Dhananjay Jagannathan
@dhananjayj.bsky.social
academic, essayist
Substack (on culture and identity): https://culturedopinion.substack.com/
Writing portfolio: https://dhananjayj.com/
Books: ARISTOTLE'S PRACTICAL EPISTEMOLOGY (OUP 2024); CULTURE AS CONVERSATION (PENGUIN forthcoming 2026)
Substack (on culture and identity): https://culturedopinion.substack.com/
Writing portfolio: https://dhananjayj.com/
Books: ARISTOTLE'S PRACTICAL EPISTEMOLOGY (OUP 2024); CULTURE AS CONVERSATION (PENGUIN forthcoming 2026)
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Cultured Opinion | Dhananjay Jagannathan | Substack
Philosophical and personal essays about culture, politics, music, food, travel, &c. Click to read Cultured Opinion, by Dhananjay Jagannathan, a Substack publication. Launched 3 hours ago.
culturedopinion.substack.com
Hey y'all, I've launched a newsletter focused on culture and identity. I'll be writing about food, travel, music, religion, politics, and other topics, as I work toward my first trade book CULTURE AS CONVERSATION, to be published by Penguin Press in 2026. Subscribe here: culturedopinion.substack.com
ceterum censeo GLACIEM esse delendam
January 18, 2026 at 1:56 AM
ceterum censeo GLACIEM esse delendam
Reposted by Dhananjay Jagannathan
damn what is wrong with me, i am having the hardest time concentrating on work, i lament as i compulsively refresh live feeds of unspeakable horrors
January 17, 2026 at 7:52 PM
damn what is wrong with me, i am having the hardest time concentrating on work, i lament as i compulsively refresh live feeds of unspeakable horrors
Learning linguistics definitely has this effect. For instance, the English words nigh, near, and next used to form a complete adjectival set: positive, comparative, superlative — but are now used independently.
y'all ever look at a specific word too much and it starts seeming fake?
who came up with 'high'. that's a fake word
who came up with 'high'. that's a fake word
January 16, 2026 at 8:40 PM
Learning linguistics definitely has this effect. For instance, the English words nigh, near, and next used to form a complete adjectival set: positive, comparative, superlative — but are now used independently.
Newsom has also said the very smart tech people have told him that artificial general intelligence is just a couple years away and he believes them, so he is intellectually feeble in addition to being utterly spineless.
people will call you an ideological purist for saying this guy shouldn't be the next democratic presidential candidate
January 16, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Newsom has also said the very smart tech people have told him that artificial general intelligence is just a couple years away and he believes them, so he is intellectually feeble in addition to being utterly spineless.
Borodin: And I will have a pickup truck, maybe even a recreational vehicle, and drive from state to state. Do they let you do that?
Ramius: I suppose.
Borodin: No papers?
Ramius: No papers, state to state.
-- THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990)
Ramius: I suppose.
Borodin: No papers?
Ramius: No papers, state to state.
-- THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990)
I’m seeing posts from people (outside of MN) about how US citizens should carry their passports.
And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”
Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.
And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”
Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.
January 16, 2026 at 7:57 AM
Borodin: And I will have a pickup truck, maybe even a recreational vehicle, and drive from state to state. Do they let you do that?
Ramius: I suppose.
Borodin: No papers?
Ramius: No papers, state to state.
-- THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990)
Ramius: I suppose.
Borodin: No papers?
Ramius: No papers, state to state.
-- THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990)
Reposted by Dhananjay Jagannathan
A father says he was with his six children when they were hit by munitions deployed by law enforcement in response to demonstrations that turned violent in Minneapolis.
Three of the children went to the hospital, including a 6-month-old baby, who stopped breathing after being hit by tear gas
Three of the children went to the hospital, including a 6-month-old baby, who stopped breathing after being hit by tear gas
North Minneapolis ICE shooting: Children hospitalized after flash bang, tear gas hits van
A family was caught in clashes between protesters and law enforcement during protests in north Minneapolis, leading to three of their six children, including a 6-month-old baby, being hospitalized.
www.fox9.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:10 PM
A father says he was with his six children when they were hit by munitions deployed by law enforcement in response to demonstrations that turned violent in Minneapolis.
Three of the children went to the hospital, including a 6-month-old baby, who stopped breathing after being hit by tear gas
Three of the children went to the hospital, including a 6-month-old baby, who stopped breathing after being hit by tear gas
Suspended for milquetoast responses to authoritarian violence?
