Alex Trimble Young
@alextyoung.bsky.social
UCWAZ Member, Teaching Prof at Barrett Honors, and Associate Director of the BRIDGS Initiative for Gun Studies; co-host of Guns Unpacked. Thinking about US literature, settler colonialism, gun culture, radical politics, and the US West. Views are my own.
Pinned
Season II of Guns Unpacked is live! Check out our first episode with Gerald Higginbotham on gun rights, race, and the psychology of gun ownership:
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
apropos of nothing, here’s a photo of a young chuck schumer attending trump lawyer & confidante (& joe mccarthy associate) roy cohn’s birthday party at studio 54, in 1979
November 9, 2025 at 10:43 PM
apropos of nothing, here’s a photo of a young chuck schumer attending trump lawyer & confidante (& joe mccarthy associate) roy cohn’s birthday party at studio 54, in 1979
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
gotta give it to the post's cover game, like obviously it's anti but they also know half of brooklyn is getting this framed
November 5, 2025 at 3:13 AM
gotta give it to the post's cover game, like obviously it's anti but they also know half of brooklyn is getting this framed
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
Gentlemen: thank you for your service.
I support everyone giving vast sums of money to Andrew Cuomo. It’s the “lighting a million quid on fire” art piece but this time performed by the worst people in the world.
November 5, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Gentlemen: thank you for your service.
My interview with Zusha Elinson and Cameron McWhirter on the history and politics of the AR-15 is out now! This was one of my favorite conversations. Link below, or listen via your favorite streaming service.
November 3, 2025 at 3:19 PM
My interview with Zusha Elinson and Cameron McWhirter on the history and politics of the AR-15 is out now! This was one of my favorite conversations. Link below, or listen via your favorite streaming service.
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
Really wish opinion editors would reject the premise “democrats should be republicans to win elections because i myself want to vote for democrats but i myself am a republican” which is the same thing over and over from the manhattan institute.
It is time to admit that Republicans won the 2024 election by running to the center.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/o...
November 1, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Really wish opinion editors would reject the premise “democrats should be republicans to win elections because i myself want to vote for democrats but i myself am a republican” which is the same thing over and over from the manhattan institute.
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
Breaking character: This is a good thread. One my fixations is that Dems blow money on ads rather than building political infrastructure. My theory is they do this because the data tells them too just like the data told Robert McNamara to destroy Ford by cutting R&D to the bone.
Republicans have studied all of the Democratic ecosystem's ideas and strategies. They've directly copied every major left institution and then honed their own ideas in key ways:
1) Republicans use their money efficiently. They build institutions rather than rent them.
1) Republicans use their money efficiently. They build institutions rather than rent them.
What Republicans Know (Full Book) | Flux Community
Get more from Flux Community on Patreon
www.patreon.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Breaking character: This is a good thread. One my fixations is that Dems blow money on ads rather than building political infrastructure. My theory is they do this because the data tells them too just like the data told Robert McNamara to destroy Ford by cutting R&D to the bone.
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
"Developing our linguistic capacities — to master diverse concepts, to follow an intricate argument, to form judgments, to communicate those to others — is the development of our capacity to think. Cognitive degradation threatens democratic processes."
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
Opinion | Why Even Basic A.I. Use Is So Bad for Students
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 11:49 AM
"Developing our linguistic capacities — to master diverse concepts, to follow an intricate argument, to form judgments, to communicate those to others — is the development of our capacity to think. Cognitive degradation threatens democratic processes."
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
Alpha School will crash & burn (is already?) but Price & her partners will launch another pseudo-science ‘puter school with loads of venture money, because the goal is not to produce a functional educational enterprise, but to extract resources from & erode trust in not-for-profit schools.
MacKenzie Price is recycling a star text beloved in EdTech. A photogenic founder’s desire to disrupt education allegedly begins with frustration her very special babies are sad ☹️ at school, NOT the many failed EdTech startups she already worked for across 3 decades. It’s lean-in copter-mom bullshit.
October 30, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Alpha School will crash & burn (is already?) but Price & her partners will launch another pseudo-science ‘puter school with loads of venture money, because the goal is not to produce a functional educational enterprise, but to extract resources from & erode trust in not-for-profit schools.
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
Just when you think Hurricane Melissa is done intensifying, it says, “Are you sure?” Drop in central pressure measured by both NOAA and AF between center fixes suggests Melissa may incredibly be intensifying further.
October 28, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Just when you think Hurricane Melissa is done intensifying, it says, “Are you sure?” Drop in central pressure measured by both NOAA and AF between center fixes suggests Melissa may incredibly be intensifying further.
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
“They’ve got money for ICE and golden ballrooms but not for hungry families” is so easy it’s almost funny
Johnson: Snap benefits is a unique situation. I got a summary of the legal analysis…the contingency funds are not legally available to cover the benefits right now
October 27, 2025 at 4:41 PM
“They’ve got money for ICE and golden ballrooms but not for hungry families” is so easy it’s almost funny
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
Here's a gift link to the New York Times' coverage of the initial Tea Party rallies in April 2009 which inspired the media to treat it like a massive movement.
Check out how tiny the crowds were:
Philly: 200
DC: "several hundred"
Boston: 500
Austin: 1,000
Houston: 2,000
Check out how tiny the crowds were:
Philly: 200
DC: "several hundred"
Boston: 500
Austin: 1,000
Houston: 2,000
Tax Day Is Met With Tea Parties (Published 2009)
www.nytimes.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Here's a gift link to the New York Times' coverage of the initial Tea Party rallies in April 2009 which inspired the media to treat it like a massive movement.
