Xander Lenc
LightNews LightNews
banner
xlenc.bsky.social
Xander Lenc
@xlenc.bsky.social
2.6K followers 970 following 3.4K posts
Geographer. California apologist. Writing about prison history, ecology, labor, and capitalism. Go read @oaklandreviewofbooks.org
Posts Replies Media Videos
xlenc.bsky.social
Me preparing to open a wikipedia page about an unfamiliar British pop culture reference.
A screenshot of a scene from Mulholland Drive. Two white men with black suits and serious expressions are facing forward, looking to the right of the camera. They are standing on pavement, a concrete staircase with teal metal railing behind them. The hillside is covered with grass and ornamental aloes. The first man has an anxious, almost glazed expression, his eyes squinting from either the sun or his fear.
November 19, 2025 at 8:20 AM
xlenc.bsky.social
The youtube comment section continues to be a grand intellectual symposium.
Screenshot of a youtube comment section. The first commenter says "I'm very interested in sending bees to mars. I have multiple hives and would gladly donate one to elon musk." One reply says "Donate? That's nice of you." The second says "getting the bees is only half the problem of that project."
November 16, 2025 at 3:04 AM
xlenc.bsky.social
A new study from Colombia's Labor Lab finds that the use of prisoner labor along Hyundai's supply chain in Alabama lowered non-incarcerated worker wages.

"We find that a 10% increase in the share of incarcerated workers in a plant is associated with a 10-14% drop in wages for free workers."
"The impact of Incarcerated Labor in Hyundai's U.S. Supply Chain" by Susan Helper, Suresh Naidu, Adam Reich, and Aaron Sojourner. Key Findings. Based on a survey of Alabama auto plant workers and related sources, we study the incidence of incarcerated labor in Hyundai's U.S. supply chain. In the survey, those working in the Hyundai supply chain in Alabama report earning 10-15% less than other auto supply chain workers in the state, even after accounting for education, race, gender, and age. Workers in Hyundai's supply chain also report more safety hazards and more frequent negative experiences such as wage theft, forced overtime, harassment, and lack of breaks, compared to other auto supply chain workers in Alabama.
November 14, 2025 at 11:45 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
Apparently he's been on this kick since 2021. Obviously Crumb is nobody's political hero, but this is definitely new terrain for his stupidity. The guy just can't help but waste his talents.
A page titled "Crumb Family Covid Expose" by r. crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb in 2001. It might not make sense to describe all of the panels in detail, but the main thing is that Crumb is showing yelling "My mind is cramped with this covid-19 vaccine businss! Who is behind this? Bill ates, dr. anthony fauci, ralph baric, peter daszak, christian drostein, pfizer, moderna, the CDC, the FDA, the WHO... mother fuckers! I hate them all!"
November 11, 2025 at 9:32 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
My favorite anecdote about RevCom is that they went to Burning Man in 2010 and installed a bunch of wordless signs with Bob Avakian's face on it, including a large flashing neon Bob, in the hopes of "imprinting" upon the minds of the attendees.
A night photo, with lights in the distance streaking from overexposed camera movement. In the foreground, a sign with two images of Bob Avakian. One is a smaller black and white print, the other is a crude line illustration made with neon tubing of some kind.
October 17, 2025 at 7:58 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
I so mad that West Virginia University has operated a safe, free/affordable, and adorable rapid transit system for over FIFTY YEARS and I never knew about it.
A cute little blue and white rapid transit car speeding on an elevated track past blurry greenery. Several tracks of the Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit curving through a bright green hillside away from a station, seemingly next to part of the college campus.
September 24, 2025 at 7:30 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
Wikipedia is the greatest website on earth because no matter how safe and mundane an article sounds (e.g. "coconut water"), there is always a 10% chance you are about to learn about something truly horrific.
A wikipedia screnshot under the heading "Medical use in Cambodia." "Although substituting coconut water for saline is not recommended by physicians today, it was a common practice during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.[10][11] The Documentation Center of Cambodia cited the practice of allowing untrained nurses to administer green coconut water during the Pol Pot regime as a crime against humanity.[12]"
September 24, 2025 at 7:20 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
Reading through my timeline like
August 30, 2025 at 5:28 AM
xlenc.bsky.social
I was literally just thinking about how Eldridge Cleaver's pivot to the right was prefaced by his brief macho clothing grift.
A page from an issue of Jet from the 1970s. Pictures of Eldridge Cleaver speaking and wearing pants with a huge codpiece-like piece of fabric over the crotch in a different color from the rest of the pants. The headline is "Eldridge Cleaver Designs Pants 'For Men Only.'
August 28, 2025 at 12:57 AM
xlenc.bsky.social
This is peak website design.
The front page of the Communist (Maoist) party of Afghanistan (CMPA). Mostly red on white design, with a picture of Marx/Engels/Lenin/Stalin/Mao on the top right and the PRC flag on the top left.
