Leigh M. Johnson
@drleighmjohnson.bsky.social
Memphian (now in DC), philosopher, raconteuse, and co-host of Hotel Bar Sessions podcast (@hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social). I love arguments.
www.drleighmjohnson.com
www.hotelbarpodcast.com
www.drleighmjohnson.com
www.hotelbarpodcast.com
We're recording a Hotel Bar Sessions episode on "Anonymity" today and with the faceless power of the State murdering citizens in the streets philosophy podcasting has never felt more urgent.
January 26, 2026 at 2:02 PM
We're recording a Hotel Bar Sessions episode on "Anonymity" today and with the faceless power of the State murdering citizens in the streets philosophy podcasting has never felt more urgent.
Whoever the kid is managing the Democrats' Twitter thread (a) deserves a raise and (b) already won my vote.
January 25, 2026 at 1:48 AM
Whoever the kid is managing the Democrats' Twitter thread (a) deserves a raise and (b) already won my vote.
Looks like we're gonna get between 1 and a million inches of snow this weekend. Just fyi. You know, so you can plan.
January 24, 2026 at 1:22 AM
Looks like we're gonna get between 1 and a million inches of snow this weekend. Just fyi. You know, so you can plan.
Reposted by Leigh M. Johnson
Seeing a bunch of normal ass midwestern moms and dads marching in -20 degrees knowing they might be tear gassed or worse really drives home what a cowardly lot of people the pundit class is
January 23, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Seeing a bunch of normal ass midwestern moms and dads marching in -20 degrees knowing they might be tear gassed or worse really drives home what a cowardly lot of people the pundit class is
I tried to forward a somewhat unorthodox definition of "intelligence" in this episode. Would love to hear your feedback!
First episode of Season 15 just dropped and we're starting off strong!
What is intelligence, anyway? Are there "more" intelligent and "less" intelligent people? species? machines?
Tune in at the link below (or wherever you listen to podcasts) to find out!
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/inte...
What is intelligence, anyway? Are there "more" intelligent and "less" intelligent people? species? machines?
Tune in at the link below (or wherever you listen to podcasts) to find out!
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/inte...
Episode 211: Intelligence(s) - Hotel Bar Podcast
What counts as intelligence?
hotelbarpodcast.com
January 23, 2026 at 3:31 PM
I tried to forward a somewhat unorthodox definition of "intelligence" in this episode. Would love to hear your feedback!
This Saturday at @americanuniversity.bsky.social:
January 21, 2026 at 7:11 PM
This Saturday at @americanuniversity.bsky.social:
Reposted by Leigh M. Johnson
Kill the meritocracy illusion or it will kill us.
This would not happen in a democracy, which is why, if we are serious about our commitment to it, we must accept we do not currently live in democracies and that moving towards such a system would require radical change rather than faith in the status quo
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
‘Brazen’ political influence of rich laid bare as wealth of billionaires reaches $18.3tn, says Oxfam
Governments opting for oligarchy while brutally repressing protests over austerity and lack of jobs, charity report says
www.theguardian.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Kill the meritocracy illusion or it will kill us.
When the game is over, the King and the Pawn go in the same box.
January 18, 2026 at 3:27 PM
When the game is over, the King and the Pawn go in the same box.
This week's @hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social "minibar" episode is by me. Check it out and lmk what you think!
New MINIBAR episode out today and co-host @drleighmjohnson.bsky.social is asking "Why do AI's fabricated memories *feel* so true?"
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/mini...
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/mini...
MINIBAR: Algorithmic Nostalgia (with Leigh M. Johnson) - Hotel Bar Podcast
Why do AI's fabricated memories "feel" so true?
hotelbarpodcast.com
January 16, 2026 at 6:26 PM
This week's @hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social "minibar" episode is by me. Check it out and lmk what you think!
Knock knock.
Who's there?
It's in the syllabus.
Who's there?
It's in the syllabus.
January 13, 2026 at 5:34 AM
Knock knock.
Who's there?
It's in the syllabus.
Who's there?
It's in the syllabus.
This is a really great guide to how to muck up the system without violence. Thanks, @jenhkling.bsky.social!
@hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social
@hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social
New MINIBAR episode dropped this morning. Check out co-host @jenhkling.bsky.social's thoughts on "uncivil obedience"!
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/mini...
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/mini...
MINIBAR: Uncivil Obedience (with Jennifer Kling) - Hotel Bar Podcast
What happens when we follow the letter of the law, while refusing to cooperate with its spirit?
hotelbarpodcast.com
January 9, 2026 at 4:05 PM
This is a really great guide to how to muck up the system without violence. Thanks, @jenhkling.bsky.social!
@hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social
@hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social
I don't know who needs to hear this, but:
Wake up and smell the fascism.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...
Wake up and smell the fascism.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...
Minnesota leaders escalate dispute over federal handling of ICE shooting
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said the FBI’s decision to take over the investigation will keep state officials from accessing evidence.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 9, 2026 at 2:47 AM
I don't know who needs to hear this, but:
Wake up and smell the fascism.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...
Wake up and smell the fascism.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...
Reposted by Leigh M. Johnson
I said this to a friend yesterday and will repeat it here. A lot of people are going to be hyper-focused on elections this year but if that's not your ministry, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HYPER-FOCUS there. There's so much other organizing work to do. You can focus your energies and attention there.
