Nicholas Cannariato
@ncannariato.bsky.social
Writer/Teacher. Work: NYT Mag, WaPo, Slate, Atlantic, NPR, etc. Mainly here to listen. nicholascannariato.com
Pinned
I do not care what comes after; I have seen the dragons on the wind of morning.
If I could write about anything as well as Ursula K. Le Guin writes about dragons, or Han Kang writes about snow, or Anne Carson writes about antiquity, I would forever be a contented writer.
My last chance, like my first chance, never had a chance.
January 24, 2026 at 3:04 AM
My last chance, like my first chance, never had a chance.
If I could write about anything as well as Ursula K. Le Guin writes about dragons, or Han Kang writes about snow, or Anne Carson writes about antiquity, I would forever be a contented writer.
I do not care what comes after; I have seen the dragons on the wind of morning.
January 23, 2026 at 7:58 PM
If I could write about anything as well as Ursula K. Le Guin writes about dragons, or Han Kang writes about snow, or Anne Carson writes about antiquity, I would forever be a contented writer.
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
“and then our goons will kidnap that life and send it to a concentration camp if we deem them the wrong color”
JD Vance: "To our fellow Americans we say, you're never gonna find great meaning in a cubicle or in front of a computer screen. But you will find great meaning if you dedicate yourself to the creation and sustenance of human life."
January 23, 2026 at 6:27 PM
“and then our goons will kidnap that life and send it to a concentration camp if we deem them the wrong color”
Another oil grab
Bessent pushes Albertan independence from Canada: "Albertans are very independent people. There's a rumor they may have a referendum on whether they want to stay in Canada or not. People are talking. People want sovereignty. They want what the US has got."
January 23, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Another oil grab
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
He looks like a turkey wearing a helmet
no matter how hard Greg Bovino tries to exude rugged masculinity he always comes off like Don Knotts in a Portlandia sketch
January 23, 2026 at 6:42 AM
He looks like a turkey wearing a helmet
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
Donald Trump's AI-generated "Board of Peace" logo is so bad it doesn't even have Greenland on it, the territory he almost took the US to war this week to seize. No, really, look closely:
January 22, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Donald Trump's AI-generated "Board of Peace" logo is so bad it doesn't even have Greenland on it, the territory he almost took the US to war this week to seize. No, really, look closely:
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
Yeah, the thing is, Weiss had complete editorial control over the Free Press for years and if you read it you would not understand the threat to American society that Trump poses. I don't care what she says privately to her friends. She got the CBS job because of this acquiescence to Trump.
This is the heart of it. Both-sizing because you don't know what to do. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
January 19, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Yeah, the thing is, Weiss had complete editorial control over the Free Press for years and if you read it you would not understand the threat to American society that Trump poses. I don't care what she says privately to her friends. She got the CBS job because of this acquiescence to Trump.
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
Trump trying to start a weird stupid war no one wants out of spite because he's mad about not getting a Nobel Peace Prize is dead center "gag you would leave in drafts because it is both too obvious and not funny." Obviously this is all bad but it is also just incredibly hack. What a way to go.
January 19, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Trump trying to start a weird stupid war no one wants out of spite because he's mad about not getting a Nobel Peace Prize is dead center "gag you would leave in drafts because it is both too obvious and not funny." Obviously this is all bad but it is also just incredibly hack. What a way to go.
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
I’ll take you to Havnor and say to the princes of Earthsea, “Look! In the place of darkness I found the light, her spirit. By her an old evil was brought to nothing. By her I was brought out of the grave. By her the broken was made whole, and where there was hatred there will be peace.”
January 19, 2026 at 3:45 AM
I’ll take you to Havnor and say to the princes of Earthsea, “Look! In the place of darkness I found the light, her spirit. By her an old evil was brought to nothing. By her I was brought out of the grave. By her the broken was made whole, and where there was hatred there will be peace.”
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
This is probably the most accurate description.
Someone in their mid-50s today told me that this is the first time he had thought about or been affected by politics. And that guy is actively guarding buildings and his coworkers from ICE.
Someone in their mid-50s today told me that this is the first time he had thought about or been affected by politics. And that guy is actively guarding buildings and his coworkers from ICE.
Minneapolis and Saint Paul have basically mobilized into a war economy of mutual aid and non-violent defense. I’ve never seen anything like it, even during Covid. People who barely vote are guarding their schools from ICE and doing the shopping for neighbors in hiding.
This is so smart. I’m so impressed with all the different ways you’re helping your neighbors.
January 19, 2026 at 2:44 AM
This is probably the most accurate description.
Someone in their mid-50s today told me that this is the first time he had thought about or been affected by politics. And that guy is actively guarding buildings and his coworkers from ICE.
Someone in their mid-50s today told me that this is the first time he had thought about or been affected by politics. And that guy is actively guarding buildings and his coworkers from ICE.
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
Nuanced take: I think it's really important to give *normal citizens* who supported Trump and off-ramp and *professional writers, pundits and politicians* who supported Trump should have to wear it like a scarlet letter for the rest of their lives
This is aggravating, because on the one hand I think it's really important to give fascists an off-ramp and positive reinforcement when they use it...
...on the other hand, FUCK that guy, in particular.
