Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
@joshuafoust.com
Made the CommSky Starter Pack https://go.bsky.app/QkcgePD
Assistant Professor at Syracuse. I study public relations, military esports, video games, and gender theory. Happily 🏳️🌈.
Assistant Professor at Syracuse. I study public relations, military esports, video games, and gender theory. Happily 🏳️🌈.
Pinned
Public Relations in Times of Dissensus
Public relations are entering an era marked by increasing societal dissensus, where shared narratives are breaking down and contentious communication defines th…
www.bloomsbury.com
Yay! Thrilled that the volume I co-edited with Saima Kazmi and Burton St. John is available for pre-order: Public Relations in Times of Dissensus: Narratives, Artifacts, and the Challenges of Meaning. It’s a pretty timely exploration of how we can communicate with the public when we all disagree.
It’s just COIN all over again. In Afghanistan there were “around 100 Al Qaeda ” in the country for like 11 years, justifying billions of dollars and hundreds of dead bodies per year. I once tracked AARs and counted thousands of Chechans claimed killed in combat just in RC-East from 2001-2010.
January 14, 2026 at 7:01 PM
It’s just COIN all over again. In Afghanistan there were “around 100 Al Qaeda ” in the country for like 11 years, justifying billions of dollars and hundreds of dead bodies per year. I once tracked AARs and counted thousands of Chechans claimed killed in combat just in RC-East from 2001-2010.
Whoever is advising them on this messaging strategy is amateurish and clumsy. It is totally mismatched to the audience, and so vague (what ARE the Senate Democrats actually delivering right now, besides votes for Trump nominees?) that I can’t even say who the audience is, much any key message.
Instead of working to lower costs, Senate Republicans are using one of the first committee hearings of 2026 to push for a nationwide medication abortion ban, despite mifepristone’s safety and efficacy. We should be delivering for Americans, not rolling back women’s rights.
January 14, 2026 at 6:51 PM
Whoever is advising them on this messaging strategy is amateurish and clumsy. It is totally mismatched to the audience, and so vague (what ARE the Senate Democrats actually delivering right now, besides votes for Trump nominees?) that I can’t even say who the audience is, much any key message.
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
Grok is an Epistemic Weapon www.techpolicy.press/grok-is-an-e... by @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social
"...conditions for the collapse of consensus reality..."
@eliothiggins.bsky.social: “Reality has splintered. In its place, engagement-driven ecosystems amplify whatever resonates, truth optional.”
"...conditions for the collapse of consensus reality..."
@eliothiggins.bsky.social: “Reality has splintered. In its place, engagement-driven ecosystems amplify whatever resonates, truth optional.”
Grok is an Epistemic Weapon | TechPolicy.Press
Elon Musk's Grok claims to be truth-seeking while shaping discourse and amplifying ideology, argues Matthew Kirschenbaum.
www.techpolicy.press
January 14, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Grok is an Epistemic Weapon www.techpolicy.press/grok-is-an-e... by @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social
"...conditions for the collapse of consensus reality..."
@eliothiggins.bsky.social: “Reality has splintered. In its place, engagement-driven ecosystems amplify whatever resonates, truth optional.”
"...conditions for the collapse of consensus reality..."
@eliothiggins.bsky.social: “Reality has splintered. In its place, engagement-driven ecosystems amplify whatever resonates, truth optional.”
Another way of looking at ICE deployments is that the worst people in government are still addicted to counterinsurgency and think its only failure was not being brutal enough.
In other words, it wasn’t a fad (as argued below), but was rather implemented as a culture across the interagency.
In other words, it wasn’t a fad (as argued below), but was rather implemented as a culture across the interagency.
Counterinsurgency as fad: America’s rushed engagement with irregular warfare
The counterinsurgency era that dominated American military discussion post-9/11 has passed. The desire to move on, particularly since the loss of Afghanistan in August 2021, has left unsettled a co...
www.tandfonline.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Another way of looking at ICE deployments is that the worst people in government are still addicted to counterinsurgency and think its only failure was not being brutal enough.
In other words, it wasn’t a fad (as argued below), but was rather implemented as a culture across the interagency.
In other words, it wasn’t a fad (as argued below), but was rather implemented as a culture across the interagency.
“We’re weak and have no will to act even when we make gains” is a hell of a message for mobilizing the base in a midterm year
Asked if he's willing to shut down the government over ICE funding, Senator Cory Booker replies: "We had the longest government shutdown, and Democrats could not hold together to sustain that kind of pressure."
January 14, 2026 at 4:08 PM
“We’re weak and have no will to act even when we make gains” is a hell of a message for mobilizing the base in a midterm year
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
this is excellent
I wrote about Renee Good, Venezuela, Greenland, and what it means to be a human being. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
January 14, 2026 at 4:01 PM
this is excellent
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
"Major challenges remain ahead for the agency, given how severely projects were disrupted and how many staff have already moved on to other jobs"
they blew it all up for nothing.
they blew it all up for nothing.
