Evan Torner
@guyintheblackhat.bsky.social
Associate Professor of German, Niehoff Professor of Film & Media Studies at U of Cincinnati; Scholar of East German cinema, science fiction, and role-playing games. He/Him. Bi. Wears a hat.
Pinned
I'd like to think of "dark academia" as "I, a brooding professor who wears all black, have [these clothes] on while I send many emails and update Canvas assignment due dates"
Reposted by Evan Torner
They’ve been on this for a minute. More teaching + post tenure review (and contracts) plus ai supercharged productivity surveillance tools also makes professors more vulnerable to student evals, which gives admin more power to fire you. That’s the plan.
"Imposing minimum teaching requirements...has been touted as a way to cut costs and 'better focus university resources in the classroom,' .... The notion is also gaining steam in conservative circles as a means of ensuring faculty productivity and curbing 'intellectually unserious' research."
The Campaign to Make Professors Teach More
Lawmakers say faculty members don’t work enough. Is this about productivity or punishment?
www.chronicle.com
February 5, 2026 at 12:17 AM
They’ve been on this for a minute. More teaching + post tenure review (and contracts) plus ai supercharged productivity surveillance tools also makes professors more vulnerable to student evals, which gives admin more power to fire you. That’s the plan.
Overwatch 2 is the most hazily non-sequel sequel ever begotten on this Earth
February 4, 2026 at 9:51 PM
Overwatch 2 is the most hazily non-sequel sequel ever begotten on this Earth
"Kapos have their own rooms, where they can hoard supplies and receive young favorites."
-Alain Resnais, Night and Fog (1955)
-Alain Resnais, Night and Fog (1955)
February 4, 2026 at 11:29 AM
"Kapos have their own rooms, where they can hoard supplies and receive young favorites."
-Alain Resnais, Night and Fog (1955)
-Alain Resnais, Night and Fog (1955)
Reposted by Evan Torner
(smiling face with tear emoji)
February 4, 2026 at 9:42 AM
(smiling face with tear emoji)
Reposted by Evan Torner
![Comic. Conjecture: It’s possible to construct a convincing proof without words, pictures, or content of any kind. Proof: [empty box] [caption] Proofs without words are cool, but we can go further.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiaukmlmzx6xhbcjej4rq5axkf7a25sjywnvodd53dgnebmt4ver5a@jpeg)
February 3, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Evan Torner
Can comfirm from MN, as can anyone who lives here, that not a THING has changed except little Bovino isnt peacocking around the streets anymore. And there hasn’t been a third high-profile murder of a white person yet.
But the gestapo attacks haven’t stopped. At all! bsky.app/profile/jyse...
But the gestapo attacks haven’t stopped. At all! bsky.app/profile/jyse...
ICE hasn't stopped brutalizing people or shredding the Constitution, it's just that corporate media turned the camera as the call for action got too loud and the Democrats stepped in and made sure the issue got changed.
If you sit for a second, you'll recognize that's what happened with BLM, too.
If you sit for a second, you'll recognize that's what happened with BLM, too.
February 3, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Can comfirm from MN, as can anyone who lives here, that not a THING has changed except little Bovino isnt peacocking around the streets anymore. And there hasn’t been a third high-profile murder of a white person yet.
But the gestapo attacks haven’t stopped. At all! bsky.app/profile/jyse...
But the gestapo attacks haven’t stopped. At all! bsky.app/profile/jyse...
Reposted by Evan Torner
Some of my favorite films are on this list. I would encourage everyone to check this article out.
Not only is it Black History Month. It’s also its 100th anniversary!!
To commemorate its centennial, I wrote a list of 10 Black films, one from each of the last 10 decades, to stream.
To commemorate its centennial, I wrote a list of 10 Black films, one from each of the last 10 decades, to stream.
10 Movies to Stream for Black History Month
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:37 AM
Some of my favorite films are on this list. I would encourage everyone to check this article out.
Reposted by Evan Torner
Remembering the massive interest among billionaires in edutainment game pitches from indies in 2013 and wincing.
The Epstein files reveal what powerful people see in video games: profit, coercion, and control
aftermath.site/jeffrey-epstei...
aftermath.site/jeffrey-epstei...
February 3, 2026 at 10:15 PM
Remembering the massive interest among billionaires in edutainment game pitches from indies in 2013 and wincing.
When the culture war and the anti-democracy war are the only ones you're willing to fight....
Republicans haul Netflix before Congress for being too ‘woke’
Republicans haul Netflix before Congress for being too ‘woke’
Yes, they brought up Cuties again.
buff.ly
February 4, 2026 at 12:23 AM
When the culture war and the anti-democracy war are the only ones you're willing to fight....
