Annie Berke
@sayanniething.bsky.social
Senior editor @ LARB, freelance culture writer, mom in the DC burbs. Here for the nuanced takes, the good faith arguments, and the jokes
Reposted by Annie Berke
"There’s the physical and mental barriers to appreciating art: the stamina required, say, for wending one’s way through an exhibit with nary a bench in sight." Pasquale Toscano reviews Rob Macaisa Colgate’s poetry collection, "Hardly Creatures." https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/how-to-access-art/
November 20, 2025 at 1:50 PM
"There’s the physical and mental barriers to appreciating art: the stamina required, say, for wending one’s way through an exhibit with nary a bench in sight." Pasquale Toscano reviews Rob Macaisa Colgate’s poetry collection, "Hardly Creatures." https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/how-to-access-art/
Reposted by Annie Berke
"The magic trick of these films is the way they defy the Newtonian laws of story: nothing happens, and you’re never bored—propulsion but no engine."
Jacob Stern on Richard Linklater’s two latest films, "Nouvelle Vague" and "Blue Moon": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/when-history-hangs-out/
Jacob Stern on Richard Linklater’s two latest films, "Nouvelle Vague" and "Blue Moon": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/when-history-hangs-out/
November 21, 2025 at 4:19 PM
"The magic trick of these films is the way they defy the Newtonian laws of story: nothing happens, and you’re never bored—propulsion but no engine."
Jacob Stern on Richard Linklater’s two latest films, "Nouvelle Vague" and "Blue Moon": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/when-history-hangs-out/
Jacob Stern on Richard Linklater’s two latest films, "Nouvelle Vague" and "Blue Moon": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/when-history-hangs-out/
Having been told what "sui generis" means multiple times -- and promptly forgetting afterwards -- this might finally be the time it sticks!
completely outside of politics, this is so charming
November 21, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Having been told what "sui generis" means multiple times -- and promptly forgetting afterwards -- this might finally be the time it sticks!
Reposted by Annie Berke
Wow! Jesse Welles performed his song “Join ICE” on the Colbert Show last night. 🏆
November 20, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Wow! Jesse Welles performed his song “Join ICE” on the Colbert Show last night. 🏆
Once you read this, please check out @elizabethalsop.bsky.social on the trauma backstory 📺
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
November 19, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Once you read this, please check out @elizabethalsop.bsky.social on the trauma backstory 📺
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...
What does this little blue-tagged text box thing mean in a Word document? Why is it there, and how do I make it go away?
Thanks, word nerds! ;)
Thanks, word nerds! ;)
November 14, 2025 at 6:59 PM
What does this little blue-tagged text box thing mean in a Word document? Why is it there, and how do I make it go away?
Thanks, word nerds! ;)
Thanks, word nerds! ;)
Reposted by Annie Berke
For @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social I wrote about Kelly Reichardt's THE MASTERMIND, and what her riff on the heist film has to say about labor, art, and entitlement lareviewofbooks.org/article/rebe...
Rebel Without a Clue | Los Angeles Review of Books
Elizabeth Alsop picks up the trail of Kelly Reichardt’s alienated art thief in “The Mastermind.”
lareviewofbooks.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:24 PM
For @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social I wrote about Kelly Reichardt's THE MASTERMIND, and what her riff on the heist film has to say about labor, art, and entitlement lareviewofbooks.org/article/rebe...
Reposted by Annie Berke
Nice! we got 2 subscriptions out of the 140 we need to smash our goal until tomorrow. I believe in us! do you? the-flytrap.ghost.io/chomp
The Flytrap
Feminist cultural criticism against the algorithm
the-flytrap.ghost.io
November 2, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Nice! we got 2 subscriptions out of the 140 we need to smash our goal until tomorrow. I believe in us! do you? the-flytrap.ghost.io/chomp
Reposted by Annie Berke
I know you're probably tired of @theflytrapmedia.com's fundraising appeals, but if 529 of you would just subscribe or renew, we could just get back to the business of publishing smart, engaging, wonderful, and sometimes wacky feminist media. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SUBSCRIBE TODAY.