Scoop: Trump Administration is reversing its massive cuts to NIOSH, the agency behind most US workplace safety research www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Our September @BW feature on the sweeping consequences of those cuts: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Our September @BW feature on the sweeping consequences of those cuts: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
HHS Reverses Cuts to Safety Agency NIOSH, Reinstating Hundreds
The Trump Administration is reversing its deep staffing cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, reinstating hundreds of employees.
www.bloomberg.com
January 14, 2026 at 3:54 PM
"Major challenges remain ahead for the agency, given how severely projects were disrupted and how many staff have already moved on to other jobs"
they blew it all up for nothing.
they blew it all up for nothing.
I go further: when someone claims AI helps students do something, they need to actually show what that is and why AI was helpful. Here, it seems to fill in the gaps from an education system that doesn’t teach basic language skills. It “helps” but is really just another form of outsourcing learning.
The report says that AI can be helpful at all stages of the writing process, but it doesn't go into details about exactly what it does/where the boundary is with cognitive offloading. In my experience, when it helps with "ideation and conceptualization" it very quickly replaces the thinking. /2
January 14, 2026 at 2:25 PM
I go further: when someone claims AI helps students do something, they need to actually show what that is and why AI was helpful. Here, it seems to fill in the gaps from an education system that doesn’t teach basic language skills. It “helps” but is really just another form of outsourcing learning.
That Stranger Things documentary, though…
January 14, 2026 at 1:56 PM
That Stranger Things documentary, though…
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
Banning social media for kids may be good or bad but that guy is a comically obvious bullshit artist with entire books full of trite lessons extrapolated from anecdotes that are themselves barely half-true.
January 14, 2026 at 7:31 AM
Banning social media for kids may be good or bad but that guy is a comically obvious bullshit artist with entire books full of trite lessons extrapolated from anecdotes that are themselves barely half-true.
Man, it’s too bad Tron Ares had such bad writing and acting and plot, because it looks *terrific*
January 13, 2026 at 11:24 PM
Man, it’s too bad Tron Ares had such bad writing and acting and plot, because it looks *terrific*
Ahh we’re at the “all the people I mocked for saying ‘don’t touch the stove’ we’re right” stage, complete with no acknowledgement or reflection on the decision to touch the stove.
“.. Are we really gonna be the Gestapo, 'Where's your papers?' Is that what we've come to?"
January 13, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Ahh we’re at the “all the people I mocked for saying ‘don’t touch the stove’ we’re right” stage, complete with no acknowledgement or reflection on the decision to touch the stove.
Between this and the Google Gemini deal, Apple seems determined to kill off its value against its competitors.
For example, slides Keynote is really good, but I already have Google Slides, a work PowerPoint subscription, and Figma is free. What could possibly be worth $130/yr? Apple’s worse AI?
For example, slides Keynote is really good, but I already have Google Slides, a work PowerPoint subscription, and Figma is free. What could possibly be worth $130/yr? Apple’s worse AI?
These Apple Apps Will No Longer Receive All New Features Without a Subscription
If you are not interested in subscribing to the new Apple Creator Studio bundle introduced today, you will officially start to miss out on some new features. Apple said some "exciting new intelligent ...
www.macrumors.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:28 PM
Between this and the Google Gemini deal, Apple seems determined to kill off its value against its competitors.
For example, slides Keynote is really good, but I already have Google Slides, a work PowerPoint subscription, and Figma is free. What could possibly be worth $130/yr? Apple’s worse AI?
For example, slides Keynote is really good, but I already have Google Slides, a work PowerPoint subscription, and Figma is free. What could possibly be worth $130/yr? Apple’s worse AI?
For all of these unlawful arrests… who pays for the smashed windows? Do car insurance companies have a perspective on ICE recklessly destroying insured property?
New video shows ICE agents detaining a US citizen legal observer in Minneapolis.
The agents smashed his car window, dragged him out, and placed a knee on his neck.
The agents smashed his car window, dragged him out, and placed a knee on his neck.
January 13, 2026 at 4:54 PM
For all of these unlawful arrests… who pays for the smashed windows? Do car insurance companies have a perspective on ICE recklessly destroying insured property?
This is very good. Though, I’ll say that the hunger for theory work is not really growing the way it should. My field is infamously theory-resistant and getting a theory paper into the core journals is really rough given the relentless focus on the generic quant studies that are highlighted here.
I just finished a three-year term as an editor at an international relations journal. I began at the start of the LLM era but ended right in the middle of it. Our volume of submissions tripled and our desk reject rate rose to 75%. I have some thoughts.
open.substack.com/pub/hegemon/...
open.substack.com/pub/hegemon/...
The Age of Academic Slop is Upon Us
what happens when AI automates "normal science"?
open.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 4:11 PM
This is very good. Though, I’ll say that the hunger for theory work is not really growing the way it should. My field is infamously theory-resistant and getting a theory paper into the core journals is really rough given the relentless focus on the generic quant studies that are highlighted here.
Oooh we’re getting an American Glavlit!
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology." n.pr/4583d8f
Today is the Smithsonian's deadline to give thousands of documents to the White House
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology."
n.pr
January 13, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Oooh we’re getting an American Glavlit!
