Angus Johnston
@angus.bsky.social
CUNY prof. Historian of, and advocate for, student organizing. @studentactivism from Twitter.
Pinned
"This fucking sucks" and "all is lost" are two different sentences.
Don't say the second when you mean the first.
Don't say the second when you mean the first.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
Celebrating Ann Reinking on her birthday with this astonishing Jack Mitchell photo. Annie was elegant, intelligent, hilarious, bawdy, ferocious, silly, empathetic, and deep as the ocean. 💔💜
November 10, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Celebrating Ann Reinking on her birthday with this astonishing Jack Mitchell photo. Annie was elegant, intelligent, hilarious, bawdy, ferocious, silly, empathetic, and deep as the ocean. 💔💜
Reposted by Angus Johnston
An anonymous donor just offered to match up to $1,000 to my fundraiser in support of health benefits for @scarleteen.com's staff and an as-needed health fund for volunteers, which means your $1 is worth $2! Anyone want to join in with ANOTHER match to turn that into $3?
Scarleteen Staff and Volunteer Healthcare Fund
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www.classy.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:52 PM
An anonymous donor just offered to match up to $1,000 to my fundraiser in support of health benefits for @scarleteen.com's staff and an as-needed health fund for volunteers, which means your $1 is worth $2! Anyone want to join in with ANOTHER match to turn that into $3?
It's amazing that neither Schumer nor any of the eight turncoats can summon this rhetorical energy.
Do I trust them? No. That’s why I voted no. But they are in a terrible position, and we can use the next few weeks to turn the pressure up even further.
November 10, 2025 at 9:06 PM
It's amazing that neither Schumer nor any of the eight turncoats can summon this rhetorical energy.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
Here is a fun fact: the "cooling saucer of democracy" quote is almost certainly as apocryphal as the cherry tree story, being first attested to in the 1880s.
Makes you wonder who it was that had cause to praise congressional gridlock and stagnation in the late 19th century exactly
Makes you wonder who it was that had cause to praise congressional gridlock and stagnation in the late 19th century exactly
November 10, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Here is a fun fact: the "cooling saucer of democracy" quote is almost certainly as apocryphal as the cherry tree story, being first attested to in the 1880s.
Makes you wonder who it was that had cause to praise congressional gridlock and stagnation in the late 19th century exactly
Makes you wonder who it was that had cause to praise congressional gridlock and stagnation in the late 19th century exactly
And then he shoves all his chips into the pot.
Dealer: alright everyone ante up
Chuck Schumer: I fold
Dealer: … we haven’t even dealt the hand yet
Chuck Schumer: I 👏 fold 👏
Chuck Schumer: I fold
Dealer: … we haven’t even dealt the hand yet
Chuck Schumer: I 👏 fold 👏
November 10, 2025 at 8:12 PM
And then he shoves all his chips into the pot.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
here's a fun playlist I've compiled. enjoy
COVERS of english language songs in not-english - YouTube
youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:41 PM
here's a fun playlist I've compiled. enjoy
We do not discuss it with outsiders.
November 10, 2025 at 7:34 PM
We do not discuss it with outsiders.
I have been on social media since the early 1990s, and I believe that this is the first time it has ever been suggested that I use the word "fuck" insufficiently.
Needs a variation on "fuck" in there somewhere
November 10, 2025 at 6:43 PM
I have been on social media since the early 1990s, and I believe that this is the first time it has ever been suggested that I use the word "fuck" insufficiently.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
i've been trying to avoid arguing with will for the in that i've been trying to avoid arguing generally - but i'll note the man aggressively quote tweets people replying to him and if he believes the dynamic of using followers to discourage criticism is toxic he should stop doing it so much
November 10, 2025 at 6:09 PM
i've been trying to avoid arguing with will for the in that i've been trying to avoid arguing generally - but i'll note the man aggressively quote tweets people replying to him and if he believes the dynamic of using followers to discourage criticism is toxic he should stop doing it so much
Josh phrases this a bit more gently than I would, but I think the core of this is right. We're fighting to change the Democratic Party, and we've still got a long way to go. But the fight is ongoing, and the party's center has already shifted dramatically in our direction.
A Quick Take on Team Cave’s Big Win
I have what I suspect is a somewhat counterintuitive take on the...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Josh phrases this a bit more gently than I would, but I think the core of this is right. We're fighting to change the Democratic Party, and we've still got a long way to go. But the fight is ongoing, and the party's center has already shifted dramatically in our direction.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
I think a lot of the anger this morning stems from a feeling that we did our part, but they did not do theirs. This is an oversimplification, but my dudes, no wonder people are like, “OK, let’s try the democratic socialist, then.”
November 10, 2025 at 12:07 PM
I think a lot of the anger this morning stems from a feeling that we did our part, but they did not do theirs. This is an oversimplification, but my dudes, no wonder people are like, “OK, let’s try the democratic socialist, then.”
The left-right axis in the Democratic Party is, as I keep saying, no longer the core point of rupture. It's fight and don't fight, and Team Fight has all the momentum and energy.
November 10, 2025 at 2:54 PM
The left-right axis in the Democratic Party is, as I keep saying, no longer the core point of rupture. It's fight and don't fight, and Team Fight has all the momentum and energy.