...on the other hand, FUCK that guy, in particular.
January 18, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Nuanced take: I think it's really important to give *normal citizens* who supported Trump and off-ramp and *professional writers, pundits and politicians* who supported Trump should have to wear it like a scarlet letter for the rest of their lives
This is absolutely right and, what's more, lays bare the deep insecurity people with shallow values have when faced with actual intellect or integrity.
Ultimately, the accurate horseshoe theory isn't far left and far right, but conservative academics/media elites and "leftist" academics/media elites. Their incentives are to get invited to right parties and conferences with their peers and the system works well for them so is in the end defended.
January 18, 2026 at 1:34 AM
This is absolutely right and, what's more, lays bare the deep insecurity people with shallow values have when faced with actual intellect or integrity.
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
I've increasingly come to view cynicism as the seedbed of totalitarianism, both because it can paralyze the opposition and because it implicitly validates the might-makes-right ethic of the authoritarian.
i have been reading Tom Ricks’ “Fighting the Good War” which is a military analysis of the civil rights movement, and one thing that comes abundantly across is that movement leaders and ordinary people made it a practice to refuse to fall into despair and cynicism.
January 16, 2026 at 5:17 PM
I've increasingly come to view cynicism as the seedbed of totalitarianism, both because it can paralyze the opposition and because it implicitly validates the might-makes-right ethic of the authoritarian.
You see, AI will revolutionize how we live, but, you know, with ads.
Ads Are Coming to ChatGPT. Here’s How They’ll Work
OpenAI says ads will not influence ChatGPT’s responses, and that it won’t sell user data to advertisers.
www.wired.com
January 17, 2026 at 8:04 PM
You see, AI will revolutionize how we live, but, you know, with ads.
Being soulless is such short-term thinking.
January 15, 2026 at 1:58 AM
Being soulless is such short-term thinking.
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
Watch this! This episode of Lost L.A. on @pbs.org with Nathan Masters showcases the history of science fiction (featuring my esteemed colleagues @dracopoullos.bsky.social + Ayana Jamieson + comrades from the ONE Archives at USC! #SFF
www.pbs.org/video/sci-fi...
www.pbs.org/video/sci-fi...
Lost LA | Sci-Fi Origins: Saving Star Trek, Fan Zines, Cosplay and Counterculture | Season 8 | Episode 2
Uncover the origins of the sci-fi genre and its unique connection to historic Los Angeles.
www.pbs.org
January 14, 2026 at 4:14 AM
Watch this! This episode of Lost L.A. on @pbs.org with Nathan Masters showcases the history of science fiction (featuring my esteemed colleagues @dracopoullos.bsky.social + Ayana Jamieson + comrades from the ONE Archives at USC! #SFF
www.pbs.org/video/sci-fi...
www.pbs.org/video/sci-fi...
Tomorrow Never Knows
Name your fav song by The Beatles.
January 14, 2026 at 1:58 AM
Tomorrow Never Knows
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
Let your investors be your jesters at the rugpull of success
January 13, 2026 at 3:31 AM
Let your investors be your jesters at the rugpull of success
You know Hegseth had to look that word up after the story broke.
Old fashioned word, perfidy…
January 13, 2026 at 1:42 AM
You know Hegseth had to look that word up after the story broke.
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
The reactionary centrist logic is simple: if the left does something bad it’s the left’s fault, and if the right does something bad, it’s also the left’s fault for making them do it. It’s a simple formula and once you see it every one of their arguments is the same
January 10, 2026 at 11:24 PM
The reactionary centrist logic is simple: if the left does something bad it’s the left’s fault, and if the right does something bad, it’s also the left’s fault for making them do it. It’s a simple formula and once you see it every one of their arguments is the same
A thousand times
“When I speak about making our city more affordable, my vision is not limited to the homes that we live in or the child care that we’re making universal — it’s also a vision where we make it possible for working people to afford lives of joy, of art, of rest, of expression.”
Handing Out Free Tickets, Mamdani Says Theater Should Not Be ‘a Luxury’
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:24 AM
A thousand times
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
What a year this week has been.
January 9, 2026 at 2:24 AM
What a year this week has been.
When you sell your soul, all that remains is the illusion of self.
Why is JD Vance out there lying so hard when we can all see the video?
January 9, 2026 at 12:21 AM
When you sell your soul, all that remains is the illusion of self.
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
Here are some choice quotes from Jack Smith’s testimony about the conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
“..the evidence made clear that President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy.”
“..the evidence made clear that President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy.”
January 5, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Here are some choice quotes from Jack Smith’s testimony about the conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
“..the evidence made clear that President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy.”
“..the evidence made clear that President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy.”
Reposted by Nicholas Cannariato
I come from the philosophical school of LeVar Burton’s Reading Rainbow. Literacy is connected to freedom and it’s connected to an inner dignity. I want everyone to have that. This is not about who reads the most books or whatever else. This is about extending the possibility of freedom.
January 7, 2026 at 1:17 AM
I come from the philosophical school of LeVar Burton’s Reading Rainbow. Literacy is connected to freedom and it’s connected to an inner dignity. I want everyone to have that. This is not about who reads the most books or whatever else. This is about extending the possibility of freedom.