A lot of non-Americans feel embarrassed by their own fixation with the US. They shouldn’t.

"Far from being an amoral free-for-all, liberalism is, in fact, extremely difficult and constraining, far too much so for those who cannot endure contradiction, complexity, diversity, and the risks of freedom.” ― Judith N. Shklar, Ordinary Vices

From sootyempiric.blogspot.com/2025/08/woke...

Hi all. An essay I’m very proud of, an elegy to the Queensland rainforests I grew up in, will appear in @islandmag.bsky.social 175.

Australia takes in roughly the same number of immigrants as the UK but has less than half the base population.

Rally tomorrow morning: 9am at MUP Hear from literary giants, show your support, #savemeanjin Details at savemeanjin.org

Australian universities are in a governance crisis. VC pay blowouts, scandals, mission drift — these aren’t random, they’re structural. This new working paper with @marijataflaga.bsky.social & Keith Dowding digs into why the system is broken, and how to fix it. doi.org/10.25911/MWW... A thread:

This open letter calls on Melb Uni’s Vice Chancellor to reduce her salary by 10% in order to save @meanjin.bsky.social At 85 years old, Meanjin is a cornerstone of Australian literature. A 10% gift would reduce Prof. Johnston’s salary to $1,350,000 per year. openletter.earth/an-open-lett...

Extraordinary. I have co-signed openletter.earth/an-open-lett...

I wrote for Crikey about the decision to shut Meanjin down - and to sever a connection to a hopeful progressive vision of Australian culture

popularism at work

Holy shit

Here's my advice open.substack.com/pub/alistair...

Watch journalist @alistairkitchen.bsky.social recount being detained for 12 hours, interrogated, his device searched at LAX in June, and later deported over his reporting. This is yet another sign that press freedom is under threat amid growing political repression and democratic decline in the US.

"No one is safe until we’re all safe," Australian reporter @alistairkitchen.bsky.social who was detained by CBP at LAX for 12 hours in June, questioned about his political views, had his device searched, and eventually deported, tells @pressfreedomtracker.us about the harrowing, traumatic experience

"It’s pretty clear to me that the First Amendment protections of journalists and non-citizens are not nearly as firm as we’d like to believe," Australian writer @alistairkitchen.bsky.social, who was deported after interrogation at LAX in June, tells the Tracker. Read and watch our interview.

I believe I was on this list when I was deported. If you have more information, please reach out. Signal in bio, identities protected. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/u...

Academia dot com... I do not care

This @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social video is absolutely INCREDIBLE. The numbers he cites, the strategy and results they produced — it’s the future. When have you heard *any* campaign talk about this, ever? (Video split in 2 to fit in Bluesky’s limits)

We've got @jessielilley.bsky.social back and we're chatting with @alistairkitchen.bsky.social so you know it's gonna be good un. Join us on Spin Cycle from 7pm on @3rrrfm.bsky.social

Brad Lander… what a guy

The detention, interrogation, phone search and deportation by CBP of journalist @alistairkitchen.bsky.social at LAX in retaliation for his reporting is a blatant attack on press freedom and a tactic of an authoritarian state. This is a shameful stain on the DHS and this whole administration.

One hell of a week open.substack.com/pub/alistair...

Here I tell @chrislhayes.bsky.social my story of detainment and deportation.

BREAKING: Mahmoud Khalil speaks out after being released from ICE detention. "The Trump administration are doing their best to dehumanize everyone here," Khalil said.

When the writer @alistairkitchen.bsky.social was stopped by C.B.P. last week, an officer told him it was because of what he had written about the protests and Columbia. Kitchen was detained, his phone was searched, and he was eventually deported. nyer.cm/miKH6aK

I was deported by the U.S. for reporting on the Columbia University student protests. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

The agents just came out and said it: 'We both know why you've been detained…it's because of what you wrote about the protests at Columbia.' @alistairkitchen.bsky.social But Smartraveller still says nothing about the risks to Australians with anti-Trump views. www.commondreams.org/news/alistai...

"Writers, artists, and scholars must be free to express their views openly without compromising their free movement across borders," said PEN America's @jonfreadom.bsky.social following detainment and deportation of Australian writer Alistair Kitchen for his personal writings pen.org/press-releas...

@kenklippenstein.bsky.social I learned from the best

Hi everyone I was denied entry, detained, and deported from the USA over the last 48 hours because of my reporting on the Columbia student protests I arrived back in Melbourne hours ago and had my phone handed back to me upon landing

“Elon destroyed the government because he does drugs” is both wildly mistaken and wrongly exculpatory

Windows 95 chime composer Brian Eno

transparently true, not even up for debate www.ft.com/content/bdd9...

David Markson’s list of rejections for Wittgenstein’s Mistress (died 11 years ago today)

The conclave really could use a preferential voting system and save us all some time

Ethnic cleansing policy raises fears of ethnic cleansing www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

James McGrath blaming LNP losses on Climate 200 organising against them, as though that’s unfair…

For weeks the ABC #australiavotes coverage has gone on and on about the rise of the minor parties… so why couldn’t they find room for a Green or Teal on the election night panel?

That’s right

James Patterson, when asked about women fleeing the LNP, says that the Liberals adopted their pro-nuclear policy to get female voters back…

This is an outrageously lucid essay harpers.org/archive/2025...

The @cpsu.org.au has crunched the numbers & based on the most recent data, a 5-year hiring APS freeze would slash: - 12,500 jobs or 42% of Services Australia staff - Almost 1k jobs or 27% of Veterans Affairs staff - 2,070 jobs or 21% of NDIA staff www.cpsu.org.au/CPSU/Content... #auspol

A review of the signatories of the now-infamous 2020 Harper’s Letter shows that only 24% who put their name on the letter defending ​“Open Debate” have come out in opposition to Trump’s war on campus free speech. By me and @ahjohnson.bsky.social inthesetimes.com/article/demo...