Reposted by Evan Torner
I have been writing this blogpost for months to share my personal perspective and insight to the Indonesian Tabletop RPG scene. Check it out!
afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev/afraid-of-co...
afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev/afraid-of-co...
Afraid of Communities - Indonesian Tabletop RPG scene & LFG
A look at the Indonesian Tabletop RPG scene
afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev
January 29, 2026 at 4:01 PM
I have been writing this blogpost for months to share my personal perspective and insight to the Indonesian Tabletop RPG scene. Check it out!
afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev/afraid-of-co...
afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev/afraid-of-co...
Reposted by Evan Torner
"The exclusion of incarcerated women from protection has nothing to do with crime or justice. It's about power and expendability. Incarcerated women are disproportionately poor, Black, Indigenous, and Latina. We're the women society has always found easiest to ignore and abandon."
📍
📍
Today @theflytrapmedia.com published a really powerful piece by @kwanetaharris.bsky.social on gender-based violence against incarcerated women.
She writes: "We become perfectly obedient victims of intimate partner violence, except the violence is legal and the abusers wear badges."
She writes: "We become perfectly obedient victims of intimate partner violence, except the violence is legal and the abusers wear badges."
Ain't We Women, Too?
For many incarcerated women, the state is their abuser, but the gender-based violence we experience behind bars goes ignored.
www.theflytrapmedia.com
February 3, 2026 at 6:05 PM
"The exclusion of incarcerated women from protection has nothing to do with crime or justice. It's about power and expendability. Incarcerated women are disproportionately poor, Black, Indigenous, and Latina. We're the women society has always found easiest to ignore and abandon."
📍
📍
Reposted by Evan Torner
If you're late to the game or just want more info do yourself a favor and listen to this interview with Mark Thompson and Sarah Kendzior. She's been sounding the alarm about the Epstein web & TOC for well over a decade..
youtu.be/x-G5wIDjZb0?...
youtu.be/x-G5wIDjZb0?...
Epstein Document Dump Backs Up Key Claims in Her Books, International Elite Network | Sarah Kendzior
YouTube video by The Mark Thompson Show
youtu.be
February 3, 2026 at 2:18 PM
If you're late to the game or just want more info do yourself a favor and listen to this interview with Mark Thompson and Sarah Kendzior. She's been sounding the alarm about the Epstein web & TOC for well over a decade..
youtu.be/x-G5wIDjZb0?...
youtu.be/x-G5wIDjZb0?...
Reposted by Evan Torner
“Gramsci used to say 'Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will'. What he meant is: understand how the bloody system works.” - Stuart Hall, born Feb. 3, 1932
February 3, 2026 at 2:05 PM
“Gramsci used to say 'Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will'. What he meant is: understand how the bloody system works.” - Stuart Hall, born Feb. 3, 1932
Reposted by Evan Torner
The number of people currently in ICE custody is now over 73,000, the most in history.
February 3, 2026 at 1:11 PM
The number of people currently in ICE custody is now over 73,000, the most in history.
Reposted by Evan Torner
5. The administration continues to treat state sovereignty as fungible. As strange as it feels for organizers, a states rights orientation feels like the more progressive position. They are figuring that whiplash out.
February 3, 2026 at 1:58 PM
5. The administration continues to treat state sovereignty as fungible. As strange as it feels for organizers, a states rights orientation feels like the more progressive position. They are figuring that whiplash out.
Reposted by Evan Torner
2. You aren’t crazy. Your local and state elections do seem even more supercharged than usual. Speculative finance means donor class has more money to spend while their national voter suppression means there are fewer races to influence.
carolinapublicpress.org/73700/get-re...
carolinapublicpress.org/73700/get-re...
Get ready for most expensive Senate race ever
Contest to replace retiring US Sen. Thom Tillis in NC is predicted to draw more money than any Senate race in history.
carolinapublicpress.org
February 3, 2026 at 1:58 PM
2. You aren’t crazy. Your local and state elections do seem even more supercharged than usual. Speculative finance means donor class has more money to spend while their national voter suppression means there are fewer races to influence.
carolinapublicpress.org/73700/get-re...
carolinapublicpress.org/73700/get-re...
Reposted by Evan Torner
Thank you, Victor. I spent a few weeks on this. As usual, it’s always a negotiation with length. So a few other bon mots:
1. The admin has issued DOJ guidance to challenge state laws that would regulate AI
www.wired.com/story/ai-sup...
1. The admin has issued DOJ guidance to challenge state laws that would regulate AI
www.wired.com/story/ai-sup...
