Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
@joshuafoust.com
Made the CommSky Starter Pack https://go.bsky.app/QkcgePD
Assistant Professor at Syracuse. I study public relations, military esports, video games, and gender theory. Happily 🏳️🌈.
Assistant Professor at Syracuse. I study public relations, military esports, video games, and gender theory. Happily 🏳️🌈.
Pinned
Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
@joshuafoust.com
· Jan 9
Public Relations in Times of Dissensus
Public relations are entering an era marked by increasing societal dissensus, where shared narratives are breaking down and contentious communication defines th…
www.bloomsbury.com
Yay! Thrilled that the volume I co-edited with Saima Kazmi and Burton St. John is available for pre-order: Public Relations in Times of Dissensus: Narratives, Artifacts, and the Challenges of Meaning. It’s a pretty timely exploration of how we can communicate with the public when we all disagree.
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
today in "campus free speech":
U of North Texas Cancels Exhibit With Anti-ICE Art
The University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design removed an art exhibit that includes anti-ICE artwork, the artist told The Denton Record-Chronicle.
www.insidehighered.com
February 17, 2026 at 5:41 PM
today in "campus free speech":
Jain is one of the most bigoted, dishonest hacks out there.
Consider: interracial marriage didn’t have majority support until 1997. Should liberals have opposed it in 1996? I think we all agree that would have been immoral. Yet, that’s his project. He isn’t just unethical; he is an immoral person.
Consider: interracial marriage didn’t have majority support until 1997. Should liberals have opposed it in 1996? I think we all agree that would have been immoral. Yet, that’s his project. He isn’t just unethical; he is an immoral person.
there's a new class of "data bros" like Jain who believe in nothing and also have no theory of power. they're a pure content play, just dead-eyed guys with a laptop and ggplot, composed entirely of engagement metrics and consultant dollars.
Lakshya Jain and the Argument fled this website because they couldn't take the criticism and now he's advocating for Dems to abandon trans issues with polling about 'gender surgery for minors' a thing that is not real
February 17, 2026 at 6:06 PM
Jain is one of the most bigoted, dishonest hacks out there.
Consider: interracial marriage didn’t have majority support until 1997. Should liberals have opposed it in 1996? I think we all agree that would have been immoral. Yet, that’s his project. He isn’t just unethical; he is an immoral person.
Consider: interracial marriage didn’t have majority support until 1997. Should liberals have opposed it in 1996? I think we all agree that would have been immoral. Yet, that’s his project. He isn’t just unethical; he is an immoral person.
Yes but a renowned white nationalist stole the unsuccessful college application documents of a minor child that accurately answered poorly-constructed demographic questions, and isn’t that more important.
Coverage of Andy Barr, a sitting Congressman and candidate for U.S. Senate, running an ad declaring, "It's not a sin to be white" -- a variation of a notorious white nationalist slogan
AP: Zero
NYT: Zero
WashPost: Zero
Reuters: Zero
Politico: Zero
Axios: Zero
AP: Zero
NYT: Zero
WashPost: Zero
Reuters: Zero
Politico: Zero
Axios: Zero
Major corporations bankroll political ad featuring white supremacist slogan
Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY), who is running to replace Mitch McConnell in the United States Senate, released his first television ad earlier this month.
popular.info
February 17, 2026 at 5:28 PM
Yes but a renowned white nationalist stole the unsuccessful college application documents of a minor child that accurately answered poorly-constructed demographic questions, and isn’t that more important.
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
And yet, every day, our most prominent Democratic politicians, scholars, public intellectuals, universities & university leaders, & other civil society organizations continue to use his platform as their primary social media outlet. One cannot help but notice this & draw conclusions.
The world's richest man is broadcasting eliminationist rhetoric about a tiny, vulnerable minority, and virtually no one is going to treat it as a scandal. It's just normal now.
February 17, 2026 at 2:44 PM
And yet, every day, our most prominent Democratic politicians, scholars, public intellectuals, universities & university leaders, & other civil society organizations continue to use his platform as their primary social media outlet. One cannot help but notice this & draw conclusions.
My kingdom for outlook letting me open calendar in a second window
February 17, 2026 at 4:01 PM
My kingdom for outlook letting me open calendar in a second window
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
this is downstream of the fact that their reporters are all still on X! they're marinating in fascism! they think it's the air!
It is 2026 and the NYT is still doing Democratic gaffe coverage based on which bad-faith attacks are "rocketing around conservative social media."
I simply cannot.
I simply cannot.
February 17, 2026 at 2:09 PM
this is downstream of the fact that their reporters are all still on X! they're marinating in fascism! they think it's the air!
