CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
@cnlester.bsky.social
Multi-genre musician: voice/piano/composition/improvisation
Artistic Director Transpose
PhD on Barbara Strozzi - interdisciplinary work is life
’Trans Like Me’, ‘Furies,’ various critical intros, 2 current trans historical WIP
they/them
www.cnlester.com
Artistic Director Transpose
PhD on Barbara Strozzi - interdisciplinary work is life
’Trans Like Me’, ‘Furies,’ various critical intros, 2 current trans historical WIP
they/them
www.cnlester.com
Pinned
CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
@cnlester.bsky.social
· Jun 23
I'm working so hard on letting other people see me again after some very hard years of fighting the need to defensively hide.
It means so much that I can actually see myself in my new headshots.
It means so much that I can actually see myself in my new headshots.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
Well, I always listen to David Perry!
Last year I published my book-length argument about the futility of posting, and how we're not going to dunk, troll, and flash mob our way to a better world.
Last year I published my book-length argument about the futility of posting, and how we're not going to dunk, troll, and flash mob our way to a better world.
November 26, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Well, I always listen to David Perry!
Last year I published my book-length argument about the futility of posting, and how we're not going to dunk, troll, and flash mob our way to a better world.
Last year I published my book-length argument about the futility of posting, and how we're not going to dunk, troll, and flash mob our way to a better world.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
In related news, a bunch of transphobes have been trying to start an argument with me for the last couple of days and why would I engage in that when I could do pretty much anything else instead?
The most precious commodity you have is your attention. You don’t have to waste it on poor-faith debates or arguments with strangers if you don’t think they’ll be productive. You can prioritize the things that matter to you and make your life richer.
November 30, 2025 at 8:13 PM
In related news, a bunch of transphobes have been trying to start an argument with me for the last couple of days and why would I engage in that when I could do pretty much anything else instead?
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
The most precious commodity you have is your attention. You don’t have to waste it on poor-faith debates or arguments with strangers if you don’t think they’ll be productive. You can prioritize the things that matter to you and make your life richer.
November 30, 2025 at 8:00 PM
The most precious commodity you have is your attention. You don’t have to waste it on poor-faith debates or arguments with strangers if you don’t think they’ll be productive. You can prioritize the things that matter to you and make your life richer.
Off topic: took advantage of a slow rainy day yesterday to make Serious Eat's Boston Baked Beans, and it's one of the top ten most delicious recipes I've ever encountered. If you too want to feel like a bear fattening up for winter then get to it: www.seriouseats.com/boston-baked...
Slow-Cooked Boston Baked Beans Recipe
Our Boston baked beans recipe uses beans, molasses, and salt pork with a long, slow cook in a dry oven to tenderize the beans and form a dark crust for the best flavor.
www.seriouseats.com
November 30, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Off topic: took advantage of a slow rainy day yesterday to make Serious Eat's Boston Baked Beans, and it's one of the top ten most delicious recipes I've ever encountered. If you too want to feel like a bear fattening up for winter then get to it: www.seriouseats.com/boston-baked...
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
rich dudes got freakier after butlers fell out of fashion, like say what you will about having domestic servants but clearly it was some sort of moderating force on old rich dudes having a fancy man follow you around saying shit like "oh dear sir, that wouldn't be very becoming"
November 29, 2025 at 6:43 AM
rich dudes got freakier after butlers fell out of fashion, like say what you will about having domestic servants but clearly it was some sort of moderating force on old rich dudes having a fancy man follow you around saying shit like "oh dear sir, that wouldn't be very becoming"
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
This is a huge part of why so many people think we're in the middle of a widespread "anti-woke backlash": Small movements opposed to social progress are collected into trend stories by conservative media. Far larger movements that want more diversity are ignored or cast as threats.
"Woke is ruining D&D". Meanwhile Dimension 20, one of the wokest real play shows around, just sold out Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl for live shows and brings armies of new players to RPGs.
November 30, 2025 at 3:38 PM
This is a huge part of why so many people think we're in the middle of a widespread "anti-woke backlash": Small movements opposed to social progress are collected into trend stories by conservative media. Far larger movements that want more diversity are ignored or cast as threats.
Quite seriously think we'd be all better off forgetting that Your Party and every person associated with it exists. Nobody has the time or energy to waste on their nonsense.
November 30, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Quite seriously think we'd be all better off forgetting that Your Party and every person associated with it exists. Nobody has the time or energy to waste on their nonsense.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
There is a direct correlation between how fake your job is and how much value you see in AI
A study by Dayforce shows 87% of executives use AI for work, compared to 57% of managers and just 27% of employees.
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
Execs are embracing AI more than their employees are, new research suggests
Research from HR software company Dayforce suggests that executives are leaning into AI far more than their employees.
www.businessinsider.com
November 29, 2025 at 4:28 PM
There is a direct correlation between how fake your job is and how much value you see in AI
Thank you so much to everyone who shared this - gig last night was phenomenal - not just the music, but shared creation and catharsis with the audience. So here for more gigs with rugs/blankets/cushions on the floor for people to take off their shoes and spread out - friends holding each other.
