Sidney Burris
@sjburris.bsky.social
essayist | poet | lit professor | advocate of nonviolence with a little help from my teachers
find me on Medium: https://sjburris.medium.com
find me on Medium: https://sjburris.medium.com
Pinned
Sidney Burris
@sjburris.bsky.social
· Feb 5
"A despot doesn't fear eloquent writers preaching freedom—he fears a drunken poet who cracks a joke that may take hold." E.B. White, January 1939 | Here's to drunken poets!
Reposted by Sidney Burris
sjburris.medium.com/to-execute-m...
Sidney Burris’s dispatch this week on the abasement of our public discourse and how to protect against its ongoing corrosion. Thank you once again, Sidney.
Sidney Burris’s dispatch this week on the abasement of our public discourse and how to protect against its ongoing corrosion. Thank you once again, Sidney.
To Execute Member of Congress
How Propaganda Works
sjburris.medium.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:15 PM
sjburris.medium.com/to-execute-m...
Sidney Burris’s dispatch this week on the abasement of our public discourse and how to protect against its ongoing corrosion. Thank you once again, Sidney.
Sidney Burris’s dispatch this week on the abasement of our public discourse and how to protect against its ongoing corrosion. Thank you once again, Sidney.
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, with a nod to our brave veterans both at home and abroad.
#Booksky
sjburris.medium.com/to-execute-m...
#Booksky
sjburris.medium.com/to-execute-m...
To Execute Member of Congress
How Propaganda Works
sjburris.medium.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:03 PM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, with a nod to our brave veterans both at home and abroad.
#Booksky
sjburris.medium.com/to-execute-m...
#Booksky
sjburris.medium.com/to-execute-m...
Reposted by Sidney Burris
sjburris.medium.com/what-was-dec...
Yes/and: please add to this dispatch from Sidney Burris Michael Walzer’s *The Struggle for a Decent Politics*
Yes/and: please add to this dispatch from Sidney Burris Michael Walzer’s *The Struggle for a Decent Politics*
What Was Decency?
And How Do We Regain It?
sjburris.medium.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 PM
sjburris.medium.com/what-was-dec...
Yes/and: please add to this dispatch from Sidney Burris Michael Walzer’s *The Struggle for a Decent Politics*
Yes/and: please add to this dispatch from Sidney Burris Michael Walzer’s *The Struggle for a Decent Politics*
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium with a little help from Blaise Pascal and a caring mother.
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/a-dream-her-...
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/a-dream-her-...
A Dream, A Mother, Her Child
Ordinary Instructions for Extraordinary Times
sjburris.medium.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:16 PM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium with a little help from Blaise Pascal and a caring mother.
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/a-dream-her-...
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/a-dream-her-...
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I allow other voices, for the second time, to say what I wanted to say.
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/what-they-sa...
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/what-they-sa...
What They Said: How Words Help, 2
Quotations to Help Us Through Troubled Times
sjburris.medium.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:31 AM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I allow other voices, for the second time, to say what I wanted to say.
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/what-they-sa...
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/what-they-sa...
Reposted by Sidney Burris
Finding joy in difficult times feels like discovering hidden gems in a library's darkest corners. Books remind us of resilience and hope. Let's celebrate the light within each story! #BookSky #Books
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I make the unlikely case for joy in these difficult times.
sjburris.medium.com/for-the-love...
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/for-the-love...
#BookSky
For the Love of Joy
A Fact Sheet
sjburris.medium.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Finding joy in difficult times feels like discovering hidden gems in a library's darkest corners. Books remind us of resilience and hope. Let's celebrate the light within each story! #BookSky #Books
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I make the unlikely case for joy in these difficult times.
sjburris.medium.com/for-the-love...
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/for-the-love...
#BookSky
For the Love of Joy
A Fact Sheet
sjburris.medium.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:53 AM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I make the unlikely case for joy in these difficult times.
sjburris.medium.com/for-the-love...
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/for-the-love...
#BookSky
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, with thoughts on the fate of decency.
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/what-was-dec...
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/what-was-dec...
What Was Decency?
And How Do We Regain It?
sjburris.medium.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:30 PM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, with thoughts on the fate of decency.
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/what-was-dec...
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/what-was-dec...
Reposted by Sidney Burris
Harris and Hillary were right about it all. Every shocking prediction is coming true.
October 9, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Harris and Hillary were right about it all. Every shocking prediction is coming true.
