Derek Nystrom
@dereknystrom.bsky.social
Indolence capable of energies. I teach and write about various things, mostly stuff on screens. McGill, English. He/him.
Anyone else have a song that you absolutely love even though you are unhappy with every existing recorded version of it? For me, it is Grant Hart's "2541." A transcendently beautiful song that suffers from echo-y production on the original single & a noisy, jittery performance on the album.
November 22, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Anyone else have a song that you absolutely love even though you are unhappy with every existing recorded version of it? For me, it is Grant Hart's "2541." A transcendently beautiful song that suffers from echo-y production on the original single & a noisy, jittery performance on the album.
Happy 1985: The Miracle Year to all who celebrate!
November 7, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Happy 1985: The Miracle Year to all who celebrate!
I appreciate the drama and everything, but come on man…
November 2, 2025 at 3:40 AM
I appreciate the drama and everything, but come on man…
Only 15 minutes in to the new season of The Diplomat and already being reminded that it seems designed to hit every pleasure center in my brain.
October 26, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Only 15 minutes in to the new season of The Diplomat and already being reminded that it seems designed to hit every pleasure center in my brain.
Despite (a) my general disinterest in baseball until late in the playoffs, and (b) my general disdain of Toronto (incubated by living in Montreal for over two decades), watching them come from behind with a 3-run dinger to punch their ticket to the World Series was pretty great.
October 21, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Despite (a) my general disinterest in baseball until late in the playoffs, and (b) my general disdain of Toronto (incubated by living in Montreal for over two decades), watching them come from behind with a 3-run dinger to punch their ticket to the World Series was pretty great.
Rewatching Annie Hall after maybe a decade since I last saw it, and I know this is a not original observation, but good god, I don't know if I've ever seen a more charismatic performance than Diane Keaton's in this film. Just off-the-charts brilliant.
October 18, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Rewatching Annie Hall after maybe a decade since I last saw it, and I know this is a not original observation, but good god, I don't know if I've ever seen a more charismatic performance than Diane Keaton's in this film. Just off-the-charts brilliant.
Bc I am an idiot I just paid money to download part of the Numero Group Hüsker Dü live package that I already pre-ordered on CD and I don’t care oh my god this shit absolutely rips.
October 14, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Bc I am an idiot I just paid money to download part of the Numero Group Hüsker Dü live package that I already pre-ordered on CD and I don’t care oh my god this shit absolutely rips.
I get 16 sports channels in both English and French, including NBA Canada, yet none of them are broadcasting Lynx v. Mercury. WTAF.
September 27, 2025 at 2:30 AM
I get 16 sports channels in both English and French, including NBA Canada, yet none of them are broadcasting Lynx v. Mercury. WTAF.
Agreed, and it also serves as a kind of commentary on Redford's own star-text as a guy who tries hard not to capitalize on how handsome and charismatic he is, even as his ambition ultimately leads him to leverage these same qualities.
people have already mentioned SNEAKERs, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR and of course ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN as great redford performances, let me recommend THE CANDIDATE, which is really one of the best movies ever made about american politics
September 16, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Agreed, and it also serves as a kind of commentary on Redford's own star-text as a guy who tries hard not to capitalize on how handsome and charismatic he is, even as his ambition ultimately leads him to leverage these same qualities.
When a student complains “what you say is contrary to what the president says” and that ends with the instructor getting fired, fascism has fully arrived. And we all need to act accordingly to fight it.
September 10, 2025 at 4:02 PM
When a student complains “what you say is contrary to what the president says” and that ends with the instructor getting fired, fascism has fully arrived. And we all need to act accordingly to fight it.
Reposted by Derek Nystrom
The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.
September 4, 2025 at 7:44 PM
The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.
GardaWorld is also a security firm employed by McGill.
A Canadian company, GardaWorld, is staffing Trump's "Alligator Alcatraz" -- and Carney's government awarded it MILLIONS in contracts.
They also told me they won't rule out working with the company in the future.