Tonight - please spread the word and show us some love. Trans people are fighting back and caring for each other everywhere - don't ignore that, and paint us as perpetual victims
London people: this Friday, I'll be with Trans Voices holding an evening for trans communities and our loved ones - using sound bath, breathwork, meditation and musical performance to connect, care, and make space for catharsis.
outsavvy.com/event/31390/...
Free tickets - please share
outsavvy.com/event/31390/...
Free tickets - please share
November 29, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Thank you so much to everyone who shared this - gig last night was phenomenal - not just the music, but shared creation and catharsis with the audience. So here for more gigs with rugs/blankets/cushions on the floor for people to take off their shoes and spread out - friends holding each other.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
You can see this in who is promoted in the Govt: good policy thinkers going nowhere, people who are good at simplism and making waves moving up (arguably Liz Truss was the first example of this).
You see it in who gets media time and the media narrative. In which comms goes well/poorly
You see it in who gets media time and the media narrative. In which comms goes well/poorly
November 28, 2025 at 3:10 PM
You can see this in who is promoted in the Govt: good policy thinkers going nowhere, people who are good at simplism and making waves moving up (arguably Liz Truss was the first example of this).
You see it in who gets media time and the media narrative. In which comms goes well/poorly
You see it in who gets media time and the media narrative. In which comms goes well/poorly
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
This applies across the spectrum; whether it be in Parliament, media or the public, smart thinking and policy discussion isn't rewarded.
Every incentive is towards simplicity and outrage lines; the exact opposite of smart policy
Every incentive is towards simplicity and outrage lines; the exact opposite of smart policy
November 28, 2025 at 3:08 PM
This applies across the spectrum; whether it be in Parliament, media or the public, smart thinking and policy discussion isn't rewarded.
Every incentive is towards simplicity and outrage lines; the exact opposite of smart policy
Every incentive is towards simplicity and outrage lines; the exact opposite of smart policy
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
I have a lot of thoughts here - but broadly agree with Stephen.
There isn't a lack of intellegent policy thinkers but there is very little reward for doing that thinking with the general public - and almost no tolerance from anyone for the sort of trade offs those thoughts require.
There isn't a lack of intellegent policy thinkers but there is very little reward for doing that thinking with the general public - and almost no tolerance from anyone for the sort of trade offs those thoughts require.
I don’t think this is a “politicians have got dumber” issue for the most part. If you look at the *actual CVs* of previous cohorts of MPs, their background is not radically different when you account for, you know, the fact the economy is different! It is primarily a media and ecosystem issue.
We have got to make politics intellectual again. It is the only way that societies thrive is when politicians have the capability to actually think and reflect deeply:
November 28, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I have a lot of thoughts here - but broadly agree with Stephen.
There isn't a lack of intellegent policy thinkers but there is very little reward for doing that thinking with the general public - and almost no tolerance from anyone for the sort of trade offs those thoughts require.
There isn't a lack of intellegent policy thinkers but there is very little reward for doing that thinking with the general public - and almost no tolerance from anyone for the sort of trade offs those thoughts require.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
the fact that dealing with rampant lying and its much worse downstream consequences involves cultivating values rather than just imposing formal frameworks or rules (legal or otherwise) is a tough pill to swallow for some. but it is indeed medicine
Pointing out that something is incorrect definitely isn't sufficient - the *culture* of "it is bad to make incorrect statements, good to promptly and clearly retract and apologize for them, and disqualifying to keep making them deliberately" is the framework needed for fact-checking to plug into.
November 28, 2025 at 3:40 PM
the fact that dealing with rampant lying and its much worse downstream consequences involves cultivating values rather than just imposing formal frameworks or rules (legal or otherwise) is a tough pill to swallow for some. but it is indeed medicine
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
This is murder. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
November 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
This is murder. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
I've forgotten who said it first, but one of the grossest points of our currently landscape is the expectation that we should received clearly disorted and self-serving statements and actions from those in power in good faith and go along with their absurdities
"All I did was embolden a series of anti-queer, right-wing and anti-trans hate groups, and now there are more anti-queer hate crimes! I am appalled"
metro.co.uk/2025/11/26/k...
metro.co.uk/2025/11/26/k...
Keir Starmer's fury after niece and wife 'beaten by blokes for holding hands'
'I thought the days of beating up people because they were gay were well behind us.'
metro.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I've forgotten who said it first, but one of the grossest points of our currently landscape is the expectation that we should received clearly disorted and self-serving statements and actions from those in power in good faith and go along with their absurdities
Tonight - please spread the word and show us some love. Trans people are fighting back and caring for each other everywhere - don't ignore that, and paint us as perpetual victims
London people: this Friday, I'll be with Trans Voices holding an evening for trans communities and our loved ones - using sound bath, breathwork, meditation and musical performance to connect, care, and make space for catharsis.
outsavvy.com/event/31390/...
Free tickets - please share
outsavvy.com/event/31390/...
