Ben Applegate
@benapplegate.com
Director of publishing, editor, translator. Manga, democracy, civil rights, foster kittens, sci-fi, beer. Another world is possible. IDIC 🖖 He/him. Portfolio etc.: benapplegate.com (pfp: Marume Goshika)
Pinned
Hi. I do manga stuff for Kodansha with a team of cool people. I'll post panels from manga I enjoy working on like A Sign of Affection, To Your Eternity, [REDACTED], & [REDACTED]. I translate when the mood strikes, most recently Atsushi Kaneko's Search & Destroy. I foster many cats & fear for us all.
Reposted by Ben Applegate
Folks we have an urgent call to action here in NJ. We are waiting for Governor Murphy to sign three immigrant protection acts in the final days of his term that have already passed the assembly and Senate.
URGENT ACTION CALL from immigration advocacy groups here:
URGENT ACTION CALL from immigration advocacy groups here:
January 15, 2026 at 2:12 AM
Folks we have an urgent call to action here in NJ. We are waiting for Governor Murphy to sign three immigrant protection acts in the final days of his term that have already passed the assembly and Senate.
URGENT ACTION CALL from immigration advocacy groups here:
URGENT ACTION CALL from immigration advocacy groups here:
Reposted by Ben Applegate
bad week 2026 day 8 - regret
January 14, 2026 at 8:36 PM
bad week 2026 day 8 - regret
Nick Offerman was great in Death By Lightning (hell, they were all great), but I am quite annoyed by the show's Julia I. Sand erasure. A woman with a pen changed the course of history! Isn't that way more interesting than "Michael Shannon gives another good speech"? www.loc.gov/collections/...
Chester A. Arthur's "Little Dwarf": The Correspondence of Julia I. Sand | Articles and Essays | Chester Alan Arthur Papers | Digital Collections | Library of Congress
At a time when few women could vote or hold public office, a thirty-one-year-old New York woman took it upon herself to write at least twenty-three letters to President Chester A. Arthur, judging, adv...
www.loc.gov
January 14, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Nick Offerman was great in Death By Lightning (hell, they were all great), but I am quite annoyed by the show's Julia I. Sand erasure. A woman with a pen changed the course of history! Isn't that way more interesting than "Michael Shannon gives another good speech"? www.loc.gov/collections/...
Reposted by Ben Applegate
Stay safe, friends. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/12/s...
January 13, 2026 at 11:33 PM
Stay safe, friends. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/12/s...
Reposted by Ben Applegate
I’m seeing lots of people on here misunderstand the purpose of ICE watch.
It’s de-escalation. And it’s grounded in the social science of violence. 🧵
It’s de-escalation. And it’s grounded in the social science of violence. 🧵
January 13, 2026 at 5:37 PM
I’m seeing lots of people on here misunderstand the purpose of ICE watch.
It’s de-escalation. And it’s grounded in the social science of violence. 🧵
It’s de-escalation. And it’s grounded in the social science of violence. 🧵
Reposted by Ben Applegate
he’s bad
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California vowed to block a tax on billionaires, saying that a ballot proposal has already scared off tech leaders.
Gavin Newsom Vows to Stop Proposed Billionaire Tax in California
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was working behind the scenes to block a proposed tax on billionaires’ wealth and was committed to defeating the measure if it reached the ballot.