My Weekly Wednesday (on Thursday) is now up on Medium, in which David Foster Wallace helps us to breathe in the air of autocracy.
sjburris.medium.com/with-a-littl...
sjburris.medium.com/with-a-littl...
With a Little Help from David Foster Wallace
Awareness Is Everything
sjburris.medium.com
October 9, 2025 at 2:00 PM
My Weekly Wednesday (on Thursday) is now up on Medium, in which David Foster Wallace helps us to breathe in the air of autocracy.
sjburris.medium.com/with-a-littl...
sjburris.medium.com/with-a-littl...
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which Elizabeth Bishop takes me and my students to school.
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/why-art-is-u...
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/why-art-is-u...
Why Art Is Useless
And Why It Certainly Should Be
sjburris.medium.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:28 PM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which Elizabeth Bishop takes me and my students to school.
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/why-art-is-u...
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/why-art-is-u...
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which Walt Whitman make a case for idealism in less than ideal times.
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/why-walt-whi...
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/why-walt-whi...
Why Walt Whitman Matters
Thoughts on Teaching LEAVES OF GRASS
sjburris.medium.com
September 24, 2025 at 8:10 PM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which Walt Whitman make a case for idealism in less than ideal times.
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/why-walt-whi...
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/why-walt-whi...
Reposted by Sidney Burris
Trump Is Shutting Down the War On Cancer www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/m...
40% of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.
This alarming expose should be widely read and circulated.
40% of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.
This alarming expose should be widely read and circulated.
Trump Is Shutting Down the War On Cancer
www.nytimes.com
September 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Trump Is Shutting Down the War On Cancer www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/m...
40% of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.
This alarming expose should be widely read and circulated.
40% of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.
This alarming expose should be widely read and circulated.
Delighted to have an essay in OPEN: A JOURNAL OF ARTS & LETTERS!
#BookSky #LiteratureSky
ojalart.com/prose-discou...
#BookSky #LiteratureSky
ojalart.com/prose-discou...
Prose Discourse: Creative Nonfiction to 10,000 words|Essay/Memoir/Vignette||Sidney Burris|"Counting the Metaphors" - O:JA&L
Prose Discourse: Creative Nonfiction Essay/Memoir/Vignette to 10,000 words Sidney Burris Counting the Metaphors I was in a bad mood anyway, […]
ojalart.com
September 21, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Delighted to have an essay in OPEN: A JOURNAL OF ARTS & LETTERS!
#BookSky #LiteratureSky
ojalart.com/prose-discou...
#BookSky #LiteratureSky
ojalart.com/prose-discou...
The Daily Show’s response to Kimmel’s firing is satirical resistance at a level I’ve never before seen. These people are truly our nation’s front-line warriors youtu.be/_GXNJ3V9lzg?...
Jon Stewart's Post-Kimmel Primer on Free Speech in the Glorious Trump Era | The Daily Show
YouTube video by The Daily Show
youtu.be
September 19, 2025 at 5:54 PM
The Daily Show’s response to Kimmel’s firing is satirical resistance at a level I’ve never before seen. These people are truly our nation’s front-line warriors youtu.be/_GXNJ3V9lzg?...
Important sources of accurate data continue to scrubbed, sanitized, and taken down by the Trump administration. Repairing this and other collateral damage will be the work of generations.
The US Justice Department appears to have removed from its website a study into political violence in America by the National Institute of Justice, the Justice Department’s research agency, which concluded that far-right extremism outpaced “all other types of domestic violent extremism”.
September 18, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Important sources of accurate data continue to scrubbed, sanitized, and taken down by the Trump administration. Repairing this and other collateral damage will be the work of generations.
Reposted by Sidney Burris
Kirk's murder is being weaponized to corral us into a smaller and smaller arena of speech, and it is our job to refuse to be confined, to keep speaking out, to keep making irreverent jokes, supporting progressive voices, chastising the high-profile cowards, and talking among ourselves.
The War on Truth Heats Up (just in time for Constitution Day)
Hannah Arendt famously wrote, “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the real...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Kirk's murder is being weaponized to corral us into a smaller and smaller arena of speech, and it is our job to refuse to be confined, to keep speaking out, to keep making irreverent jokes, supporting progressive voices, chastising the high-profile cowards, and talking among ourselves.
A free and open democracy does not silence its comedians who are critical of its leaders and public figures.
The popular comedian, Jimmy Kimmel, has been silenced, his show canceled.
Therefore, America is not a free and open democracy.
Basic logic.
The popular comedian, Jimmy Kimmel, has been silenced, his show canceled.