Free tickets - please share
Remembrance in Sound Tickets - London - OutSavvy
To mark Transgender Day of Remembrance, TRANS VOICES invite you to a special one-off vocal sound bath and live performance. REMEMBRANCE IN SOUNDHere's how the night will go:– 7pm – Delivering our sig...
outsavvy.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Tonight - please spread the word and show us some love. Trans people are fighting back and caring for each other everywhere - don't ignore that, and paint us as perpetual victims
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
It's here.
BAD LANGUAGE
13/11/25
"made with love and horror, & a guidebook for our time" — @adamzmith.bsky.social
"Mayer's words & a gift and a gateway" — @elizabethlovatt.bsky.social
"incantation & spell distil a complex argument" — Lola Olufemi
Pre-order: peninsulapress.co.uk/products/bad...
BAD LANGUAGE
13/11/25
"made with love and horror, & a guidebook for our time" — @adamzmith.bsky.social
"Mayer's words & a gift and a gateway" — @elizabethlovatt.bsky.social
"incantation & spell distil a complex argument" — Lola Olufemi
Pre-order: peninsulapress.co.uk/products/bad...
September 16, 2025 at 3:18 PM
It's here.
BAD LANGUAGE
13/11/25
"made with love and horror, & a guidebook for our time" — @adamzmith.bsky.social
"Mayer's words & a gift and a gateway" — @elizabethlovatt.bsky.social
"incantation & spell distil a complex argument" — Lola Olufemi
Pre-order: peninsulapress.co.uk/products/bad...
BAD LANGUAGE
13/11/25
"made with love and horror, & a guidebook for our time" — @adamzmith.bsky.social
"Mayer's words & a gift and a gateway" — @elizabethlovatt.bsky.social
"incantation & spell distil a complex argument" — Lola Olufemi
Pre-order: peninsulapress.co.uk/products/bad...
Any good, resolutely pro-immigration things happening in Britain at the moment? Would love to see it/support it
November 27, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Any good, resolutely pro-immigration things happening in Britain at the moment? Would love to see it/support it
One of the most fascinating things I've read in a long time - highly recommend
Pointed out by my friend @carloshasanax.bsky.social . There's something weird and unsettling about a fairly homogeneous culture spread out across Europe that then collapses into an orgy of genocide.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 27, 2025 at 2:56 PM
One of the most fascinating things I've read in a long time - highly recommend
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
Truth Coming Out of Her Well to Shame Mankind
November 27, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Truth Coming Out of Her Well to Shame Mankind
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
And it’ll never be enough for the racists that our current government is so desperate to cater to, and our immigration policies will only get crueler and more hostile, but it won’t matter to these fucking freaks until the number of immigrants AND racialised people in this country is 0.
Net migration to UK plummets by two-thirds to 204,000 on.ft.com/4a0WmRl
Net migration to UK plummets by two-thirds to 204,000
Immigration falls sharply alongside a slight rise in people leaving
on.ft.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:16 AM
And it’ll never be enough for the racists that our current government is so desperate to cater to, and our immigration policies will only get crueler and more hostile, but it won’t matter to these fucking freaks until the number of immigrants AND racialised people in this country is 0.
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
Interviewer: “What do you say to trans kids who are starting their transition?”
Zohran Mamdani: "We're gonna make this a city that doesn't just protect trans kids, but also celebrates and cherishes them."
Zohran Mamdani: "We're gonna make this a city that doesn't just protect trans kids, but also celebrates and cherishes them."
November 26, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Interviewer: “What do you say to trans kids who are starting their transition?”
Zohran Mamdani: "We're gonna make this a city that doesn't just protect trans kids, but also celebrates and cherishes them."
Zohran Mamdani: "We're gonna make this a city that doesn't just protect trans kids, but also celebrates and cherishes them."
And in further good news: if you're not following @jenniekermode.bsky.social already, then now's a great time to start
November 27, 2025 at 12:37 AM
And in further good news: if you're not following @jenniekermode.bsky.social already, then now's a great time to start
Reposted by CN Lester 🏳️⚧️
In the interests of sharing more good news in this place...
November 27, 2025 at 12:35 AM
In the interests of sharing more good news in this place...
I would be so here for a discussion series between trans masculine people of all stripes and cis men about breaking down masculinity shoulds/shouldn'ts - but it feels like the cis men you'd most want to reach are the ones least likely to come to the table
1) genuine life changing moment of my early 20s was realizing I actually didn't have to do this at all. tell the youths
2) I feel like there's a class discussion to be had around the stakes of this kind of decision though
2) I feel like there's a class discussion to be had around the stakes of this kind of decision though
So many men go through life like that. You can play poker because it's right-coded, you can't enjoy fruity alcoholic drinks because they're women-coded, you can't lick an ice cream cone because it's gay-coded. All day, every day, choosing and judging things based on coding for narrow norms.
November 26, 2025 at 8:15 PM
I would be so here for a discussion series between trans masculine people of all stripes and cis men about breaking down masculinity shoulds/shouldn'ts - but it feels like the cis men you'd most want to reach are the ones least likely to come to the table