nyti.ms
January 13, 2026 at 2:43 PM
he’s bad
Reposted by Ben Applegate
ICYMI, Kodansha announced last week they've licensed the following:
- Haruka Kawachi's Rainy Day Serenade (Omnibus)
- Dorothy Odoroo's Mr. Vamp Is a Vampire
- Kazu Inabe, Yu Kuraishi & Ku Tanaka's AIDOL
- Keigo Maki's NakiNagi
- Den Mitao's Kiss or Die […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
- Haruka Kawachi's Rainy Day Serenade (Omnibus)
- Dorothy Odoroo's Mr. Vamp Is a Vampire
- Kazu Inabe, Yu Kuraishi & Ku Tanaka's AIDOL
- Keigo Maki's NakiNagi
- Den Mitao's Kiss or Die […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
January 12, 2026 at 7:06 PM
ICYMI, Kodansha announced last week they've licensed the following:
- Haruka Kawachi's Rainy Day Serenade (Omnibus)
- Dorothy Odoroo's Mr. Vamp Is a Vampire
- Kazu Inabe, Yu Kuraishi & Ku Tanaka's AIDOL
- Keigo Maki's NakiNagi
- Den Mitao's Kiss or Die […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
- Haruka Kawachi's Rainy Day Serenade (Omnibus)
- Dorothy Odoroo's Mr. Vamp Is a Vampire
- Kazu Inabe, Yu Kuraishi & Ku Tanaka's AIDOL
- Keigo Maki's NakiNagi
- Den Mitao's Kiss or Die […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
Reposted by Ben Applegate
I never fully understood Muppet lore until AI Overview stepped in. Thanks Google!
January 13, 2026 at 12:54 AM
I never fully understood Muppet lore until AI Overview stepped in. Thanks Google!
Reposted by Ben Applegate
🕯️My cousin Brian passed away last night. After a courageous 3 wk stint with ICE. He slipped on a fellow agent’s frozen peepee puddle & somersaulted many times in the air, yelling “yabbada yabbada yabbada” & tragically aspirating (a different) agent’s pee he’d been gargling. He hated women🇺🇸💔
January 12, 2026 at 9:33 PM
🕯️My cousin Brian passed away last night. After a courageous 3 wk stint with ICE. He slipped on a fellow agent’s frozen peepee puddle & somersaulted many times in the air, yelling “yabbada yabbada yabbada” & tragically aspirating (a different) agent’s pee he’d been gargling. He hated women🇺🇸💔
Oh ok then
Fundraiser for Minneapolis ICE shooter that’s already raised $178,000 casually points out that the mayor is Jewish 😬
January 13, 2026 at 12:10 AM
Oh ok then
Pretty significant bummer that GoFundMe is insisting on becoming a Nazi hangout. Hope they change course.
NEW: GoFundMe's rules forbid fundraisers tied to legal funds for violent crimes. One for the ICE agent who killed Renee Good, currently nearing $500K, changed the language in its description after @wired.com reached out (but not in the images at the top of the page, oops) @dell.bsky.social reports:
GoFundMe Ignores Own Rules by Hosting a Legal-Defense Fund for the ICE Agent Who Killed Renee Good
The fundraiser for the ICE agent in the Renee Good killing has stayed online in seeming breach of GoFundMe’s own terms of service, prompting questions about selective enforcement.
www.wired.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:19 PM
Pretty significant bummer that GoFundMe is insisting on becoming a Nazi hangout. Hope they change course.
Totally illegal arrest. They are just assuming there will never be any accountability for anything they do. If the pitiful wet noodle rhetoric from Democrats and media continues, they may be proven right.
Keep the heat ON your local reps. SHOW THEM you are PISSED and that you will REMEMBER.
Keep the heat ON your local reps. SHOW THEM you are PISSED and that you will REMEMBER.
Ask yourself. If ICE is going door to door, what’s next?
Armed federal agents took a man away in handcuffs. A woman came out of the house and said the man was her husband. It also appears ICE used an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant.
That matters….
Armed federal agents took a man away in handcuffs. A woman came out of the house and said the man was her husband. It also appears ICE used an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant.
That matters….
January 12, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Totally illegal arrest. They are just assuming there will never be any accountability for anything they do. If the pitiful wet noodle rhetoric from Democrats and media continues, they may be proven right.
Keep the heat ON your local reps. SHOW THEM you are PISSED and that you will REMEMBER.
Keep the heat ON your local reps. SHOW THEM you are PISSED and that you will REMEMBER.
Reposted by Ben Applegate
Everyone but #CD2,#CD4 & #CD7
Call your Rep and our Senators and tell them NO MONEY FOR DHS & ICE.
