Not the bots!

Why are there so few (none?) news stories about individual ICE agents themselves? Who they are, what motivates them, any moral dilemmas they face? Why aren’t protesters trying to get some to speak out?

New #culturerover: The Dissonance of Dissidence—Theater Apparatus, Václav Havel’s Protest @ MuCCC/Rochester Fringe Festival @rochesterfringe.bsky.social, 10 september 2025. www.michaeljkramer.net/the-dissonan...

New #culturerover: Outstretched—Commotion Dance reaches out in Opus @ MuCC/Rochester Fringe Festival @rochesterfringe.bsky.social, 9 September 2025. www.michaeljkramer.net/outstretched/

New #culturerover: Those Times of Revolution—In Los Lobos’s 1996 “Revolution,” the words say one thing, the music another. www.michaeljkramer.net/those-times

I once again defer to experts, but shouldn't the Democrats message right now be twofold?

Don’t get all the hand-wringing by Democratic leaders about upcoming potential government shutdown. Isn’t it simpler? “The other party currently holds power. We’re the opposition party. Let them solve the issue. If they can’t then elect us next time.” Make the distinction clearer.

Why is the phrase “the juice isn’t worth the squeeze” or variations of it suddenly ubiquitous? A few years ago everyone had “bucket lists,” now we are in an era of diminishing returns?

New #culturerover: Get Out the Way, Old Dan Tucker returns as ICE agent? www.michaeljkramer.net/get-out-the-...

Question for political operatives, activists, and historians. I keep wondering why the Democratic Party's message is not simpler and bolder: the Trumpublicans want to kill your grandma and your children; we want to keep them alive. Why are they not saying something like that these days?

Get out the way Old Dan Tucker. www.facebook.com/reel/4151252...

The closing of the BBC Sounds app is very sad. Way more restricted access to BBC Radio overseas now. Part of a larger closing down of public media (and global publics)?

Great conversation here between Paul Gulroy and Steve McQueen. youtu.be/YHW2HHaEl2g?...

Move over Zizek. Step aside Walter Benjamin. Take a bath Barthes. Best cultural criticism & analysis going today, in a format for contemporary times. youtube.com/@meditations...

Call for a ban on the word "impactful" unless you are planning to punch someone (preferably a Nazi).

Over at @newyorker.com, the always-sharp Vinson Cunningham has a nice piece on those super-weird Apple AI ads, www.newyorker.com/culture/crit..., something I was thinking a lot about too in the Culture Rover post Phonies, www.michaeljkramer.net/phonies/. #culturerover

Jasper Johns, Two Flags (Black) (crop), 1970-72. For more, see "We Carried You In Our Arms, on Independence Day—images & sounds for July 4th." www.michaeljkramer.net/we-carried-y...

New #culturerover: More Than a Face—the gaze & the visage. Unmasking masking in the 2020s. www.michaeljkramer.net/more-than-a-...

“Don’t hate the black, don’t hate the white. If you get bitten, just hate the bite.” youtu.be/u8r32Scvbds

New #culturerover: Brushing Against the Body, on The Living End: Painting and Other Technologies, 1970–2020, @mcachicago.bsky.social www.michaeljkramer.net/brushing-aga...

Clowns.

Joan Baez & Mike Seeger backstage at the 1964 Berkeley Folk Music Festival Jubilee Concert. From the Berkeley Folk Music Festival Collection, bfmf.net. #bfmf

Political strategists smarter than me, I don’t understand why Democrats aren’t saying everywhere, constantly: the ruling party right now cannot be trusted (they want to kill your grandma & your babies); they can’t get it done (not enough atc’s, no goods coming in at ports). Is there a reason not?

New #culturerover: X Musks the Spot—on Jill Lepore’s sci-fi history of Elon Musk. www.michaeljkramer.net/x-musks-the-...

For the Monday morning crowd: a 🧵on how to appeal your NEH grant termination. Please share with NEH grantees. I also summarized in a shareable google doc, available here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

New #culturerover: Sam Shepard Returns—In two recent productions, Sam Shepard’s plays remind us that family traumas have long afterlives. www.michaeljkramer.net/sam-shepard-...

