Matt Walker
@mpwalker22.bsky.social
Garbage collector, collegiate assessor, Middlebury Russian professor
Reposted by Matt Walker
When I said last year that the average American MAGA supporter closely resembles a Russian vatnik in both mindset and ideology, I meant it seriously.
January 5, 2026 at 5:01 AM
When I said last year that the average American MAGA supporter closely resembles a Russian vatnik in both mindset and ideology, I meant it seriously.
Reposted by Matt Walker
This is a devastating story. And I don't think the New York Times of all fucking places should be allowed to run a story like this without at least a paragraph acknowledging the role their newspaper had in mainstreaming the hatred that killed Lia.
A devastating story about the life and death of Lia Smith, a transgender woman and college student targeted by conservatives online because she briefly participated on the school's diving team. Lia was found dead by suicide last fall at the age of 21.
(Unlocked article below)
(Unlocked article below)
At Middlebury, She Hoped to Start Fresh. In Trump’s America, It Seemed Impossible.
www.nytimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:53 AM
This is a devastating story. And I don't think the New York Times of all fucking places should be allowed to run a story like this without at least a paragraph acknowledging the role their newspaper had in mainstreaming the hatred that killed Lia.
Reposted by Matt Walker
Good that Gen Z gets to experience what Iraq was like for older generations, but somehow dumber.
January 3, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Good that Gen Z gets to experience what Iraq was like for older generations, but somehow dumber.
So if I understand Slezkine's argument correctly Russophobia isn't caused by drones crashing into apartment blocks in Kyiv or anything else the RF does in the real world but is a constitutive fiction of the West as such AND a symptom of its decline. Мы тут ни при чем. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Why ‘The West’? | Yuri Slezkine
The idea of the West survived a once-shared civilization as a code for its fractious heirs. A new book suggests its enduring constants have been a fear of Russia and of internal decay.
www.nybooks.com
January 1, 2026 at 10:03 PM
So if I understand Slezkine's argument correctly Russophobia isn't caused by drones crashing into apartment blocks in Kyiv or anything else the RF does in the real world but is a constitutive fiction of the West as such AND a symptom of its decline. Мы тут ни при чем. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Reposted by Matt Walker
Last week, the New School issued voluntary separation & early retirement offers to 40% of the full-time faculty & the majority of non-union staff. These cuts to the bone are an ideological attempt to decimate historic spaces of critical inquiry & social justice. Share our statement tr.ee/qQBIDCpIuj
OFFICIAL Statement from AAUP-TNS on Cuts to Faculty and Staff 12-9-25
The New School - Austerity Cuts to the Bone A Statement from the Leadership Council of AAUP-TNS On December 3, 2025, New School President Joel Towers and Provost Richard Kessler issued voluntary sep...
tr.ee
December 14, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Last week, the New School issued voluntary separation & early retirement offers to 40% of the full-time faculty & the majority of non-union staff. These cuts to the bone are an ideological attempt to decimate historic spaces of critical inquiry & social justice. Share our statement tr.ee/qQBIDCpIuj
You don't have to imagine Eva Braun as a YouTube blogger, you can just watch Ksenia Sobchak soft-ball interview Russian Nazis fresh out of prison after serving 16 years for murder instead. Maybe peak banality of the banality of evil.
December 12, 2025 at 9:41 AM
You don't have to imagine Eva Braun as a YouTube blogger, you can just watch Ksenia Sobchak soft-ball interview Russian Nazis fresh out of prison after serving 16 years for murder instead. Maybe peak banality of the banality of evil.
Meanwhile absolutely zero corruption you might want to investigate in the US... or is it OK if we call it a "deal"? www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Make Money Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine
The Kremlin pitched the White House on peace through business. To Europe’s dismay, the president and his envoy are on board.
www.wsj.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Meanwhile absolutely zero corruption you might want to investigate in the US... or is it OK if we call it a "deal"? www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Reposted by Matt Walker
Mein 1-Punkt Friedensplan: Russland kehrt in seine Grenzen zurück und bleibt dort. Danke für die Aufmerksamkeit.
November 20, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Mein 1-Punkt Friedensplan: Russland kehrt in seine Grenzen zurück und bleibt dort. Danke für die Aufmerksamkeit.
Reposted by Matt Walker
The moment a Shahed struck a store in Kharkiv.
November 19, 2025 at 10:22 AM
The moment a Shahed struck a store in Kharkiv.
Reposted by Matt Walker
🤬 The attack of 7 cruise missiles in a row this morning in Ternopil is being published by Russian channels
November 19, 2025 at 10:49 AM
🤬 The attack of 7 cruise missiles in a row this morning in Ternopil is being published by Russian channels
Reposted by Matt Walker
I just don't understand this world anymore.
November 19, 2025 at 11:06 AM
I just don't understand this world anymore.
Reposted by Matt Walker
"Understanding" doing some incredible work here.
November 7, 2025 at 2:26 PM
"Understanding" doing some incredible work here.
Reposted by Matt Walker
Every so often you run across yet another reminder of how shameful the story of this era is going to be in the history books someday. On so many levels, including the dystopian cheery tone of this NYT caption…
October 25, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Every so often you run across yet another reminder of how shameful the story of this era is going to be in the history books someday. On so many levels, including the dystopian cheery tone of this NYT caption…
10/10, somehow meduza.io/en/quiz/figh...
Fighting the free press, from Moscow to Mar-a-Lago Can you tell Russian media crackdowns from Trump’s America? — Meduza
Since Donald Trump returned to office, he’s waged what media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has called an “assault on the country’s press freedom.” He’s raged against the media, sued outlets over ...
meduza.io
October 20, 2025 at 7:56 PM
10/10, somehow meduza.io/en/quiz/figh...
Reposted by Matt Walker
I kind of can’t believe this Bari Weiss quote is even real, and yet www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/b...
October 7, 2025 at 12:40 AM
I kind of can’t believe this Bari Weiss quote is even real, and yet www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/b...
Reposted by Matt Walker
Hard to compete with this.
October 7, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Hard to compete with this.
Billionaires offering you a chance to have your "come to Jesus" moment... or else.
October 6, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Billionaires offering you a chance to have your "come to Jesus" moment... or else.
Reposted by Matt Walker
One of the many Russian strikes on Lviv last night.
October 5, 2025 at 9:52 AM
One of the many Russian strikes on Lviv last night.
Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka
Reportedly, this is an encounter of a Russian soldier with a pig in a tunnel in Kharkiv region.
October 5, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka
Reposted by Matt Walker
💔 Four members of a family killed in Russian attack on Lviv Oblast
Four members of a family killed in Russian attack on Lviv Oblast
www.pravda.com.ua
October 5, 2025 at 12:50 PM
💔 Four members of a family killed in Russian attack on Lviv Oblast
Government lists versus academic freedom, which side is your university administration on?
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Kafka-land at UC Berkeley
The 160 members of the university notified that their names were forwarded to the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights were not informed of any specific allegations against them.
www.thenation.com
September 22, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Government lists versus academic freedom, which side is your university administration on?
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Reposted by Matt Walker
Reposted by Matt Walker
Postcard from Trumpland
📷 WSJ
📷 WSJ
August 28, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Postcard from Trumpland
📷 WSJ
📷 WSJ