The Appropriations Bill must be passed by the end of this month or their $$$$ are curtailed and ICE Barbie's kingdom is depleted.
#ImpeachNoem
Call your Rep and our Senators and tell them NO MONEY FOR DHS & ICE.
The Appropriations Bill must be passed by the end of this month or their $$$$ are curtailed and ICE Barbie's kingdom is depleted.
#ImpeachNoem
January 12, 2026 at 11:49 AM
Everyone but #CD2,#CD4 & #CD7
Call your Rep and our Senators and tell them NO MONEY FOR DHS & ICE.
The Appropriations Bill must be passed by the end of this month or their $$$$ are curtailed and ICE Barbie's kingdom is depleted.
#ImpeachNoem
Call your Rep and our Senators and tell them NO MONEY FOR DHS & ICE.
The Appropriations Bill must be passed by the end of this month or their $$$$ are curtailed and ICE Barbie's kingdom is depleted.
#ImpeachNoem
Reposted by Ben Applegate
on netflix at least, they leave the Detective Conan post-OP sponsorship pauses in, which inevitably leads my brain to fill in the blanks, which leads my body to do this kind of dumb shit 😀
January 12, 2026 at 3:36 AM
on netflix at least, they leave the Detective Conan post-OP sponsorship pauses in, which inevitably leads my brain to fill in the blanks, which leads my body to do this kind of dumb shit 😀
Reposted by Ben Applegate
📚 Join us Jan 14, 2026 for the Kodansha x NYPL Manga Book Club!
We’ll be discussing the Award–winning memoir My Journey to Her with guest editors TJ Ferentini & Haruko Hashimoto at the 53rd St Library, NYC.
Want more manga events like this? Tell your local librarian! 💬
👉 https://ow.ly/gaWf50XUgcM
We’ll be discussing the Award–winning memoir My Journey to Her with guest editors TJ Ferentini & Haruko Hashimoto at the 53rd St Library, NYC.
Want more manga events like this? Tell your local librarian! 💬
👉 https://ow.ly/gaWf50XUgcM
January 10, 2026 at 11:00 PM
📚 Join us Jan 14, 2026 for the Kodansha x NYPL Manga Book Club!
We’ll be discussing the Award–winning memoir My Journey to Her with guest editors TJ Ferentini & Haruko Hashimoto at the 53rd St Library, NYC.
Want more manga events like this? Tell your local librarian! 💬
👉 https://ow.ly/gaWf50XUgcM
We’ll be discussing the Award–winning memoir My Journey to Her with guest editors TJ Ferentini & Haruko Hashimoto at the 53rd St Library, NYC.
Want more manga events like this? Tell your local librarian! 💬
👉 https://ow.ly/gaWf50XUgcM
Reposted by Ben Applegate
Join us Jan 15 at the Kodansha x Woodside Graphic Novel Book Club!
This time, we’ll be discussing Confession by Nobuyuki Fukumoto & Kaiji Kawaguchi at the Queens Public Library
If you’d like to see more manga events at your local library, be sure to tell your librarian!
https://ow.ly/STVn50XUg1W
This time, we’ll be discussing Confession by Nobuyuki Fukumoto & Kaiji Kawaguchi at the Queens Public Library
If you’d like to see more manga events at your local library, be sure to tell your librarian!
https://ow.ly/STVn50XUg1W
January 11, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Join us Jan 15 at the Kodansha x Woodside Graphic Novel Book Club!
This time, we’ll be discussing Confession by Nobuyuki Fukumoto & Kaiji Kawaguchi at the Queens Public Library
If you’d like to see more manga events at your local library, be sure to tell your librarian!
https://ow.ly/STVn50XUg1W
This time, we’ll be discussing Confession by Nobuyuki Fukumoto & Kaiji Kawaguchi at the Queens Public Library
If you’d like to see more manga events at your local library, be sure to tell your librarian!
https://ow.ly/STVn50XUg1W
Reposted by Ben Applegate
Go to the “Report a Fundraiser” page and fill out the form. This was how I filled out the form since there wasn’t an option for violating the Terms of Service.