October 28, 2025 at 7:31 PM
I know you're probably tired of @theflytrapmedia.com's fundraising appeals, but if 529 of you would just subscribe or renew, we could just get back to the business of publishing smart, engaging, wonderful, and sometimes wacky feminist media. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SUBSCRIBE TODAY.
Reposted by Annie Berke
DC NO KINGS NIGHTMARE THREAD STARTS HERE
Heading out from the lovely Rockville Metro station on a beautiful, sunny day in the DMV.
Immediate takeaway is this is the furthest out I've ever seen a train packed with people obvious headed to a protest in DC.
wtop.com/dc/2025/10/e...
Heading out from the lovely Rockville Metro station on a beautiful, sunny day in the DMV.
Immediate takeaway is this is the furthest out I've ever seen a train packed with people obvious headed to a protest in DC.
wtop.com/dc/2025/10/e...
Everything you need to know about the ‘No Kings’ protest in DC - WTOP News
Pennsylvania Avenue NW in D.C. will be taken over Saturday by an expected tens of thousands of protesters against President Donald Trump’s administration.
wtop.com
October 18, 2025 at 3:02 PM
DC NO KINGS NIGHTMARE THREAD STARTS HERE
Heading out from the lovely Rockville Metro station on a beautiful, sunny day in the DMV.
Immediate takeaway is this is the furthest out I've ever seen a train packed with people obvious headed to a protest in DC.
wtop.com/dc/2025/10/e...
Heading out from the lovely Rockville Metro station on a beautiful, sunny day in the DMV.
Immediate takeaway is this is the furthest out I've ever seen a train packed with people obvious headed to a protest in DC.
wtop.com/dc/2025/10/e...
The world is on fire: who wants to read my thoughts and feelings (all positive) on Ted Danson?
October 9, 2025 at 7:11 PM
The world is on fire: who wants to read my thoughts and feelings (all positive) on Ted Danson?
Reposted by Annie Berke
this felt too informative not to share
October 6, 2025 at 1:24 PM
this felt too informative not to share
Reposted by Annie Berke
"The suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel felt more like an omen." @tvbookstvbooks.bsky.social on censorship, the FCC, and the television industry over time. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/indecent-disposal-fcc-and-the-censoring-of-late-night/
October 3, 2025 at 12:50 PM
"The suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel felt more like an omen." @tvbookstvbooks.bsky.social on censorship, the FCC, and the television industry over time. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/indecent-disposal-fcc-and-the-censoring-of-late-night/
Reposted by Annie Berke
My take on the new Jurassic in the LARB! Spoilers ahead.
Credit to @sayanniething.bsky.social for a great edit. As for the title... thanks/apologies to Tennyson. I imagine he'd have written the loveliest verses about suspect food dye and other modern confections, e.g. genetically-engineered wolves.
Credit to @sayanniething.bsky.social for a great edit. As for the title... thanks/apologies to Tennyson. I imagine he'd have written the loveliest verses about suspect food dye and other modern confections, e.g. genetically-engineered wolves.
"'Rebirth' is the first 'Jurassic' film born into a world where de-extinction of prehistoric life is a contested but credible reality." @dinostalgia.bsky.social reviews "Jurassic World: Rebirth." https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/nature-red-40-in-tooth-and-claw/
August 16, 2025 at 3:34 PM
My take on the new Jurassic in the LARB! Spoilers ahead.
Credit to @sayanniething.bsky.social for a great edit. As for the title... thanks/apologies to Tennyson. I imagine he'd have written the loveliest verses about suspect food dye and other modern confections, e.g. genetically-engineered wolves.
Credit to @sayanniething.bsky.social for a great edit. As for the title... thanks/apologies to Tennyson. I imagine he'd have written the loveliest verses about suspect food dye and other modern confections, e.g. genetically-engineered wolves.
GILDED AGE and BUCCANEERS both ending their seasons (so long summer)… what should my next period drama be?
**extra points for soap and camp!**
**extra points for soap and camp!**
August 7, 2025 at 1:41 PM
GILDED AGE and BUCCANEERS both ending their seasons (so long summer)… what should my next period drama be?
