This poem by Assata Shakur has been getting shared round a lot since her passing a few days ago. For good reason. It's quite lovely. #RIP

With Eric Adams out of the race, I'm resharing the piece I wrote about Mamdani and the forces that must be organized for “socialist governance” to be successful. Paywall removed, but if you want to subscribe and chuck me a few monthly dollars, I won’t argue.

What I wrote about Kneecap for Locust Review as the charges against Mo Chara -- now dismissed, just this morning -- were brought. #Kneecap #Tiocfaidhárlá #rap

Fucking yes.

A snake crawled out of the grass. “If Toad looks funny in his bathing suit,” said the snake, “then I, for one, want to see him.”

“It is only for those without hope that hope is given.” ― Walter Benjamin, who committed suicide 85 years ago today. #WalterBenjamin #criticaltheory

It's been a year since Fredric Jameson died. This is what I wrote after hearing the news. I'd say it's held up well. #CriticalTheory #literaturesky

No matter how bad things get in my life, at least I won't be traveling to the UK until well AFTER the Oasis reunion.

Dropped today. Fantastic album.

Most days, the mud that rests between Ross Douthat's ears would be the subject of gleeful derision. Not today, given the circumstances. Much as he may "disagree with the vice president's framing," he's clearly giving credence to it.

Same…

Scene from a weekend.

Drive. #LosAngeles #freeway #traffic

It won't stop Trump or the right from attacking the left, but the more we find out about the suspect arrested for shooting Kirk, the harder it gets to mark him as leftist. At best it seems he has the same kind of contradictory mishmash in his head we saw with Luigi. Writing on bullets and all.

Because there was no way I was going to be able to get on with things unless I wrote about it. Because it’s likely they’ll use Kirk’s death to declare a war on anything faintly ringing of a life lived with dignity. #writing #AmericanViolence

Many condemn political violence as an attack on the foundations of a democratic society. But we also have to ask why we have political violence in the first place. Surely it is an expression of our social alienation, weak social bonds, and lack of democracy itself. It is as much a symptom as cause.

The industry has found a lucrative niche in overplaying Lennon and Yoko's far-left phase for a while now. This piece does a really good job showing how deeply conservative this image is, despite appearances. Though honestly, it's pretty hard to say anything that costs this much can be "radical."

Something something America's Years of Lead something something...

I recently watched a stage production of Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus" here in LA. Marshall Berman's take on the Faust story, how he related it to the promises and deceptions of modernity, was at the front of my thoughts the whole time. Always a revelation to read.

If the protests defending Bolsonaro are indeed larger than those against him (take that with a grain of salt), then it reflects how his imprisonment will be far from the last word in all this. Particularly with the last of the Latin American "pink tide" receding.

Gladwell's always been a dundering ballbag, ready to write things that seem insightful and daring but are in fact just the same warmed over tripe as every other middle of the road columnist. This latest pivot is part of it. He’ll probably get a $2 million book advance for it.

We should expect more stories like this as millennials start to inherit their parents' wealth. Not most of them of course, but enough that we notice. Class vs. generation, all that. In any event, always look past the skinny jeans and stick-and-poke tattoos. Particularly when they're on your boss.

Cathartic.

Trying something new here. It’s bizarre enough, not to mention more than a bit grim. The first notes toward what will hopefully result in a novel. #LiteratureSky #BookSky

Skyline. Downtown LA. Late summer.

Been trying to figure out what I have to say about Pulp’s More all damn summer. This gets pretty close.

I’m 43 today. If you want to get me something you can subscribe to my Substack (trying to build up my paying subscribers as they seem to have plateaued lately).

Regarding what I wrote for @jacobinmag.bsky.social in defense of public broadcasting, consider this. An interview with Herbert Marcuse, patiently and frankly discussing #philosophy, Marxism, and revolution. This is a public right. Anyone who denies this does not believe in a democratic culture.

It’s still a bit weird to me that my book has a bigger readership in Brazil than in the English-speaking world. The good people at @sobinfluencia.bsky.social have done well in this regard. This is the second chapter of the Portuguese edition of Shake the City.

When I wrote this last week, the upcoming 80th anniversary of #Hiroshima was, oddly enough, not on my mind at all. History often makes your argument for you. #filmsky #literaturesky alexanderbillet.substack.com/p/it-will-be...

There's a plastic spoon in your skull. A mountain of sandwich baggies at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. A bar-headed goose is flying near Everest. It doesn't know what "exposome" is. Or that its kidneys are failing. #plasticsky #exposome #pollution

Read more here: alexanderbillet.substack.com/p/it-will-be... #filmsky #writingsky #literaturesky

I’ve been unsure what to write about what’s happening in Gaza. Anything? What can be said right now? What will we be able to say later? Ultimately I had to reach for more eloquent voices than mine.

The Right has finally managed to gut public broadcasting. Our already anemic access to news, education, and culture has taken a massive blow.

San Diego. Also a place. #vacation #summer #palmtrees #socal

"Public broadcasting isn’t usually seen as part of the safety net, but it should: a key component in any society that has the remotest concern for its inhabitants’ well-being" jacobin.com/2025/07/publ... via @ubupamplemousse.bsky.social #pubmedia

I'm in @jacobinmag.bsky.social on the new, devastating cuts to public broadcasting and the case for a radical democratic media. I frequently think about the already sorry state of public media in this country. It could be so much better. It’s about to get a lot worse. jacobin.com/2025/07/publ...

I have no idea if this is significant, but evidently my blog is now number 42 in “rising” music Substacks. Good for me I guess? Anyway, you should subscribe. #writing

Everyone seems to be writing about Zohran Mamdani lately. Who am I to diverge from a trend? NYC, the right to the city, Jameson, urban rebellion and a great deal more…

Cat and books. #booksky

New post up on the Substack, with the text from my remarks at the launch of Adam Turl’s book Gothic Capitalism: Art Evicted From Heaven and Earth.

Interesting…

Apartheid kills children. Bob Vylan slaps. #IndieMusic

Beach day. Weird when you can’t go in the water. #summer #beach #LosAngeles #wildfires

Dear @netflix.com. Stop trying to make me watch Poop Cruise. I’m not going to watch Poop Cruise.

“The name is Mamdani, M, A, M, D, A, N, I. You should learn how to say it…”

Until the past couple weeks I had been thinking that the "age of left populism" and/or the "populist stage of the left" had shut tight with the November elections. Mamdani shows why I was wrong. I'm glad to be so.

Black lung surges. That this is the case says about everything that needs to be said about the Trump administration’s supposed support for the working class.