Victoria Sturtevant

In honor of Black History Month, here's a thread with one book recommendation a day.

I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.

I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”

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Join us: The A.V. Club is hiring a Film Critic Join us: The A.V. Club is hiring a Film Critic

We were perhaps Too Hot To Handle for LinkedIn but the info is here www.avclub.com/hiring-film-...

President Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935, with Perkins among those witnessing the signing (third from right) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Signing_Of_The_Social_Security_Act.jpg

1/ I recently wrote about Frances Perkins—FDR’s Labor Secretary and first woman cabinet member. She is best known as the architect of the New Deal but she had a lesser-known achievement:

She dismantled her era’s version of ICE.🧵

It's December, which means it's time for my favorite post of the year (which will be updated all day), the cinema of 2025 as gags from 30 Rock. Starting with ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Still, there is nuance to all the awards hype. Though “Sinners” looks to be a major Oscar player, that voting body has never nominated Jordan for his acting or Coogler for his directing — indeed, no Black filmmaker has ever won in the latter category. Asked to join the academy in 2016, Coogler declined the invitation. “It’s not out of animosity,” he told me, noting that he’s stretched thin with commitments to his film school and unions. “And I’m not good at judging things, bro. The act of ‘Hey, pick the best thing’ is very stressful for me, even when there’s no stakes involved.” He is more drawn to the everyday elements of his career than to the glamorous ballrooms. “People see the tuxedo, they see the red carpet, but it’s real blue-collar folks making these movies happen,” Coogler said, adding that he truly fell in love with filmmaking once he understood that, at its core, it’s a job.

A photo of Ryan Coogler

Ryan Coogler explains why he declined the invitation to join the Academy www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/m...

Hey all,

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Fellowships last six months, pay well, and provide full benefits.

You can apply at theonion.com/fellowship.

Pioneers of African American Cinema - The Criterion Channel Among the most fascinating chapters of cinematic history is that of the so-called “race films” that flourished in the U.S. between the 1920s and ’40s. Unlike the “black cast” films produced within the...

Very cool collection of early films by African American filmmakers @criterionchannl.bsky.social this month www.criterionchannel.com/pioneers-of-...

Folks are asking what to do about the One Special Boy's AI vids and whether they should share them:

MOCK THEM WITHOUT SHARING.

This creates what an enthymeme, where readers have to SUPPLY PART OF THE REFERENT to understand what you are mocking. An enthymeme is the STRONGEST form of persuasion.

The LA Public Library research librarian explaining what is going on with Charli and Taylor is outstanding work

www.instagram.com/reel/DPXZIUa...

Black and white photo of two men wearing suits sitting on an outdoor bench looking at a film script: Sol Baer Fielding on the left and an unknown man with black slicked back hair on the right. Circa 50s.

Hi Folks, hoping to crowdsource an identification -- anyone know who the man on the right is? The man on the left is my grandfather, MGM and later independent producer, Sol Baer Fielding. He came into the family biz by marrying my grandmother Mitzi Cummings, a niece of Louis B. Mayer. Thanks!

A triptych portraying a person at work, a person sleeping in bed, and a couple in a boat on a lake. The panels are captioned "8 hours for work", "8 hours for rest", and "8 hours for what we will." A figure in the lower right corner holds aloft a banner that says "8 Hours." The artist is Ricardo Levins Morales, his initials can be seen next to the figure holding the "8 Hours" banner.

Happy Labor Day, y'all. Hug a union today.

Hit like if you read film criticism weekly and repost if you read film criticism more than that

And btw, if you have a comic or film podcast, I'd love to come on and talk about my newest short film, JUST THE JANITOR!

Lemme know! (And please RT!)

World Central Kitchen | WCK Resumes Limited Hot Meal Service in Gaza After 5-Day Pause After a five day pause, limited cooking operations resumed today at World Central Kitchen's Deir al-Balah Field Kitchen in Gaza.  This marks the second time in 2025 our hot meal program has been force...

