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Steve Olson

@steveolson.bsky.social

1.5K followers 610 following 3.6K posts

Humble ad guy. potato influencer. whiskey & cephalopod obsessed. expat minnesotan. Novice wine drinker and bonsai... uh... keeper? Sportsball: Vikings, Tottenham, Bath Rugby.

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Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · Jan 10

Damn, "Hurricane Season" was dark.. A perfect book to kick off the 2025 Reading Season. I did struggle with how to feel about it, but reading @jcljules.bsky.social's 2020 review citing Marlon James' quote about the need to risk "pornography" in describing the impacts of violence helped. #booksky

Cover image of "Hurricane Season" by Fernanda Melchor

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 1h

there is something desperately sad about people who don’t want to see real humans make art.

Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 1d

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

Want to See Marilyn Monroe in Game of Thrones? AI Could Make It Soon

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

www.scientificamerican.com

Reposted by Steve Olson

BYCTOM @byctom.bsky.social · 14h

this is the most like a mike tyson's punch out guy i have ever seen anyone look

Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick making an intense face as he prepares to throw the ball

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 8h

Travis Kelce, call your publicist. www.cnn.com/science/supe...

Scientists create ‘Superwood’ that’s 10 times stronger than steel | CNN

A US company has engineered a new type of wood that it says has up to 10 times the strength-to-weight ratio of steel, while also being up to six times lighter.

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 9h

Well, someone on bluesky said something about Stephen Miller's non-existent hairline... so...

Josh Sternberg @joshsternberg.com · 12h

Free speech means Republicans can say what they want with no consequences for speaking reprehensibly.

"the messages reveal a culture where racist, antisemitic and violent rhetoric circulate freely—and where the Trump-era loosening of political norms has made such talk feel less taboo..."

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146

Reposted by Steve Olson

Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 9h

Young Republicans group chat.

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 14h

yeah, i was somewhat suspicious of the allegation. Thanks!

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 14h

(ftr, saw a piece by her on homeric translation in the NYT Review of Books and she seems pretty rad)

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 14h

thanks! i had seen some criticism that hers was kinda overly contemporized… guessing you didn’t feel that way?

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 14h

These horses woke up and chose violence.

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 14h

Dearest nerds: Which Illiad translation should I read? Looking for a more poetic than academic translation, but don't really want it too modernly idiomatic. Google hasn't helped.

Yes, I just finished and loved "Song of Achilles", and only read The Odyssey in school.

Go go gadget #booksky

Reposted by Steve Olson

Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 17h

1. Nations that have bestowed lavish gifts to President Trump — or enriched Trump and his family by striking business deals with Trump-connected companies — have later received extraordinary benefits from the Trump administration.

Quid Pro Presidency

Nations that have bestowed lavish gifts to President Trump — or enriched Trump and his family by striking business deals with Trump-connected companies — have later received extraordinary benefits…

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 1d

RIGHT?! It is known. There is only one reasonable explanation.

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 1d

a cartoon of alice from alice in wonderland is dancing

ALT: a cartoon of alice from alice in wonderland is dancing

media.tenor.com

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 1d

at some point we need to consider the possibility that matt stoller may have some kind of public humiliation kink.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2d

Matt Stoller being very Matt Stoller, calling someone else a "classic left poseur snob"

Matt Stoller being eviscerated by @dieworkwear.bsky.social

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 1d

congratulations!

Reposted by Steve Olson

Darryl Mott 💀 @gamerstavernshow.com · 1d

Quick reminder that Christopher Columbus was considered a vile, repulsive, evil man even in his own time. His actions as governor of Spain's New World colonies landed him in prison for his cruelty and violence.

Reposted by Steve Olson

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 2d

if we are going to have a supreme court that is as powerful as it is, i basically think justices should be forbidden from public comment on their work as well as any supplemental source of income while they are on the bench. (they should also ride circuit again but that's a bit separate.)

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 2d

The substance of what she's saying is bad and unconvincing, but more fundamentally, I really don't think Supreme Court justices should be going on book tours where they publicly comment on their work and respond to criticism of it. Either put it in a written opinion or hold your peace.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Amy Coney Barrett defends heavy use of the shadow docket: "If we wrote a long opinion, it might give the impression that we have finally resolved the issue, and in none of these cases have we finally resolved the issue."

Reposted by Steve Olson

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 2d

Do not step to menswear guy. He is very good at this.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2d

Matt Stoller being very Matt Stoller, calling someone else a "classic left poseur snob"

Matt Stoller being eviscerated by @dieworkwear.bsky.social

Reposted by Steve Olson

Cmdr. Overbite @cmdroverbite.bsky.social · 2d

ICE was apparently out doing its thing this morning outside a Catholic church in West Rogers Park in case you were hoping that the federal government was prepared to live up to the standards of propriety set by the Barksdale Organization.

The Wire | On A Sunday Morning?

YouTube video by WireFans

Reposted by Steve Olson

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2d

Portland, you magnificent weirdos

Tim Dickinson @timdickinson.bsky.social · 2d

Live from the Emergency Naked Bike Ride 🚲 where the crowd hase just erupted in cheers with the arrival of the Unipipier

Reposted by Steve Olson

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 2d

Both can be true:
1. Many bad faith actors are trying to impose conservative viewpoints on academia and should be resisted as threats to academic freedom
2. Viewpoint diversity (broadly defined) is good for free inquiry scatter.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/t... eternallyradicalidea.com/p/is-higher-...

Reposted by Steve Olson

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 2d

a key thing about vought — and all of these guys — is that they have a totally top down and hierarchical vision of the world. they believe that the cultural changes they hate can be turned off by destroying the federal government because they can’t imagine that they emerged bottom-up in society

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 2d

What he’s railing against is a profound shift in culture, status… He’s obsessed with the idea that America is controlled by a leftist “ruling elite” - but “elite” isn’t defined socio-economically or by political power, it means something like: Getting to define “real America” and who gets to belong.

Steve Olson @steveolson.bsky.social · 3d

this is the most american thing ever.

Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 3d

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

Reposted by Steve Olson

Evan Sutton @evansutton.bsky.social · 3d

The antichrist, famously, hates wealth. For, as Jesus said, it is easier to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than to deny the righteous man who has amassed incomprehensible wealth while millions starve his ticket into heaven

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 3d

Multi billionaire conducts months of historical and theological research into the Antichrist. Discovers, shockingly, that one thing the Antichrist would definitely do is tax billionaires. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Done
theguardian.com
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He believes the Armageddon will be ushered in by an antichrist-type figure who cultivates a fear of existential threats such as climate change, Al and nuclear war to amass inordinate power. The idea is this figure will convince people to do everything they can to avoid something like a third world war, including accepting a one-world order charged with protecting everyone from the apocalypse that implements a complete restriction of technological progress. In his mind, this is already happening. Thiel said that international financial bodies, which make it more difficult for people to shelter their wealth in tax havens, are one sign the antichrist may be amassing power and hastening Armageddon, saying: "It's become quite difficult to hide one's money."

Reposted by Steve Olson

Piper @yourfriendpiper.bsky.social · 3d

I love this piece and glad this part was noted: "The question of who wins or who loses in Triangle Posting Politics is divorced from material conditions, justice, or the common good."

sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · 3d

I have a theory www.theverge.com/policy/79849...

American politics has devolved into shitposting and aura farming

The Frog is owning the president.

www.theverge.com