August 27, 2025 at 7:40 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
I was looking online for an early essay by Mao, and was very surprised by who was hosting it online.
A screenshot of a letter-sized cover page for Mao's Analysis of the Classes in Chinese society. At the bottom it says "Republish [sic] by: Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan (CMPA) https://cmpa.af"
August 27, 2025 at 7:37 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
Screenshot from the movie TXH 1138. On the left, a bald man in white clothing. In the background, an illuminated picture of an old painting of Jesus, with a close up on his face. The subtitle says "Very good. Proceed."
August 22, 2025 at 10:58 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
Third Way just released a memo saying that we are not allowed to use the term "incarcerated people" if we want to defeat Trumpism, because this is somehow hostile to victims of crime. 🙄
Explaining Away Crime This says: “The criminal is the victim. The victim is an afterthought.” Justice-involved Carceration Incarcerated people Involuntary confinement People deserve to feel safe where they live, work, and go to school, and we can’t defend the progress we’ve made on criminal justice reform or hope to make more unless we acknowledge that reality in plain terms.
August 22, 2025 at 10:38 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
To be fair this is canon.
A page from the comic where a frog in central park becomes Thor. The frog is holding up a hammer, saying "'Tis done! Once more the power of the god of thunder is mine! and woe to Loki that it should be so!"
August 21, 2025 at 11:16 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
Julia Lovell's recent translation of Wu Cheng'en's "The Monkey King" is easily one of the funniest and most enjoyable books I have read in my entire life.
The cover of The Monkey King by Wu Cheng'en, with psychadelic colors and a monkey that is holding a peach and a staff.
August 21, 2025 at 9:19 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
Paging @nytpitchbot.bsky.social
NYT landscape photo of a middle aged whtie man in a suit and no tie holding his hands together, with noir lighting and a long shadow. The headline says "The Interview: This World-Renowned Negotiator Says Trump's Secret Weapon is Empathy."
August 17, 2025 at 12:03 AM
xlenc.bsky.social
The Mercator projection is good.
The normal rockwell painting "freedom of speech" with a white guy in a jacket and a booklet in his pocket standing up and speaking at a town hall meeting with other white people
August 16, 2025 at 9:25 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
Hey.
Screenshot of the beginning of an email that says "Hi, Xlander,"
August 15, 2025 at 2:52 AM
xlenc.bsky.social
No no no no no no no!
Screenshot from an email with UC Berkeley letterhead from the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost Key Takeaways The UC-licensed Google Gemini App will be available to all UC Berkeley students starting Aug. 15 in order to extend negotiated IP, security, and privacy protections to students. Gemini App is a mobile and web application that allows for generative chat using Google's AI.
August 14, 2025 at 10:48 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
The left is indoctrinating our children with Furby breathing exercises.
The back of a Furby box, with a child saying "Hey FURBY!" to a white and gold furby with a tiara. Various features of the toy are listed, one of which is simply "BREATHING exercises"
August 9, 2025 at 12:25 AM
xlenc.bsky.social
I was curious if Furbies are still being produced, and it turns out they look like this now. Woke America yassified Furby.
A white table covered in furbies of various sizes, with banded high-saturation colors, large Gizmo ears, and sparkly eyes with eyelashes. They look far less like frank oz puppets and far more like anime companions than the more familiar Furby design.
August 9, 2025 at 12:23 AM
xlenc.bsky.social
This is more or less what my dissertation is about.
A screenshot of a search result preview of Yelp. The page is titled "THE BEST 10 JAILS & PRISONS near WASCO, CA 93280." The first three on the list (Wasco state prison-reception area, Corcoran state prison, and south county detention center - Tulare) are visible below, along with a thumbnail of an aerial image of a prison surrounded by agricultural fields.
August 7, 2025 at 9:22 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
Learning a lot about the online gum enthusiast community.
screenshot of the title of a reddit post on r/gum. "So I had to quit gum because of my controlling ex-girlfriend. It's good to be back." Icons indicate that the post garnered sixty eight upvotes and nine comments.
August 4, 2025 at 9:22 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
The chief economist at Moody's is now openly anticipating a recession.
@Markzandi on twitter: The economy is on the precipice of recession. That’s the clear takeaway from last week’s economic data dump. Consumer spending has flatlined, construction and manufacturing are contracting, and employment is set to fall. And with inflation on the rise, it is tough for the Fed to come to the rescue.
August 4, 2025 at 8:02 PM
xlenc.bsky.social
A Venn diagram. The left circle is labeled "jobs where your boss can order your arrest," and the right says "jobs where your boss wants you arrested." The left circle contains "cop" and the right one contains "every other job" and "trial lawyer" is in both circles.
August 3, 2025 at 7:44 PM