Over on the Everything App, @klobuchar.senate.gov's personal/campaign account has been suspended for some reason
January 15, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Suspended for milquetoast responses to authoritarian violence?
Reposted by Dhananjay Jagannathan
On the ground here in Minnesota, it’s hard to reconcile the immense bonds of community that have been built in a week with the fact that we live in a country whose government appropriated billions of dollars to an unaccountable paramilitary force whose sole purpose is ethnic cleansing.
January 15, 2026 at 5:05 AM
On the ground here in Minnesota, it’s hard to reconcile the immense bonds of community that have been built in a week with the fact that we live in a country whose government appropriated billions of dollars to an unaccountable paramilitary force whose sole purpose is ethnic cleansing.
I wrote about authoritarianism, why the State of Texas doesn't want young people to read Plato's Symposium, and how reading and thinking can be sites not just of self-transformation but also of political resistance.
culturedopinion.substack.com/p/on-teachin...
culturedopinion.substack.com/p/on-teachin...
On teaching Plato
some notes on thoughtcrime in Texas
culturedopinion.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:28 PM
I wrote about authoritarianism, why the State of Texas doesn't want young people to read Plato's Symposium, and how reading and thinking can be sites not just of self-transformation but also of political resistance.
culturedopinion.substack.com/p/on-teachin...
culturedopinion.substack.com/p/on-teachin...
I got my first GMail account in 2003. I made my current account in 2005. It contains a record of my entire adult life.
Now that unwanted AI overviews appear above my email exchanges, I am strongly considering archiving it all and moving on from Google.
Now that unwanted AI overviews appear above my email exchanges, I am strongly considering archiving it all and moving on from Google.
January 14, 2026 at 8:28 PM
I got my first GMail account in 2003. I made my current account in 2005. It contains a record of my entire adult life.
Now that unwanted AI overviews appear above my email exchanges, I am strongly considering archiving it all and moving on from Google.
Now that unwanted AI overviews appear above my email exchanges, I am strongly considering archiving it all and moving on from Google.
How can *anyone* still justify working for DOJ?
This is appalling: Top DOJ officials are actively pushing for a criminal investigation into the widow of Renee Good, leading prosecutors to quit en masse, NYT is reporting.
Who in the White House ordered DOJ to do this? That's the next thing to establish.
Who in the White House ordered DOJ to do this? That's the next thing to establish.
January 13, 2026 at 10:18 PM
How can *anyone* still justify working for DOJ?
Reposted by Dhananjay Jagannathan
NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING YOU DENSE JACKASS
ICE doesn’t have bad training! ICE has been sent here to incite violence against my community, and they’re obeying because the culture is irreparably twisted!! The agency must be reduced to rubble!
ICE doesn’t have bad training! ICE has been sent here to incite violence against my community, and they’re obeying because the culture is irreparably twisted!! The agency must be reduced to rubble!
Q: Is it your posture to put restrictions on ICE as a condition for funding DHS?
JEFFRIES: Renee Good should be alive. There was no justification. There are common sense measures that need to put in place so ICE can conduct itself in manner at least consistent w/ every other law enforcement agency
JEFFRIES: Renee Good should be alive. There was no justification. There are common sense measures that need to put in place so ICE can conduct itself in manner at least consistent w/ every other law enforcement agency
January 13, 2026 at 5:14 AM
NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING YOU DENSE JACKASS
ICE doesn’t have bad training! ICE has been sent here to incite violence against my community, and they’re obeying because the culture is irreparably twisted!! The agency must be reduced to rubble!
ICE doesn’t have bad training! ICE has been sent here to incite violence against my community, and they’re obeying because the culture is irreparably twisted!! The agency must be reduced to rubble!
The correct answer (you don’t have to say the magic words of abolition): “American taxpayers don’t want their money used for an unaccountable masked mob to terrorize entire cities and shoot innocent people to death in the street.”
.@PabloReports: Would you vote for any funding increases for ICE?
Warren: Not without more restrictions. This is an agency that is out of control. If we don’t get some restrictions in place, they’re going to put more American citizens at risk.
Warren: Not without more restrictions. This is an agency that is out of control. If we don’t get some restrictions in place, they’re going to put more American citizens at risk.
