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Ryan Cordell

@ryancordell.org

7.1K followers 1.3K following 18K posts

he/him—textual technologies enthusiast—Associate Professor at UIUC's School of Information Sciences & Department of English—co-director of the Viral Texts Project (viraltexts.org) & Director @skeuomorphpress.org —also https://theanxiousbench.bandcamp.com

theanxiousbench.bandcamp.com

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · Sep 5

Late this summer I got to go into the studio with @pablohutch.bsky.social & our buddy Tim to record some tunes—and our EP is up today on Bandcamp!

I feel a little weird as a middle-aged dude asking folks to listen to my band—but I'm pretty proud of these songs & would love if y’all gave em a listen

Exhalation EP, by The Anxious Bench

3 track album

theanxiousbench.bandcamp.com

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 17h

Making copies

A set of prints made from wood type and linoleum. The linocut is an early-modern style woodcut rendition of a protester in a frog costume facing off against two ICE officers in riot gear. The text reads

STAND UP
TO
FASCISM!

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 18h

Hey @queermedieval.bsky.social your illustration prints *beautifully*!!

Anti-fascist frogs hot off the press

A print made from wood type and linoleum. The linocut is an early-modern style woodcut rendition of a protester in a frog costume facing off against two ICE officers in riot gear. The text reads

STAND UP
TO
FASCISM!

The ink is green on an off white paper.

wood type and linoleum set for printing in a proofing press. The linocut is an early-modern style woodcut rendition of a protester in a frog costume facing off against two ICE officers in riot gear. The text reads

STAND UP
TO
FASCISM!

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 19h

"It’s true that in previous shutdowns, legislators acted like human beings with some small degree of empathy and compassion, but we are ideological assholes who get off on causing as much pain as possible to other people so fuck all y’all"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 20h

Johnson: "It's true that in previous shutdowns, many or most furloughed employees have been paid for the time they were furloughed, but there is new legal analysis - I don't know the details, I just saw a headline - but there are some legal analysts saying that might not be appropriate or necessary"

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 19h

The cut is carving! Now I just need to figure out the right text

Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 1d

You could be that someone…

Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 1d

The internet remains undefeated.

We can work with this.

Amazing thank you @queermedieval.bsky.social more coming soon

Miles, knitting screaming agony werewolf @queermedieval.bsky.social · 1d

your wish, my command, etc., etc.

a woodcut-style black and white illustration of the face-off between ICE and that guy in the inflatable frog costume

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 1d

I will add that if some talented illustrator wanted to create a line art/woodcut version of the ICE-Wizard Frog standoff & share it with me, I could probably be convinced to print news broadsides early-modern style @skeuomorphpress.org

Quinn Dombrowski @quinnanya.me · 1d

Oh I am on it. Printing this template out and bringing my loom to afternoon craft time at the library to get started.

Two SWAT team icon dudes, one with shield and one with gun, facing a screenshot of the frog wiggling his hands at them

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 1d

the world needs this, Quinn

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Reposted by Ryan Cordell

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 1d

"the solution is still the one that can succeed: to build a new cultural order, a new civilization. To do so, academics must embrace an unusual new role: as knowledge workers, they must seize the means of knowledge production."

www.publicbooks.org/academics-mu...

Academics Must Seize the Means of Knowledge Production - Public Books

Trumpism has canceled the knowledge society.

www.publicbooks.org

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 1d

rapture-3-final-edit-finalfinal-reedit-revision-reallyreallyfinal-forrealthistimefinal-4.docx

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 3d

Two pictures with the same energy from the CU Folk & Roots Festival

Willi Carlisle’s crew brought the whimsy to match our festival artwork

folkandroots.org

Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 3d

Today @skeuomorphpress.org is tabling & live printing at the Humanities Research Institute’s 1st Humanities Open House

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 4d

It’s Bandcamp Friday again, so if you felt inclined to buy the Anxious Bench’s “Exhalation” EP in the next 8 hours or so, 100% of the proceeds would go to letting us get back into the studio soon theanxiousbench.bandcamp.com/album/exhala...

