Fred Barrett
@fredbarrett.bsky.social
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writer, future victim of the deep state |
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/
since it’s halloween season i decided to write some words (okay, a lot of words) on Tobe Hooper and one of his great unsung masterpieces, Spontaneous Combustion
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I Can Almost See the Core
On Tobe Hooper's 'Spontaneous Combustion' (1989), the nuclear family, and modernity's terrible hidden structures
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/i-can-almost-see-the-core
7 days ago
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i wrote about Paul Schrader’s Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters and about how it isn’t really about Yukio Mishima at all
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Where the Filmmaker Pours Himself In: Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters | In Review Online
A new Kicking the Canon essay on Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, directed by Paul Schrader, for film review site In Review Online.
https://inreviewonline.com/2025/10/02/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters/
28 days ago
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wrote a short story about an aimless young woman trying to navigate a new relationship while also being stalked by a cat killer
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The Cats of Coral Springs
A young woman meets an animal killer
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/the-cats-of-coral-springs
about 1 month ago
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Electric Trio vol. 10 is out! me and my friend Alex took a look at Germain Dulac’s silent melodrama The Cigarette, Howard Hawks’ late style racing film Red Line 7000, and Takashi Komatsu’s voyeuristic cyberpunk thriller Scan Doll. tap in:
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Electric Trio Vol. 10
'The Cigarette' (1919), 'Red Line 7000' (1965), and 'Scan Doll' (1996)
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/electric-trio-vol-10
about 2 months ago
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for In Review Online, i wrote about The Return of the Living Dead, counterculture, punk rock, cynicism, and how the horror genre lost its subversive power in the 1980s. check it out:
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First as Tragedy, Then as Farce: The Return of the Living Dead & the Arc of 1980s Horror | In Review Online
A new Kicking the Canon essay on The Return of the Living Dead, directed by Dan O'Bannon, for film review site In Review Online.
https://inreviewonline.com/2025/08/25/first-as-tragedy-then-as-farce-the-return-of-the-living-dead/
2 months ago
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Electric Trio Vol. 9 is here! i wrote about Sara Gomez’s radical docudrama One Way or Another, Jin Chen’s melancholy romance Love in the Internet Generation, and Laurel Nakadate’s haunting coming of age DV drama The Wolf Knife. tap in!
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Electric Trio Vol. 9
'One Way or Another' (1975), 'Love in the Internet Generation' (1998), and 'The Wolf Knife' (2010)
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/electric-trio-vol-9
3 months ago
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some new fiction — i wrote a short story about two people falling in love, daydreaming, battling illness, slipping through time, and succumbing to desire while waiting for a train
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Tangerines and Agent Orange
Hamburg II
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/tangerines-and-agent-orange
4 months ago
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i wrote about David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds, wanting to be a corpse, being on vacation, listening to Prefab Sprout, and the beauty of ruining your life
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Cars and Girls and Corpses
On David Cronenberg's 'The Shrouds' (2024), wanting to be a corpse, listening to Prefab Sprout, and the beauty of ruining your life
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/cars-and-girls-and-corpses
6 months ago
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Little White Lies
6 months ago
As Robert Aldrich's 1955 noir turns 75, the film lives on in the work of Cronenberg, Lynch and many more
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The enduring horror of Kiss Me Deadly
As Robert Aldrich's 1955 noir turns 75, the film lives on in the work of Cronenberg, Lynch and many more.
https://lwlies.com/articles/kiss-me-deadly/
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i wrote about Robert Aldrich’s 1955 noir classic Kiss Me Deadly, its enduring legacy, ecstatic truths, and the long shadow of the atomic bomb for
@lwlies.com
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The enduring horror of Kiss Me Deadly
As Robert Aldrich's 1955 noir turns 75, the film lives on in the work of Cronenberg, Lynch and many more.
