Manuel Betancourt
@bmanuel.bsky.social
Assistant Editor, Documentary magazine
Writer/critic for hire 📍LA
📚 Hello Stranger (OUT NOW!)
📚 The Male Gazed (2023)
📚 Judy at Carnegie Hall (2020)
🏰 Writer on The Cardboard Kingdom series (2018, 2021, 2023)
www.mbetancourt.com
Writer/critic for hire 📍LA
📚 Hello Stranger (OUT NOW!)
📚 The Male Gazed (2023)
📚 Judy at Carnegie Hall (2020)
🏰 Writer on The Cardboard Kingdom series (2018, 2021, 2023)
www.mbetancourt.com
Pinned
Manuel Betancourt
@bmanuel.bsky.social
· Jan 14
My new book HELLO STRANGER: MUSINGS ON MODERN INTIMACIES is out today!
You can get your copy wherever books (and e-books & audiobooks) are sold!
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/757080...
You can get your copy wherever books (and e-books & audiobooks) are sold!
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/757080...
A highlight of my visit to Bend, OR for their fab film festival was time traveling to the early 2000s inside the very last Blockbuster.
October 13, 2025 at 12:16 AM
A highlight of my visit to Bend, OR for their fab film festival was time traveling to the early 2000s inside the very last Blockbuster.
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
“we heard tale of expanding the tent”
October 3, 2025 at 12:32 AM
“we heard tale of expanding the tent”
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
I just found this book in my library and it's everything I needed for thinking about the stirring of possibility that comes from opening into connection and frisson and being seen and known by others, and vice versa.
October 1, 2025 at 6:34 PM
I just found this book in my library and it's everything I needed for thinking about the stirring of possibility that comes from opening into connection and frisson and being seen and known by others, and vice versa.
Category is:
Posing with my book, HELLO STRANGER which came out six months ago today!
Get it wherever books are sold (namely, your favorite indie bookstore!); and yes, you can even get it on audiobook (read by yours truly).
Posing with my book, HELLO STRANGER which came out six months ago today!
Get it wherever books are sold (namely, your favorite indie bookstore!); and yes, you can even get it on audiobook (read by yours truly).
July 14, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Category is:
Posing with my book, HELLO STRANGER which came out six months ago today!
Get it wherever books are sold (namely, your favorite indie bookstore!); and yes, you can even get it on audiobook (read by yours truly).
Posing with my book, HELLO STRANGER which came out six months ago today!
Get it wherever books are sold (namely, your favorite indie bookstore!); and yes, you can even get it on audiobook (read by yours truly).
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
Reading the interviews of Gabriel García Márquez and this passage stands out to me, from the 1970s but relevant in this time, that in this era the fight must be for collective happiness, which as he astutely describes, is the only kind of just happiness
December 13, 2024 at 6:59 PM
Reading the interviews of Gabriel García Márquez and this passage stands out to me, from the 1970s but relevant in this time, that in this era the fight must be for collective happiness, which as he astutely describes, is the only kind of just happiness
Angels in America remains my go-to work whenever I feel despondent and sink into despair.
July 3, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Angels in America remains my go-to work whenever I feel despondent and sink into despair.
What a fucking nightmare
July 3, 2025 at 7:34 PM
What a fucking nightmare
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
“you come up with a mean nickname to call this guy on TV?”
“sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked”
“sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked”
I'm not sure this nickname will have the impact they think it will
June 27, 2025 at 12:54 AM
“you come up with a mean nickname to call this guy on TV?”
“sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked”
“sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked”
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
here’s a pretty good rebuttal of the new Andrew Sullivan piece from Tony Kushner.
Oh look it was written over 30 years ago.
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
Oh look it was written over 30 years ago.
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
June 26, 2025 at 9:18 PM
here’s a pretty good rebuttal of the new Andrew Sullivan piece from Tony Kushner.
Oh look it was written over 30 years ago.
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
Oh look it was written over 30 years ago.
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
Love Astoria, my former home.
June 25, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Love Astoria, my former home.
So many faves I left off.
June 23, 2025 at 11:42 PM
So many faves I left off.
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
I was deported by the U.S. for reporting on the Columbia University student protests.
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
How My Reporting on the Columbia Protests Led to My Deportation
As an Australian who wrote about the demonstrations while on campus, I gave my phone a superficial clean before flying to the U.S. I underestimated what I was up against.
www.newyorker.com
June 19, 2025 at 10:43 AM
I was deported by the U.S. for reporting on the Columbia University student protests.
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
“Look, we both know why you are here,” the agent told me... “It’s because of what you wrote online about the protests at Columbia University,” he said.
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
How My Reporting on the Columbia Protests Led to My Deportation
As an Australian who wrote about the demonstrations while on campus, I gave my phone a superficial clean before flying to the U.S. I underestimated what I was up against.
www.newyorker.com
June 19, 2025 at 1:49 PM
“Look, we both know why you are here,” the agent told me... “It’s because of what you wrote online about the protests at Columbia University,” he said.
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
CLARIFICATION :
The Trevor Project's hotline will still be live. But basically this means LGBTQ people can no longer be connected to it through the US national 988 suicide prevention hotline.
