Andrew J. Eisenberg
@anthroposound.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Music @ NYU Abu Dhabi. Writes on music & sound in Kenya. #Ethnomusicology #Anthropology. Author 'Sounds of Other Shores: The Musical Poetics of Identity on Kenya's Swahili Coast' www.weslpress.org/9780819501066/sounds-of-other-shores
Pinned
Sounds of Other Shores – Wesleyan University Press
A study of transoceanic musical appropriation and Swahili ethnic subjectivity on the Kenyan coastSounds of Other Shores takes an ethnographic ear to the hist...
www.weslpress.org
Hello new followers! Pls allow me to tout my new book Sounds of Other Shores, published earlier this year. It explores the history of transoceanic appropriation as reflexive cultural critique in the popular music of Kenya’s Swahili coast.
Newark Airport should win an award for worst vibe
November 24, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Newark Airport should win an award for worst vibe
Reposted by Andrew J. Eisenberg
The media doesn't treat the Trump regime's allegiances with neo-Nazis like Nick Fuentes as antisemitism, but Zohran's belief in Palestinian liberation is treated as antisemitism.
It's completely backwards and insane. Zohran will protect American Jews; the fascists will target American Jews.
It's completely backwards and insane. Zohran will protect American Jews; the fascists will target American Jews.
WELKER: What is your message to Jewish New Yorkers who feel you won't be tough enough in your response to antisemitism?
MAMDANI: That I am looking forward to being the next mayor and fulfilling the commitment I've made to Jewish New Yorkers to not only protect them but to celebrate and cherish them
MAMDANI: That I am looking forward to being the next mayor and fulfilling the commitment I've made to Jewish New Yorkers to not only protect them but to celebrate and cherish them
November 23, 2025 at 5:21 PM
The media doesn't treat the Trump regime's allegiances with neo-Nazis like Nick Fuentes as antisemitism, but Zohran's belief in Palestinian liberation is treated as antisemitism.
It's completely backwards and insane. Zohran will protect American Jews; the fascists will target American Jews.
It's completely backwards and insane. Zohran will protect American Jews; the fascists will target American Jews.
Reposted by Andrew J. Eisenberg
If the government asks for a list of Jews in your organization, you have an absolute ethical obligation to refuse that request, regardless of who is asking or what they say it's for. They have no right to ask and you have no right to comply.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/u...
Federal Suit Seeking Names of Some Jewish Employees at Penn Sparks Backlash
www.nytimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:26 PM
If the government asks for a list of Jews in your organization, you have an absolute ethical obligation to refuse that request, regardless of who is asking or what they say it's for. They have no right to ask and you have no right to comply.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/u...
I don’t think there has ever been a bigger crush than the one Trump clearly has on Zohran Mamdani
November 21, 2025 at 11:14 PM
I don’t think there has ever been a bigger crush than the one Trump clearly has on Zohran Mamdani
Every ten years or so I learn something about Larry Summers that I think must be the worst thing I will ever learn about Larry Summers.
November 19, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Every ten years or so I learn something about Larry Summers that I think must be the worst thing I will ever learn about Larry Summers.
🙄
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed rising beef prices are tied to cattle disease spreading through “mass immigration.”
Trump Admin Says Beef Prices Could Hit $10 per Pound Because of Migrants
www.newsweek.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:31 AM
🙄
To keep his base he’s got to distance himself from what Lindsay Graham called the “Hitler sucks wing” of the Republican Party. Or there could be a simpler way to describe this dynamic but it’s not coming to me rn.
President Trump defended Mr. Carlson’s friendly interview with an openly antisemitic white supremacist that prompted denunciations from some on the right. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
Trump Defends Tucker Carlson After Nick Fuentes Interview
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:24 AM
To keep his base he’s got to distance himself from what Lindsay Graham called the “Hitler sucks wing” of the Republican Party. Or there could be a simpler way to describe this dynamic but it’s not coming to me rn.
Insanity
“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Insanity
Reposted by Andrew J. Eisenberg
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the dangers of reanimating corpses with electricity
November 13, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the dangers of reanimating corpses with electricity
My 7 yr old is apparently still processing what it means that his grandmother passed away two months ago. If you ever want to experience strange dreams, I recommend having your young child ask you out of the blue, as if reporting a dinosaur fact, if you happen to know that your mother died.
November 10, 2025 at 8:06 AM
My 7 yr old is apparently still processing what it means that his grandmother passed away two months ago. If you ever want to experience strange dreams, I recommend having your young child ask you out of the blue, as if reporting a dinosaur fact, if you happen to know that your mother died.
The same people who like to paint the left as purveyors of incoherent ideas that lack grounding in “common sense” also spout completely opaque drivel like this.
Look, I know it's fun to be ranking on Douthat but true feminist praxis in 2025 means ridiculing the faux intellectual women he interviews. Because this is all very ridiculous.
November 6, 2025 at 2:50 PM
The same people who like to paint the left as purveyors of incoherent ideas that lack grounding in “common sense” also spout completely opaque drivel like this.
Don't ever Douthat
November 6, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Don't ever Douthat
Reposted by Andrew J. Eisenberg
Mamdani got a humanities degree.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
November 5, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Mamdani got a humanities degree.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
Every time I listen to SCOTUS arguments I feel second-hand embarrassment for every justice who isn't Ketanji Brown Jackson. She sounds at least twice as smart as the others. To be sure it is partly due to her drama training. But it is probably also true that she just IS smarter.
November 5, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Every time I listen to SCOTUS arguments I feel second-hand embarrassment for every justice who isn't Ketanji Brown Jackson. She sounds at least twice as smart as the others. To be sure it is partly due to her drama training. But it is probably also true that she just IS smarter.