January 4, 2026 at 10:49 PM
I said this to a friend yesterday and will repeat it here. A lot of people are going to be hyper-focused on elections this year but if that's not your ministry, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HYPER-FOCUS there. There's so much other organizing work to do. You can focus your energies and attention there.
This is a really fantastic reflection on pain from Bob. Definitely check it out!
(And don't forget to subscribe to Hotel Bar Sessions podcast!)
(And don't forget to subscribe to Hotel Bar Sessions podcast!)
We're hard at work prepping Season 15-- which drops JAN 23!-- so for the next 3 wks our hosts are serving up solo "Minibar" episodes. Check out this week's Minibar from co-host Bob Vallier, who describes the lessons pain taught him after a terrible bike accident.
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/mini...
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/mini...
MINIBAR: Pain (with Bob Vallier) - Hotel Bar Podcast
What can the body, in pain, teach us about the hilarity of our own finitude?
hotelbarpodcast.com
January 2, 2026 at 8:13 PM
This is a really fantastic reflection on pain from Bob. Definitely check it out!
(And don't forget to subscribe to Hotel Bar Sessions podcast!)
(And don't forget to subscribe to Hotel Bar Sessions podcast!)
What's your play-out song for 2025?
December 29, 2025 at 5:12 PM
What's your play-out song for 2025?
Newest episode of @hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social just dropped and what says "holiday dinner table conversation" more than the topic of "oppression"?
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/mari...
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/mari...
Episode 210: Marilyn Frye’s “Oppression” - Hotel Bar Podcast
How to mark the distinction between being "inconvenienced" and being oppressed.
hotelbarpodcast.com
December 27, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Newest episode of @hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social just dropped and what says "holiday dinner table conversation" more than the topic of "oppression"?
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/mari...
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/mari...
No lies detected.
December 20, 2025 at 3:37 PM
No lies detected.
Devastating loss to the philosophical community, especially in these times. Please consider planting a tree, or a grove of trees, in memory of #EduardoMendieta.
December 20, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Devastating loss to the philosophical community, especially in these times. Please consider planting a tree, or a grove of trees, in memory of #EduardoMendieta.
While you're reflecting on this year that is almost past, check out our new episode on nostalgia! @hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social @philosophymatters.bsky.social @jenhkling.bsky.social
Episode 209 just dropped!
Listen now and remember it fondly later!
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/nost...
Listen now and remember it fondly later!
hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/nost...
Episode 209: Nostalgia - Hotel Bar Podcast
What does nostalgia fondly remember, and what might it dangerously enable?
hotelbarpodcast.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:51 PM
While you're reflecting on this year that is almost past, check out our new episode on nostalgia! @hotelbarpodcast.bsky.social @philosophymatters.bsky.social @jenhkling.bsky.social
I wish I could remember who said this (I don't), but someone say in an interview recently that nothing had a "COVID-level" impact on higher-ed like that of AI.
They were basically arguing that the Fall 2025 semester has been the most game-changing for higher ed since COVID.
I think I agree.
They were basically arguing that the Fall 2025 semester has been the most game-changing for higher ed since COVID.
I think I agree.
December 18, 2025 at 2:45 AM
I wish I could remember who said this (I don't), but someone say in an interview recently that nothing had a "COVID-level" impact on higher-ed like that of AI.
They were basically arguing that the Fall 2025 semester has been the most game-changing for higher ed since COVID.
I think I agree.
They were basically arguing that the Fall 2025 semester has been the most game-changing for higher ed since COVID.
I think I agree.
Everybody: "AI exists only for surveillance."
Me: "Surveillance exists for democracy."
Me: "Surveillance exists for democracy."
a man in a purple shirt is sitting at a table in a restaurant .
ALT: a man in a purple shirt is sitting at a table in a restaurant .
media.tenor.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Everybody: "AI exists only for surveillance."
Me: "Surveillance exists for democracy."
Me: "Surveillance exists for democracy."
There are productive ways to use AI inside (and outside) of the classroom to forward critical thinking skills, learning, and insight. This is not one of them.
“This is a kind of de-professionalizing of what we do in classrooms, where we’re narrowing the horizon of what’s possible…And I think once we give that up, that’s like giving up the whole game. That’s the whole purpose of why universities exist.”
Texas universities deploy AI for course audits
Records obtained by The Texas Tribune show how universities are using the technology to reshape curriculum under political pressure, raising concerns about academic freedom.
www.texastribune.org
December 15, 2025 at 10:32 PM
There are productive ways to use AI inside (and outside) of the classroom to forward critical thinking skills, learning, and insight. This is not one of them.
Is there a word for when someone feels like they nailed a point, but their audience didn't receive it that way?
Not that the point wasn't relevant/good. Just the awkward silence that follows a speaker thinking they 100% "stuck the landing," anticipates enthusiastic agreement, but doesn't get it.
Not that the point wasn't relevant/good. Just the awkward silence that follows a speaker thinking they 100% "stuck the landing," anticipates enthusiastic agreement, but doesn't get it.
December 15, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Is there a word for when someone feels like they nailed a point, but their audience didn't receive it that way?
Not that the point wasn't relevant/good. Just the awkward silence that follows a speaker thinking they 100% "stuck the landing," anticipates enthusiastic agreement, but doesn't get it.
Not that the point wasn't relevant/good. Just the awkward silence that follows a speaker thinking they 100% "stuck the landing," anticipates enthusiastic agreement, but doesn't get it.