shiragabriel.bsky.social

In the Upside Down of Our Social Lives: How Stranger Things Helps Us Feel Less Alone How A Brain That Wasn't Built For Television Turns Stories Into Connection

My newest post on TV shows filling our belongingness needs. Inspired by my research AND my current obsession with Stranger Things!

Stop Forcing Holiday Cheer—Connection Comes in Many Forms Curl Up, Opt Out, Lean In: There are many ways to find belonging (and happiness) in the holiday season.

There are many ways to feel belonging. And there continue to be many ways during the holiday season. Don't let the pressure of the "right way to holiday" end up making you unhappy. A night spent cuddling with your pet and a good book may be just what you need.

Pass the Comfort, Please: The Psychology Behind Thanksgiving Food and Social Belonging Have you ever wondered why we call some foods “comfort food”?

Have you ever wondered why we call some foods “comfort food”? A brief post about the science behind comfort foods and belonging -- and why we shouldn't feel guilty about those guilty pleasure foods!

Small Interactions With Strangers: The Social Superfood You’ve Been Overlooking You may think you don't want to interact with strangers, but here is why giving it a try may very well lead to increases in connection and joy

Small Interactions With Strangers: The Social Superfood You’ve Been Overlooking

Devastating— “I’m afraid for my parents to leave the house. They treat us like dogs because of the color of our skin. I shouldn’t be scared, I should be focusing on school.”

A 16yo American living in fear of the Trump regime’s ICE goons terrorizing brown people pleads for help.

The East Wing is gone, and Trump turns to damage control Demolition crews appeared to finish taking down the bulk of the White House wing Thursday, while President Donald Trump defended the project.

The East Wing of the White House is gone.

Trump: “It won’t touch it”

It’s the Epstein Ballroom. Trump will let it touch whatever it wants.

“.. It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.”

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

The optics of Trump building a ballroom that 99.9% of Americans will never set foot in while millions line up for food banks are worth more than any policy paper or economic proposal. This image is a visceral punch in the mouth that needs no words. It should haunt the GOP for a generation.

STEREOGUM: People my age, we talk about how we were lucky that we didn’t have social media growing up, and there’s no record of all the dumb shit we said and did. You didn’t have social media, but everything you said and did in those years is on record, and you’ve got to live with it now. That’s tough. VIOLENT J: And the amount of gay Juggalos out there is really surprising. I think about them doing their research and getting the old records, getting excited about it, and getting their hearts broke or something, you know? I tell my daughter, “For the rest of your life, when your friends ask why your dad said that, say it’s because your dad was a fool. Don’t defend me. Say I was a fool then, but I’m not now.” There’s no excuse. I was going with the flow, and that’s the very thing we preach against — being a sheep. And that’s what I was doing. https://www.stereogum.com/2083804/icp-interview-juggalos/interviews/weve-got-a-file-on-you/

Reminder that Violent J of Insane Clown Posse has the correct response to a lot of the shitty things he said in the early days.

Opinion | The Rise of the Inflatable Chicken Resistance

"Frivolity and absurdity are kryptonite to authoritarians..."

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/o...

OMG. That is amazing. Love Canada and Canadians!!

Remember disinfo spreaders kept pushing turbo cancer agenda scaring people & making them stop using covid vaccines. Disinformation kills!

just go to the protests

take whatever precautions you personally feel comfortable with but these are massive, joyful events, go and have fun

Humor is kryptonite to Trump, so let's have fun tomorrow!

March, dance, sing, and laugh at your local No Kings peaceful protest on Saturday. #NoKings
@gtconway.bsky.social

Why No Kings is So Important: A Lesson from the Republican Hate Chat Like any person with an ounce of human decency (so that excludes VP Vance, of course) I was horrified by the contents of the leaked Republican group chat in Politico. It was awful. Both shocking and t...

Why No Kings Protests are so important, for you and for those around you! www.dailykos.com/stories/2025...

FACT CHECK:

Lie: “Democrats are shutting down the government to provide health care to illegal immigrants.”

Facts:
Undocumented immigrants are not eligible to enroll in Medicare and Medicaid, and they are also not eligible to purchase coverage on the ACA Marketplace.

10 Huge Wins This Week! ENJOY THEM GNR When times are tough, it becomes especially important to celebrate -- and take energy from -- our wins. Here are 10 from this week! Win #1 — One step closer to release of the Epstein files Finally, a ...

When times are tough, it becomes especially important to celebrate -- and take energy from -- our wins. Here are 10 from this week!

Kimmel reinstatement preempted Disney+ price increase The Handbasket reported first Monday evening on Bluesky

"More than a million people had canceled Disney streaming subscriptions as of Monday, the Disney source told me, and the company likely knew that trend would only continue the longer they kept Kimmel silenced."

@marisakabas.bsky.social w/ a doozy. 👀

Two special elections last night. Two overperformances. Arizona 7th (a blue district) overperformed 2024. Harris had a 22 point spread and, last night, Grijalva has a 43 point spread. In Georgia (a red district) Harris lost by 34 points and Shigley only lost by a 22 point spread.

‘Collective Effervescence’ Is More Common Than You Think — Here’s Why It Happens The impact of this experience is greater than people realize, and experts agree it’s incredibly beneficial.

Nice article in Huff Post that highlights my research

Congratulations! Wonderful!

I was honored by the @psychscience.bsky.social DEI Committee's invitation to help curate this collection of outstanding articles addressing a range of issues related to anti-Black racism. I also couldn't have asked for a more thoughtful and thorough partner in @johnjost.bsky.social. Please share!

I can

I can

🧵I agree w/ @vermontgmg.bsky.social that this week is materially different than last—&/but:

WE remain who we were on Jan 19, 2025.

We have a deeply rooted civil society + potent muscle memory of resisting authoritarianism⬇️ Russians, eg, don't have either & didn't when Yeltsin made Putin president.

A lot of lefties complain that members of Congress aren’t standing up to oppose Trump’s authoritarianism. Letters like this are an example of things that fit solidly within normal legislative effort that help with messaging in the short term but might serve as a powerful lever down the road. And if they give firms an excuse to renege on the deals in the short term? All the better.

It’s a shame, because if Democrats could maintain a united front, they could make all kinds of people and entities think twice about getting into bed with Trump. They could shoot across the bow of: Qatar, which bribed Trump with a fancy airplane; Law firms that caved to Trump and are now working for him for free; Individuals, investors, and companies funneling money to Trump through crypto, stock purchases, and real estate; Red states participating in the occupation of DC; Lawyers, administrators, and partisan goons working in federal law enforcement.

Me, April 24: 16 House Dems Ask Law Firms that Capitulated to Trump If They've Thought about Their Bribery Exposure

Brian Beutler four months later: Why can't Dems pressure law firms that capitulated?

[Note: The Dem effort--and this wasn't the end of it or coverage of it--had a postitive effect]

The fact that there are people trashing Leader Hakeem Jeffries for not doing what a Governor can do shows how ignorant people are of how government works. He is the MINORITY LEADER of Congress b/c that is what the majority of white people voted for. Go deal with you MAGA family and friends.

- Appreciate Newsom Fighting Fire w/ Fire

- Appreciate Pritzker Standing Up for Texas Dems

- Appreciate Mamdani Bringing Fresh Hope to the Party

- Appreciate AOC and Bernie Taking On the Oligarchs

We need ALL of these voices now!

Let's worry about 2028 after we secure OUR VOTE and DEMOCRACY.

Just for those who may be a little confused: This is how an American president should treat Putin.