Report Fundraiser: www.gofundme.com/contact/sugg...
Ross Fundraiser (you need this for the report): www.gofundme.com/f/ice-offuve...
Report Fundraiser: www.gofundme.com/contact/sugg...
Ross Fundraiser (you need this for the report): www.gofundme.com/f/ice-offuve...
January 11, 2026 at 7:56 AM
Go to the “Report a Fundraiser” page and fill out the form. This was how I filled out the form since there wasn’t an option for violating the Terms of Service.
Report Fundraiser: www.gofundme.com/contact/sugg...
Ross Fundraiser (you need this for the report): www.gofundme.com/f/ice-offuve...
Report Fundraiser: www.gofundme.com/contact/sugg...
Ross Fundraiser (you need this for the report): www.gofundme.com/f/ice-offuve...
"Better a pig than a fascist." (cc @tannertrue.bsky.social)
January 11, 2026 at 9:15 PM
"Better a pig than a fascist." (cc @tannertrue.bsky.social)
"Okay, my producer is telling me in my ear that you are making too much sense right now and that we have to throw to commercial--"
FOX: Where’s the protest against the regime that's killing people in the street right now?
Trent: They are doing those today. It’s called the ICE protests
FOX: Are they talking about Iran at the ICE protests?
Trent: No, I think they are talking about the regime that is shooting people in the face
Trent: They are doing those today. It’s called the ICE protests
FOX: Are they talking about Iran at the ICE protests?
Trent: No, I think they are talking about the regime that is shooting people in the face
January 11, 2026 at 9:00 PM
"Okay, my producer is telling me in my ear that you are making too much sense right now and that we have to throw to commercial--"
Notable (and typical) that the solution to Trumpist men with guns killing us is not for them to stop killing us. It's for us to stop ""provoking"" the men with guns.
Ideologically consistent with their particular hatred of autonomous women.
Ideologically consistent with their particular hatred of autonomous women.
Homan: "We gotta stop the hateful rhetoric. Saying this officer is a murderer is dangerous. It's just ridiculous. It's gonna infuriate people more which means there's gonna be more incidents like this."
January 11, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Notable (and typical) that the solution to Trumpist men with guns killing us is not for them to stop killing us. It's for us to stop ""provoking"" the men with guns.
Ideologically consistent with their particular hatred of autonomous women.
Ideologically consistent with their particular hatred of autonomous women.
Reposted by Ben Applegate
[sombrely, with tears in eyes] "truly the people of Iran embody the great spirit of Flumpo The Fart Wizard" - author of Flumpo The Fart Wizard
January 11, 2026 at 11:53 AM
[sombrely, with tears in eyes] "truly the people of Iran embody the great spirit of Flumpo The Fart Wizard" - author of Flumpo The Fart Wizard
Reposted by Ben Applegate
See you there tomorrow, friends in NYC.
It’s a critical moment to make our voices heard loud & clear:
No wars. No kings. No ICE.
See you in the streets tomorrow:
www.mobilize.us/indivisiblen...
No wars. No kings. No ICE.
See you in the streets tomorrow:
www.mobilize.us/indivisiblen...
No Wars No Kings No Ice March and Rally · Indivisible Brooklyn
From Minneapolis to Caracas, Trump is killing people in order to entrench rule by bullies for the benefit of billionaires. Our leaders in Congress must do their duty to stop this regime’s criminal att...
www.mobilize.us
January 11, 2026 at 1:00 AM
See you there tomorrow, friends in NYC.
Reposted by Ben Applegate
We put out a call for #ICEOutForGood vigils 24 hours ago. There are now more than 1000 events taking place across the country this weekend. Find yours: www.mobilize.us?tag_ids=2913...
January 10, 2026 at 2:42 AM
We put out a call for #ICEOutForGood vigils 24 hours ago. There are now more than 1000 events taking place across the country this weekend. Find yours: www.mobilize.us?tag_ids=2913...