laura olin
@lauraolin.bsky.social
the best goddamn dancer in the american ballet academy // lauraolin.com
Pinned
laura olin
@lauraolin.bsky.social
· May 8
I've had a newsletter since before it was cool (2014) and its latest format is a monthly collection of art, ideas, and internet. Latest edition below, and you can subscribe here: lauraolin.com/newsletter
buttondown.com/lauraolin/ar...
buttondown.com/lauraolin/ar...
Reposted by laura olin
We saw the prototype of the Nero Doctrine with Twitter. The goal wasn't to make it profitable or "free." The goal was to break the one place where news broke faster than the state could spin it.
They bought the town square not to speak in it, but to burn it down so we’d have nowhere else to gather.
They bought the town square not to speak in it, but to burn it down so we’d have nowhere else to gather.
December 14, 2025 at 9:11 PM
We saw the prototype of the Nero Doctrine with Twitter. The goal wasn't to make it profitable or "free." The goal was to break the one place where news broke faster than the state could spin it.
They bought the town square not to speak in it, but to burn it down so we’d have nowhere else to gather.
They bought the town square not to speak in it, but to burn it down so we’d have nowhere else to gather.
Reposted by laura olin
Elon's little serfs are quite literally begging journalists to come back because every publicly available source of data shows people have fled the platform and young people won't use it.
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
December 15, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Elon's little serfs are quite literally begging journalists to come back because every publicly available source of data shows people have fled the platform and young people won't use it.
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
Reposted by laura olin
We’re hiring and we would love to hear from you if you’re looking to take your activism to the next level.
Senior Social Media Associate | Join Our Team
About Indivisible Project We’re building something new. We’re a progressive grassroots organization that began in the aftermath of Tr...
ats.rippling.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:38 AM
We’re hiring and we would love to hear from you if you’re looking to take your activism to the next level.
Reposted by laura olin
my favorite thing about the benoit blanc movies is that they aren't really about benoit blanc. he is not grappling with demons from his past. we are not getting flashbacks to the husband whose murder he never solved. he just shows up and does his job like mary poppins for homicides
December 14, 2025 at 1:24 PM
my favorite thing about the benoit blanc movies is that they aren't really about benoit blanc. he is not grappling with demons from his past. we are not getting flashbacks to the husband whose murder he never solved. he just shows up and does his job like mary poppins for homicides
Reposted by laura olin
My best books of the year list is up on Culture Studies. Yes, it’s paywalled, but yes, Anne Helen Petersen was able to pay me fairly in return. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to put my words in front of a community of readers. www.patreon.com/posts/very-b...
The Very Best Books of the Year (According to a Professional Book Reader) | Culture Study
Get more from Culture Study on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:08 PM
My best books of the year list is up on Culture Studies. Yes, it’s paywalled, but yes, Anne Helen Petersen was able to pay me fairly in return. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to put my words in front of a community of readers. www.patreon.com/posts/very-b...
Reposted by laura olin
“It's not my duty as Mayor to make sure you have a parking spot. For me it's the same as if you bought a cow, or a refrigerator, and then asked me where you're going to put them.” — Mayor of Pontevedra, Spain (re-elected 6 times)
December 13, 2025 at 12:55 AM
“It's not my duty as Mayor to make sure you have a parking spot. For me it's the same as if you bought a cow, or a refrigerator, and then asked me where you're going to put them.” — Mayor of Pontevedra, Spain (re-elected 6 times)
If an actor did this for a performance as a Disney villain the director would ask them to tone it down
December 14, 2025 at 2:08 AM
If an actor did this for a performance as a Disney villain the director would ask them to tone it down
Reposted by laura olin
Gonna be an absolute delight ripping this shit down. Needs to be a real spectacle. A PBS special
December 13, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Gonna be an absolute delight ripping this shit down. Needs to be a real spectacle. A PBS special
Reposted by laura olin
I understand that a lot of folks have been misled by fear-mongering and powerful regressive voices but it’s still astonishing to me that so many have fallen for the idea that oppressively policing other people’s gender identity and expression could in any way be part of an enlightened future.
December 13, 2025 at 5:49 PM
I understand that a lot of folks have been misled by fear-mongering and powerful regressive voices but it’s still astonishing to me that so many have fallen for the idea that oppressively policing other people’s gender identity and expression could in any way be part of an enlightened future.
It’s really masterful TV-making in that they don’t feel like they have to explain things. Like Ilya clocking Rose’s friend at the bar and realizing she, and therefore Shane, are there too, then expressionlessly turning around and scanning the room until he sees them 🤌 No words at all in that scene!
if a straight dude is wondering if he should watch Heated Rivalry despite the pretty frequent gay sex scenes, I would say they would benefit from learning about the things that make the show great, especially the lines, gestures and scenes making straight and bisexual women just lose their minds
December 13, 2025 at 4:36 PM
It’s really masterful TV-making in that they don’t feel like they have to explain things. Like Ilya clocking Rose’s friend at the bar and realizing she, and therefore Shane, are there too, then expressionlessly turning around and scanning the room until he sees them 🤌 No words at all in that scene!
Reposted by laura olin
insanely good thing to say when you enter a room
December 13, 2025 at 9:04 AM
insanely good thing to say when you enter a room
Reposted by laura olin
comments enabled is diabolical
See the newly released photos here: www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/fq3vn...