I was thrilled to learn as a small child visiting family in the north of England that there's a knock-knock joke there that uses my name. And better still, it's one that only makes sense with a thick Mancunian accent and appropriate dialect.
other anguses of note you are not: young
November 10, 2025 at 2:50 PM
I was thrilled to learn as a small child visiting family in the north of England that there's a knock-knock joke there that uses my name. And better still, it's one that only makes sense with a thick Mancunian accent and appropriate dialect.
A reminder, since someone just @'ed me in error:
If your Angus be King, he's a quis and a ling.
If your Angus be Johnston, he's not the senator from Maine, so you shouldn't yell at him about his decision to cave on the shutdown vote.
If your Angus be King, he's a quis and a ling.
If your Angus be Johnston, he's not the senator from Maine, so you shouldn't yell at him about his decision to cave on the shutdown vote.
November 10, 2025 at 2:41 PM
A reminder, since someone just @'ed me in error:
If your Angus be King, he's a quis and a ling.
If your Angus be Johnston, he's not the senator from Maine, so you shouldn't yell at him about his decision to cave on the shutdown vote.
If your Angus be King, he's a quis and a ling.
If your Angus be Johnston, he's not the senator from Maine, so you shouldn't yell at him about his decision to cave on the shutdown vote.
"I do actually think she's kind of pretty in a way, but I can just tell she's absolutely miserable to live with."
November 9, 2025 at 7:01 PM
"I do actually think she's kind of pretty in a way, but I can just tell she's absolutely miserable to live with."
Reposted by Angus Johnston
I can't be arsed to figure out how to change fonts size.
November 9, 2025 at 3:51 PM
I can't be arsed to figure out how to change fonts size.
Exactly! It's the silliest thing, but also incredibly well-executed and occasionally profoundly moving.
It is *so* crisp while being a hot mess.
November 9, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Exactly! It's the silliest thing, but also incredibly well-executed and occasionally profoundly moving.
SEE? I KEEP LEARNING!
Kubrick & George did sue the production company (and authors) of FAIL SAFE. It was part of the eventual settlement that Columbia, Kubrick’s studio, wound up with FAIL SAFE. Which is also why FAIL SAFE was released a year after STRANGELOVE, despite having gone into production earlier.
November 9, 2025 at 4:29 AM
SEE? I KEEP LEARNING!
Reposted by Angus Johnston
FURY ROAD and Immortal Joe being made before Trump got into politics or became President
November 9, 2025 at 4:21 AM
FURY ROAD and Immortal Joe being made before Trump got into politics or became President
I have told the story before about the interview a very young Dulé Hill gave in which he was going on and on about this incredible singer he'd just found out about, who turned out to be Marvin Gaye.
That story and this comic are forever intertwined in my brain.
That story and this comic are forever intertwined in my brain.
November 9, 2025 at 4:20 AM
I have told the story before about the interview a very young Dulé Hill gave in which he was going on and on about this incredible singer he'd just found out about, who turned out to be Marvin Gaye.
That story and this comic are forever intertwined in my brain.
That story and this comic are forever intertwined in my brain.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
The one that blows my mind is that Excalibur was released several years after Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
November 9, 2025 at 4:16 AM
The one that blows my mind is that Excalibur was released several years after Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
These are the moments I live for.
wait, what??
November 9, 2025 at 4:16 AM
These are the moments I live for.
When I was young, I was sure that Strangelove was a parody of Fail Safe. And then I stumbled across the fact that Strangelove was released nearly a year earlier.
Fail Safe vs Strangelove is one of those Manhunter vs Silence of the Lambs situations
November 9, 2025 at 4:13 AM
When I was young, I was sure that Strangelove was a parody of Fail Safe. And then I stumbled across the fact that Strangelove was released nearly a year earlier.
Reposted by Angus Johnston
The Rose Reading room at the NYPL, for instance, is a place where literally anyone can have access to world class research materials— a universe of ideas— and, if they use them right, and stay at it, they can become a genius
November 8, 2025 at 11:44 PM
The Rose Reading room at the NYPL, for instance, is a place where literally anyone can have access to world class research materials— a universe of ideas— and, if they use them right, and stay at it, they can become a genius
Reposted by Angus Johnston
Yes! The thing abt public libraries that is so beautiful & crucial is the idea that *anybody* could do this — you need no credential, there’s no gatekeeping, literally any person can be an intellectual. You can come from absolutely nothing & yet, by means of curiosity + work, create real knowledge
I wrote a significant chunk of my first book at a Chicago Public Library, an amazing public space where people could read books and newspapers, access the internet, or just keep warm for a while on a cold day. This is appalling.
CPL is an absolute palace to the people and these proposed cuts are abominable. Artificial austerity. Chicago folks, read this, check the links to bug the mayor and your alders—this can be fought and won.
November 8, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Yes! The thing abt public libraries that is so beautiful & crucial is the idea that *anybody* could do this — you need no credential, there’s no gatekeeping, literally any person can be an intellectual. You can come from absolutely nothing & yet, by means of curiosity + work, create real knowledge