Ben Johnston
@johnstonteacher.bsky.social
High school English teacher in Edmonton, Alberta.
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Five-year-old me: Oooh, that Batman cartoon! What adventures will he go on today?
*the villain is left in tears, unable to process their fears and obsessions. And Batman, a looming presence born of the inability to rationalize terror, is the only one there to comfort them*
Me: Oh. Huh.
*the villain is left in tears, unable to process their fears and obsessions. And Batman, a looming presence born of the inability to rationalize terror, is the only one there to comfort them*
Me: Oh. Huh.
February 3, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Five-year-old me: Oooh, that Batman cartoon! What adventures will he go on today?
*the villain is left in tears, unable to process their fears and obsessions. And Batman, a looming presence born of the inability to rationalize terror, is the only one there to comfort them*
Me: Oh. Huh.
*the villain is left in tears, unable to process their fears and obsessions. And Batman, a looming presence born of the inability to rationalize terror, is the only one there to comfort them*
Me: Oh. Huh.
Reposted by Ben Johnston
Hugo eligibility post!
“The Cuddled Little Vice,” my book-length essay on the poison legacy of Sandman, is eligible for Best Related Work.
“The Cuddled Little Vice,” my book-length essay on the poison legacy of Sandman, is eligible for Best Related Work.
The Cuddled Little Vice (Sandman)
Previously in The Last War in Albion: Alan Moore wrote Watchmen, which, for complicated reasons involving William S. Burroughs and the weak nuclear force, ended the Cold War and replaced it with a mag...
www.eruditorumpress.com
January 31, 2026 at 4:58 AM
Hugo eligibility post!
“The Cuddled Little Vice,” my book-length essay on the poison legacy of Sandman, is eligible for Best Related Work.
“The Cuddled Little Vice,” my book-length essay on the poison legacy of Sandman, is eligible for Best Related Work.
Reposted by Ben Johnston
Reposted by Ben Johnston
I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com
I grew up with Alex Pretti
The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by ICE agents was my childhood best friend.
www.theverge.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:45 PM
I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com
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![Comic. [Banner: Mathematical Society: 2025 Meeting.] PERSON 1 with bun: Any other new developments from the year to cover before we wrap? PERSON 2: Oh, the teens picked a new funny number. PERSON 3 with short hair: Aww, I’m glad to hear they’re still doing that. PERSON 4 with ponytail: I’ll add it to the list. [List: 23 (skidoo!; 42; 69; 420; 1,337; 58,008; [circled]: 67]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreig43e2u4zzpifhq6fbf2iwplmva2lt5rokfg5uws5dysbe55up6wa@jpeg)
December 26, 2025 at 10:44 PM
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Doing this challenge made me firm up what I like about the 2020s and realise more than ever that people who think current music has stagnated are just weird. Surges of creativity across Africa, Asia and South America; a golden generation of women pop stars; tons of funny, filthy rap - good times!
#TheTwen2ie5 Day 50
1. CHAPPELL ROAN - “Good Luck, Babe!” (24, USA) - 12 POINTS
How do you do fellow normies? First time I heard this I thought “that chorus is like Dragostea Din Tei (derogatory)” but NOW I think “that chorus is like Dragostea Din Tei (complimentary)”
youtu.be/1RKqOmSkGgM?...
1. CHAPPELL ROAN - “Good Luck, Babe!” (24, USA) - 12 POINTS
How do you do fellow normies? First time I heard this I thought “that chorus is like Dragostea Din Tei (derogatory)” but NOW I think “that chorus is like Dragostea Din Tei (complimentary)”
youtu.be/1RKqOmSkGgM?...
November 25, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Doing this challenge made me firm up what I like about the 2020s and realise more than ever that people who think current music has stagnated are just weird. Surges of creativity across Africa, Asia and South America; a golden generation of women pop stars; tons of funny, filthy rap - good times!
Reposted by Ben Johnston
On this Trans Day of Remembrance, I hope Albertans will remember that trans kids and teens are living breathing humans who just want to be themselves, without fear of hate and discrimination. Demonizing kids merely to score political points in some weird culture war is craven and cruel.
November 20, 2025 at 8:21 PM
On this Trans Day of Remembrance, I hope Albertans will remember that trans kids and teens are living breathing humans who just want to be themselves, without fear of hate and discrimination. Demonizing kids merely to score political points in some weird culture war is craven and cruel.
Reposted by Ben Johnston
YOU GUYS WANNA SEE SOMETHING CURSED???? HOW ABOUT NEON GENESIS LEHIGH VALLEY PHANTOMS HOCKEY?????
November 16, 2025 at 11:25 PM
YOU GUYS WANNA SEE SOMETHING CURSED???? HOW ABOUT NEON GENESIS LEHIGH VALLEY PHANTOMS HOCKEY?????
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the legend lived
[Beastie Boys] ON
from the chippewa on
[Beastie Boys] DOWN
[Beastie Boys] ON
from the chippewa on
[Beastie Boys] DOWN
November 10, 2025 at 6:31 PM
the legend lived
[Beastie Boys] ON
from the chippewa on
[Beastie Boys] DOWN
[Beastie Boys] ON
from the chippewa on
[Beastie Boys] DOWN
Reposted by Ben Johnston
10yrs old: a slam dunk is the coolest thing i’ve ever seen
15yrs old: these slow, emotional songs just “get” me
25yrs old: literature explores the human condition, but the visual storytelling in film reaches a much broader audience
35yrs old: a slam dunk is the coolest thing i’ve ever seen
15yrs old: these slow, emotional songs just “get” me
25yrs old: literature explores the human condition, but the visual storytelling in film reaches a much broader audience
35yrs old: a slam dunk is the coolest thing i’ve ever seen
July 8, 2023 at 3:36 PM
10yrs old: a slam dunk is the coolest thing i’ve ever seen
15yrs old: these slow, emotional songs just “get” me
25yrs old: literature explores the human condition, but the visual storytelling in film reaches a much broader audience
35yrs old: a slam dunk is the coolest thing i’ve ever seen
15yrs old: these slow, emotional songs just “get” me
25yrs old: literature explores the human condition, but the visual storytelling in film reaches a much broader audience
35yrs old: a slam dunk is the coolest thing i’ve ever seen
Reposted by Ben Johnston
I have to say in all my years as a journalist, I've never heard a government employee say that a youth should be assaulted for speaking their mind.