https://lwlies.com/articles/kiss-me-deadly/
6 months ago
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Electric Trio Vol. 8 is up! this time around i wrote about a particularly nocturnal noir, a gritty romantic drama, and a baffling, spellbinding sci-fi fantasy film that proves once and for all that love is in fact the answer. tap in
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Electric Trio Vol. 8
'Too Late for Tears' (1949), 'Hong Kong, Hong Kong' (1983), and 'Jessica Forever' (2018)
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/electric-trio-vol-8
7 months ago
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Fred Barrett
new short story is up on the newsletter. i wrote about a young hockey player whose game comes to a premature end after a nasty slash by an opponent
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Foppa
An injury at a hockey game
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/foppa
8 months ago
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new short story is up on the newsletter. i wrote about a young hockey player whose game comes to a premature end after a nasty slash by an opponent
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Foppa
An injury at a hockey game
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/foppa
8 months ago
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Fred Barrett
Ái-Như Võ
9 months ago
bambissima
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about a month late to the party but i finally put together a list of my favorite films from last year. i also included some honorable mentions, mainly because i was looking for an excuse to write about Denzel Washington's Gladiator 2 performance. tap in:
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The Best Films of 2024
Looking for new ways forward
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/the-best-films-of-2024
9 months ago
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didn’t quite manage to get this out before the new year but here’s a new Electric Trio for you all! featuring a silent romantic drama, a surreal noir mystery, and a no-frills car chase actioner
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Electric Trio Vol. 7
'The Wedding March' (1928), 'The Possessed' (1965), and 'Motorway' (2012)
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/electric-trio-vol-7
10 months ago
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Peter Raleigh
11 months ago
Year-end roundup of sorts: for Long Library, I wrote about how some of my favorite films of 2024 (and one of my least favorite) reflect the complicated relationship between contemporary cinema, nostalgia, and the history of the medium
peterraleigh.substack.com/p/past-and-p...
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Past and Present in the Cinema of 2024
A Year In Review
https://peterraleigh.substack.com/p/past-and-present-in-the-cinema-of
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will drop a new Electric Trio piece before the year is over but in the meantime check out the films the column has already covered — Antonioni-flavored slashers from HK, forgotten German Expressionist classics, art horror pornography... lots of good stuff
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Electric Trio
All the films featured in my newsletter's Electric Trio column, where I look at some of cinema history's underseen, underappreciated, and forgotten works. Links to the capsule reviews are in the notes...
https://boxd.it/u3fn2
11 months ago
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excited to share a new Electric Dreams piece, this one on Luchino Visconti’s Sandra, a film not usually considered amongst his greatest. guest contributor Sebastian makes a compelling case for why it deserves to be reconsidered
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Glimmering Stars of the Great Bear
On Luchino Visconti's 'Sandra' (1965)
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/glimmering-stars-of-the-great-bear
11 months ago
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Fred Barrett
danielgorman20
11 months ago
I’m fairly biased since these are two of my very favorite guys, but really loved this wide-ranging conversation between
@fredbarrett.bsky.social
& Alex (not on here just yet) on the politics & aesthetics of Megalopolis. Give it a look:
fredbarrett.substack.com/p/the-image-...
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The Image Is the Feeling It Creates
A conversation about Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis' (2024), rewriting the canon, auteurism, and the future of cinema
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/the-image-is-the-feeling-it-creates
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i sat down with the inimitable Alex (aka @dogshit95) last month to pick his brain on a wide range of topics, including tech utopianism, the politics of filmmaking, the state of criticism, and the aesthetics of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis
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The Image Is the Feeling It Creates
A conversation about Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis' (2024), rewriting the canon, auteurism, and the future of cinema
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/the-image-is-the-feeling-it-creates
11 months ago
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Fred Barrett
Narrative Matters (@itsnarrative on Twitter)
12 months ago
Okay, well, some people I can recommend to follow if you like movies, criticism, and good posts:
@petreraleigh.bsky.social
@narrativematters.bsky.social
@fredbarrett.bsky.social
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after a four-month absence, Electric Trio is finally back. to mark its return (and in honor of the halloween season) i took a look at five underappreciated horror films. tap in:
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Electric Trio Vol. 6: Halloween Quintet
'Satan's Rhapsody' (1917), 'The White Reindeer' (1952), 'Through the Looking Glass' (1976), 'Ogroff' (1983), and 'Loft' (2005)
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/electric-trio-vol-6
about 1 year ago
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since it’s october, i decided to write about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, my favorite film of all time, for In Review Online
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A Society-Shaped Monster: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre at 50 | In Review Online
A new film essay on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, directed by Tobe Hooper, for film review site In Review Online.