Exhalation EP, by The Anxious Bench

3 track album

theanxiousbench.bandcamp.com

Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 4d

Every year the influencer drive for a millennial autumn reads as more & more divorced from reality

It’s 90° in Illinois in October. I can’t walk 2 blocks in a T-shirt & shorts without sweating. The wide-brimmed hats & chunky scarves & pumpkin spice whatever look fucking *demented*

Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 5d

I wasn’t sure how she would react, but Millie’s little sister Margo knows something is wrong. She’s normally a ball of energy but tonight she’s just laying there. Hard not to think she’s sad too

Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 5d

Today we said goodbye to the most patient, gentle, warm-hearted girl. She loved her kids, a boiled egg in the morning, & escaping the back gate to gallavant around the neighborhood. She’s the 1st pet the kids remember. We are heartbroken but glad she’s not in pain anymore. We’ll miss you Millie girl

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 5d

part of this, of course, is the pairing of expectation & result—in the DH world it’s all "oh, you just used a basic supervised classification model that’s cool I guess" whereas among volunteers for a non-profit festival it’s "you mean we don’t have to write these by *hand*?!?! 🤯"

Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 5d

All the weird little programs I’ve written over the years & I’m not sure anything was as rewarding as figuring out—i.e. copying & pasting from online—an excel macro that converts dollar amounts into words so we can mail merge & print artist checks for our local folk festival—I’m basically a wizard

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 6d

bro, I’ve been "vibe working" for *years* where is my royalty check?!?

The Verge @theverge.com · 8d

Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word

Vibe working is all about Office’s new Agent Mode.

buff.ly

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 6d

I’m on the steering committee for the CU Folk & Roots Festival, which is happening this weekend—we’ve got a stellar lineup this year including Willi Carlisle, Lizzie No, & the Hogslop String Band as headliners—pretty impressive for a small, all-volunteer-run festival—if you’re nearby, don’t miss it!

CU Folk & Roots

folkandroots.org

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Reposted by Ryan Cordell

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 6d

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

650 8.2K 25K

Reposted by Ryan Cordell

Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 6d

Their music, like the stuff at Kirk's memorial, sucks.

"Both CCM [contemporary Christian music] and worship music are subpar forms that white evangelicals settle for because they think you can catch demons from the real stuff."

Amanda Marcotte @amandamarcotte.bsky.social · 6d

That's part of why I wrote this. It's important to understand that MAGA is not "real" America.

On the contrary, the reason they're all so fucking bitter is they know most people aren't like them. And they resent that.

www.salon.com/2025/10/01/m...

MAGA can't expand its base — and Christian music tells us why

The songs from Charlie Kirk's memorial exposed a serious problem

www.salon.com

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 6d

What’s wild is that 37% of people who lean Republican have *never heard of* Mike Johnson, and 57% have *never heard of* John Thune

Never. Heard. Of. Them.

Even those 25% of Dems who’ve never heard of Chuck Schumer is 👀

Chase Madar @madar.bsky.social · 6d

That Schumer is -4 _among Democrats_ gives me some hope, overdue as it is www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

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Reposted by Ryan Cordell

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 6d

People think they’re taking down a rich intellectual sinecure but they’re mostly terrorizing committed public servants who make $58,000 a year after 15 years of experience at a school that has to budget creatively so students can access textbooks.

Emily Farris @emayfarris.bsky.social · 6d

This new column by @tressiemcphd.bsky.social makes me think about when I recently had to talk to the police for yet another safety plan, I tried to “lighten” the mood by saying that we all knew this wasn’t my first rodeo. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

For at least the past 15 years, my colleagues in academia have grappled with angry letters to university officials for doing their jobs. They have weathered campaigns for their firing. They have contended with an internet army obsessed with doxxing them, their parents, their kids. I’ve been contacted by the F.B.I. more than once in my career. Not because I hold any important state secrets or know a biker gang but because one of my colleagues has lived with so much sustained harassment from right-wing “activists” that it has become a matter of federal concern. Watch lists (one of which was constructed by Kirk’s organization) do not distinguish between public intellectuals at wealthy enclaves and hoi polloi who teach popular classes at cash-strapped schools. In either case, an army of trained provocateurs stands ready to destroy their lives to prove their bona fides as conservative activists.

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Reposted by Ryan Cordell

John Raimo @johnraimo.bsky.social · 6d

Gift link: essential and sadly brave writing for dark times from Tressie McMillan Cottom (@tressiemcphd.bsky.social). www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

Opinion | Mourn, or Else

www.nytimes.com

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