dr ak 🐸

miss piggy from the muppet show is making a funny face with her eyes closed . Alt: miss piggy from the muppet show is making a funny face with her eyes closed .

Political discourse has me dreaming of Miss Piggy. Speak out, piggy.

I really enjoyed it. Very much in keeping with Ramsay’s other work too.

#DieMyLove was delightfully intense. Jennifer Lawrence created one of my favorite characters in film ever - for whatever that reveals about me.

A friend in Corvallis, Oregon sent me this one 🤣 #NoKings

Georgia Southern is hiring three new TT colleagues: children's lit/media, Shakespeare, and creative writing. Please share with your networks: www.georgiasouthern.edu/colleges/art...

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”

Diary of Anne Frank
January 13, 1943

more important than ever to understand how with minimal energy people (and now things!) can easily persuade you to act against your own interests, if you aren’t familiar with their tactics and how your own damn brain works.

The real generational divide is people who refuse to watch a video if it could be an article versus people who refuse to read an article if it could be a video

At least there’s a reasonable explanation for why the one thing I had to look forward to doesn’t seem to be happening.

At the fabulous TBC5, where a presenter called attention to Lynch’s “dense atmosphere of pointlessness.” Suddenly claims that Lynch is a realist make so much sense, as I too seem to be mired in a “dense atmosphere of pointlessness.”

Take a break from doomscrolling to learn about stardom! Friday, online.

Join us!

Next Friday, we're hosting an author talk with Niamh Thornton! Register for the Zoom at tinyurl.com/5xkvenp6.

I think one of the things people misunderstand about being anti-ChatGPT and related products is that they are being forced into institutions and other products and services in ways that affect all of our lives whether they work or *not* and we will all have to deal with the consequences

Hello it’s me Sam Altman I have a zillion dollar idea it’s a chat bot that tells teenagers to kill themselves and you can generate csam with it and it poisons the air and water and it’s wrong most of the time and we’re going to put it in your refrigerator and stuff 👍 I need more money for this btw

Take a break from the doom and register for this event on film stardom!

Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me? Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

Best wishes to you for a great year! That’s a pretty sweet view!

I love the new Cracker Barrel logo! 🧡
#EpsteinFiles

Please register and plan to join us for an author talk with Niamh Thornton about the book María Félix: A Mexican Film Star and Her Legacy. Olivia Cosentino will moderate.

The talk will take place on Friday, September 12, at 1:00 PM EST via Zoom. Please register at tinyurl.com/5xkvenp6

The first time Charlie Chaplin used his voice in a film, he wielded it to forcefully condemn the rising forces of fascism around the globe. Will we listen to his words today?

The moment he named his platform “Truth Social” we were headed this way.

"Competitive authoritarianism" and America's slide toward it You can still vote. It just might not mean much.

New in PN: The slide toward "competitive authoritarianism"

"Orbán subverted Hungary’s democracy with gerrymandering and by creating a nationwide right-wing media network. He put loyalists in the public prosecutor’s office, ensuring the judicial system would go after his enemies. Sound familiar?"

“Not Only ‘Double Entendre’ but Outright Smut”: Some Like It Hot’s (1959) Code-Compatible Style Published in Quarterly Review of Film and Video (Vol. 42, No. 1, 2025)

My article: “Not Only ‘Double Entendre’ but Outright Smut”: Some Like It Hot’s (1959) Code-Compatible Style www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... is open access this month! Check it out!

My panel is full, but an email will go out from the Performance & Stardom SIG on Monday with a panel looking for additional presenters.

Marilyn Monroe against a blue background

#MarilynMonroe passed overnight between August 4 and 5, 1962. She left behind a body of work that testifies to her as a comic genius as well as a talented dramatic actress.

I’ve reached that sweet spot of course prep and pre-teen girls listening to music in the next room where I questioned why the month of November was included in a fall schedule. 😬

a cartoon drawing of a woman with blonde hair ALT: a cartoon drawing of a woman with blonde hair

Still working on my book amidst the collapse of society. Though my topic is Marilyn Monroe as an adapted character, I am making connections to the manosphere and government conspiracies-so even obscure and niche humanities projects are relevant!

Headline 1, "Americans are losing spending power, say researchers: Most can no longer afford a 'minimal quality of life.'" Headline 2, "The 10 richest Americans got $365 billion richer in the past year. Now they're on the verge of a huge tax cut."

The United States summed up in two headlines.