https://inreviewonline.com/2024/10/16/a-society-shaped-monster-the-texas-chain-saw-massacre/
about 1 year ago
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Fred Barrett
Angel "Mrs. Movies" Perez
about 1 year ago
fantastic writer, saw her read in Hamtramck for the lizard brain anthology, which sorta misrepresented it's food and drinks/the air of a party. I don't know if Anna is capable of writing a character without a racist internal monologue
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i recently had the pleasure of chatting with the brilliant Anna Krivolapova. we talked about fiction trends, being russian on the internet, parapolitics, and of course, Incurable Graphomania, her incredible short story collection
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A Conversation with Anna Krivolapova
The author of 'Incurable Graphomania' on autofiction, parapolitics, Frank Ocean, and drawing inspiration from Russian horror movies as well as Russian cartoon characters
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/a-conversation-with-anna-krivolapova
about 1 year ago
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new fiction piece on the Electric Dreams newsletter! June Sayers concocted an op-ed written by "a prominent diversity consultant for Raytheon" that talks about streaming, toxic masculinity, and how paramilitaries are bringing about positive social change. read it here:
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Parasocial Justice
Streaming, Sexism, and Civil War
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/parasocial-justice
about 1 year ago
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i wrote a short story about a late-night host who sees a ghost while preparing for an important show
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The Host
A make-or-break show
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/the-host
about 1 year ago
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talking music over at Electric Dreams: i looked at some releases from the past few months that i enjoyed including LPs, EPs, and singles from Boldy James, Mei Semones, Trophy Wife, and more
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Things Listened To Vol. 1
Body Farm & Dry Socket, Boldy James & Conductor Williams, JIALING, Mei Semones, Trophy Wife, Zelienople
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/things-listened-to-vol-1
about 1 year ago
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put out a piece of short fiction last month, inspired by my recent move to a new city (and country for that matter). it touches on one-sided conversations, weird boyfriends, dreams, and the Super Mario Brothers Movie. give it a read if you’re interested
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Sad Machine
Hamburg I
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/sad-machine
about 1 year ago
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Hüsker Dü’s seminal 1984 LP Zen Arcade turned 40 this month and Electric Dreams guest contributor Kris Aldag takes a look back at the ‘80s, delves into the album’s themes, and challenges some of the popular narratives that surround it. good stuff!
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Pink Turns to Blue
On Hüsker Dü's 1984 landmark LP 'Zen Arcade'
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/pink-turns-to-blue
over 1 year ago
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wrote about The Great Consoler, The Fastest Gun Alive, and Thick Skinned for the Electric Dreams newsletter
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Electric Trio Vol. 5
'The Great Consoler' (1933), 'The Fastest Gun Alive' (1956), and 'Thick Skinned' (1989)
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/electric-trio-vol-5
over 1 year ago
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Alejandro Valadez wrote about Shinji Somai’s fascinating 1987 drama Luminous Woman, masculinity, modernity, and wrestling for the Electric Dreams newsletter
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Heartbreak... Death Match
On Shinji Sōmai's 'Luminous Woman' (1987), Keiji Muto, masculinity in contention with modernity, and the role of the wrestler as his own narrator
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/heartbreak-death-match
over 1 year ago
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wrote about Chime, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s latest exercise in dread, for In Review Online
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Chime — Kiyoshi Kurosawa | In Review Online
A new film review of Chime, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa & released by Roadstead, for film review site In Review Online.
https://inreviewonline.com/2024/05/27/chime/
over 1 year ago
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i wrote about Shia LaBeouf, abuse, memory, and fame
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Shia LaBeouf Is Not Famous Anymore
An actor returns to the red carpet
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/shia-labeouf-is-not-famous-anymore
over 1 year ago
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for the Electric Dreams newsletter, Eddie Averill took a look at Shallow Hal and Love on a Diet while reflecting on the death of the fatsuit comedy
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Rest Easy, Big Fellas
On the Farrelly brothers' 'Shallow Hal' (2001), Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai's 'Love on a Diet' (2001), and the death of the fatsuit comedy
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/rest-easy-big-fellas
over 1 year ago
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wrote about John Rosman’s debut film New Life for In Review Online
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New Life — John Rosman | In Review Online
A new film review of New Life, directed by John Rosman & released by Brainstorm Media, for film review site In Review Online.
https://inreviewonline.com/2024/05/06/new-life/
over 1 year ago
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wrote about From Morn to Midnight, The Demon, and Women of the Night for the Electric Dreams newsletter!