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
I wrote about the Epstein files and how they illustrate the fact that the oligarchs are not exactly rigorous thinkers. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Epstein Class Clowns
One key revelation in the wide correspondence of the late pedophile: the rich and powerful just aren't all that bright.
www.thenation.com
February 17, 2026 at 2:08 PM
I wrote about the Epstein files and how they illustrate the fact that the oligarchs are not exactly rigorous thinkers. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
One way to identify right-wing dominance of the US media environment: This is much more direct, egregious government censorship than the biggest claims of the “Twitter Files”—including ones they made up that had no evidence behind them—and will get a small fraction of the attention and outrage.
Stephen Colbert blasted Brendan Carr after FCC scrutiny led CBS to pull an interview with Texas State Rep James Talarico. Instead, 'The Late Show' posted it to YouTube.
Colbert Says CBS Pulled Guest Over FCC Scrutiny; Posts Interview to YouTube Instead
Stephen Colbert blasted Brendan Carr after FCC scrutiny led CBS to pull an interview with Texas State Rep James Talarico. Instead, 'The Late Show' posted it to YouTube.
dlvr.it
February 17, 2026 at 1:18 PM
One way to identify right-wing dominance of the US media environment: This is much more direct, egregious government censorship than the biggest claims of the “Twitter Files”—including ones they made up that had no evidence behind them—and will get a small fraction of the attention and outrage.
Don’t mind me, I just got into the shower with my glasses on and didn’t realize it until I tried to wash my hair.
February 17, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Don’t mind me, I just got into the shower with my glasses on and didn’t realize it until I tried to wash my hair.
I haven’t seen this for decades and it still gives me chills. What an extraordinary man. RIP.
Rev. Jesse Jackson's "I *am* somebody..." remains one of the all-time great pieces of 20th century rhetoric / agitprop
And he could deliver it at a Black separatist meeting, the Democratic National Convention, or on god-blessed Sesame Street (see below 🥹)
RIP to the Voice of the Voiceless
And he could deliver it at a Black separatist meeting, the Democratic National Convention, or on god-blessed Sesame Street (see below 🥹)
RIP to the Voice of the Voiceless
February 17, 2026 at 12:42 PM
I haven’t seen this for decades and it still gives me chills. What an extraordinary man. RIP.
This is a genuinely horrific example of censorship, but also of the amateurship Skydance has put in place at CBS. Maybe they shouldn’t have announced firing Colbert so far in advance, you know? What are they gonna do to him about it? Why would they expect him to listen?
NEWS: CBS blocked Stephen Colbert from airing an interview with Texas State Rep. James Talarico and ordered him not to mention the cancellation over fear of FCC chair Brendan Carr.
Colbert went on air and revealed it anyway.
“He was supposed to be here, but… 1/
Colbert went on air and revealed it anyway.
“He was supposed to be here, but… 1/
February 17, 2026 at 12:17 PM
This is a genuinely horrific example of censorship, but also of the amateurship Skydance has put in place at CBS. Maybe they shouldn’t have announced firing Colbert so far in advance, you know? What are they gonna do to him about it? Why would they expect him to listen?
Someone check his search history
Noah Rothman on the Epstein files: "It is a witch hunt. It‘s a moral panic."
February 17, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Someone check his search history
“In 18 months, none of our customers will have jobs.”
I mean, does that sound like something a business executive would really believe or work to accomplish?
I mean, does that sound like something a business executive would really believe or work to accomplish?
The tech's current capabilities include telling people to walk instead of drive to get their car washed, but, sure, within 12-18 months it'll perform at the level of "a lawyer, or an accountant, or a project manager, or a marketing person."
Microsoft’s AI boss says AI can replace every white-collar job in 18 months — ‘We’re going to have a human-level performance on most, if not all, professional tasks’
And now, the end is near...
www.tomshardware.com
February 17, 2026 at 11:42 AM
“In 18 months, none of our customers will have jobs.”
I mean, does that sound like something a business executive would really believe or work to accomplish?
I mean, does that sound like something a business executive would really believe or work to accomplish?
I’d check the editor’s search history at once
Chicago Magazine named Nick Fuentes #7 in its list of Top 50 powerful Chicagoans of 2025.
February 17, 2026 at 11:38 AM
I’d check the editor’s search history at once
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
I understand framing the AI bubble RAM supply crisis in terms of stuff like video game consoles because nerds can conceptualize that but the framing does really undersell the sheer magnitude of how it's going to fuck up everything that even touches a computer.
February 16, 2026 at 7:49 PM
I understand framing the AI bubble RAM supply crisis in terms of stuff like video game consoles because nerds can conceptualize that but the framing does really undersell the sheer magnitude of how it's going to fuck up everything that even touches a computer.
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
So when thousands of women (and children) were being duplicated--including in non-consensual AI porn--it was no big deal. But it took "only a 15-sec clip" of these two famous white men to draw outrage and fear. Gotcha. Cool cool.
It took only a 15-second clip of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt duking it out on a crumbling rooftop — made by A.I. with a two-sentence prompt and the click of a button — to draw swift outrage, and sizable fear, from Hollywood.
"It’s nothing short of terrifying," one scriptwriter said.
