David Mittelman
@dmittelman.bsky.social
Afro-Luso-Brazilian literary/cultural studies (still, somehow).
Pinned
David Mittelman
@dmittelman.bsky.social
· Jan 30
This week I finally took down my Portuguese-language CDC wear-a-mask poster from my office door and replaced it with this:
ooooh
I feel like there should only be one cruise ship in the world and it only docks once a year, and, when it docks, we put all the most irritating cultural figures on the ship.
November 26, 2025 at 4:24 AM
ooooh
I love it how do I get it as wallpaper for my office
Yeah things took an even weirder culture war turn. www.londoncentric.media/p/ai-artwork...
London's giant AI artwork to be torn down
The bizarre story of why a much-talked-about creation is being torn down. Plus: Docklands Light Railway extension, giant laser stalks the night sky, and more tales of Android phone theft rejection.
www.londoncentric.media
November 26, 2025 at 1:06 AM
I love it how do I get it as wallpaper for my office
"Bolsonaro is a cupcake" ???
U.S. people talk about Brazil without making it (a) weird and (b) all about themselves challenge -- difficulty: impossible.
U.S. people talk about Brazil without making it (a) weird and (b) all about themselves challenge -- difficulty: impossible.
Long for the day
America says ENOUGH
Bolsonaro is a cupcake compared to our CORRUPTION
America says ENOUGH
Bolsonaro is a cupcake compared to our CORRUPTION
November 26, 2025 at 1:01 AM
"Bolsonaro is a cupcake" ???
U.S. people talk about Brazil without making it (a) weird and (b) all about themselves challenge -- difficulty: impossible.
U.S. people talk about Brazil without making it (a) weird and (b) all about themselves challenge -- difficulty: impossible.
???
What a world, when Brazil is more of a democracy than we are.
November 26, 2025 at 1:00 AM
???
Starting to think maybe the president should not be rich and should not be allowed to get rich in office.
November 26, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Starting to think maybe the president should not be rich and should not be allowed to get rich in office.
Unsurprisingly, this take has not aged well.
Trump is going all in for Brazil’s Bolsanaro.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced the US is revoking the visa of the Supreme Court judge who oversaw the prosecution of the former President.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced the US is revoking the visa of the Supreme Court judge who oversaw the prosecution of the former President.
US Yanks Visa for Brazilian Judge Citing Bolsonaro ‘Witch Hunt’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he’s revoking the visa for Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes after the high court sent police to raid the home of ex-President Jair Bolson...
www.bloomberg.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Unsurprisingly, this take has not aged well.
Indeed, they have not and do not seem to be about to.
Yes, the White House is helping Bolsonaro, but to say they are “all in” seems an exaggeration, one that Bolsonaro’s people would love, but for which there is no real evidence. It suggests the WH will take real political risk for Bolsonaro’s sake (risk “all,” in fact) but it is not clear they would.
Trump is going all in for Brazil’s Bolsanaro.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced the US is revoking the visa of the Supreme Court judge who oversaw the prosecution of the former President.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced the US is revoking the visa of the Supreme Court judge who oversaw the prosecution of the former President.
November 26, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Indeed, they have not and do not seem to be about to.
Arguably the most important thing that happened today in Brazil (in absurdly heavy traffic).
"For the first time in Brazilian history, military officers go to prison for coup d'état."
"For the first time in Brazilian history, military officers go to prison for coup d'état."
Pela primeira vez na história do Brasil, militares são presos por golpe de Estado.
Confira a reportagem completa: glo.bo/4pwbxWS #JN
Confira a reportagem completa: glo.bo/4pwbxWS #JN
November 26, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Arguably the most important thing that happened today in Brazil (in absurdly heavy traffic).
"For the first time in Brazilian history, military officers go to prison for coup d'état."
"For the first time in Brazilian history, military officers go to prison for coup d'état."
Today is Big-News-In-Brazil Day.
November 26, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Today is Big-News-In-Brazil Day.
Reposted by David Mittelman
(academia counterpoint: as industry proletarianized, affluent people opted away from the uncertainty including declining to pursue grad school, while less affluent people embraced grad school as one of the only places to get a 6 year job contract w health care; after, contingent employment familiar)
This is one of those things that rarely gets talked about that has had a massive effect.
As fields like journalism, art, and academia were collapsed and living expenses skyrocketed they came to skew increasingly toward people whose families could afford to supplement their income.
As fields like journalism, art, and academia were collapsed and living expenses skyrocketed they came to skew increasingly toward people whose families could afford to supplement their income.
If you're ever wondered why journalists seem so out of touch most of the time it's because in order to establish yourself you need to either come from money, marry into money, or be OK with abject poverty and daily financial panic
That third thing is unsustainable long-term
That third thing is unsustainable long-term
November 26, 2025 at 12:09 AM
(academia counterpoint: as industry proletarianized, affluent people opted away from the uncertainty including declining to pursue grad school, while less affluent people embraced grad school as one of the only places to get a 6 year job contract w health care; after, contingent employment familiar)
Wow (derogatory)
November 25, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Wow (derogatory)
Reposted by David Mittelman
Military generals responsible for the coup attempt have also been imprisoned.
oglobo.globo.com/blogs/malu-g...
oglobo.globo.com/blogs/malu-g...