January 13, 2026 at 6:21 AM
The correct answer (you don’t have to say the magic words of abolition): “American taxpayers don’t want their money used for an unaccountable masked mob to terrorize entire cities and shoot innocent people to death in the street.”
Even Stancil is BIble-posting now.
Someone asked me today why ICE always runs when you follow them, when they're the ones with guns and armor and squads and massive trucks, and honestly -
The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion.
The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion.
January 13, 2026 at 12:21 AM
Even Stancil is BIble-posting now.
77.3 million Americans voted for this.
ICE kidnap 17-year-old U.S. citizen working at Target then dump him bleeding and crying miles away in a Walmart parking lot… 🤬
January 12, 2026 at 11:10 PM
77.3 million Americans voted for this.
wrong about Roman pizza, wrong about da Bears
imagine being the pope right now. you stayed up all night to watch the bears get fucking wrecked like this, the pizza sucks, you probably don't have a clothes dryer, tough scene
January 11, 2026 at 7:45 AM
wrong about Roman pizza, wrong about da Bears
Reposted by Dhananjay Jagannathan
Reposted by Dhananjay Jagannathan
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
January 7, 2026 at 8:26 PM
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
His name is Jason.
In college I bought a fleece off a friend.
Turns out it belonged to a guy who left it in a classroom in a bldg that we were all in regularly.
So the guy sees me in it, can prove it’s his, and I’m left looking like an asshole who steals peoples fleeces.
Will never forgive that friend.
Turns out it belonged to a guy who left it in a classroom in a bldg that we were all in regularly.
So the guy sees me in it, can prove it’s his, and I’m left looking like an asshole who steals peoples fleeces.
Will never forgive that friend.
January 7, 2026 at 1:13 AM
His name is Jason.
Reposted by Dhananjay Jagannathan
trump did january 6th. republicans did january 6th. violent traitors did january 6th. they stormed the capitol, destroyed the building and threatened to kill members of congress. ashli babbitt was a violent insurrectionist. the capitol police protected people. these are truths we need to repeat.
January 6, 2026 at 7:30 PM
trump did january 6th. republicans did january 6th. violent traitors did january 6th. they stormed the capitol, destroyed the building and threatened to kill members of congress. ashli babbitt was a violent insurrectionist. the capitol police protected people. these are truths we need to repeat.
If you are wondering how this can happen, I am (joyfully!) teaching Plato’s Symposium alongside John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch in my philosophy and literature class next Fall.
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
January 6, 2026 at 9:56 PM
If you are wondering how this can happen, I am (joyfully!) teaching Plato’s Symposium alongside John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch in my philosophy and literature class next Fall.
As a resident of the 12th Congressional distract, let me just say: nah, George.
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/n...
George Conway, a Trump Foe, Changes Home and Party to Run for Congress
www.nytimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:36 PM
As a resident of the 12th Congressional distract, let me just say: nah, George.
As a palate-cleanser from *gestures* all this, please enjoy this spammy AcademiaDotEdu message to my burner account with the name Outis (in honor of the fake name Odysseus gives the cyclops Polyphemus).
January 5, 2026 at 6:11 AM
As a palate-cleanser from *gestures* all this, please enjoy this spammy AcademiaDotEdu message to my burner account with the name Outis (in honor of the fake name Odysseus gives the cyclops Polyphemus).
Reposted by Dhananjay Jagannathan
Trump/Hegseth/Rubio killed 40 Venezuelan civilians two days ago. They've been murdering random fishermen for weeks.
Think about that. Really think about that. Think about shaking the hand of someone responsible for that. Think about writing a news article about them and not mentioning that.
Think about that. Really think about that. Think about shaking the hand of someone responsible for that. Think about writing a news article about them and not mentioning that.
January 4, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Trump/Hegseth/Rubio killed 40 Venezuelan civilians two days ago. They've been murdering random fishermen for weeks.
Think about that. Really think about that. Think about shaking the hand of someone responsible for that. Think about writing a news article about them and not mentioning that.
Think about that. Really think about that. Think about shaking the hand of someone responsible for that. Think about writing a news article about them and not mentioning that.
Reposted by Dhananjay Jagannathan
it seems pretty obvious that there's no future for the left where we don't have a clear and central position that international law should be extremely real as far as the united states is concerned
January 3, 2026 at 10:55 PM
it seems pretty obvious that there's no future for the left where we don't have a clear and central position that international law should be extremely real as far as the united states is concerned