Culture is back, apparently, according to @robflaherty.bsky.social in a fascinating op-ed (www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/o...). But what is culture exactly? Beyond binaries of opt-in, info, "educated," snooty vs. opt-out, vibes, irrational, infantile, perhaps other configurations await.

Dems could use donor funds to hire all furloughed & fired government workers temporarily. Create a kind of gov’t-in-exile. “We put people to work. And we will do it for you too. The opposition wants to fire you, we put people to work making your country stronger.” Something like that.

Had a dream fiery Dem candidate speech said of Repubs: “evidence suggests you can’t trust them. From what they are doing, they seem to want to kill your grandma & babies, make your things more expensive, & take your job.”

New #culturerover: Shades Drawn, Icarus had feathers & wax, but he didn’t have a smartphone, www.michaeljkramer.net/shades-drawn/.

New #culturerover #photojournal: Trash Room. www.michaeljkramer.net/trash-room/

Richard Nixon, Special Message to the Congress About Funding and Authorization of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, 10 December 1969. www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/sp...

From what I'm reading, sounds like for the Democrats to position themselves well for midterms, they should (1) label repeatedly the economic downturn caused by tariffs as a "Trump Republican Recession" & (2) repeatedly position the opposition as untrustworthy—"they cannot be trusted," over & over.

New #culturerover: Kidsoterica—if you or anyone in your life needs a playlist of weird kids music, proceed. www.michaeljkramer.net/kidsoterica/

Excellent & disturbing Jill Lepore piece about the family origins of Musk’s ideas: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/o...

The National Humanities Alliance is collecting information on canceled NEH grants to share with congressional leaders. This is legit fact finding in support of competent lobbying. If you've had your grant canceled, do let them know. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

I’ve worked on something close to 60 grants in various capacities as a Library of Congress task force director. And if we lose NEH that pretty much ends most research and preservation infrastructure, with no backup plan.

Roscoe Holcomb performing at the 1963 Monterey Folk Festival. Photo: Kelly Hart. From the Berkeley Folk Music Festival Project, bfmf.net. #bfmf

To conclude the "More (and Sometimes More Important) Ideas That Made America" roundtable, @johannneem.bsky.social asks, in response to Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen’s The Ideas That Made America, how US intellectual historians might go about "Remaking America." thecarryall.org/remaking-ame...

Melinda Cooper, with, as usual, a powerful way to think about recent politics in the US. www.dissentmagazine.org/online_artic...

Emily Hawk wants us to "Put Some Body Into It," today at The Carryall's "More (and Sometimes More Important) Ideas That Made America" roundtable, a series of responses to Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen’s *The Ideas That Made America: A Brief History.* thecarryall.org/put-some-bod...

Brandon James Render looks at how "X Marks the Spot" today at The Carryall's "More (and Sometimes More Important) Ideas That Made America" roundtable, a series of responses to Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen’s *The Ideas That Made America: A Brief History.* thecarryall.org/x-marks-the-...

Today at The Carryall, "Let's Go Crazy." Kevin Mattson responds to Chapter 8—The End of Universalism (1962-1990s) of Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen’s *The Ideas That Made America: A Brief History.* thecarryall.org/lets-go-crazy/

Wait, what happened to the "demographic cliff"? "As Crises Grip Colleges, More Students Than Ever Are Set to Enroll," NY Times, 25 March 2025. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/u....

In "Playboys of the Postmodern World," Audrey Wu Clark responds to Chapter 8—The End of Universalism (1962-1990s) of Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen’s book, *The Ideas That Made America,* for The Carryall's "More (and Sometimes More Important) Ideas That Made America." thecarryall.org/playboys-of-...

I am no pollster, political strategist, or anything, but listening to @davidshor.bsky.social’s interview on the Ezra Klein Show, it struck me that not only do the Demos need to message trust but also that their opposition cannot be trusted. This seems like a path forward for the party?