Therefore, America is not a free and open democracy.
Basic logic.
Canceling Stephen Colbert and now Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert - and Matthew Dowd is horrendous- and pure fascism.
Shame on those networks for caving
We have a right to freedom of speech and we want it back.
This is textbook fascism.
Shame on those networks for caving
We have a right to freedom of speech and we want it back.
This is textbook fascism.
September 18, 2025 at 1:31 AM
A free and open democracy does not silence its comedians who are critical of its leaders and public figures.
The popular comedian, Jimmy Kimmel, has been silenced, his show canceled.
Therefore, America is not a free and open democracy.
Basic logic.
The popular comedian, Jimmy Kimmel, has been silenced, his show canceled.
Therefore, America is not a free and open democracy.
Basic logic.
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I offer up a trove of words that I didn't compose!
sjburris.medium.com/what-they-sa...
sjburris.medium.com/what-they-sa...
What They Said: How Words Help, 1
Quotations To Help Us Through Troubled Times
sjburris.medium.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:53 PM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I offer up a trove of words that I didn't compose!
sjburris.medium.com/what-they-sa...
sjburris.medium.com/what-they-sa...
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which two very smart women—Sontag, Kingsolver—ask us to look into the face of America.
sjburris.medium.com/the-best-cit...
sjburris.medium.com/the-best-cit...
The Best Citizenship We Can Muster
Staring into the Face of America
sjburris.medium.com
September 3, 2025 at 10:20 PM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which two very smart women—Sontag, Kingsolver—ask us to look into the face of America.
sjburris.medium.com/the-best-cit...
sjburris.medium.com/the-best-cit...
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I face the facts of our American autocracy.
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/facing-down-...
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/facing-down-...
Facing Down Autocracy
Thoughts on Facts
sjburris.medium.com
August 27, 2025 at 2:56 PM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I face the facts of our American autocracy.
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/facing-down-...
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/facing-down-...
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I bring a French intellectual to bear on the violent images clogging our news feeds.
sjburris.medium.com/donald-trump...
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/donald-trump...
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
Donald Trump and His Spectacular Spectacle
The Spectacle Is the Problem
sjburris.medium.com
August 20, 2025 at 3:48 PM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I bring a French intellectual to bear on the violent images clogging our news feeds.
sjburris.medium.com/donald-trump...
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
sjburris.medium.com/donald-trump...
#BookSky #WritingCommunity
Reposted by Sidney Burris
I’ve done one of these for her best novel (I got to do it for her BEST novel - you *know* which one that is!)
But if I’d backed a leading man I would’ve gone for a bad boy like Willoughby or Henry Crawford, both woefully excluded here!
(I voted for Mr Knightley cos he’s a total Baldwin!)
But if I’d backed a leading man I would’ve gone for a bad boy like Willoughby or Henry Crawford, both woefully excluded here!
(I voted for Mr Knightley cos he’s a total Baldwin!)
Jane Austen fight club: experts go head-to-head arguing for her best leading man
The winner is down to you!
theconversation.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:09 PM
I’ve done one of these for her best novel (I got to do it for her BEST novel - you *know* which one that is!)
But if I’d backed a leading man I would’ve gone for a bad boy like Willoughby or Henry Crawford, both woefully excluded here!
(I voted for Mr Knightley cos he’s a total Baldwin!)
But if I’d backed a leading man I would’ve gone for a bad boy like Willoughby or Henry Crawford, both woefully excluded here!
(I voted for Mr Knightley cos he’s a total Baldwin!)
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I advocate for triaging American culture now, before it's too late.
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/triage-your-...
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/triage-your-...
Triage Your Passion: Now or Never
Why We Need to Triage American Culture
sjburris.medium.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:48 PM
My Weekly Wednesday is up on Medium, in which I advocate for triaging American culture now, before it's too late.
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/triage-your-...
#BookSky
sjburris.medium.com/triage-your-...
Reposted by Sidney Burris
Harsh rains, collapsed roads and uprooted electrical lines have complicated rescue efforts in the Indian Himalayas, officials said Wednesday, after flash floods killed at least four people and left dozens missing the day before. Confirming the exact death toll may take up to a week. nyti.ms/41x6mfM
August 6, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Harsh rains, collapsed roads and uprooted electrical lines have complicated rescue efforts in the Indian Himalayas, officials said Wednesday, after flash floods killed at least four people and left dozens missing the day before. Confirming the exact death toll may take up to a week. nyti.ms/41x6mfM