Derek Kompare
@dkompare.bsky.social
Media scholar/eulogist, higher ed administrator, teacher, spouse, parent, child, procrastinator, physical media stan, music omnivore, flâneur. Disappointed with the internet since 1995.
Posts do not reflect views of my employer.
Posts do not reflect views of my employer.
Pinned
If I'm quiet here lately, it's because I'm quiet EVERYWHERE. I haven't been on FB since 2017, never done the Gram or the Tok, and quit the Old Place in 2022. I'm OK; just decided to take a few more steps away from The Scroll.
So: very sporadic posting, and no reposting.
See you when I see you! 👋
So: very sporadic posting, and no reposting.
See you when I see you! 👋
If I'm quiet here lately, it's because I'm quiet EVERYWHERE. I haven't been on FB since 2017, never done the Gram or the Tok, and quit the Old Place in 2022. I'm OK; just decided to take a few more steps away from The Scroll.
So: very sporadic posting, and no reposting.
See you when I see you! 👋
So: very sporadic posting, and no reposting.
See you when I see you! 👋
January 5, 2026 at 6:58 PM
If I'm quiet here lately, it's because I'm quiet EVERYWHERE. I haven't been on FB since 2017, never done the Gram or the Tok, and quit the Old Place in 2022. I'm OK; just decided to take a few more steps away from The Scroll.
So: very sporadic posting, and no reposting.
See you when I see you! 👋
So: very sporadic posting, and no reposting.
See you when I see you! 👋
Pretty sure I won't be on here later tonight, so happy 2026 to all (including those of us still in 2025)! Whatever "it" is for you, I hope it happens this year.
December 31, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Pretty sure I won't be on here later tonight, so happy 2026 to all (including those of us still in 2025)! Whatever "it" is for you, I hope it happens this year.
Spending a couple days finally cataloguing DVDs, Blu-Rays, and 4Ks. We forget how the 2000s were the peak for media packaging and bonus features. A lovely and baroque era which we'll never see again, except on the esoteric margins. One of the biggest aesthetic losses of our surrender to streaming.
December 30, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Spending a couple days finally cataloguing DVDs, Blu-Rays, and 4Ks. We forget how the 2000s were the peak for media packaging and bonus features. A lovely and baroque era which we'll never see again, except on the esoteric margins. One of the biggest aesthetic losses of our surrender to streaming.
The Jones Film & Video Collection at SMU has an eclectic and deep audiovisual archive that taps into US Hollywood and independent film, Texas-based film artists and entrepreneurs, and an outstanding collection of 1950s-70s Dallas local TV news film.
www.smu.edu/libraries/lo...
www.smu.edu/libraries/lo...
December 26, 2025 at 6:40 PM
The Jones Film & Video Collection at SMU has an eclectic and deep audiovisual archive that taps into US Hollywood and independent film, Texas-based film artists and entrepreneurs, and an outstanding collection of 1950s-70s Dallas local TV news film.
www.smu.edu/libraries/lo...
www.smu.edu/libraries/lo...
A Quantum of Grading
Make a Bond movie academic
Live and Let Cite
Live and Let Cite
Make a Bond Movie academic
The writer's use of the word 'never' is problematic, and rewording might better serve the paper (1983)
The writer's use of the word 'never' is problematic, and rewording might better serve the paper (1983)
December 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
A Quantum of Grading
I am so, so over fireworks.
December 25, 2025 at 6:09 AM
I am so, so over fireworks.
Tonight’s our favorite meal of the year, about 30 years running on Christmas Eve: lime ginger bay scallop sauté, accompanied by mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, rolls, and tri-level holiday jell-o straight from the Fifties. Plus various liquid libations.
December 24, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Tonight’s our favorite meal of the year, about 30 years running on Christmas Eve: lime ginger bay scallop sauté, accompanied by mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, rolls, and tri-level holiday jell-o straight from the Fifties. Plus various liquid libations.
This afternoon’s holiday viewing. I think it could be a new tradition.
December 24, 2025 at 12:08 AM
This afternoon’s holiday viewing. I think it could be a new tradition.
Regardless of media format, archivists and knowledge-preservers are always vital. This is what democracy looks like.
New: archivists have distributed the 60 Minutes episode Bari Weiss killed. iCloud, Mega, torrent too. Shows won’t be able to keep this episode offline www.404media.co/archivists-p...
Archivists Posted the 60 Minutes CECOT Segment Bari Weiss Killed
iCloud, Mega, and as a torrent. Archivists have uploaded the 60 Minutes episode Bari Weiss spiked.
www.404media.co
December 23, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Regardless of media format, archivists and knowledge-preservers are always vital. This is what democracy looks like.
Really smart piece about Daniel Craig’s performance as James Bond (and “James Bond”’s performance as “James Bond”).
Thank you to the brilliant editors at @mid-theory.bsky.social for the chance to write about some of my favorite subjects: transfictional character, gender performance, and Daniel Craig’s tenure as a post-9/11, “serially straight” James Bond.
The Drag of Being Bond
It is a drag, and it is drag doing the gender work expected of 007. One of popular media’s perennial questions, whether the role is currently filled or not, is “who will be the next James Bond?” It…
mid-theory.com
December 21, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Really smart piece about Daniel Craig’s performance as James Bond (and “James Bond”’s performance as “James Bond”).
The #1 movie when you were 10 years old is how your 2026 is going to go.
OK, then. No pressure.
OK, then. No pressure.
December 19, 2025 at 11:32 PM
The #1 movie when you were 10 years old is how your 2026 is going to go.
OK, then. No pressure.
OK, then. No pressure.
Bruce Villanch is already hard at work stockpiling zingers about YouTube vs broadcast TV for every Oscar telecast left in this decade.