September 30, 2025 at 4:03 AM
I have to say in all my years as a journalist, I've never heard a government employee say that a youth should be assaulted for speaking their mind.
Reposted by Ben Johnston
By Alberta's own definition of "visual depiction of a sexual act," I fail to see how these images highlighted in UCP government's own slide show of explicit material. From Alison Bechdel's Fun Home.
many of the other scenes in province's shock-intended examples don't qualify, either
many of the other scenes in province's shock-intended examples don't qualify, either
September 8, 2025 at 9:42 PM
By Alberta's own definition of "visual depiction of a sexual act," I fail to see how these images highlighted in UCP government's own slide show of explicit material. From Alison Bechdel's Fun Home.
many of the other scenes in province's shock-intended examples don't qualify, either
many of the other scenes in province's shock-intended examples don't qualify, either
Reposted by Ben Johnston
Holiday book! The Fantasy Mystery is tricky. Too much fantasy, and the game of deduction is impossible. Too little, and why even bother fantasy-ing? The Tainted Cup walks the line expertly, with an odd-couple of detectives puzzling it out in a kingdom beset by seasonal Kaiju. Absolutely compelling.
September 2, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Holiday book! The Fantasy Mystery is tricky. Too much fantasy, and the game of deduction is impossible. Too little, and why even bother fantasy-ing? The Tainted Cup walks the line expertly, with an odd-couple of detectives puzzling it out in a kingdom beset by seasonal Kaiju. Absolutely compelling.
Reposted by Ben Johnston
Reposted by Ben Johnston
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it
AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event
Three years in, one of AI’s enduring impacts is to make people feel like they’re losing it.
www.theatlantic.com
August 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it
Reposted by Ben Johnston
As end-of-empire scenarios go it is so much more dignified to get your capital city sacked by the Visigoths than to have a bunch of illiterate rich people in their 70s doing it through a series of incomprehensible tantrums because their brains were defeated by their phones.
August 5, 2025 at 11:44 PM
As end-of-empire scenarios go it is so much more dignified to get your capital city sacked by the Visigoths than to have a bunch of illiterate rich people in their 70s doing it through a series of incomprehensible tantrums because their brains were defeated by their phones.
Reposted by Ben Johnston
This whole story is insane. Tesla apparently did everything it could to avoid providing the data it had about its Autopilot crash. This is just a snippet and there's a lot more. electrek.co/2025/08/04/t...
August 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
This whole story is insane. Tesla apparently did everything it could to avoid providing the data it had about its Autopilot crash. This is just a snippet and there's a lot more. electrek.co/2025/08/04/t...
Reposted by Ben Johnston
Happy 15th anniversary of the peak achievement of literary criticism, to all who celebrate
July 30, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Happy 15th anniversary of the peak achievement of literary criticism, to all who celebrate
Reposted by Ben Johnston
Look, you can say a lot about Hogan's legacy: he was racist, he was terrible to his colleagues, he put himself above other people, he firmly believed in the supremacy of white people, he was a bad wrestler, his life was a net negative for society.
That's it. That's the post.
That's it. That's the post.
July 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Look, you can say a lot about Hogan's legacy: he was racist, he was terrible to his colleagues, he put himself above other people, he firmly believed in the supremacy of white people, he was a bad wrestler, his life was a net negative for society.
That's it. That's the post.
That's it. That's the post.
Reposted by Ben Johnston
The Wordle person has lost it.
July 18, 2025 at 4:40 AM
The Wordle person has lost it.
Reposted by Ben Johnston
Please read. It’s worse (somehow!) than I imagined
NPR's Gaza producer faced Israeli military fire, private U.S. contractors pointing laser beams at his forehead and masked thieves as he tried to get food from a U.S.-supported group.
By Anas Baba
By Anas Baba
Knives, bullets and thieves: the quest for food in Gaza
NPR's Gaza producer faced Israeli military fire, private U.S. contractors pointing laser beams at his forehead and masked thieves as he tried to get food from a U.S.-supported group.
n.pr
July 6, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Please read. It’s worse (somehow!) than I imagined
Reposted by Ben Johnston
My mom and stepdad are from the same diaspora group as Zohran Mamdani’s dad (same like “my stepdad was kicked out of the same town and knows some of his classmates”) and apparently the New York Times doesn’t understand how diaspora works, so I am going to tell you a little about my mom’s people!
July 3, 2025 at 11:25 PM
My mom and stepdad are from the same diaspora group as Zohran Mamdani’s dad (same like “my stepdad was kicked out of the same town and knows some of his classmates”) and apparently the New York Times doesn’t understand how diaspora works, so I am going to tell you a little about my mom’s people!
Reposted by Ben Johnston
A lot of other confusing things make sense when you internalize this somewhat non-intuitive part of the process.
Wrote about what's really going on when you talk to an AI assistant
July 3, 2025 at 8:33 PM
A lot of other confusing things make sense when you internalize this somewhat non-intuitive part of the process.