Sara Marcus
thesaramarcus.bsky.social
Sara Marcus
@thesaramarcus.bsky.social
880 followers 360 following 77 posts
Professor of English, writing about US literature, sound, political disappointment. I also wrote a book about Riot Grrrl. http://saramarcus.com https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674248656
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
Hi, everybody. I write and teach about US literature, music, sound, feminism and cultural history. I recently wrote a book on political disappointment that you might be interested in right now. www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
I explained Melanie Klein's good breast/bad breast, infantile terror, and depressive position to my tantruming 8yo in the car this morning and it calmed her down immediately. So anybody who says psychoanalysis doesn't work is just doing it wrong.
Yes and also the Coke that's drunk during Passover, a holiday all about what a regime can expect if it mistreats its immigrant workforce
Reposted by Sara Marcus
More ND postdoc opportunities!
The Initiative on Race and Resilience (IRR) invites applications for a two-year postdoctoral fellowship focusing on multiracial democracy. See below for detail and link to apply

apply.interfolio.com/164233
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
Please repost and share widely! I don't have an inside scoop on the new postdoc program, but I can answer questions people might have about South Bend/ND. (Spoiler alert: It can actually be rather nice here.)
Very nice new postdoctoral gigs just posted at ND! $75K + research funds, low teaching. This year they're running it in Art, Art History, & Design; Film, Television, & Theatre; Sociology; History; German, Slavic, & Eurasian Studies; and the Medieval Institute. alresources.nd.edu/resources/pr...
Provost's Postdoctoral Fellowships
Resources, guides, and key information for Art & Letters faculty and staff
alresources.nd.edu
Ok, as a mindfulness and anti-paralysis practice I'm going to call my senators about one issue per day. Today, Hegseth. Monday, health (WHO + NIH + RFK). Tuesday, immigration. I know this would be more effective if broadly coordinated. Who is coordinating well?
Hooray! So excited for you both to be here.
Reposted by Sara Marcus
You might say 2024 was a bit of a disappointing year. But some of its best series were ABOUT disappointment in impressive, jarringly healthy ways.

I wrote about the year in TV for @newrepublic.com — thanks for reading, friends! newrepublic.com/article/1882...
TV’s Year of Big Disappointments
Some of this year’s TV felt distinctly deflated. But the very best shows took on the subject of disappointment itself.
newrepublic.com
I bet @laurenfklein.bsky.social knows of some good candidates! Also perhaps @mmvty.bsky.social. But you've probably already sent it to them.
Thank you, Erica! I've been reading and marveling over your brilliant work on Hopkins this week.
I'm grateful to the selection committee, and I'm also grateful to everybody who helped me think through this book & improve it, incl. @harvardpress.bsky.social (esp. Lindsay Waters and Joseph Pomp), the book's generous peer reviewers, my grad advisors, my students, my partner... OK, I'm done!
using the inherent limits of transcription as a model for the inevitable shortcomings of any progressive or utopian political project."
"...Marcus argues that these setbacks can also provide the ground for new forms of resistance and progress. With a background as a musician and a music historian, Marcus interweaves political and literary analysis with a detailed attention to sonic experience and transcriptive practices,..."
"...Sara Marcus’s beautifully written Political Disappointment: A Cultural History from Reconstruction to the AIDS Crisis reflects on how American political culture has been perennially haunted by disappointment...."
From the citation: "Through a set of detailed literary case studies ranging from early Reconstruction scholars like W. E. B. Du Bois, Ella Sheppard, and Charles Chesnutt to AIDS-era authors and artists like David Wojnarowicz and Marlon Riggs,..."
Reposted by Sara Marcus
Contemporaries is (are?) in the midst of painful separation from Xitter, which was for years our main way of sharing clusters and podcasts, so in the interregnum we really appreciate any kind of signal boost for the amazing work we platform. We’re now on 20 episodes of Pod45 and 60+ essay clusters!
Reposted by Sara Marcus
It took me a LONG time to edit this episode (combo of technical and hurricane reasons, which I guess are ultimately the same) but I think it was worth the wait – such a smart conversation. Thanks to our suspiciously great guests and to @franciscondine.bsky.social for being the host with the most.
in case you missed it earlier today: a new episode of the @atpost45.bsky.social Pod45 podcast, featuring me, @lintax.bsky.social, @stalpaz.bsky.social, and @eleanoir.bsky.social discussing the cluster on "Suspicion" that Eleanor edited! open.spotify.com/episode/2fjP...
Episode 20: Suspicion
Pod45 · Episode
open.spotify.com