Cool now all the fobbits can make nonconsensual Zawahiri nudes on their SIPR machines
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the integration of Elon Musk's xAI platform, Grok, into military networks as part of a new "AI acceleration strategy" during a visit to SpaceX.
January 13, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Cool now all the fobbits can make nonconsensual Zawahiri nudes on their SIPR machines
I guess I just don’t understand who this is for. No one it is ostensibly aimed at is here, and five minutes of research would show the audience on here would hate this message. It says nothing to the base and does nothing to reach out to the centrists outraged by ICE violence. Fire your consultants.
Americans don’t want Canada, Venezuela, or Greenland.
They want to be able to afford groceries and have lower health care costs.
They want to be able to afford groceries and have lower health care costs.
January 13, 2026 at 12:11 PM
I guess I just don’t understand who this is for. No one it is ostensibly aimed at is here, and five minutes of research would show the audience on here would hate this message. It says nothing to the base and does nothing to reach out to the centrists outraged by ICE violence. Fire your consultants.
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
I don’t think we need to detract from the specific terror that ICE inflicts on immigrants to acknowledge that a big part of their purpose is to enact violence on those American citizens perceived to be Democratic voters in retaliation for their failure to support Trump.
just a reminder that we aren’t even seeing the worst of what is happening in Minneapolis from someone detailed at the Whipple Federal Building yesterday
January 13, 2026 at 5:06 AM
I don’t think we need to detract from the specific terror that ICE inflicts on immigrants to acknowledge that a big part of their purpose is to enact violence on those American citizens perceived to be Democratic voters in retaliation for their failure to support Trump.
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
STOP CALLING IT "IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT" @cnn.com
that's not what's happening. and the awkward hyphenation with "related" only makes it clearer how ridiculous, and disingenuous, this framing is.
that's not what's happening. and the awkward hyphenation with "related" only makes it clearer how ridiculous, and disingenuous, this framing is.
The Department of Homeland Security has altered its account of an immigration enforcement-related shooting in a Baltimore suburb on Christmas Eve after details in its initial statement were contradicted by local police. https://cnn.it/4btDhYq
January 13, 2026 at 10:46 AM
STOP CALLING IT "IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT" @cnn.com
that's not what's happening. and the awkward hyphenation with "related" only makes it clearer how ridiculous, and disingenuous, this framing is.
that's not what's happening. and the awkward hyphenation with "related" only makes it clearer how ridiculous, and disingenuous, this framing is.
I thought he was joking but it’s really that stupid. It’s a lab leak for people with unpleasant deployments, right down to willfully misinterpreting hedging statements from the IC.
selling the Pentagon a machine that goes *beep* every five seconds and claiming I got it from the Russians.
Pentagon bought device through undercover operation some investigators suspect is linked to Havana Syndrome www.cnn.com/2026/01/13/p...
January 13, 2026 at 11:46 AM
I thought he was joking but it’s really that stupid. It’s a lab leak for people with unpleasant deployments, right down to willfully misinterpreting hedging statements from the IC.
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
One out of 12 rams is uninterested in females. Deemed “non-procreative" by farmers, they're typically sent to slaughter. German farmer Michael Stücke rescues the gay rams. His company Rainbow Wool, sells fabulous wool products from his flock of gay sheep. rainbow-wool.com
January 12, 2026 at 8:26 PM
One out of 12 rams is uninterested in females. Deemed “non-procreative" by farmers, they're typically sent to slaughter. German farmer Michael Stücke rescues the gay rams. His company Rainbow Wool, sells fabulous wool products from his flock of gay sheep. rainbow-wool.com
Meanwhile, same pub same day. I guess Apple has given up on user safety (it still hosts the sexual abuse app X for download).
January 12, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Meanwhile, same pub same day. I guess Apple has given up on user safety (it still hosts the sexual abuse app X for download).
So, Figma is fine. I get the appeal, it’s like Illustrator: useful and detailed, but only modest templating that makes it much slower to deploy than Keynote (my preference for clean, uncluttered decks). Maybe by next year I’ll have the content built up to switch over but it feels non-essential.
I try not to be too wedded to apps for my work so I’m playing around with using Figma to make slides. And, it has a lot of features, but I mean that in good and bad ways — it has a LOT of features. Does anyone know of a good resource for getting grounded with this design language?
January 12, 2026 at 4:09 PM
So, Figma is fine. I get the appeal, it’s like Illustrator: useful and detailed, but only modest templating that makes it much slower to deploy than Keynote (my preference for clean, uncluttered decks). Maybe by next year I’ll have the content built up to switch over but it feels non-essential.
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
Reading through the FT at the moment is a strange experience: revolution, war, disaster, brutal autocratic oppression, mad dictator shit....and then "markets continue to thrive"; "record profits".
January 12, 2026 at 8:07 AM
Reading through the FT at the moment is a strange experience: revolution, war, disaster, brutal autocratic oppression, mad dictator shit....and then "markets continue to thrive"; "record profits".