Mark Harris
markharris.bsky.social
Mark Harris
@markharris.bsky.social
Writer, husband, etc. Books: Pictures at a Revolution (2008), Five Came Back (2014), Mike Nichols: A Life (2021), Untitled gay cultural history (2026). Freelance: T, New York, etc. A long time ago: EW, Grantland, younger.
For anyone out there who wishes I would stay in my lane: I would LOVE a world in which I can just post about old Columbo episodes and Ross Macdonald novels and the history of best supporting actress and my next book. I just need several conditions to be met first. Let us work toward them together!
January 25, 2026 at 4:50 AM
Reposted by Mark Harris
Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti.

"Please get the truth out about our son."
January 25, 2026 at 12:43 AM
I hope Democratic senators and congressmen understand, out of pure lizard-brain self-interest if moral decency happens to be unavailable, what is at stake for them if they don't handle this the right way. This is a true "If not now, when?" moment.
January 24, 2026 at 10:00 PM
No. They do not "appear to" contradict it. They contradict it.
January 24, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Reposted by Mark Harris
Alex Pretti, the man killed by federal agents today in Minneapolis, appears to have been a registered nurse, an athlete, a son and a brother, with ties to Colorado and Wisconsin.

Here is a photo he used for several accounts.
January 24, 2026 at 7:07 PM
I'm seeing a lot of "This is exactly what Trump wants" about Minneapolis. I don't believe that's the case. He and Vance and Miller had the racist daydream that video of black Somalis being snatched off the streets of nice white Minneapolis would play well. He got this instead. >
January 24, 2026 at 6:40 PM
"Just stay cool and don't make trouble until the midterms" is not going to cut it as an opposition response to a murderous regime whose masked thugs are killing people in the streets and then attempting to round up witnesses and destroy evidence.
January 24, 2026 at 5:10 PM
BRB, getting my Time Machine out of storage.
Mike Johnson: "I was the product of an unplanned teen pregnancy exactly one year before Roe. A lot of people tried to convince my very young parents that they should just take care of that problem. But I am eternally grateful that they allowed me the chance at life."
January 24, 2026 at 3:26 AM
The entire range of my interests in a single photograph.
On a downtown street in Minneapolis, as people stream out from the massive march, Mary Tyler Moore says “fuck ice.”
January 24, 2026 at 12:31 AM
This is a stirring rebuke to the part of the American government and the American electorate that has chosen to scorn and reject basic human decency. Never forget, never forgive.
It’s -9 degrees. Downtown Minneapolis is packed for the anti-ICE rally and the crowd keeps growing
January 23, 2026 at 9:23 PM
It would be a good thing for all of us to stop insisting that culture of interest to queer people is only truly worthy of attention if it is "universal" or "relatable" enough to win the attention of straight commentators.

This is not 1995.
feels both depressing and inevitable, and the thing i find most fascinating about it is the decision and then commitment to performing wild enthusiasm anyhow. you hate this, and yet you understand the very real monetary benefit of championing it
www.outsports.com/2026/1/22/24...
Empty Netters host called Heated Rivalry 'trash,' producers 'losers' - Outsports
As he publicly praised 'Heated Rivalry,' one 'Empty Netters' host privately trashed the show. Outsports has seen the texts.
www.outsports.com
January 23, 2026 at 4:39 PM
I'm getting a certain amount of "Don't run him down, he's our nominee" about this, and all I can say is, feel free to bring this up after the 2028 convention, and also feel free not to bother me until then.
Ah, the old trap: If gay people point out that equating oral sex with degradation is homophobic, we're scolds and language police, and that distracts from the real issue, which is that Newsom lacks any internal compass and says whatever he thinks will win him applause or agreement in the moment. >
Newsom: "He's an invasive species, Donald Trump. He took over the Republican Party. Lindsey Graham -- I mean, speaking of the kneepads. I'm sorry. This is tough stuff. I don't recognize these people any longer. You think what I'm saying about Trump is tough? How about what Graham said about Trump."
January 23, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Ah, the old trap: If gay people point out that equating oral sex with degradation is homophobic, we're scolds and language police, and that distracts from the real issue, which is that Newsom lacks any internal compass and says whatever he thinks will win him applause or agreement in the moment. >
Newsom: "He's an invasive species, Donald Trump. He took over the Republican Party. Lindsey Graham -- I mean, speaking of the kneepads. I'm sorry. This is tough stuff. I don't recognize these people any longer. You think what I'm saying about Trump is tough? How about what Graham said about Trump."
January 22, 2026 at 7:28 PM
I genuinely (tediously, stridently) do not believe in awards "snubs." But I will say that the complete omission of Wicked: For Good feels like a...let's say "stern refutation" of the argument that Wicked was two movies rather than one movie strategically divided in two. No double dipping.
January 22, 2026 at 4:17 PM
I cannot "Amen" this loudly enough. Congratulations to Will Tracy (Bugonia) and Robert Kaplow (Blue Moon) for bucking the trend.
SIGH: 8 out of 10 screenplay noms went to the directors of those films.