December 17, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Bruce Villanch is already hard at work stockpiling zingers about YouTube vs broadcast TV for every Oscar telecast left in this decade.
This whole 🧵.
It’s a delicate dance, and requires a lot of on-the-ground emotional intelligence on the institution’s side during the campus visit. But it’s critical to hire people who actually get your program, school, and city, and actually want to be there.
It’s a delicate dance, and requires a lot of on-the-ground emotional intelligence on the institution’s side during the campus visit. But it’s critical to hire people who actually get your program, school, and city, and actually want to be there.
For civilians: an academic dept typically has to out maneuver other depts to get a tenure line! I tell grad students applying to red state jobs to indicate that they are familiar with & would be happy spending a decade or more there. A single sentence has moved them to the top of a pile. 1/
December 17, 2025 at 5:53 PM
This whole 🧵.
It’s a delicate dance, and requires a lot of on-the-ground emotional intelligence on the institution’s side during the campus visit. But it’s critical to hire people who actually get your program, school, and city, and actually want to be there.
It’s a delicate dance, and requires a lot of on-the-ground emotional intelligence on the institution’s side during the campus visit. But it’s critical to hire people who actually get your program, school, and city, and actually want to be there.
Heads up to paying Evernote users that you’re being auto-renewed into their new “Advanced” tier (replacing the old “Professional” tier) for $250 annually, so check your auto-renewal date.
December 16, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Heads up to paying Evernote users that you’re being auto-renewed into their new “Advanced” tier (replacing the old “Professional” tier) for $250 annually, so check your auto-renewal date.
Losing both David Lynch and Rob Reiner this year feels like the bookend to a Hollywood era. Different creative approaches, but both with deep and distinct understandings of and affections for the human condition and the power of audiovisual expression. May their artistic legacies continue.
December 15, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Losing both David Lynch and Rob Reiner this year feels like the bookend to a Hollywood era. Different creative approaches, but both with deep and distinct understandings of and affections for the human condition and the power of audiovisual expression. May their artistic legacies continue.
I've said this for a decade (you can look it up!).: MeTV is one of the most successful and consistent brands on 21st century American television, with a lineup almost entirely made of 20th century American television.
thedesk.net/2025/12/weig...
thedesk.net/2025/12/weig...
How Weigel's MeTV became a top-rated Nielsen network with memorable shows
Shows like "M*A*S*H" and "Svengoolie" are pulling in hundreds of thousands of viewers each week, according to Nielsen ratings.
thedesk.net
December 11, 2025 at 6:55 PM
I've said this for a decade (you can look it up!).: MeTV is one of the most successful and consistent brands on 21st century American television, with a lineup almost entirely made of 20th century American television.
thedesk.net/2025/12/weig...
thedesk.net/2025/12/weig...
Never forget: human curation is The Shit.
December 11, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Never forget: human curation is The Shit.
Alumni nostalgia is not a sufficient rationale to keep campus buildings frozen in amber. The infrastructure needs of the people who study and work on campus every day need to be prioritized over the feelings of the people who might pop by on a football weekend a couple times a year.
December 9, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Alumni nostalgia is not a sufficient rationale to keep campus buildings frozen in amber. The infrastructure needs of the people who study and work on campus every day need to be prioritized over the feelings of the people who might pop by on a football weekend a couple times a year.
Looks like a great week so far for writers to feel a lot better about their own writing yet also a lot worse about the standards of the publishing industry.
December 8, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Looks like a great week so far for writers to feel a lot better about their own writing yet also a lot worse about the standards of the publishing industry.
I have so many questions about the fate of the massive WB film and TV libraries (and especially its dustier corners), but I'm pretty sure I won't like most of the eventual answers. Enjoy those deep cuts still out there on streaming, diginets, physical media, and the underground while we can.
December 5, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I have so many questions about the fate of the massive WB film and TV libraries (and especially its dustier corners), but I'm pretty sure I won't like most of the eventual answers. Enjoy those deep cuts still out there on streaming, diginets, physical media, and the underground while we can.
As a media industry scholar, I’m looking forward to digging into and following Netflix’s (likely) acquisition of WBD. As a media user and supporter of media workers, I mourn the disappearance of major studios and media industry cultures (in both Burbank and Atlanta in this case).
December 5, 2025 at 1:34 PM
As a media industry scholar, I’m looking forward to digging into and following Netflix’s (likely) acquisition of WBD. As a media user and supporter of media workers, I mourn the disappearance of major studios and media industry cultures (in both Burbank and Atlanta in this case).
Public libraries and physical media (and all who work in and with them) are the most important cultural resources of our time.
www.404media.co/the-last-vid...
www.404media.co/the-last-vid...
The Last Video Rental Store Is Your Public Library
Audio-visual librarians are quietly amassing large physical media collections amid the IP disputes threatening select availability.
www.404media.co
December 3, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Public libraries and physical media (and all who work in and with them) are the most important cultural resources of our time.
www.404media.co/the-last-vid...
www.404media.co/the-last-vid...
A thing I love about the Mad Men 4K vomit fiasco is how it reminds us that there is no such thing as a “definitive” text in any recorded medium. Especially TV shows.
December 3, 2025 at 1:37 AM
A thing I love about the Mad Men 4K vomit fiasco is how it reminds us that there is no such thing as a “definitive” text in any recorded medium. Especially TV shows.
I’m certain I could be a Canadian or Scandinavian culturally. It’s just that every time the temperature drops to the 30s, I’m reminded that I could never be one physically. 🥶
December 2, 2025 at 1:27 AM
I’m certain I could be a Canadian or Scandinavian culturally. It’s just that every time the temperature drops to the 30s, I’m reminded that I could never be one physically. 🥶