Here's what I dug up in my first-ever column for @thetyee.ca:
They also told me they won't rule out working with the company in the future.
Here's what I dug up in my first-ever column for @thetyee.ca:
August 11, 2025 at 8:24 PM
GardaWorld is also a security firm employed by McGill.
Not an artist, but … The Philadelphia Story. Its class and gender politics are horrific, yet there are very few films that I find more intensely enjoyable.
Here’s a question: who is the artist with politics you disagree strongly with, whose politics *do* (in your view) influence their art, that you still think is talented and whose work you enjoy?
August 9, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Not an artist, but … The Philadelphia Story. Its class and gender politics are horrific, yet there are very few films that I find more intensely enjoyable.
perfect album that came out when you were 16
July 28, 2025 at 4:06 AM
perfect album that came out when you were 16
Reposted by Derek Nystrom
As promised, in light of the WaPo report of Everglades camp detainees being swarmed by mosquitoes in the shower and unable to sleep at night due to being bitten, I want to briefly address concentration camp history and mosquitoes. I won't be comprehensive but will give a few examples. [1/17]
July 17, 2025 at 9:42 PM
As promised, in light of the WaPo report of Everglades camp detainees being swarmed by mosquitoes in the shower and unable to sleep at night due to being bitten, I want to briefly address concentration camp history and mosquitoes. I won't be comprehensive but will give a few examples. [1/17]
It started to rain really hard, so I ducked into a cafe to wait it out, but now they are playing 4 Non-Blondes' "What's Going On" and someone is singing along with it, so I guess I'll get soaked.
July 7, 2025 at 5:43 PM
It started to rain really hard, so I ducked into a cafe to wait it out, but now they are playing 4 Non-Blondes' "What's Going On" and someone is singing along with it, so I guess I'll get soaked.
A fifth faculty at McGill has submitted their union cards for certification!
Welcome to the newest McGill academic union, the Association of McGill Library Academic Staff (AMLAS)!
Welcome to the newest McGill academic union, the Association of McGill Library Academic Staff (AMLAS)!
July 7, 2025 at 3:05 PM
A fifth faculty at McGill has submitted their union cards for certification!
Welcome to the newest McGill academic union, the Association of McGill Library Academic Staff (AMLAS)!
Welcome to the newest McGill academic union, the Association of McGill Library Academic Staff (AMLAS)!
Reposted by Derek Nystrom
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
July 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This delightfully written piece is hilarious and true.
fine. fine! defector.com/fine-to-hell...
Fine, To Hell With It: A T.J. McConnell Appreciation Blog | Defector
Indiana Pacers backup guard T.J. McConnell exemplifies a type of basketball player I generally regard with disgust: the Skittering Little Rat Guy. This is the frenzied little gremlin always very visib...
defector.com
June 27, 2025 at 3:55 PM
This delightfully written piece is hilarious and true.
Does the "show less like this" button do anything on this site? I keep clicking it for a few things (not objectionable stuff, just shit I don't care about/find annoying) and yet the same proportion of the boring/annoying shit is showing up.
June 26, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Does the "show less like this" button do anything on this site? I keep clicking it for a few things (not objectionable stuff, just shit I don't care about/find annoying) and yet the same proportion of the boring/annoying shit is showing up.
Reposted by Derek Nystrom
We feed you.
They hunt us.
They hunt us.
June 11, 2025 at 5:05 AM
We feed you.
They hunt us.
They hunt us.
Why do so many of the NBA playoff games have such horrifically bad sound on the broadcast?
May 25, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Why do so many of the NBA playoff games have such horrifically bad sound on the broadcast?
Just watched Bob Mould's commencement speech at Macalester and, as the kids used to say, it gave me all of the feels.
May 18, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Just watched Bob Mould's commencement speech at Macalester and, as the kids used to say, it gave me all of the feels.
Just got back from seeing Pavements, and it is weird to encounter a movie that feels like it was made *precisely* for me.
May 16, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Just got back from seeing Pavements, and it is weird to encounter a movie that feels like it was made *precisely* for me.