November 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Military generals responsible for the coup attempt have also been imprisoned.
oglobo.globo.com/blogs/malu-g...
oglobo.globo.com/blogs/malu-g...
Reposted by David Mittelman
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
Reposted by David Mittelman
Já o antropólogo David Nemer pondera que a pauta moral ainda é a principal “cola identitária” do campo da direita, que reúne grupos dispersos mantidos sob o guarda-chuva de Bolsonaro nas duas últimas eleições.
oglobo.globo.com/politica/not...
oglobo.globo.com/politica/not...
Encruzilhada à direita: prisão amplia dúvidas sobre força do bolsonarismo e sucessão nas urnas em 2026
Cientistas políticos e antropólogos que estudam a evolução do fenômeno desde 2018 afirmaram ao GLOBO que a maior privação de liberdade pode afetar o papel de Bolsonaro como cabo eleitoral e fragmentar...
oglobo.globo.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Já o antropólogo David Nemer pondera que a pauta moral ainda é a principal “cola identitária” do campo da direita, que reúne grupos dispersos mantidos sob o guarda-chuva de Bolsonaro nas duas últimas eleições.
oglobo.globo.com/politica/not...
oglobo.globo.com/politica/not...
Next week, I presume, users will be able to pay a little fee to upgrade their accounts and gain the ability to directly control the location they are “based in.”
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Next week, I presume, users will be able to pay a little fee to upgrade their accounts and gain the ability to directly control the location they are “based in.”
Reposted by David Mittelman
I used to get the Sunday scaries but if I read a book and run in the the weather, I am reminded that the worst parts of my job are meaningless. This is my cure.
November 23, 2025 at 2:35 PM
I used to get the Sunday scaries but if I read a book and run in the the weather, I am reminded that the worst parts of my job are meaningless. This is my cure.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
Six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
November 23, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
Six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
there’s, like, a lot of pope in my feed, guys
November 23, 2025 at 4:30 AM
there’s, like, a lot of pope in my feed, guys
[Descartes voice] Well, do you *really* know anything at all about the physical world? DO YOU???
My first political memory - exactly 62 years ago right now, a 4-year-old boy trying to understand his mom's tears - is still the biggest event in my lifetime. We still (IMO) don't *really* know who killed JFK, but we know the public's trust was shattered. It's a straight line to today's mess
November 23, 2025 at 2:03 AM
[Descartes voice] Well, do you *really* know anything at all about the physical world? DO YOU???
precisamos e merecemos
November 23, 2025 at 12:11 AM
precisamos e merecemos
In college, my girlfriend and some friends decided to take Portuguese in the hopes of traveling or studying abroad in Brazil. So I went and “shopped” intensive Portuguese.
Nearly 20 years later @katebbeall.bsky.social and I are still together and I have one of the few jobs in this field in the US.
Nearly 20 years later @katebbeall.bsky.social and I are still together and I have one of the few jobs in this field in the US.
November 22, 2025 at 10:04 PM
In college, my girlfriend and some friends decided to take Portuguese in the hopes of traveling or studying abroad in Brazil. So I went and “shopped” intensive Portuguese.
Nearly 20 years later @katebbeall.bsky.social and I are still together and I have one of the few jobs in this field in the US.
Nearly 20 years later @katebbeall.bsky.social and I are still together and I have one of the few jobs in this field in the US.
That’s just the magic of being Matty.
This Yglesias quote is so bafflingly wrong that it's hard to believe people voluntarily pay for his thoughts on American politics.
I don't think this is a correct description of America's party system.
November 22, 2025 at 9:51 PM
That’s just the magic of being Matty.
Reposted by David Mittelman
O que eu mais gosto neste vídeo é que ele tá amooaaaaado, parece uma criança de castigo
No momento da troca da tornozeleira eletrônica, Jair Bolsonaro foi questionado sobre pq ela estava tão danificada. Ele responde que, por “curiosidade”, usava o ferro de solda desde a tarde 👇🏾
November 22, 2025 at 9:03 PM
O que eu mais gosto neste vídeo é que ele tá amooaaaaado, parece uma criança de castigo
geente…
No momento da troca da tornozeleira eletrônica, Jair Bolsonaro foi questionado sobre pq ela estava tão danificada. Ele responde que, por “curiosidade”, usava o ferro de solda desde a tarde 👇🏾
November 22, 2025 at 9:08 PM
geente…
like he wanted to get caught
Bolsonaro tells Brazilian Federal Police that he used a soldering iron to tamper with his ankle monitor.
Bolsonaro afirmou a investigadores que utilizou ferro de solda na tornozeleira, diz PF
November 22, 2025 at 7:36 PM
like he wanted to get caught