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.
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?
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
“But the biggest effect is that peer review now becomes more about discernment or taste”
This is really good. I’d only add that I’ve been doing this for almost 25 years now, & my experience is that journal peer review (contra books) has always been far more about taste than anyone wants to admit.
This is really good. I’d only add that I’ve been doing this for almost 25 years now, & my experience is that journal peer review (contra books) has always been far more about taste than anyone wants to admit.
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 3:55 PM
“But the biggest effect is that peer review now becomes more about discernment or taste”
This is really good. I’d only add that I’ve been doing this for almost 25 years now, & my experience is that journal peer review (contra books) has always been far more about taste than anyone wants to admit.
This is really good. I’d only add that I’ve been doing this for almost 25 years now, & my experience is that journal peer review (contra books) has always been far more about taste than anyone wants to admit.
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.
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
Was trying to find something else and I saw this "rebuttal" from an AI infrastructure firm criticising the concept of a data centre moratorium in the US
I think almost all of the references are machine-fabricated lies. First clue was this claim about PPAs, which sounded wrong
archive.ph/wip/L2iwz
I think almost all of the references are machine-fabricated lies. First clue was this claim about PPAs, which sounded wrong
archive.ph/wip/L2iwz
January 13, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Was trying to find something else and I saw this "rebuttal" from an AI infrastructure firm criticising the concept of a data centre moratorium in the US
I think almost all of the references are machine-fabricated lies. First clue was this claim about PPAs, which sounded wrong
archive.ph/wip/L2iwz
I think almost all of the references are machine-fabricated lies. First clue was this claim about PPAs, which sounded wrong
archive.ph/wip/L2iwz
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!
When Hegseth falls out of favor with the regime, they will 100% use his search history to justify his imprisonment.
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 12:45 PM
When Hegseth falls out of favor with the regime, they will 100% use his search history to justify his imprisonment.
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".
Fondly remembering when Joe Haldeman decided universal homosexuality was humanity choosing an easier and less conflict-prone sociology, but he meant it as an analogy for Vietnam veterans feeling alienated from society after returning home.
January 12, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Fondly remembering when Joe Haldeman decided universal homosexuality was humanity choosing an easier and less conflict-prone sociology, but he meant it as an analogy for Vietnam veterans feeling alienated from society after returning home.
An eternal theme in American politics is women trying to warn the public about predatory, abusive men, and the media (then public) condemning them for it even as subsequent events prove them right.
Kamala Harris at her closing campaign rally:
"Donald Trump intends to use the United States Military against American citizens who simply disagree with him."
"Donald Trump intends to use the United States Military against American citizens who simply disagree with him."
January 12, 2026 at 1:22 PM
An eternal theme in American politics is women trying to warn the public about predatory, abusive men, and the media (then public) condemning them for it even as subsequent events prove them right.
Not even joking when I say that OnlyFans or Patreon should sponsor an endowed chair or two, like Taco Bell
Companion stories.
To quote @thetrudz.photo: "Out with art, in with 'content.'"
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
To quote @thetrudz.photo: "Out with art, in with 'content.'"
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
January 12, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Not even joking when I say that OnlyFans or Patreon should sponsor an endowed chair or two, like Taco Bell
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
You did not see this kind of statement from the Turkish central bank before Erdogan staffed it with sycophants because he had carefully laid the groundwork to do so without resistance over the course of 15 or so years. And then once he did do it, inflation went from 10% to 86% in two years.
Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
YouTube video by Federal Reserve
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 2:06 AM
You did not see this kind of statement from the Turkish central bank before Erdogan staffed it with sycophants because he had carefully laid the groundwork to do so without resistance over the course of 15 or so years. And then once he did do it, inflation went from 10% to 86% in two years.
Hey guess what movie is set this year
January 12, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Hey guess what movie is set this year
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
This just in: widely loathed (for good reason) NYT editor Patrick Healy is, in fact, widely loathed: https://www.status.news/p/new-york-times-contract-negotiations-guild
January 12, 2026 at 12:20 AM
This just in: widely loathed (for good reason) NYT editor Patrick Healy is, in fact, widely loathed: https://www.status.news/p/new-york-times-contract-negotiations-guild