Shawn Gilmore
@gipperfish.bsky.social
Teaching Assistant Professor at UIUC, Editor of the @vaultofculture.bsky.social (https://www.vaultofculture.com/), Executive Secretary of the Comics Studies Society, NTFC Local #6546 steward, comics scholar, and a ton of other stuff. Views own.
Pinned
Shawn Gilmore
@gipperfish.bsky.social
· Apr 25
“We’re organizing for a revolution in America”: Remaking Resistance in Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014) and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (2017) — The Vault of Culture
In this feature, Shawn Gilmore argues that MachineGames’ soft reboot entries in the Wolfenstein franchise, set in a world overrun by Nazi machines of war, increasingly humble (both physically and em...
www.vaultofculture.com
Now's a great time to check out my piece from a few weeks ago, considering how resistance and revolution are imagined in MachineGames' Wolfenstein reboots, over at @vaultofculture.bsky.social:
www.vaultofculture.com/vault/featur...
www.vaultofculture.com/vault/featur...
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
Kudos to @insidehighered.com for giving @bakerdphd.bsky.social a column. I couldn’t be more excited for what’s she’s choosing to do with it.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
January 13, 2026 at 9:52 PM
Kudos to @insidehighered.com for giving @bakerdphd.bsky.social a column. I couldn’t be more excited for what’s she’s choosing to do with it.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
Just a reminder that there are a ton of lovely, fantastic cartoonists out there working today who are in no way awful.
January 13, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Just a reminder that there are a ton of lovely, fantastic cartoonists out there working today who are in no way awful.
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
Steam’s Detective Fest 2026 game sale is replete with string imagery: www.vaultofculture.com/vault/nst/20...
NST #1355: Steam Detective Fest (2026) — The Vault of Culture
Steam’s Detective Fest 2026 game sale is replete with string imagery.
www.vaultofculture.com
January 13, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Steam’s Detective Fest 2026 game sale is replete with string imagery: www.vaultofculture.com/vault/nst/20...
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
pod praxis
Theory At The Bargaining Table (Vandal Live at UIC)
with Dominique Baker & Anna Kornbluh
theamericanvandal.substack.com
January 9, 2026 at 1:47 PM
pod praxis
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
Testa Anatomica — Filippo Balbi, 1854
December 28, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Testa Anatomica — Filippo Balbi, 1854
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
Georges Méliès, true to his stage roots, demonstrates no strings in THE MERMAID (1904). While his special effects are justly acclaimed, I think he also deserves credit for being among the first performers to understand how to play to the camera.
January 13, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Georges Méliès, true to his stage roots, demonstrates no strings in THE MERMAID (1904). While his special effects are justly acclaimed, I think he also deserves credit for being among the first performers to understand how to play to the camera.
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
Very happy to say my article on The Last of Us and race has been published by @openlibhums.org, part of their special collection on Gaming and Humanities edited by @katespowage.bsky.social and Adrienne Mortimer: doi.org/10.16995/olh...
Racialized Contagion and Defensive Biopolitics in <em>The Last of Us</em>
In the opening moments of the video game The Last of Us Part I, players are introduced to an emerging pandemic via Austin’s Texas Herald newspaper. Below a headline warning of mass hospitalizations fr...
doi.org
January 13, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Very happy to say my article on The Last of Us and race has been published by @openlibhums.org, part of their special collection on Gaming and Humanities edited by @katespowage.bsky.social and Adrienne Mortimer: doi.org/10.16995/olh...
January 13, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
that about sums it all up
January 12, 2026 at 9:24 PM
that about sums it all up
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
“Three policemen, falling upon one unarmed student, were beating him with their riot sticks. Nobody was stopping them. The sound was clear & terrible. ‘What the hell,’ said Weed Atman. It was a moment of light, in which the true nature of the police was being revealed to him.”
On Pynchon’s Vineland
On Pynchon’s Vineland
The Novel and the Secret Police
In Vineland, his underappreciated 1990 novel, Thomas Pynchon anticipated a United States in which security would become the greatest good.
www.bostonreview.net
January 12, 2026 at 5:44 PM
“Three policemen, falling upon one unarmed student, were beating him with their riot sticks. Nobody was stopping them. The sound was clear & terrible. ‘What the hell,’ said Weed Atman. It was a moment of light, in which the true nature of the police was being revealed to him.”
On Pynchon’s Vineland
On Pynchon’s Vineland
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
Breaking NYT:
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
U.S. Attacked Boat With Aircraft That Looked Like a Civilian Plane
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Breaking NYT:
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
This isn't just a casual observation. Fascism scholars have long made this point. It's why calling them "weird" was a more effective strategy than talking about the prices of eggs. Fascism is an aesthetic political movement - you need to make people feel embarassed and horrified by it.
one of the most effective weapons we have against fascism is mockery, especially when its really funny
It occurs to me all the yelling at ICE in MPLS isn't merely funny. Getting made fun of like this is awful for morale. ICE is losing field officers faster than it can wave them through training, and a big part of it is how little of this these little weasels can take.
January 12, 2026 at 5:54 PM
This isn't just a casual observation. Fascism scholars have long made this point. It's why calling them "weird" was a more effective strategy than talking about the prices of eggs. Fascism is an aesthetic political movement - you need to make people feel embarassed and horrified by it.
Picturesque meal at the place that is often crowded when all the undergrads are on campus
January 12, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Picturesque meal at the place that is often crowded when all the undergrads are on campus
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
Katarina Thorsen’s Salt Green Death (Conundrum Press, 2025) contains a nice string page with connections to James Joyce’s Ulysses: www.vaultofculture.com/vault/nst/20...