Check out how tiny the crowds were:
Philly: 200
DC: "several hundred"
Boston: 500
Austin: 1,000
Houston: 2,000
Check out how tiny the crowds were:
Philly: 200
DC: "several hundred"
Boston: 500
Austin: 1,000
Houston: 2,000
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
Two excellent journalists talking about why all of us need to show up for No Kings:
If Republicans are going to label you a terrorist for peacefully protesting Trump's failing presidency, abuses of power, and treatment of blue America as an enemy nation, let's turn out in even bigger numbers.
On the pod, @jilldlawrence.bsky.social and me on this:
newrepublic.com/article/2016...
On the pod, @jilldlawrence.bsky.social and me on this:
newrepublic.com/article/2016...
MAGA Rage at “No Kings” Boils Over—and It Quickly Backfires on Trump
As Trump allies smear the coming protests, a good writer on MAGA skewers the absurdity of these attacks on large swaths of Americans—and explains why our best recourse will be to turn out in force.
newrepublic.com
October 14, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Two excellent journalists talking about why all of us need to show up for No Kings:
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
I can’t help but think today about how many young people were savaged on social media, branded as anti-semites and abandoned by their schools for daring to call for a ceasefire. I remember saying that it was the first time I can remember that calling for ceasefire was regarded as a hostile demand.
October 14, 2025 at 12:59 AM
I can’t help but think today about how many young people were savaged on social media, branded as anti-semites and abandoned by their schools for daring to call for a ceasefire. I remember saying that it was the first time I can remember that calling for ceasefire was regarded as a hostile demand.
Breaking the pipes out of the case for the first time in way too long to get ready for #nokings this Saturday. If you’re in Phoenix, be down at the Capitol at 11! If not, hope you’re organizing and making noise wherever you are!
October 14, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Breaking the pipes out of the case for the first time in way too long to get ready for #nokings this Saturday. If you’re in Phoenix, be down at the Capitol at 11! If not, hope you’re organizing and making noise wherever you are!
Hey American studies folks - whether or not you consider yourself a “gun scholar,” if your work engages gun culture or gun violence, consider applying! Abstract deadline coming up Wednesday.
October 13, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Hey American studies folks - whether or not you consider yourself a “gun scholar,” if your work engages gun culture or gun violence, consider applying! Abstract deadline coming up Wednesday.
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
attempting to describe the vibes of the moment. have yet to do better than: "imagine watching a documentary reenacting the burning of the Library of Alexandria set to the soundtrack of 'Yakety Sax'"
February 6, 2025 at 3:59 AM
attempting to describe the vibes of the moment. have yet to do better than: "imagine watching a documentary reenacting the burning of the Library of Alexandria set to the soundtrack of 'Yakety Sax'"
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
My boss: so how's our fourth quarter looking?
Me, the sales manager at the company that makes inflatable frog suits: well, you're never going to believe this, but
Me, the sales manager at the company that makes inflatable frog suits: well, you're never going to believe this, but
October 10, 2025 at 7:36 PM
My boss: so how's our fourth quarter looking?
Me, the sales manager at the company that makes inflatable frog suits: well, you're never going to believe this, but
Me, the sales manager at the company that makes inflatable frog suits: well, you're never going to believe this, but
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
And who is the author of this op-ed? The billionaire CEO of an asset management firm who helped author the compact.
October 10, 2025 at 10:24 AM
And who is the author of this op-ed? The billionaire CEO of an asset management firm who helped author the compact.
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
The correct response to Republicans widely depicting the coming protests as terrorism is to go out and protest. Each person should get 10 more people to do so. If Republicans are going to hint at violent state responses to legitimate protest, the only answer is bigger numbers.
By contrast, JB Pritzker told me that people should flood the No Kings protests precisely in order to let the American people know that something is deeply amiss.
More Dems should be doing this, to send the message widely that we are in real trouble right now.
newrepublic.com/article/2016...
More Dems should be doing this, to send the message widely that we are in real trouble right now.
newrepublic.com/article/2016...
October 10, 2025 at 3:12 PM
The correct response to Republicans widely depicting the coming protests as terrorism is to go out and protest. Each person should get 10 more people to do so. If Republicans are going to hint at violent state responses to legitimate protest, the only answer is bigger numbers.
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
important for us in the US to note: even a solidly right wing government can't ignore this.
Over 2 million people across Italy have rallied in more than 100 cities for a one-day general strike.
2 million rally in Italy for Gaza as general strike halts key services
Over 2 million people across Italy have rallied in more than 100 cities for a one-day general strike.
bit.ly
October 4, 2025 at 1:07 PM
important for us in the US to note: even a solidly right wing government can't ignore this.
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
the usual story. rich guy wants to punish universities for not clamping down on pro-palestinian protests and for doing too much to recruit minorities. at base these guys want the top tier of american universities to become, once more, safe-spaces for their dunderheaded failsons
The Billionaire Behind Trump’s Deal for Universities
www.nytimes.com
October 4, 2025 at 12:35 PM
the usual story. rich guy wants to punish universities for not clamping down on pro-palestinian protests and for doing too much to recruit minorities. at base these guys want the top tier of american universities to become, once more, safe-spaces for their dunderheaded failsons
Reposted by Alex Trimble Young
Holy, dread leviathan, we are not worthy spectators of your lunching
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 25, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Holy, dread leviathan, we are not worthy spectators of your lunching
Some thoughts on three fascinating new books and various questions about representation in American studies, framed by a reading of my favorite Mark Twain short story: academic.oup.com/alh/article-...
Turbulent Waters, or the Sublime Object of Subalternity
Abstract. Mark Twain’s “Day at Niagara” (1869) concludes with a notorious moment of misrecognition, in which Twain’s buffoonish narrator mistakes a group o
academic.oup.com
September 24, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Some thoughts on three fascinating new books and various questions about representation in American studies, framed by a reading of my favorite Mark Twain short story: academic.oup.com/alh/article-...