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Olivia Giovetti

@oliviagiovetti.bsky.social

170 followers 93 following 140 posts

When I was 4, I dressed up as Mephistopheles from Faust for Halloween and corrected each of my grandparents' friends when they thought I was the devil. Now I'm a cultural critic. Web: oliviagiovetti.com Substack: criticaldrift.org

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Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · Aug 1

“Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment.”

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 12h

Shevshchenko lassoes the moon, Lviv

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 12h

Excellent work, thank you for your service.

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 1d

In Poland talking in French with my South African cab driver about the political situation in Burkina Faso as he drives me to a meet-up point for my trip into Ukraine. What a world.

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 5d

There was a lot of tension around that behind the scenes in late 2023/early 2024 and it‘s pretty galling to now see some of my former colleagues there cover Palestine favorably since it became less of a risk. But it wasn‘t the main issue that led me to leave.

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 6d

Can pre-crime get you pregnant or is that just a myth they teach you in abstinence-only Marxism?

Jacobin @jacobinmag.bsky.social · 6d

Donald Trump's new security directive labels anti-capitalist beliefs as a predictor of political violence.

The irony: left-wing structural analysis actually pushes people away from lone-wolf attacks and toward mass organizing for change.

Trump Classifies “Anti-Capitalism” as a Political Pre-Crime

Donald Trump’s new security directive labels anti-capitalist beliefs as a predictor of political violence. The irony: left-wing structural analysis actually pushes people away from lone-wolf attacks and toward mass organizing for change.

jacobin.com

Reposted by Olivia Giovetti

Thomas Jones @moonjets.bsky.social · 10d

During the curtain call for Verdi’s 1847 Macbeth in Busseto last night, two of the dancers laid a Palestinian flag on the stage. Most of the audience kept applauding though there were a few boos. And you had to wonder which part of ‘gli oppressi corriamo a salvar’ the booers hadn’t heard.

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Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 10d

When Verdi wrote Macbeth one of his friends asked if he could go back to writing political operas.

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 10d

One must imagine Sisyphus redpilled.

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 10d

Yep. Small town Rhode Island, man.

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 11d

Got engaged.

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Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 15d

(And to answer the follow-up: Obviously I had no friends in high school which was how I was able to write Golem x Bayreuth fanfic.)

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 15d

Now's a good time to remind people that Met donor Mercedes Bass's step-cousin-in-law was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 15d

Oh god, this was high school? Maybe college?

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Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 15d

I once wrote a short story about a Golem going to Bayreuth.

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Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 15d

I don't know what to say anymore but at least I'm not about to start arguing that Ivan Khovansky was practicing politics the right way.

Killing Khovansky

1,041 words about the past that have absolutely nothing to do with the present (until they do)

www.criticaldrift.org

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 15d

Gorilla Gluing my head to my desk

👁️ isaac io 👁️ @eyesack.bsky.social · 15d

lol gelb'd

the nyt mistakenly thought peter gelb said something meaningful

A correction was made on Sept. 22, 2025: An earlier version of this review referred incorrectly to remarks made by Peter Gelb, the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera. He said that the Met was “proudly standing for freedom of artistic expression,” not that “Kavalier & Clay” was a testament to the power of art against oppression.

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 20d

Campaigning for the NYT's classical critic gig on the platform of bringing back reads like this line from 1900.

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Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 20d

One thing I distinctly remember about David Rakoff was his insistence on drinking year-round iced coffee. (She says while making her own iced coffee on a 12-degree morning.)

Reposted by Olivia Giovetti

London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 22d

‘When Studs Terkel described her as “a writer of profound compassion and tenderness and understanding”, Parker asked if he was “talking about somebody else”.’

Kasia Boddy on Dorothy Parker: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Kasia Boddy · Pretty Garrotte: Why we need Dorothy Parker

While she always insisted that she wasn’t a ‘real’ critic, Parker is more astute than most on matters of style,...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 22d

Find someone to hold you the way Robert Redford held a cup

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Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 23d

Yes sorry that is 100% clear to me it’s just funny that you found the crevasse.

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 23d

Kind of wild that Lyonne comes out worse in this equation.

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Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 23d

www.cracked.com/amp/article_...

Here Are the Best Burns of Natasha Lyonne After She Claimed David Lynch Was Pro-A.I.

Lyonne, who co-founded an A.I. film studio, name-dropped a dead legend in her defense

www.cracked.com

Olivia Giovetti @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social · 23d

An AI slop remake of The Conformist is the aesthetic we deserve.

Shoegaze Socialist @periperimayo.bsky.social · 24d

It cannot be stressed enough that AI "art" is the aesthetic of modern-day fascism

Reposted by Olivia Giovetti

Ben Miller @benwritesthings.bsky.social · 24d

friends, a classic:

tom @tomwalker.bsky.social · Jul 17

KOKO THE GORILLA: Koko birkin bag. Practical Koko possession bag
RESEARCHER: No, Koko. You can’t have a Birkin bag.
KOKO: Good Birkin good Koko give beautiful Koko deserve gorilla
RESEARCHER: Koko, we simply can’t afford a Birkin bag. It is an unjustifiable expense.
KOKO: jealousy professor

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