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Electric Trio Vol. 4
'From Morn to Midnight' (1920), 'The Demon' (1963), and 'Women of the Night' (2001)
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/electric-trio-vol-4
over 1 year ago
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the great
@comradeyui.bsky.social
wrote some really excellent words on Jia Zhangke’s Ash Is Purest White for the Electric Dreams newsletter. tap in
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Nomad Codes of Honor
On Jia Zhangke's 'Ash Is Purest White' (2018) and the Modern Jiānghú
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/nomad-codes-of-honor
over 1 year ago
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Fred Barrett
Electric Trio collab post! my buddy Luis took a look at The Goat Horn (1972), while i covered Brigade of Death (1985) and the Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi! series (2012-2015)
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Electric Trio Vol. 3
'The Goat Horn' (1972), 'Brigade of Death' (1985), and the 'Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi!' series (2012–2015)
https://open.substack.com/pub/fredbarrett/p/electric-trio-vol-3?r=9p8ys&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
over 1 year ago
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Electric Trio collab post! my buddy Luis took a look at The Goat Horn (1972), while i covered Brigade of Death (1985) and the Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi! series (2012-2015)
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Electric Trio Vol. 3
'The Goat Horn' (1972), 'Brigade of Death' (1985), and the 'Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi!' series (2012–2015)
https://open.substack.com/pub/fredbarrett/p/electric-trio-vol-3?r=9p8ys&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
over 1 year ago
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Fred Barrett
excited to share my friend Alex’s (aka @dogshit95) piece on Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, Michael Haneke’s Caché, and how they each grapple with bourgeois evil
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Look in the Mirror and See Your Soul
On Jonathan Glazer's 'The Zone of Interest' (2023), Michael Haneke's 'Caché' (2005), and observing evil
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/look-in-the-mirror-and-see-your-soul
over 1 year ago
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excited to share my friend Alex’s (aka @dogshit95) piece on Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, Michael Haneke’s Caché, and how they each grapple with bourgeois evil
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Look in the Mirror and See Your Soul
On Jonathan Glazer's 'The Zone of Interest' (2023), Michael Haneke's 'Caché' (2005), and observing evil
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/look-in-the-mirror-and-see-your-soul
over 1 year ago
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been a minute since i tackled any new music so i decided to write about Kim Gordon’s second solo LP The Collective
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In Review: Kim Gordon - 'The Collective'
A no wave legend learns new tricks
https://open.substack.com/pub/fredbarrett/p/in-review-kim-gordon-the-collective?r=9p8ys&utm_medium=ios
over 1 year ago
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Fred Barrett
Peter Raleigh
over 1 year ago
Loved the opportunity to write for Fred's really excellent newsletter, which you should absolutely subscribe to if you haven't already
add a skeleton here at some point
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Fred Barrett
very excited to share my friend
@petreraleigh.bsky.social
’s outstanding piece on Mimi Leder’s The Peacemaker for the Electric Dreams newsletter
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They Make a Desert and Call It Peace
On Mimi Leder's 'The Peacemaker' (1997), Pax Americana, and the End of History
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/they-make-a-desert-and-call-it-peace
over 1 year ago
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very excited to share my friend
@petreraleigh.bsky.social
’s outstanding piece on Mimi Leder’s The Peacemaker for the Electric Dreams newsletter
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They Make a Desert and Call It Peace
On Mimi Leder's 'The Peacemaker' (1997), Pax Americana, and the End of History
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/they-make-a-desert-and-call-it-peace
over 1 year ago
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very excited to share my friend
@petreraleigh.bsky.social
’s outstanding piece on Mimi Leder’s The Peacemaker for the Electric Dreams newsletter
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They Make a Desert and Call It Peace
On Mimi Leder's 'The Peacemaker' (1997), Pax Americana, and the End of History
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/they-make-a-desert-and-call-it-peace
over 1 year ago
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new complaints, new ideas, new ways forward — a progress report after a year of publishing the Electric Dreams newsletter
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I'm Going Through Changes
Progress report from the wasteland of the real
https://fredbarrett.substack.com/p/im-going-through-changes
over 1 year ago
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