Dropbox
www.dropbox.com
December 12, 2025 at 8:30 PM
comments enabled is diabolical
Reposted by laura olin
This is Charles Clyde Ebbets, the photographer who took the iconic “Lunch atop a Skyscraper” picture. Look at this fearless, dapper fuck wearing spats, suspenders, and a tie 850 feet above the ground. Absolute legend.
December 12, 2025 at 2:28 PM
This is Charles Clyde Ebbets, the photographer who took the iconic “Lunch atop a Skyscraper” picture. Look at this fearless, dapper fuck wearing spats, suspenders, and a tie 850 feet above the ground. Absolute legend.
Reposted by laura olin
Reposted by laura olin
This. This was the formative event of my generation & our entire politics in 🇺🇸. The structural break after which we were no longer a full democracy, when 5 Wizards In Robes decided they were a super-legislature & counting all the actual votes didn’t matter. The rest has been 25 years of commentary.
25 years ago today, SCOTUS elected George W Bush president of the United States by blocking completion of a voting canvass in Florida. A subsequent canvass by the Associated Press showed that Bush's rival, Al Gore, had won the race in Florida—and thus the contest for the presidency—by 700 votes.
December 12, 2025 at 7:50 AM
This. This was the formative event of my generation & our entire politics in 🇺🇸. The structural break after which we were no longer a full democracy, when 5 Wizards In Robes decided they were a super-legislature & counting all the actual votes didn’t matter. The rest has been 25 years of commentary.
Reposted by laura olin
This would be an amazing bit if they were capable of doing a bit.
Melania is absolutely stone faced as Trump talks about how sad Steve Scalise's wife when he was shot but he "knows many wives who would not even be crying"
December 12, 2025 at 1:31 AM
This would be an amazing bit if they were capable of doing a bit.
Reposted by laura olin
BREAKING: Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released from immigration detention after a federal judge's order Thursday, his attorney's office says.
Judge orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be immediately released from immigration detention
A federal judge in Maryland has ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed from immigration detention while his legal challenge against his deportation moves forward. U.S.
bit.ly
December 11, 2025 at 10:27 PM
BREAKING: Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released from immigration detention after a federal judge's order Thursday, his attorney's office says.
Reposted by laura olin
Trump 0-3 on indicting Tish James and just had his ass handed to him by Indiana Republican legislators he threatened and bullied. Also new low in AP poll at 36% approval.
December 11, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Trump 0-3 on indicting Tish James and just had his ass handed to him by Indiana Republican legislators he threatened and bullied. Also new low in AP poll at 36% approval.
Reposted by laura olin
The fact that the Trump Administration continues to enjoy such broad support from big businesses and rich assholes while 69% of Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy really drives home that we live in an oligarchy rather than a democracy.
“Only 31% of U.S. adults now approve of how Trump is handling the economy, the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds.”
Any other President with these numbers would be buried, but his policies maintain elite support because of broad agreement with their aims.
Any other President with these numbers would be buried, but his policies maintain elite support because of broad agreement with their aims.
Trump's handling of the economy is at its lowest point in AP-NORC polling
A new AP-NORC poll finds President Donald Trump’s approval on the economy has fallen substantially since he reentered the White House.
apnews.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:11 PM
The fact that the Trump Administration continues to enjoy such broad support from big businesses and rich assholes while 69% of Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy really drives home that we live in an oligarchy rather than a democracy.
It’s funny/weird that the legacy of Obama 2012 is perceived appeals to the mythical center when that race was basically 100% class war, especially after Romney became the nominee (speaking as someone who was there)
It's inconvenient for people interested in Dem factional fights, or Obama 2012 veterans trying to get consulting work. But we have known since several days after the election that Trump gained fewer votes from 2020-2024 in swing states that were exposed to campaign messages than in other states. /1
December 11, 2025 at 6:06 PM
It’s funny/weird that the legacy of Obama 2012 is perceived appeals to the mythical center when that race was basically 100% class war, especially after Romney became the nominee (speaking as someone who was there)
Reposted by laura olin
After getting pardoned by Trump, does reinstating a corrupt Democrat into a position of power help the Dem brand? Does it make it easier for us to convince Americans to reject this corrupt regime? Does it make it more likely for us to defeat the Republicans? punchbowl.news/article/hous...
Cuellar to get his Approps post back
House Democrats are set to restore Rep. Henry Cuellar’s (D-Texas) post as the party’s top lawmaker on a key Appropriations subcommittee.
punchbowl.news
December 9, 2025 at 9:36 PM
After getting pardoned by Trump, does reinstating a corrupt Democrat into a position of power help the Dem brand? Does it make it easier for us to convince Americans to reject this corrupt regime? Does it make it more likely for us to defeat the Republicans? punchbowl.news/article/hous...
This is exactly where all this was going. The enshittification / walled garden vise grip will only tighten at Substack.
December 11, 2025 at 5:21 PM
This is exactly where all this was going. The enshittification / walled garden vise grip will only tighten at Substack.
You don’t usually see rats hurling themselves ONTO the ship as it’s sinking
December 11, 2025 at 3:39 PM
You don’t usually see rats hurling themselves ONTO the ship as it’s sinking