Angus Johnston
@angus.bsky.social
CUNY prof. Historian of, and advocate for, student organizing. @studentactivism from Twitter.
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Angus Johnston
@angus.bsky.social
· Oct 27
"This fucking sucks" and "all is lost" are two different sentences.
Don't say the second when you mean the first.
Don't say the second when you mean the first.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
"And that's what Thanksgiving is all about, Charlie Brown."
November 28, 2025 at 2:03 AM
"And that's what Thanksgiving is all about, Charlie Brown."
As are we all.
As an American currently at sea, I approve this message.
November 27, 2025 at 10:57 PM
As are we all.
Right on.
@angus.bsky.social I'm learning Constitutional Law for a job application exam and we're on voting, today. I was reminded of you, about lowering the voting age, where the Constitution mentioned 16 y/os can vote but are not obligated to. (From 18 to 70 it's compulsory, with exceptions)
November 27, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Right on.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
A compliment so good @angus.bsky.social put it on a mug for me!
November 27, 2025 at 5:51 PM
A compliment so good @angus.bsky.social put it on a mug for me!
" I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise ." —Abraham Lincoln, 1863
November 27, 2025 at 10:40 PM
" I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise ." —Abraham Lincoln, 1863
Reposted by Angus Johnston
Reposted by Angus Johnston
American people are convinced that every historical fact of fascism is actually how socialism worked
"The Trump administration is trading billions of dollars of taxpayer money for ownership stakes in companies. The unusual practice shows no sign of slowing." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
Anti-socialism update:
Anti-socialism update:
November 25, 2025 at 1:00 PM
American people are convinced that every historical fact of fascism is actually how socialism worked
Reposted by Angus Johnston
“I refuse to pretend that both of us are dumber than we are” is a tour de force insult, simultaneously respectful and brutal
If Isaac Chotiner ever said this to me, I would move to the woods.
November 25, 2025 at 1:43 AM
“I refuse to pretend that both of us are dumber than we are” is a tour de force insult, simultaneously respectful and brutal
Reposted by Angus Johnston
👀 Alex Vitale is a sociologist who wrote a very good book called The End of Policing.
I'm excited to announce that I have been asked to join the Mamdani Transition Team to work on community safety issues. A New Era for NYC.
November 24, 2025 at 9:45 PM
👀 Alex Vitale is a sociologist who wrote a very good book called The End of Policing.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
well goddamn
I'm excited to announce that I have been asked to join the Mamdani Transition Team to work on community safety issues. A New Era for NYC.
November 24, 2025 at 10:09 PM
well goddamn
Reposted by Angus Johnston
my friends: (cis fellas, mostly:)
if you hop into the dm's of someone you barely know to vent at them about how you didn't like a choice they made in a communal or professional context
especially if you're rude & disrespectful
we're... gonna talk
everybody's gonna know you're a dickhead
🤷♂️
if you hop into the dm's of someone you barely know to vent at them about how you didn't like a choice they made in a communal or professional context
especially if you're rude & disrespectful
we're... gonna talk
everybody's gonna know you're a dickhead
🤷♂️
November 24, 2025 at 6:39 PM
my friends: (cis fellas, mostly:)
if you hop into the dm's of someone you barely know to vent at them about how you didn't like a choice they made in a communal or professional context
especially if you're rude & disrespectful
we're... gonna talk
everybody's gonna know you're a dickhead
🤷♂️
if you hop into the dm's of someone you barely know to vent at them about how you didn't like a choice they made in a communal or professional context
especially if you're rude & disrespectful
we're... gonna talk
everybody's gonna know you're a dickhead
🤷♂️
Coincidentally, I stumbled across this just a few days ago. (Short version: "Lust for Life" is a rewite of The Supremes' "Can't Hurry Love.")
November 24, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Coincidentally, I stumbled across this just a few days ago. (Short version: "Lust for Life" is a rewite of The Supremes' "Can't Hurry Love.")
Reposted by Angus Johnston
@andrewhickey.500songs.com’s podcast is like the cerulean speech from The Devil Wears Prada, (without the mean-spiritedness).
Every moment of musical originality is downstream from a thousand tributaries, and he patiently explains every one.
It’s marvelous — vital listening for songwriters.
Every moment of musical originality is downstream from a thousand tributaries, and he patiently explains every one.
It’s marvelous — vital listening for songwriters.
November 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
@andrewhickey.500songs.com’s podcast is like the cerulean speech from The Devil Wears Prada, (without the mean-spiritedness).
Every moment of musical originality is downstream from a thousand tributaries, and he patiently explains every one.
It’s marvelous — vital listening for songwriters.
Every moment of musical originality is downstream from a thousand tributaries, and he patiently explains every one.
It’s marvelous — vital listening for songwriters.
This is incredible. "Please Please Me" as it would have appeared on a 1990s-era Roy Orbison tribute album.
November 24, 2025 at 6:14 PM
This is incredible. "Please Please Me" as it would have appeared on a 1990s-era Roy Orbison tribute album.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
Wow. That’s even more blatant than my longstanding theory about “Lust for Life” and “George of the Jungle.”
November 24, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Wow. That’s even more blatant than my longstanding theory about “Lust for Life” and “George of the Jungle.”
Reposted by Angus Johnston
It'll turn off at least some boomers, but I also think that a lot of boomers who are good allies will either be able to coexist or will start to adopt those positions themselves.
A ton of people's political opinions are formed by observing what people otherwise aligned with them support and oppose.
A ton of people's political opinions are formed by observing what people otherwise aligned with them support and oppose.
