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Rachel Wagner

@drrachelwagner.bsky.social

1.6K followers 3.5K following 2.5K posts

Author, Cowboy Apocalypse (2025) and Godwired (2012). Prof of Religious Studies @ Ithaca College, mom & caregiver, disgruntled idealist, loud introvert. Religion, gaming, politics, media, film. #cowboyapocalypse https://tinyurl.com/CowboyApocalypse

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Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · Apr 4

Out now! I’m up for writing short pieces for outlets, interviews, whatever helps people get the info. There’s a whole chapter on guns (13 ways of looking at a gun).

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · Jan 15

Here's a code for 30% off my book, releasing in February. Want to understand more about the relationship between guns, media, and apocalypticism in America? I spent 10 years thinking about it. Review for a journal or a podcast or a news outlet? Let me know and I can probably get you a free copy.

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Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 11h

The opening applies to any catastrophe, small or large. We might survive. We might begin repair. And if we’re fueled by love, the odds go up. 9/9 end 🧵

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 11h

A student told me what-if saved her when her best friend disappeared. She sat with I-don’t-know and just kept breathing. I-don’t-know makes room for life beyond the inconceivable. 8/9

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Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 11h

We might die in apocalyptic fire, but also: we might learn to love each other. We might destroy the earth, but also: we might learn to live in better balance. Imagining the future that we want gives space to move toward it. 7/9

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 11h

I tell my students hope is not knowing. It gives you wiggle room that things might not turn out the worst way. When my son went missing, I assumed him dead. But I didn’t know. Uncertainty is a gift. 6/9

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Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 11h

They mouth racial categories and ideology as if white supremacy will be swallowed by slumping jargon alone. As if mouthing theory on the mezzanine will feed the people in the tunnels below. 5/9

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 11h

I show my badge and enter the conference center into scripted space where floors gleam and escalators take you somewhere. I go up, up, and sit in a gray room on a stilted chair. A stream of academic babble follows. 4/9

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 11h

He passes me, muttering I ain’t going to kill you. As he shuffles by, I see he is wearing one worn shoe that flops. The shoeless sock on the other foot is frayed. It is raining, hard. 3/9

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 11h

People move across the street when they see shapes squatting on pavement, as if they are afraid of poverty. I am.I see my own son in these mottled shapes. There is somebody’s daughter. Some other mother’s son. One man seems to trail me down the street. I slow my pace. 2/9

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 11h

Hope. A thread. 🧵

The walk from my hotel tracks through a tunnel running beneath the conference center. People sleep here. Someone is curled up now in dirty blankets against a concrete wall. She covers her face. Is to keep out light? To stay anonymous? To forget? 1/9

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 15h

Nature is God in drag.

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 18h

Why hasn’t anyone pointed out that Genesis itself is about DEI? To be human is to be made in the imago DEI. Everyone is.

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 19h

I’m heartbroken & quaking at the collapse of federal support for people w/ disabilities. Theologically this is part of the attempted enshrinement of white male able-bodied adults as the imago dei, w/the right to rule all others—& the collapse of accountability to God or other people.

Reposted by Rachel Wagner

50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 1d

The Portland Frog army has now infiltrated Tulsa, OK and they’ve made an unlikely alliance with the T-Rex infantry and Sharks on Hoverboards mercenary forces.

This is truly terrifying.

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Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 23h

e pluribus rana

'I Am Worried About My Community,' Says Frog Who Daily Confronts Federal Agents in Portland | Common Dreams

In Portland, a protester known for wearing a frog costume speaks out against the Trump administration's actions. Despite being targeted by federal agents, Todd remains committed to nonviolent resistan...

www.commondreams.org

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 1d

Well put, indeed.

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 1d

Being right is not the same as relationship. We are a world starving for right relationship.

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 3d

a man in a red superhero costume is covering his ears with his hands and talking .

ALT: a man in a red superhero costume is covering his ears with his hands and talking .

media.tenor.com

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 3d

I think now that I wanted to be Mindy *or* Mork. I so identified with his playful confusion.

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 3d

If you’ve cried at work in the last year (secretly or not) I’d love to know I’m not alone. I’m a terrible pretender, and the ick of the world spills over into policies, omissions, and choices by employers that I can’t grok.

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Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 3d

Get Smart! Yes!

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 3d

My favorite show as a kid, by a long shot, was Mork and Mindy. I identified with Mindy (smart, independent, unswayed by expectations for women) and I crushed on Mork (funny, weird, thoughtful, kind). I had the rainbow suspenders and I wore them.

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Reposted by Rachel Wagner

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 4d

His slip of the tongue reveals who’s really in charge. trib.al/mIvP0yE

“Illinois governor says we’re provoking actions that are unlawful,” Miller said on CNN. “If I put federal law enforcement and National Guard into a nice sleepy Southern town, is anyone gonna riot?”

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Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 3d

Academic response to ICE. Just go sit near them & educate them. Talk about what Marx actually said & how/why it does/doesn’t apply today. Talk about real history of the KKK. I’d likely teach them about world religions, maybe unsettle biblical literalists w/ literary analysis of conflicting gospels.

Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 4d

If the Epstein files are a witch hunt, why hasn’t anyone yet thrown Trump in a pond to see if he floats? 🧙‍♀️ 🧹

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Rachel Wagner @drrachelwagner.bsky.social · 4d

Is the ball inside the goal or outside the goal?