best horror films of the decade! This one is near and dear to...
An arbitrary list that could just as well be random
I was just complaining that all the arguing over best-of lists and the point of the Golden Globe awards, and most people don’t actually know how to talk...
Song, from the South
I know the field is changing, but I still can’t help but think of academic historians as men concerned with deciphering old land deeds to see what the...
I am a professor in a movie
I wander the aisles of the lecture hall as I speak.I always end on something dramatic. “And that….was how Lincoln was shot.”The blackboard behind me is...
pay for your podcasts for f*ck's sake
I am a member of fan Facebook groups for several podcasts. If you’d like to lose interest and joy in a podcast, just join some fan groups. They take the joy...
the world's latest hot take
I’m back for a late hot take. You’ve all read Caroline Calloway’s friend’s manifesto on being the less confident friend, and read all the takes on the state...
the advice returns
Dear FYOGS: I want to make a difference with my research, and to me, that means doing on-depth field work. I believe that in order to write about a group of...
I am a very famous person who is not allowed to be criticized
I have the platform of the world’s most prestigious publication. I get paid to write my opinions, I have full health insurance. One of my opinion columns...
Stop, collaborate, and listen
Have you ever found a pop culture thing that is so completely your jam that you both love it and resent it because the idea is so good? I just learned, via...
yea, about that meme...
Around this time there’s a lot of advice going around to people starting grad school, and this post has become popular: Obviously, some of you may scream...
Sclusie
In my efforts to bring you piping hot content, here’s a recording of a convo I had with a friend/colleague about the study of podcasts. There is a little out...
I need so much more information
I know some of you have stayed away from news, social media, or anything out of survival. I think that’s a good idea, and a true way to practice self-care....
NEW RULE
I don’t do things after 6pm further than a mile from my home. I know this cuts me off from lots of social activities, and it may makes me sedentary. I’m...
Every grad cohort facebook group post ever
We have a Facebook group for our grad program for people to ask…whatever. I can’t say, because it’s not really defined. So there’s a lot of opportunity for...
'Love Island' is the dystopian science fiction we deserve
This week, millions tuned in to watch twelve people talk over each other and mostly talk nonsense. No, I’m not talking about the democratic debates....
I'm surprised this hasn't happened to me
Everyone is talking about Bruce Hay, the Harvard Law professor who got scammed by two women. They befriended him, manipulated him and scammed him out of not...
hey jealousy
Jealousy is prevalent in graduate school. That’s not a surprise. We’re all trying to get ahead in a field that is increasingly competitive. Will it shock you...
Add this to the pile
The New York Times published something that is SO MY JAM: The 50 best memoirs of the twentieth century. I know that these subjective lists are…subjective....
Weekend reading
In “academia is a trashfire,” Your Professional Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think Overrated: PhDs “Who Do You Think You Are?”: When Marginality...
A spectacular failure
I think I have found one of the worst movies of the decade. People define bad movies in different ways, but for me, a truly bad movie is one that sets out...
The outrage generator
You know my feelings about social media: it can mean everything and also tell us nothing. Here’s an interesting find from a twitter thread. Context: the...
MLMs are nightmares
Alert! There’s a HuffPo (that still exists) article on MLMs! (Multi level marketing). I know that these companies pray on the capitalist oppression that...
the unseen terror of a content management farm
I can’t stop thinking about this article about the content management “farms” contracted by Facebook. It’s another example of how technology that is supposed...
When you have nothing to say, just stare
The Hills is back on tonight, and usually I hate a sequel, but I have never needed this more in my life than right now. Do you have tiny, inconsequential...
I have a shopping problem and I am ashamed.
I have a shopping/buying compulsion. I don’t want to say addiction because that has some other implications I don’t want to claim. I’m embarrassed by it. I...
Stuff no one asked for.
A prank show hosted by the most precocious kid from Stranger Things which tricked people into thinking they have a job. A film about the origin story of...
Is anyone still obsessed with the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Crash?
The Malaysian airplane went missing five years ago and in this fast news cycle, there hasn’t been much about it, and apparently, in this amazing article in...
The song of the summer is a fake pop star's jam
I can’t get the fake song from fake pop star Ashley O “I’m on a Roll” out of my head. It’s from the apparently least-liked episode of the latest season of...
Is there such thing as a"must watch"?
I finished the series When They See Us in Two Days. It was beautiful and difficult and profound. I’ve heard some people say that it was too difficult to...
Tenure and bullying
There’s an op-ed in the chronicle about tenure sustaining intimidation and harassment that is worth reading. This particular part got to me: The cynical...
Remember the veterans by consuming media
Just a dispatch from this long holiday weekend, in which you are forced to “relax” and consume. Here’s what I’ve consumed! The podcast Running From Cops....
Toward a definition of Ugly Studies
I’ve been thinking about ugliness a lot lately. Not that it hasn’t been a part of my life forever: as a woman growing up in America I have been socialized to...
To the surprise of no one...
Tony Robbins is a scam artist, abuser, and horrible person. The first paper I wrote when I returned to graduate school three years ago was about Robbins, and...
This poetry professor is a monster
There’s a poetry professor at Wayne State who has been terrorizing students and faculty for years and people put up with it. Now, many have come together to...
Stuff to read this week (special people only)
Don’t Let People Enjoy Things Inside Google's Civil War Writing essays by formula teaches students how to not think (Warning! Hot take!) In the Era of...
This Game of Thrones hot take destroyed the internet
I don’t watch Game of Thrones. Not because I am trying to be edgy. Because it’s not for me. Fantasy is not my jam, nor are shows that are about big battles...
Every grad student's summer to-do list
Read for fun!Read for a dissertationRead the classicsself-careme timetravelstart a journal articleread more journalslearn to kayakeat bettersleep betterapply...
This month in university atrocities
The academy is on a quick path to self-destruction. There is so much to fix with so little people who have the time and money to fix it. I haven’t had time...
Poor? Just learn to code
Did anyone catch this tragedy in the New York Times? The hubris of the start-up culture extends to Appalachia. Yes, coding is a skill, but it’s not a...
I take camp very seriously
So camp is on everyone’s minds because of the yearly Met Gala where celebs come and try to get the most attention. In other words, the most important event...
Episode 10 Postmoderism
https://canistealyouforasec.tumblr.com/post/184015158386/episode-10-postmodernism
The lovable bigot is just a bigot
I’ve been struggling to write a project this whole Spring break, a historiography of All in the Family, the 1970s show that if you ask anyone over 50 about...
Episode 9: Psychoanalysis
Fantasy suites, daddy issues, The "Real" Show notes: https://canistealyouforasec.tumblr.com/post/183461003416/episode-9-psychoanalysis
Episode 8: Feminist & Postfeminist Theory
https://canistealyouforasec.tumblr.com/post/183222849106/episde-8-feminist-postfeminist-theory
Special people only
I’ve been sick with the flu all week and missed all my classes, and missing class is really anxiety-producing. Why is that? Because many grad school...
My official statement on the Baby-Sitters Club show on Netflix
Not here for it. Netflix is banking on the wave of buying properties based solely on nostalgia. The true form was something special and very specific in...
Ain't it hard keeping it so hardcore?
Glenn Close, reacting to Billy Porter: Vauxhall_Tavern @thervtWhen Glenn Close saw Billy Potter at the #oscars. She is all of us! 😍...
Oscar Prep
The Oscars are tonight, which I do care about, but also they don’t matter. It’s a chance for me to annoy by friends with my commentary about hot celebs and...
Episode 7: Queer Theory
https://canistealyouforasec.tumblr.com/post/182978993981/episode-seven-queer-theory