November 24, 2025 at 3:41 PM
It'll turn off at least some boomers, but I also think that a lot of boomers who are good allies will either be able to coexist or will start to adopt those positions themselves.
A ton of people's political opinions are formed by observing what people otherwise aligned with them support and oppose.
A ton of people's political opinions are formed by observing what people otherwise aligned with them support and oppose.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
I know my parents, especially my dad, have grown a lot when it comes to trans issues. I'd like to think their daughter's nudging helped, but I think most of it is seeing people who support labor unions and education funding supporting trans people and the religious right attacking them.
November 24, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I know my parents, especially my dad, have grown a lot when it comes to trans issues. I'd like to think their daughter's nudging helped, but I think most of it is seeing people who support labor unions and education funding supporting trans people and the religious right attacking them.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
The chorus in "Please Please Me" (that almost raunchy "Come on, COME ON...") reminds me of something from "Pretty Woman".
November 24, 2025 at 3:37 PM
The chorus in "Please Please Me" (that almost raunchy "Come on, COME ON...") reminds me of something from "Pretty Woman".
This, and also: If you want Gen Z to show up at your anti-Trump rallies, incorporate Gaza and trans rights and campus issues into your messaging.
And yes, it'll turn off a bunch of boomers if you do. But that's the thing—either way you're choosing one generation over another.
And yes, it'll turn off a bunch of boomers if you do. But that's the thing—either way you're choosing one generation over another.
this is not a drag of the writer of this particular piece, which is largely sympathetic, but this line of argument makes me nuts
young people are involved in protest and organizing at several levers of power—but they're not able to show up to photo op street rallies at the same rates as retirees
young people are involved in protest and organizing at several levers of power—but they're not able to show up to photo op street rallies at the same rates as retirees
My @nytimes.com op-ed: The Boomers Are Protesting Trump. Where Is Gen Z? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/o... (gift link)
The key point: "The absence of young people from conventional protests is both a problem and a warning."
The key point: "The absence of young people from conventional protests is both a problem and a warning."
November 24, 2025 at 3:37 PM
This, and also: If you want Gen Z to show up at your anti-Trump rallies, incorporate Gaza and trans rights and campus issues into your messaging.
And yes, it'll turn off a bunch of boomers if you do. But that's the thing—either way you're choosing one generation over another.
And yes, it'll turn off a bunch of boomers if you do. But that's the thing—either way you're choosing one generation over another.
This is something that @andrewhickey.500songs.com sometimes talks about that I absolutely freaking love. "Please Please Me" began as Lennon's attempt to write a Roy Orbison song, and if you slow it way down and sing it to yourself you can still absolutely hear it.
They teach people to write songs this way!
Lake Street Dive’s “You Go Down Smooth” started as a college class exercise in rewriting “Got to Get You Into My Life.”
The two songs aren’t the same, but are built from the same parts, like those Lego sets w/ alternate instructions.
Lake Street Dive’s “You Go Down Smooth” started as a college class exercise in rewriting “Got to Get You Into My Life.”
The two songs aren’t the same, but are built from the same parts, like those Lego sets w/ alternate instructions.
November 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
This is something that @andrewhickey.500songs.com sometimes talks about that I absolutely freaking love. "Please Please Me" began as Lennon's attempt to write a Roy Orbison song, and if you slow it way down and sing it to yourself you can still absolutely hear it.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
I heard an interview with Keith Richards’s where he described his songwriting process as basically “I sit down and start playing my favorite Chuck Berry songs and eventually something new grows out of it”
November 24, 2025 at 3:11 PM
I heard an interview with Keith Richards’s where he described his songwriting process as basically “I sit down and start playing my favorite Chuck Berry songs and eventually something new grows out of it”
I do choose to believe that Bob Marley did actually rip off the "Banana Splits" theme song for "Buffalo Soldier" via an unconscious multi-year earworm situation, tho.
The thing I hate most about copyright / plagiarism disputes is how the offending party goes into brazen lie mode. “Oh no, I never heard that song, or maybe I did and I subconsciously copied it, anyway my song is totally different.” Come on, man. We are men of action. Lies do not become us.
November 24, 2025 at 2:56 PM
I do choose to believe that Bob Marley did actually rip off the "Banana Splits" theme song for "Buffalo Soldier" via an unconscious multi-year earworm situation, tho.
Doo-lang doo-lang doo-lang.
November 23, 1970
George Harrison releases "My Sweet Lord," his first single as a solo artist. A spiritual song reflecting Harrison's study of Eastern religion, it goes to #1 in the US and UK, the first chart-topper for any former Beatle.
#ClassicVinyl
#MusicSky
youtu.be/04v-SdKeEpE?...
George Harrison releases "My Sweet Lord," his first single as a solo artist. A spiritual song reflecting Harrison's study of Eastern religion, it goes to #1 in the US and UK, the first chart-topper for any former Beatle.
#ClassicVinyl
#MusicSky
youtu.be/04v-SdKeEpE?...
George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
YouTube video by GeorgeHarrisonVEVO
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Doo-lang doo-lang doo-lang.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
"Oh don't worry fellows, i went into settings and turned hinged off. I also removed the setting for it to be on the chain. Let that sink in"
November 24, 2025 at 2:04 PM
"Oh don't worry fellows, i went into settings and turned hinged off. I also removed the setting for it to be on the chain. Let that sink in"
Reposted by Angus Johnston
"who here is jewish, grok is asking"
November 24, 2025 at 1:59 PM
"who here is jewish, grok is asking"