World Central Kitchen says that after a five day pause due to limited supplies, limited cooking operations resumed today at its Deir al-Balah Field Kitchen in Gaza: wck.org/news/gaza-up...

Good read. I especially liked how it plays with laugh at v. laugh with. But no pull quotes here, because each line works better in the context of the others.

I cannot emphasize enough how true & real this is.

In almost anywhere on the political spectrum you ID with or major issue, there’s probably a bot/troll operation to encourage your rage and vitriol.

And how/where that rage gets directed, esp understandable rage, is what they are out to influence.

“I Have Lost Everything”: The Toll of Cities’ Homeless Sweeps Cities often take belongings — including important documents and irreplaceable mementos — when they conduct sweeps of homeless encampments. ProPublica gave notecards to people across the country so…

We asked people who lived in homeless encampments that were cleared out in city “sweeps” to write about what object was the hardest for them to lose.

“They took my baby pictures and my moms obituaries,” a 29-year-old in California wrote.

Sir Ian McKellen to open all-trans production of Shakespeare classic Sir Ian McKellen is to open a new production of the Shakespeare classic Twelfth Night that will feature all trans and non-binary performers.

“This production makes that queerness explicit, reclaiming the story through the lived experiences of trans and nonbinary artists.” #TransRightsAreHumanRights www.thepinknews.com/2025/05/28/s...

NPR and Colorado public radio stations sue Trump White House NPR and three Colorado public radio stations are suing the Trump administration over the president's executive order seeking to ban the use of federal money for NPR and PBS.

NEWS: NPR and three Colorado public radio stations sue Trump White House over effort to ban federal funding for NPR & PBS

The lawsuit calls Trump's executive order "textbook retaliation" for protected free speech - threatening public radio

My story:

www.npr.org/2025/05/27/n...

Open Letter in Support of Science — STAND UP FOR SCIENCE

An open letter highlighting the co-optation of open science language in the latest Executive Order to justify policies that are, in fact, antithetical to open science principles.

Read and consider signing with your support.

www.standupforscience.net/open-letter-...

When we get to watch a character be really good at their job. Sew that dress, supervise that nightly news team, build that jet pack. I love it all.

Social Security is a nonpartisan program.

Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike all value their Social Security benefits and want to see them expanded, not cut.

"WE'VE ARRANGED A society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. Who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don't know anything about it?" "Science is more than a body of knowledge, it's a way of thinking. A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along."

I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.

Kennedy Issues Demands for Vaccine Approvals That Could Affect Fall Covid Boosters The plans amount to an extraordinary flex of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s power as health secretary to make decisions ordinarily left to career scientists at the Food and Drug Administration.

The COVID vaccines have been taken by billions of people, saved millions of lives, and are some of the most rigorously tested medical products in history.

Someone who has zero experience in vaccine development should not be influencing the approval process. This will kill people.

There is no aborted fetus debris in the MMR vaccine, or in any vaccine at all.

It is worth noting that the Catholic Church, one of the most staunch anti-abortion organizations in the world, has a formal policy that encourages all vaccinations.

'We're citizens!': Oklahoma City family traumatized after ICE raids home, but they weren't suspects A woman says her family’s fresh start in Oklahoma turned into a nightmare after federal immigration agents raided their home, taking their phones, laptops, and life savings – even though they were …

Please highlight this story.

ICE stormed into the wrong house, trashed the place, and made women/girls stand outside in the rain in their underwear. ICE also stole phones, laptops, and cash savings from the family, who moved to OKC two weeks ago.

kfor.com/news/local/w...

Forum Readings and Conversations flyer Featuring Dr. Victoria Sturtevant discussing her book It's All in the Delivery: Pregnancy in American Film and Television Comedy in conversation with Dr. Kimberly Marshall, faculty director of OU Arts and Humanities Forum. Thursday, May 1, 7pm Full Circle Bookstore in OKC.

I don't think I have many OKC connections on here, but worth a try: Hey y'all, I have a book signing coming up next week and it's going to be really fun. [Reposting because I forgot alt text last time]