This trend sucks. Period.

Writing FOR a director is a very different skillset than writing AS the director. Night & day.

I will continue to argue these are more interesting categories than the fakakta definition of "adapted."
January 22, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Still on the Oscars: I'd love to see a year in which the casting branch didn't pick only films that also get Best Picture nominations. (The Plague would have been a great choice.) But their excellent and deserving inclusion of The Secret Agent shows that they didn't do this on autopilot. Good start!
January 22, 2026 at 2:46 PM
This lineup is exactly what the Academy votership overhaul several years ago was going for: More room for genre. A year when the huge, popular movie with the black cast ISN'T the surprise "Oops" omission. And a more international look--nineteen nominations for foreign films this year.
January 22, 2026 at 2:08 PM
I'm seeing anger at Hudson for "stealing" Chase Infiniti's nomination. Which means it's time for my annual Oscar-nomination day reminder: Don't be creepy and weird. Infiniti was always a long shot--it's very hard for an actress that new/young to get in unless she carries an entire movie. Next time.
January 22, 2026 at 2:04 PM
AS I WAS SAYING:
I would not be shocked if Kate Hudson snuck into Best Actress for Song Sung Blue.
This place needs some Innocuous Discourse pronto. Quote this with a take that’s not political or aggressive
January 22, 2026 at 2:00 PM
There are always a handful of disappointing/surprising Oscar omissions, and I'm sad that Paul Mescal got squeezed out for a superb performance in Hamnet. But: Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku! Four for The Secret Agent, including casting! Amy Madigan! Yeah, this list is fine.
January 22, 2026 at 1:58 PM
To the justifiable discourse about how the repertory cinema experience is degraded by the smirky laughter of filmgoers who don't know how to process their own discomfort, all I can add is that if you're in a theater with a group of college kids who have been ASSIGNED to see a movie, brace yourself.>
January 21, 2026 at 9:09 PM
I put this through Google Translate and it said, "The stock market dropped and I have no meaningful support for this anywhere so, basically, I lost, and nobody should ask me about this anymore."
Trump: "Based upon a very productive meeting I had with Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region. This solution, if consummated, will be a great one... Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs"
January 21, 2026 at 7:53 PM
Does one WH reporter have the integrity to confront her directly at the next briefing and say, "You're lying"? One. That's all it takes. One.
Karoline Leavitt is denying that Trump mixed up Greenland and Iceland multiple times during his speech today.
January 21, 2026 at 7:35 PM
"Snubbed." JFC.

I cannot believe that my years spent dissecting the single stupidest part of Oscar-nomination culture is going to qualify me as an expert on how World War III started.
Mike Johnson accuses Norway of “making a political decision & not awarding the Nobel Prize to probably the most deserving individual in history of the prize. There are 8 to 10 wars & conflicts that’ve been resolved by President Trump, & he got snubbed.”

(Vid via Manu Raju on X)
January 21, 2026 at 7:26 PM
He didn't "seem to" do it. He did it, repeatedly.
January 21, 2026 at 5:30 PM