Reposted by Andrew J. Eisenberg
If I was a GOP strategist, I’d be pretty worried about diluting my safe +15 districts into a bunch of +5 gerrymandered districts after tonight.
November 5, 2025 at 5:10 AM
If I was a GOP strategist, I’d be pretty worried about diluting my safe +15 districts into a bunch of +5 gerrymandered districts after tonight.
Just want to see one (1) news story on how toxic the Republican brand is among average, everyday Northeast urbanites, and how that should be seen as a major crisis for Republicans. Unfortunately I won’t bc this is still a country where cows and empty land get strong political representation
November 5, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Just want to see one (1) news story on how toxic the Republican brand is among average, everyday Northeast urbanites, and how that should be seen as a major crisis for Republicans. Unfortunately I won’t bc this is still a country where cows and empty land get strong political representation
Reposted by Andrew J. Eisenberg
East coast to Trump: DROP DEAD
What we know, 10:20pm
—VA Dems flip Gov, LG, *and* AG
—BIG Dem gains in VA House
—Dems win NJ-Gov
—Mamdani wins
—Dems keep PA supreme court
—Larry Krasner & Bragg win
— GA Dems flip 2 statewide offices
—JD Vance’s half-brother loses Cincy
—Dems sweep Orlando council
—ME anti-mail vote measure loses
—VA Dems flip Gov, LG, *and* AG
—BIG Dem gains in VA House
—Dems win NJ-Gov
—Mamdani wins
—Dems keep PA supreme court
—Larry Krasner & Bragg win
— GA Dems flip 2 statewide offices
—JD Vance’s half-brother loses Cincy
—Dems sweep Orlando council
—ME anti-mail vote measure loses
November 5, 2025 at 3:52 AM
East coast to Trump: DROP DEAD
Reposted by Andrew J. Eisenberg
Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
November 5, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
In so many respects Cheney set the stage for Trump
November 4, 2025 at 3:25 PM
In so many respects Cheney set the stage for Trump
Keanu Reeves, the disembodied sage from the SpongeBob movie
Richard Attenborough as the cuddly old guy who played Santa.
I think everybody has a “Wallace Shawn from Young Sheldon” — my first one would probably be “Vincent Price, the guy who did the voice of Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective”
November 3, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Keanu Reeves, the disembodied sage from the SpongeBob movie
If a Democratic president did this, it would be referenced constantly by the mainstream media for the next 600 years as indisputable evidence that every single member of the Democratic party is elitist and out of touch.
Trump slammed for lavish Gatsby-themed Halloween party as vital food funding lapses
Trump slammed for lavish Gatsby-themed Halloween party as vital food funding lapses
Trump slammed for lavish Gatsby-themed Halloween party as vital food funding lapses
www.independent.co.uk
November 2, 2025 at 12:36 PM
If a Democratic president did this, it would be referenced constantly by the mainstream media for the next 600 years as indisputable evidence that every single member of the Democratic party is elitist and out of touch.
Reposted by Andrew J. Eisenberg
The United States was the leading destination for top scientists from all over the world.
That is ending. Politicians ended it. It will cripple our future competitiveness.
And it’s such a bitter tragedy. Almost no Americans, Conservative or Liberal, grasp what is now being stolen from them.
That is ending. Politicians ended it. It will cripple our future competitiveness.
And it’s such a bitter tragedy. Almost no Americans, Conservative or Liberal, grasp what is now being stolen from them.
Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending'
YouTube video by PBS NewsHour
youtu.be
November 1, 2025 at 3:44 AM
The United States was the leading destination for top scientists from all over the world.
That is ending. Politicians ended it. It will cripple our future competitiveness.
And it’s such a bitter tragedy. Almost no Americans, Conservative or Liberal, grasp what is now being stolen from them.
That is ending. Politicians ended it. It will cripple our future competitiveness.
And it’s such a bitter tragedy. Almost no Americans, Conservative or Liberal, grasp what is now being stolen from them.
Very weird seeing this on the front page of the NYT while sitting at home in Abu Dhabi. It's like, I guess if I ever get bored of being an expat in the UAE, I can try moving to CoreWeave or AMD. Or maybe Oracle, which I heard is nice this time of year.
October 31, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Very weird seeing this on the front page of the NYT while sitting at home in Abu Dhabi. It's like, I guess if I ever get bored of being an expat in the UAE, I can try moving to CoreWeave or AMD. Or maybe Oracle, which I heard is nice this time of year.
They also mentioned that water is wet, but that only earned them a reprimand
The Justice Department locked two federal prosecutors out of their devices and placed them on leave after they wrote in a court filing that on Jan. 6, 2021, “thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol.”
https://bit.ly/3X6Q6iU
https://bit.ly/3X6Q6iU
DOJ Puts Prosecutors On Leave For Accurately Describing Jan. 6 Attack
Read more here.
bit.ly
October 30, 2025 at 4:32 PM
They also mentioned that water is wet, but that only earned them a reprimand
Reposted by Andrew J. Eisenberg
The framing of this article is deeply anti intellectual, anti Black, antisemitic and islamophobic. There was no sinister a cabal of (((intellectuals))) who magically “influenced” Mamdani, because in college, and I don’t know if the reporter knew this, students choose what courses to take
A few thoughts about this deeply-flawed Jeremy W. Peters article.(Gift link.) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...
How a Small Elite College in Maine Influenced Mamdani’s World View
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:59 PM
The framing of this article is deeply anti intellectual, anti Black, antisemitic and islamophobic. There was no sinister a cabal of (((intellectuals))) who magically “influenced” Mamdani, because in college, and I don’t know if the reporter knew this, students choose what courses to take