They will need to be contacted DIRECTLY
So spread this around
They can be texted. They can be called.
The Trevor Project's hotline will still be live. But basically this means LGBTQ people can no longer be connected to it through the US national 988 suicide prevention hotline.
They will need to be contacted DIRECTLY
So spread this around
They can be texted. They can be called.
June 18, 2025 at 4:26 PM
CLARIFICATION :
The Trevor Project's hotline will still be live. But basically this means LGBTQ people can no longer be connected to it through the US national 988 suicide prevention hotline.
They will need to be contacted DIRECTLY
So spread this around
They can be texted. They can be called.
The Trevor Project's hotline will still be live. But basically this means LGBTQ people can no longer be connected to it through the US national 988 suicide prevention hotline.
They will need to be contacted DIRECTLY
So spread this around
They can be texted. They can be called.
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
very much enjoyed @bmanuel.bsky.social’s Judy at Carnegie Hall—a perfect Pride month read.
June 17, 2025 at 2:16 PM
very much enjoyed @bmanuel.bsky.social’s Judy at Carnegie Hall—a perfect Pride month read.
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
posting about the crushing state of things and then promoting book stuff (h/t to @maris.bsky.social for this)
June 13, 2025 at 3:19 PM
posting about the crushing state of things and then promoting book stuff (h/t to @maris.bsky.social for this)
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
Also highly recommended: @bmanuel.bsky.social Manuel Betancourt’s book about the Carnegie Hall concert.
Judy Garland's Judy at Carnegie Hall
On the night of Sunday, April 23, 1961 Judy Garland made history. That's no hyperbole. Surrounded by a throng of ecstatic fans (3,165 to be exact), the legendar…
www.bloomsbury.com
June 10, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Also highly recommended: @bmanuel.bsky.social Manuel Betancourt’s book about the Carnegie Hall concert.
Happy Pride! 🏳️🌈
If you’re going to buy gay books this summer, may I recommend two that make for excellent poolside/beach reads?
If you’re going to buy gay books this summer, may I recommend two that make for excellent poolside/beach reads?
June 1, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Happy Pride! 🏳️🌈
If you’re going to buy gay books this summer, may I recommend two that make for excellent poolside/beach reads?
If you’re going to buy gay books this summer, may I recommend two that make for excellent poolside/beach reads?
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
Reading @bmanuel.bsky.social's "Hello Stranger" has added about two dozen books, essays, and films to my "for later" pile, including "Cruising", which, fucking woof. 🥵
May 21, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Reading @bmanuel.bsky.social's "Hello Stranger" has added about two dozen books, essays, and films to my "for later" pile, including "Cruising", which, fucking woof. 🥵
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
This is a story I wanted to write but knew that @bmanuel.bsky.social would be better for it.
Contributor: 'Andor' is very Latino-coded. Here's how.
Contributor: 'Andor' is very Latino-coded. Here's how.
Considering 'Andor' was created not just to explore Cassian Andor’s backstory but to flesh out the revolutionary spirit Diego Luna had brought to the character, what better place to mine for inspiration than the history of resistance and revolution throughout the American continent?
www.latimes.com
May 17, 2025 at 1:15 AM
This is a story I wanted to write but knew that @bmanuel.bsky.social would be better for it.
Reposted by Manuel Betancourt
If you're a millennial who went to college in the early 2000s, OVERCOMPENSATING will feel familiar and hit you with waves of nostalgia and cringe, in the best way possible. @bmanuel.bsky.social spoke to Benito Skinner and Wally Baram about their starring roles. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
To tell a story about self-acceptance, Benito Skinner created a BFF on a similar journey
Wally Baram was cast to co-star as Carmen, a character she says felt very familiar, in Prime Video's new college-set comedy "Overcompensating," created by Benito Skinner.
www.latimes.com
May 15, 2025 at 4:11 PM
If you're a millennial who went to college in the early 2000s, OVERCOMPENSATING will feel familiar and hit you with waves of nostalgia and cringe, in the best way possible. @bmanuel.bsky.social spoke to Benito Skinner and Wally Baram about their starring roles. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: ALL STARS opting for a tournament-style competition is an incredibly brilliant way of making those bouncy early episodes feel weighted with the stress and anxiety of final episodes, all while giving the show a way to reboot itself four times. Low-key brilliant?
May 10, 2025 at 3:35 AM
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: ALL STARS opting for a tournament-style competition is an incredibly brilliant way of making those bouncy early episodes feel weighted with the stress and anxiety of final episodes, all while giving the show a way to reboot itself four times. Low-key brilliant?
"There are certain ideas that you're just like, 'Oh, I don't want to plant this seed because what if it's an ugly flower?'" — Cole Escola speaking for/to all of us writers. youtu.be/bPvRvh3PsBI?...
Extended interview: "Oh, Mary!" Tony nominee Cole Escola
YouTube video by CBS Sunday Morning
youtu.be
May 5, 2025 at 5:42 PM
"There are certain ideas that you're just like, 'Oh, I don't want to plant this seed because what if it's an ugly flower?'" — Cole Escola speaking for/to all of us writers. youtu.be/bPvRvh3PsBI?...
May the 4th content.
May 4, 2025 at 7:29 PM
May the 4th content.