NST #1354: Salt Green Death (2025) — The Vault of Culture
Katarina Thorsen’s Salt Green Death (Conundrum Press, 2025) contains a nice string page with connections to James Joyce’s Ulysses .
www.vaultofculture.com
January 12, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Katarina Thorsen’s Salt Green Death (Conundrum Press, 2025) contains a nice string page with connections to James Joyce’s Ulysses: www.vaultofculture.com/vault/nst/20...
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
VoC is proud to present a new feature by Emma Westermeier examining how the external cinematic elements in Charles Burns’s 2024 graphic novel Final Cut introduce gaps in the focalization of its two protagonists (Brian and Laurie): www.vaultofculture.com/vault/featur...
Beyond the Screen: The Film Eye in Charles Burns’s Final Cut (2024) — The Vault of Culture
In this feature, Emma Westermeier examines how the external cinematic elements in Charles Burns’s 2024 graphic novel Final Cut introduce gaps in the focalization of its two protagonists (Brian and L...
www.vaultofculture.com
January 12, 2026 at 4:13 PM
VoC is proud to present a new feature by Emma Westermeier examining how the external cinematic elements in Charles Burns’s 2024 graphic novel Final Cut introduce gaps in the focalization of its two protagonists (Brian and Laurie): www.vaultofculture.com/vault/featur...
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
Old enough to remember when Claudine Gay was fired from Harvard for copying a phrase in her dissertation
This seems to strongly suggest that the incoming president of UVA doctored his CV to the edge of outright dishonesty, and that the most recent changes came months before Jim Ryan was forced, as if they were made in anticipation in Ryan’s removal. augustafreepress.com/news/vanishi...
How UVA’s presidential search missed what took us an hour to find
Inside Higher Ed frames the controversy surrounding Scott C. Beardsley's appointment as the University of Virginia's president.
augustafreepress.com
January 11, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Old enough to remember when Claudine Gay was fired from Harvard for copying a phrase in her dissertation
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
BOHEMIAE ROSA, by Chr. Vetter, Vienna, 1668, a map representing Bohemia as a rose centred on Prague.
January 11, 2026 at 8:37 PM
BOHEMIAE ROSA, by Chr. Vetter, Vienna, 1668, a map representing Bohemia as a rose centred on Prague.
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
Finally it is here!
My Reading Roundup for 2025!
Quite a few books about abolition and policing for those who may be interested for some reason today.
Will repost tomorrow with tags for people mentioned.
Enjoy responsibly.
#books #reading
widely-read.ghost.io/2025-reading...
My Reading Roundup for 2025!
Quite a few books about abolition and policing for those who may be interested for some reason today.
Will repost tomorrow with tags for people mentioned.
Enjoy responsibly.
#books #reading
widely-read.ghost.io/2025-reading...
2025 Reading Roundup!
So this is my incredibly long reading roundup for 2025! It has all the books that I have read this year that I liked/loved/felt changed by/felt was worth suggesting/couldn’t let go of. There were a fe...
widely-read.ghost.io
January 7, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Finally it is here!
My Reading Roundup for 2025!
Quite a few books about abolition and policing for those who may be interested for some reason today.
Will repost tomorrow with tags for people mentioned.
Enjoy responsibly.
#books #reading
widely-read.ghost.io/2025-reading...
My Reading Roundup for 2025!
Quite a few books about abolition and policing for those who may be interested for some reason today.
Will repost tomorrow with tags for people mentioned.
Enjoy responsibly.
#books #reading
widely-read.ghost.io/2025-reading...
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
"The freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state."
—William J. Brennan Jr., joined by White, Blackmun, Stevens, & Marshall, Houston v. Hill, 1987
—William J. Brennan Jr., joined by White, Blackmun, Stevens, & Marshall, Houston v. Hill, 1987
Q: "Do you believe that deadly force was necessary?"
Trump: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement…Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff."
Trump: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement…Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff."
January 12, 2026 at 3:26 AM
"The freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state."
—William J. Brennan Jr., joined by White, Blackmun, Stevens, & Marshall, Houston v. Hill, 1987
—William J. Brennan Jr., joined by White, Blackmun, Stevens, & Marshall, Houston v. Hill, 1987
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
"comics are an interdisciplinary art, and as such will always have competing definitions... contradictory definitions in comics only come into conflict in the context of the medium’s cultural competition for legitimacy"
Critical Thinking: The problem (with comics)
Critical Thinking inquires: can the TEACHING WITH COMICS academic textbook clear up today's comic book issues?
www.comicsbeat.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:00 AM
"comics are an interdisciplinary art, and as such will always have competing definitions... contradictory definitions in comics only come into conflict in the context of the medium’s cultural competition for legitimacy"
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
The Giant Book by Wild Drawing (WD) in Grenoble, France. #StreetArt
January 11, 2026 at 9:37 AM
The Giant Book by Wild Drawing (WD) in Grenoble, France. #StreetArt
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Jerome Powell: "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation."
January 12, 2026 at 1:45 AM
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
once again: ICE is operating as if they have a general warrant, the specific type of warrant the founders were most concerned about when drafting the 4th Amendment
Not remotely legal. Minnesota needs to arrest these thugs breaking down doors right now, before they start grabbing even more power
January 12, 2026 at 12:29 AM
once again: ICE is operating as if they have a general warrant, the specific type of warrant the founders were most concerned about when drafting the 4th Amendment
Reposted by Shawn Gilmore
Women played an important role in policing 13th-century England. Women couldn't be in frankpledge or sit on juries, but they were still required to raise the hue & cry, they chased criminals when need be, and were required to attend trials when they witnessed crime or discovered bodies. 🧵1/5
March 29, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Women played an important role in policing 13th-century England. Women couldn't be in frankpledge or sit on juries, but they were still required to raise the hue & cry, they chased criminals when need be, and were required to attend trials when they witnessed crime or discovered bodies. 🧵1/5