Robin James
@robinjames.bsky.social
editor & scholar. Pop music, gender, philosophy. Books: GOOD VIBES ONLY; THE FUTURE OF ROCK & ROLL; THE SONIC EPISTEME; RESILIENCE & MELANCHOLY. Writing a 33 1/3 on The Breeders. Bylines all over, views could only be mine lol. its-her-factory.com
I never realized how much Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” is warmed-over New Order
January 18, 2026 at 5:05 PM
I never realized how much Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” is warmed-over New Order
TODAY 5-7p Eastern, see you on Inhailer.com
SUNDAY from 5-7 it's my radio show ITS HER FACTORY on Inhailer.com. Come for new and old indie hits, stay for music writing & journalism recs from me. This week I rec a documentary about one of the most venerable (& dirtiest) independent music venues in the US.
Inhailer Radio | Cincinnati | Independent Radio | Indie Music
Inhailer Radio is Cincinnati independent radio. Founded in 2017 to fill the void left by beloved radio station WNKU.
Inhailer.com
January 18, 2026 at 3:14 PM
TODAY 5-7p Eastern, see you on Inhailer.com
Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals (1887): reactionaries are unoriginal, not smart, and weak actually
Evergreen: “The men who were less-skilled at the game and performing worse relative peers—made frequent, nasty comments to female gamers. In other words, sexist dudes are literally losers.” www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-int...
January 18, 2026 at 4:45 AM
Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals (1887): reactionaries are unoriginal, not smart, and weak actually
Celine Dion, but "Ich moechte die Polizei rufen"
January 17, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Celine Dion, but "Ich moechte die Polizei rufen"
Clearly you aren’t from Cincinnati
January 17, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Clearly you aren’t from Cincinnati
also "what alcohol goes best with Cincinnati chili" - the answer is Little Kings or some Hudey
January 17, 2026 at 2:36 PM
also "what alcohol goes best with Cincinnati chili" - the answer is Little Kings or some Hudey
IS THAT CILANTRO AND RED ONIONS ON THAT FIVE WAY NOOOOO LOL
Cincinnati-style chili stands out from the crowd, which is why it makes sense Anthony Bourdain was a fan. This was his tip for enjoying it like you should.
Anthony Bourdain's Tip For Enjoying Cincinnati-Style Chili To Its Fullest Potential - The Takeout
www.thetakeout.com
January 17, 2026 at 2:34 PM
IS THAT CILANTRO AND RED ONIONS ON THAT FIVE WAY NOOOOO LOL
I think Noriko Manabe blogged some transcriptions recently?
January 16, 2026 at 10:17 PM
I think Noriko Manabe blogged some transcriptions recently?
so while the alt-right uses performances of bad taste to reject anything like shared norms or preferences, affect theory & new materialism's anti-representationalism is another, neolib, form of privatization & the rejection of sensus communis
January 16, 2026 at 9:05 PM
so while the alt-right uses performances of bad taste to reject anything like shared norms or preferences, affect theory & new materialism's anti-representationalism is another, neolib, form of privatization & the rejection of sensus communis
those affective & new materialist crits of representation are in fact allied/aligned with neolib/neocon 'family values' styles reconfiguration of political rep & artistic rep around privatization
January 16, 2026 at 8:51 PM
those affective & new materialist crits of representation are in fact allied/aligned with neolib/neocon 'family values' styles reconfiguration of political rep & artistic rep around privatization
this is happening at the exact moment that the classically liberal relationship btw "political representation" & "artistic representation" (Vertretung/Darstellung" per Spivak) is getting reworked - affective & new materialist crits of representation are not doing progessive work here!
January 16, 2026 at 8:50 PM
this is happening at the exact moment that the classically liberal relationship btw "political representation" & "artistic representation" (Vertretung/Darstellung" per Spivak) is getting reworked - affective & new materialist crits of representation are not doing progessive work here!
put this critique of affect theory together with critiques of new materialism by ppl like me, Ahmed, and Jackson, and it looks like the project of theory in the last 30 years has been to reject 'representation' to create the appearance of progress & newness while recentering white theory
January 16, 2026 at 8:48 PM
put this critique of affect theory together with critiques of new materialism by ppl like me, Ahmed, and Jackson, and it looks like the project of theory in the last 30 years has been to reject 'representation' to create the appearance of progress & newness while recentering white theory
what's fascinating is that good critical work at the time such as this from Ruth Leys shows how affect theory reproduces Heidegger's ontic/ontological distinction in Deleuzian terms. This is also a critique I've had of SONIC WARFARE.
January 16, 2026 at 8:44 PM
what's fascinating is that good critical work at the time such as this from Ruth Leys shows how affect theory reproduces Heidegger's ontic/ontological distinction in Deleuzian terms. This is also a critique I've had of SONIC WARFARE.
these orientations are BOTH felt and cognitive: PHENOMENOLOGICAL and NOT AFFECTIVE in the strict sense of eg Massumi.
So I've been going back to affect theory to see WHY we've been so invested for 30 years in anti-representationalism (see also Sonic Episteme ch 3 & my critique of new materialism)
So I've been going back to affect theory to see WHY we've been so invested for 30 years in anti-representationalism (see also Sonic Episteme ch 3 & my critique of new materialism)
January 16, 2026 at 8:42 PM
these orientations are BOTH felt and cognitive: PHENOMENOLOGICAL and NOT AFFECTIVE in the strict sense of eg Massumi.
