annual comment, but i truly can't believe there are drummers out there in the year of our lord 2026 learning/teaching traditional grip, which is not to say that it doesn't work; it obviously works. but it was invented for an antiquated purpose and makes everything wildly more difficult for no reason

Hey leftists, it’s ok to discuss disagreements about strategy, but if you say people who take COVID precautions: - are too scared to leave the house - demand that everyone wear a mask 24/7 - are terrified of a just a "cold" You are using far right anti-science talking points.

3000 controllers short is legitimately insane. They’re willing to kill us all to simply not pay people and give them better working conditions.

Another university getting rid of things you could only ever do at a university and replacing them with stuff a 13-year-old can do on a phone

perhaps the weirdest fact about this band, a favorite, is that they construct emotionally poignant moments while also making that poignancy seem unintentional and improbable. This is not a band you turn to for existential meditations but they have em anyway. pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...

Boston area folks: I'm presenting research from big feelings at Northeastern on April 2. Come talk indie rock with me? camd.northeastern.edu/events/dan-d...

This article does not mention Covid even one time, and suggests maybe just all 40 yos have hypertension for no particular reason at all.

I’m in LA this week, and excited to be presenting at the 2026 Pop Conference at the USC Thornton School of Music (Mar 12–14) on a panel with @dandipiero.bsky.social, @askjerseth.bsky.social and Ajitpaul Mangat entitled: "Female Pop as Heteropessimistic Complaint” (Mar 14, 9:00 - Carson Sound Stage)!

CALL FOR PITCHES @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and I are at work on a new version of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century aimed at a more general audience. We’re looking for new contributions: your model close readings of texts, canonical and not, from literary studies and not. Details below!

Polymarket has created a betting market on the use of nuclear weapons. Everyone involved in this should be put in prison for life.

I have seen a lot of cursed stuff in my time in academia but this is among the *most* cursed. Grammarly is generating miniature LLMs based on academic work so that users can have their writing ‘reviewed’ by experts like David Abulafia, who died less than two months ago.

fucking genocidal

anybody remember this www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cBS...

Our federal government killed a disabled genocide survivor and is covering up for a child rapist. And that is just today’s news. It is just unconscionable to be treating this as normal or acceptable in any way. www.investigativepost.org/2026/02/25/b...

I have once again been lucky enough for the opportunity to discuss my work with Lydia. If you haven't heard me yap enough about Big Feelings, this is substantive. But we also talk teaching, writing, and crying. open.spotify.com/episode/60cR...

cry baby pod is back to wrap up its first season. Three or four interviews are on the way, starting with this great chat. On all the podcast platforms. dandipiero.substack.com/p/9-cuban-re...

Publication Day! Now in paperback for the first time, the newly revised edition of The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit is officially available from the University of Michigan Press. For a 30% discount, follow the link and enter UMWEB30 on the shopping cart page. press.umich.edu/Books/J/Jazz...

Let’s recap just the past day at Ohio State University: 1) The head of their ObGyn department was found to be getting quarterly payments from international child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein 2) OSU’s top donor was confirmed to be a co-conspirator of Epstein’s 3) Now this. 👇

Professors Are Being Watched: ‘We’ve Never Seen This Much Surveillance’ Scrutiny of university classrooms is being formalized, with new laws requiring professors to post syllabuses and tip lines for students to complain www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/u...

Speaking at the Rock Hall in April, would love to see ya. rockhall.com/event/ams-in...

Epstein’s economic power among academics was made possible by a capitalist system that makes higher education dependent on the charity economy rather than a public good supported by taxing the rich

4 Black journalists have been kidnapped by the federal government

The Democrats ought to be blowing whistles up in the chamber, chanting f*** ice, and getting themselves arrested right in the middle of Congress. It's like they don't have the slightest clue as to how bad it is with a few very few exceptions. Be as brave as a poet or a nurse in Minneapolis

AMS folks, do we have any idea what the status of our petition is at this moment? The letter listed demands at 90 day and 6–12 month timelines—do we know if any steps have been taken towards any of those goals?

If you have concerns about the production of your book manuscript or how a publisher is engaging with AI, *please* ask your dealbreaker questions well before you are holding a contract in hand. You will lose months if not years if you wait until after peer review (and likely won’t get what you want)

Junior scholars and late-stage graduate students in popular music studies! The AMS Popular Music Study Group is now accepting applications for our biannual Junior Scholar Symposium in Cleveland this summer! Read our full call here and please share widely. amspop.wordpress.com/2026/01/19/2...

"@kirinmcelwain.bsky.social's exploratory album 'Youth' turns toward crystalline feedback, chaotic oscillators, and intentionally harsh tones to express the feelings of desire and shame occupying the same cognitive space." - @thetonearm.com www.thetonearm.com/kirin-mcelwa...

Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).

You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today. This could be you.

"what do you expect dems, who have NO POWER, to do???" and then they do this 8 times a month

EMO CON 2026 will be held at Washington University in St. Louis in April. And you still have time to submit an abstract! Listen to my chat with @vcmusictheory.bsky.social about why you should. dandipiero.substack.com/p/emo-con-sp...

In the past week, I've seen stories of AI: - being used by middle schoolers to make porn of other students - calling innocent people sex offenders - shutting down highways with busted-ass self-driving cars - emitting more CO2 than New York City What the fuck are we even doing?

Something about public humanities discourse that’s always rubbed me the wrong way is how it tends to imply working from within the academy outward, beyond the academy: We (in here) do stuff to attract attention from you (out there). What I want to talk about is how to get back to a place where that

it's an excellent day to buy all the best presents at your fave independent bookstore! this is mine, what's yours? www.downboundbooks.com (locals i'll be slinging books and wrapping gifts on site xmas eve, all things permitting)

here is the picture of the wounded bird, i'm sorry for your future loss www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DLP...

If you stopped masking, you can just… start again. Indoors, public spaces at least.

I’m sorry, but it is disgraceful to be an academic who uses this technology to conduct research. It should be prohibited in all of our scholarly institutions, including universities and journals.

"My most daring idea is to refuse." YES.

I don't remember my 9th grade English teacher's name because he wasn't my favorite. But I do remember him saying "there's almost always a better word than 'thing.'" And that's still true.

'let that sink in' is such a truly insufferable way to try to convey the significance of something that probably does matter a lot.

Incredible, not in a good way, how many academics, journalists, and policy folks continue to actively attend the Nazi Bar on a daily basis.