**extra points for soap and camp!**
**extra points for soap and camp!**
Reposted by Annie Berke
“In ‘Other Lives Our Own,’ Weiss wants to awaken readers to all the daily experiences they are not absorbing or even registering.” Caroline Hagood reviews Jason Weiss’s “Other Lives Our Own.” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/bringing-back-new-concepts-to-this-mad-city/
August 2, 2025 at 12:50 PM
“In ‘Other Lives Our Own,’ Weiss wants to awaken readers to all the daily experiences they are not absorbing or even registering.” Caroline Hagood reviews Jason Weiss’s “Other Lives Our Own.” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/bringing-back-new-concepts-to-this-mad-city/
Reposted by Annie Berke
The summer of submission starts now. LARB Quarterly, no. 45, Submission is finally here, with new essays, fiction, and poetry on the ways we all choose to submit: to our bodies, our families, ourselves, and each other. https://lareviewofbooks.org/membership/
July 1, 2025 at 7:45 PM
The summer of submission starts now. LARB Quarterly, no. 45, Submission is finally here, with new essays, fiction, and poetry on the ways we all choose to submit: to our bodies, our families, ourselves, and each other. https://lareviewofbooks.org/membership/
Reposted by Annie Berke
The enduring appeal of 'Clueless' defector.com/ugh-as-if-ta...
July 27, 2025 at 7:00 PM
The enduring appeal of 'Clueless' defector.com/ugh-as-if-ta...
If I went around wearing a t shirt that said “I Told You So,” would you think I was referring to Epstein or HBOMax? To be clear, I would mean both.
July 28, 2025 at 7:31 PM
If I went around wearing a t shirt that said “I Told You So,” would you think I was referring to Epstein or HBOMax? To be clear, I would mean both.
Millennials may be getting older, but our pop culture stays *the same age* (fun, I mean, HELLO, we're the kids of America)... making my DEFECTOR debut with a review essay on "Clueless"
-- many thanks to my editor @brandyjensen.bsky.social for her Cher-like guidance
defector.com/ugh-as-if-ta...
-- many thanks to my editor @brandyjensen.bsky.social for her Cher-like guidance
defector.com/ugh-as-if-ta...
‘Ugh! As If!’ Takes On The Enduring Appeal Of ‘Clueless’ | Defector
In the mid-to-late ’90s, I was part of a girl gang that invaded suburban homes across the top half of New Jersey. We left our clothes strewn across various surfaces in your carpeted basements, ate you...
defector.com
July 25, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Millennials may be getting older, but our pop culture stays *the same age* (fun, I mean, HELLO, we're the kids of America)... making my DEFECTOR debut with a review essay on "Clueless"
-- many thanks to my editor @brandyjensen.bsky.social for her Cher-like guidance
defector.com/ugh-as-if-ta...
-- many thanks to my editor @brandyjensen.bsky.social for her Cher-like guidance
defector.com/ugh-as-if-ta...
Doing some research… what are some (other) books like NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT THIS and THE MOBIUS BOOK, which is to say novels with two somewhat discrete halves that sort of overlap or connect but you need to do the work to figure out why?
July 21, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Doing some research… what are some (other) books like NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT THIS and THE MOBIUS BOOK, which is to say novels with two somewhat discrete halves that sort of overlap or connect but you need to do the work to figure out why?
I know I’m avant-grade, ahead of the curve, visionary here but I’ll just say it: I think I need to rewatch GIRLS
July 9, 2025 at 12:37 PM
I know I’m avant-grade, ahead of the curve, visionary here but I’ll just say it: I think I need to rewatch GIRLS
While I'm asking questions, would anyone like to pay me $50 a year to *not* start a Substack, because honestly, I feel like it'd be a win/win for all of us?
July 8, 2025 at 5:27 PM
While I'm asking questions, would anyone like to pay me $50 a year to *not* start a Substack, because honestly, I feel like it'd be a win/win for all of us?
Why should I bother composting my exfoliation wipes now that Leo went to Bezos' wedding?
July 8, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Why should I bother composting my exfoliation wipes now that Leo went to Bezos' wedding?