February 3, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Thank you, Victor. I spent a few weeks on this. As usual, it’s always a negotiation with length. So a few other bon mots:
1. The admin has issued DOJ guidance to challenge state laws that would regulate AI
www.wired.com/story/ai-sup...
1. The admin has issued DOJ guidance to challenge state laws that would regulate AI
www.wired.com/story/ai-sup...
Reposted by Evan Torner
A modder has turned Red Dead Redemption 2 into a "legally distinct" Pokémon-style game, where Arthur Morgan can catch wild animals and use them to battle NPCs' animals.
www.videogameschronicle.com/news/a-modde...
www.videogameschronicle.com/news/a-modde...
A modder has turned Red Dead Redemption 2 into a ‘legally distinct’ Pokémon style game | VGC
The mod lets players catch animals and use them to fight other NPCs’ animals…
www.videogameschronicle.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:22 PM
A modder has turned Red Dead Redemption 2 into a "legally distinct" Pokémon-style game, where Arthur Morgan can catch wild animals and use them to battle NPCs' animals.
www.videogameschronicle.com/news/a-modde...
www.videogameschronicle.com/news/a-modde...
Reposted by Evan Torner
You'll get different definitions at different studios but here's mine: a person who helps individual contributors (ICs) and leads work with each other to make workflows better/easier/[Radiohead voice] more productive. They should be like oil: reducing friction and energy required to get things done.
what exactly is a producer's job as someone vaguely and cautiously interested in game development as a job? I honestly assumed it was just another word for director
February 2, 2026 at 4:56 AM
You'll get different definitions at different studios but here's mine: a person who helps individual contributors (ICs) and leads work with each other to make workflows better/easier/[Radiohead voice] more productive. They should be like oil: reducing friction and energy required to get things done.
Reposted by Evan Torner
Happy Black History Month!
I'm Sonya! I'm mixed black and currently open for commissions and open to freelance work!
✉️ [email protected]
💻 sonybaloneyart.com
☕ ko-fi.com/sonybaloneyart
I'm Sonya! I'm mixed black and currently open for commissions and open to freelance work!
✉️ [email protected]
💻 sonybaloneyart.com
☕ ko-fi.com/sonybaloneyart
February 2, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Happy Black History Month!
I'm Sonya! I'm mixed black and currently open for commissions and open to freelance work!
✉️ [email protected]
💻 sonybaloneyart.com
☕ ko-fi.com/sonybaloneyart
I'm Sonya! I'm mixed black and currently open for commissions and open to freelance work!
✉️ [email protected]
💻 sonybaloneyart.com
☕ ko-fi.com/sonybaloneyart
Can relate
I’m being smothered by emails. Help.
February 3, 2026 at 5:25 AM
Can relate
Reposted by Evan Torner
I wrote a piece on Flash about five years ago that I think is worth resurfacing in this moment.
tedium.co/2021/01/01/a...
tedium.co/2021/01/01/a...
February 3, 2026 at 4:46 AM
I wrote a piece on Flash about five years ago that I think is worth resurfacing in this moment.
tedium.co/2021/01/01/a...
tedium.co/2021/01/01/a...
Reposted by Evan Torner
Tear gas is banned in international warfare, yet classified as a “riot control agent” that law enforcement can use for crowd control.
“It just doesn’t work well, and it hits the weakest people the most, and causes the most complications in them,” an anesthesiology professor at Duke University said.
“It just doesn’t work well, and it hits the weakest people the most, and causes the most complications in them,” an anesthesiology professor at Duke University said.
Tear Gas Is Way More Dangerous Than Police Let On
In the middle of a respiratory pandemic, law enforcement agencies have used tear gas in especially dangerous ways. The chemical agent also seeps into homes, contaminates food, furniture, skin and surf...
www.propublica.org
February 3, 2026 at 2:40 AM
Tear gas is banned in international warfare, yet classified as a “riot control agent” that law enforcement can use for crowd control.
“It just doesn’t work well, and it hits the weakest people the most, and causes the most complications in them,” an anesthesiology professor at Duke University said.
“It just doesn’t work well, and it hits the weakest people the most, and causes the most complications in them,” an anesthesiology professor at Duke University said.
Reposted by Evan Torner
If a groundhog gets a day to predict the future, New Yorkers deserve a city that plans for one.
Affordable housing, good transit, real public space — all year long.
Affordable housing, good transit, real public space — all year long.
February 2, 2026 at 10:05 PM
If a groundhog gets a day to predict the future, New Yorkers deserve a city that plans for one.
Affordable housing, good transit, real public space — all year long.
Affordable housing, good transit, real public space — all year long.