So I've been going back to affect theory to see WHY we've been so invested for 30 years in anti-representationalism (see also Sonic Episteme ch 3 & my critique of new materialism)
So I've been going back to affect theory to see WHY we've been so invested for 30 years in anti-representationalism (see also Sonic Episteme ch 3 & my critique of new materialism)
The end of GOOD VIBES ONLY argues that existential phenomenology is a helpful method/framework for understanding and criticizing AI/LLMs/governance by vibes bc it models the same thing they do - orientations - but in the ontological absence of legitimating values beyond moral freedom.
January 16, 2026 at 8:40 PM
The end of GOOD VIBES ONLY argues that existential phenomenology is a helpful method/framework for understanding and criticizing AI/LLMs/governance by vibes bc it models the same thing they do - orientations - but in the ontological absence of legitimating values beyond moral freedom.
"regulation by ownership" is a great example of the kind of governance I discuss in GOOD VIBES ONLY - not norms or the traditional 'norm of regulation' in 19th c biopower (or neolib deregulation), but lineages of private property ownership and wealth
🧵 Trump administration AI policy is widely described as deregulatory. This description is misleading. What's happening is not the absence of governance but its rearrangement--intensive state intervention operating through mechanisms we don't typically call regulation. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The mirage of AI deregulation
One of the most interventionist approaches to technology governance in the United States in a generation has cloaked itself in the language of deregulation. In early December 2025, President Donald Tr...
www.science.org
January 16, 2026 at 7:43 PM
"regulation by ownership" is a great example of the kind of governance I discuss in GOOD VIBES ONLY - not norms or the traditional 'norm of regulation' in 19th c biopower (or neolib deregulation), but lineages of private property ownership and wealth
given the role of the aesthetic sublime in a lot of UK Dark Enlightenment philosophy, a turn to neo-Romanticism by someone like Charli is interesting, kind of like a refusal of the gesture of re-masculinizing aesthetic overwhelm by domineering reason
January 16, 2026 at 6:38 PM
given the role of the aesthetic sublime in a lot of UK Dark Enlightenment philosophy, a turn to neo-Romanticism by someone like Charli is interesting, kind of like a refusal of the gesture of re-masculinizing aesthetic overwhelm by domineering reason
This new Charli song is very interesting! It's like *neo-Romanticism* for the streaming age (i.e. the age of under 3 min songs). There's TENSION & RELEASE, which is new and v un-chill, built thru timbre and texture rather than harmony.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHm1...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHm1...
Charli xcx - Wall of Sound (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Charli xcx
www.youtube.com
January 16, 2026 at 6:30 PM
This new Charli song is very interesting! It's like *neo-Romanticism* for the streaming age (i.e. the age of under 3 min songs). There's TENSION & RELEASE, which is new and v un-chill, built thru timbre and texture rather than harmony.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHm1...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHm1...
It's not incitement to discourse, it's repression
chef's kiss
January 16, 2026 at 6:17 PM
It's not incitement to discourse, it's repression
sudsy's closed like a decade ago :(
January 16, 2026 at 12:38 PM
sudsy's closed like a decade ago :(
Reposted by Robin James
SUNDAY from 5-7 it's my radio show ITS HER FACTORY on Inhailer.com. Come for new and old indie hits, stay for music writing & journalism recs from me. This week I rec a documentary about one of the most venerable (& dirtiest) independent music venues in the US.
Inhailer Radio | Cincinnati | Independent Radio | Indie Music
Inhailer Radio is Cincinnati independent radio. Founded in 2017 to fill the void left by beloved radio station WNKU.
Inhailer.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:12 PM
SUNDAY from 5-7 it's my radio show ITS HER FACTORY on Inhailer.com. Come for new and old indie hits, stay for music writing & journalism recs from me. This week I rec a documentary about one of the most venerable (& dirtiest) independent music venues in the US.
Had a dream last night where three different marching bands played arraignments of three different REM tunes
January 16, 2026 at 11:13 AM
Had a dream last night where three different marching bands played arraignments of three different REM tunes
Meryn Cadell's "The Sweater": heteropessimism avant la lettre?
January 15, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Meryn Cadell's "The Sweater": heteropessimism avant la lettre?
childhood trauma taught me to compartmentalize, and thinking and writing are things that bring me fulfillment and keep me going. not sure that what i'm writing about matters so much amid all this beyond my own mental health.
January 15, 2026 at 8:36 PM
childhood trauma taught me to compartmentalize, and thinking and writing are things that bring me fulfillment and keep me going. not sure that what i'm writing about matters so much amid all this beyond my own mental health.
Slowly coming to terms with the fact that the Last Splash book is only 30k words, which breaks down to under 2k words per proposed chapter. This will be so much harder to write than an 80k word monograph lol.
January 15, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Slowly coming to terms with the fact that the Last Splash book is only 30k words, which breaks down to under 2k words per proposed chapter. This will be so much harder to write than an 80k word monograph lol.