"It’s nothing short of terrifying," one scriptwriter said.
Why an A.I. Video of Tom Cruise Battling Brad Pitt Spooked Hollywood
A 15-second clip created by an artificial intelligence tool owned by the Chinese technology company ByteDance appears more cinematic than anything so far.
nyti.ms
February 16, 2026 at 8:36 PM
So when thousands of women (and children) were being duplicated--including in non-consensual AI porn--it was no big deal. But it took "only a 15-sec clip" of these two famous white men to draw outrage and fear. Gotcha. Cool cool.
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
No.
Have you ever once seen the New York Times quote Trump like this?
February 16, 2026 at 7:56 PM
No.
This teacher wasn’t fired. He received widespread criticism for offensive, confrontational speech aimed at his students and then quit.
You can argue that’s bad, I’d consider it. But you really shouldn’t misrepresent what happened. No one wins when that happens.
You can argue that’s bad, I’d consider it. But you really shouldn’t misrepresent what happened. No one wins when that happens.
Am I going to be the only one to suggest that firing a public school teacher for speaking out on a matter of public concern raises profound First Amendment issues, and we should pause before cheering on such actions when that power can be weaponized against progressive teachers in red places? 1/3
This “beloved” Chicago teacher, James Heidorn, believes he was pushed out of his job due to a two-word post on his Facebook account.
Oddly enough, the heavily Hispanic district didn’t appreciate him posting “GO ICE”.
#ProudBlue #FuckICE #Chicago
Oddly enough, the heavily Hispanic district didn’t appreciate him posting “GO ICE”.
#ProudBlue #FuckICE #Chicago
February 16, 2026 at 3:48 PM
This teacher wasn’t fired. He received widespread criticism for offensive, confrontational speech aimed at his students and then quit.
You can argue that’s bad, I’d consider it. But you really shouldn’t misrepresent what happened. No one wins when that happens.
You can argue that’s bad, I’d consider it. But you really shouldn’t misrepresent what happened. No one wins when that happens.
We have fallen far from god
February 16, 2026 at 1:38 PM
We have fallen far from god
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
“Both Good and Pretti were engaged in the task that democracies assign to citizens: that of paying close attention to the workings of power. If the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, a country that inflicts the ultimate punishment on those who dare to be vigilant can no longer be free.”
"The Crime of Witness" by Fintan O’Toole in @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
"The videos that expose the administration’s mendacity about its own use of extreme violence against peaceful dissent are themselves products of the courage to show up [and] see for yourself."
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
"The videos that expose the administration’s mendacity about its own use of extreme violence against peaceful dissent are themselves products of the courage to show up [and] see for yourself."
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
February 16, 2026 at 7:09 AM
“Both Good and Pretti were engaged in the task that democracies assign to citizens: that of paying close attention to the workings of power. If the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, a country that inflicts the ultimate punishment on those who dare to be vigilant can no longer be free.”
AI is really gonna solve the fermi paradox, isn’t it
Editor’s Note: Retraction of article containing fabricated quotations
We are reinforcing our editorial standards following this incident.
arstechnica.com
February 16, 2026 at 1:12 PM
AI is really gonna solve the fermi paradox, isn’t it
Reposted by Joshua Foust 🪖🎮
I love it when the scientists reinvent the humanities for the 14th time in a decade.
'Scientists and researchers who study public understanding should reckon with their own role in this cultural disconnect. In particular, they need to reimagine the ways in which scientific literacy and trust have long been conceptualized and measured.' 1/2
Why we don’t really know what the public thinks about science
Measuring trust isn’t enough. Furthering knowledge about the institutions and norms of science is the best way to build credibility.
www.nature.com
February 16, 2026 at 12:16 PM
I love it when the scientists reinvent the humanities for the 14th time in a decade.
“You have to use AI to save time and meet your production metrics”
“But it has a high error rate; why would I use something that unreliable?”
“You have to check it’s work”
“Okay but that eats up all the time I ‘saved’”
“Use it anyway”
“But it has a high error rate; why would I use something that unreliable?”
“You have to check it’s work”
“Okay but that eats up all the time I ‘saved’”
“Use it anyway”
Cautionary tale: I asked Gemini to transcribe a 1-page PDF from The Morning Post from the early 1800s. I was interested in testing its accuracy.
It hallucinated a full transcription of book review that doesn't exist and then invented false citations when I asked where the review was from.
#AI
It hallucinated a full transcription of book review that doesn't exist and then invented false citations when I asked where the review was from.
#AI
February 16, 2026 at 12:29 PM
“You have to use AI to save time and meet your production metrics”
“But it has a high error rate; why would I use something that unreliable?”
“You have to check it’s work”
“Okay but that eats up all the time I ‘saved’”
“Use it anyway”
“But it has a high error rate; why would I use something that unreliable?”
“You have to check it’s work”
“Okay but that eats up all the time I ‘saved’”
“Use it anyway”