Hrag Vartanian
@hrag.bsky.social
Art Critic Futurist 🧬 Editor-at-large, cofounder of @Hyperallergic.com 🗽 Aleppo born, Toronto raised, Brooklyn based w/ @veken.bsky.social
I tweet about art and politics because art doesn't exist in a vacuum.
I tweet about art and politics because art doesn't exist in a vacuum.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
this is a photograph of an American being tortured by a federal agent
An observer arrested in Suth Minneapolis. Photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 21, 2026 at 10:19 PM
this is a photograph of an American being tortured by a federal agent
You feel the military presence in Halifax more than any other city I've visited in Canada.
January 21, 2026 at 9:16 PM
You feel the military presence in Halifax more than any other city I've visited in Canada.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
C-Suite said they use AI for like 80% of their job, if you're wondering which jobs at a company could be replaced by AI
The disconnect between management and employee on AI usage is big. At the same time, CEOs are reporting they aren't seeing any revenue growth from AI.
🤷
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/wo...
🤷
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/wo...
CEOs Say AI Is Making Work More Efficient. Employees Tell a Different Story.
How much time workers say the technology saves them on the job is vastly different from what executives report.
www.wsj.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:03 PM
C-Suite said they use AI for like 80% of their job, if you're wondering which jobs at a company could be replaced by AI
Hey guys, Maybe stop posting about that shitty newspaper that got us into this mess with their whatsboutism and complicity masked as debate?
January 21, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Hey guys, Maybe stop posting about that shitty newspaper that got us into this mess with their whatsboutism and complicity masked as debate?
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
James Baldwin and Martin Luther King, Jr. warned us in the 1960s that the US could come to our current state.
January 20, 2026 at 11:45 PM
James Baldwin and Martin Luther King, Jr. warned us in the 1960s that the US could come to our current state.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Bishop Robert Barron is vastly more outraged at the church service being interrupted yesterday than he is with ICE surveilling a Catholic Mass and grabbing a Catholic Church worker at Mass. And he’s a “Catholic Bishop” in Minnesota.
January 19, 2026 at 11:33 PM
Bishop Robert Barron is vastly more outraged at the church service being interrupted yesterday than he is with ICE surveilling a Catholic Mass and grabbing a Catholic Church worker at Mass. And he’s a “Catholic Bishop” in Minnesota.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Congratulations everyone, Big Brother wasn’t imposed on you, you bought Big Brother on Prime Day and installed him yourselves.
January 19, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Congratulations everyone, Big Brother wasn’t imposed on you, you bought Big Brother on Prime Day and installed him yourselves.
This AI video about the defense of Greenland is powerful.
Greenland Defense Front - The Hungry Giant (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by demonflyingfox
youtu.be
January 19, 2026 at 7:17 PM
This AI video about the defense of Greenland is powerful.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
If protesters were getting paid, there's be a massive chain of solicitations, emails that would easily prove the case. There is none
Any TV interviewer needs to demand proof when this claim is made and end the interview when it's not provided
Any TV interviewer needs to demand proof when this claim is made and end the interview when it's not provided
Rep. Byron Donalds: "These agitators -- who by the way are paid, folks. America, they are paid to do this kind of mess."
January 19, 2026 at 3:41 PM
If protesters were getting paid, there's be a massive chain of solicitations, emails that would easily prove the case. There is none
Any TV interviewer needs to demand proof when this claim is made and end the interview when it's not provided
Any TV interviewer needs to demand proof when this claim is made and end the interview when it's not provided
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Oh. Only a month later and without further reporting or even minor changes. Wow. Crazy. Guess it was really worth pulling.
CBS reportedly will air a piece tonight on El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison — a story that the network infamously pulled last month
Reports: CBS To Air Pulled '60 Minutes' CECOT Segment Tonight
www.huffpost.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:49 PM
Oh. Only a month later and without further reporting or even minor changes. Wow. Crazy. Guess it was really worth pulling.
Reading the Game Changer (Heated Rivalry) series by Rachel Reid in Halifax is interesting because the male types make more sense here, including the large lumberjack types you see more here than other places I’ve lived or spent time. Also the Lebanese-Canadian character.
January 18, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Reading the Game Changer (Heated Rivalry) series by Rachel Reid in Halifax is interesting because the male types make more sense here, including the large lumberjack types you see more here than other places I’ve lived or spent time. Also the Lebanese-Canadian character.
Nova Scotia is quite beautiful, even in the cold.
January 17, 2026 at 11:34 PM
Nova Scotia is quite beautiful, even in the cold.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Instead of investigating the death of Renee Good, Trump wants to investigate Governor Walz & Mayor Frey. Despicable.
This is a clear weaponization of justice against Trump's political rivals & a desperate attempt to distract from ICE's growing brutality & Trump's lawlessness.
This is a clear weaponization of justice against Trump's political rivals & a desperate attempt to distract from ICE's growing brutality & Trump's lawlessness.
January 17, 2026 at 12:42 AM
Instead of investigating the death of Renee Good, Trump wants to investigate Governor Walz & Mayor Frey. Despicable.
This is a clear weaponization of justice against Trump's political rivals & a desperate attempt to distract from ICE's growing brutality & Trump's lawlessness.
This is a clear weaponization of justice against Trump's political rivals & a desperate attempt to distract from ICE's growing brutality & Trump's lawlessness.
This is why businesses may be doing the right thing by banning ICE from their premises.
One of the stories that makes me the saddest out of this ICE invasion is one out of the Minnesota Star Tribune today about ICE agents eating at a little Mexican restaurant in the small town of Willmar, Minn, —and then, when they were done, arresting some of the workers.
January 16, 2026 at 1:54 AM
This is why businesses may be doing the right thing by banning ICE from their premises.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
A synecdoche of the crackdown on immigrants. They take advantage of their contributions to our country and punish them nonetheless.
One of the stories that makes me the saddest out of this ICE invasion is one out of the Minnesota Star Tribune today about ICE agents eating at a little Mexican restaurant in the small town of Willmar, Minn, —and then, when they were done, arresting some of the workers.
January 16, 2026 at 1:52 AM
A synecdoche of the crackdown on immigrants. They take advantage of their contributions to our country and punish them nonetheless.
One plus side of being in Canada is I feel like it’s a little harder to doom scroll when you keep encountering news content you can’t see because of the Meta ban on news here. Encountering roadblocks like that makes me stop.
January 15, 2026 at 9:07 PM
One plus side of being in Canada is I feel like it’s a little harder to doom scroll when you keep encountering news content you can’t see because of the Meta ban on news here. Encountering roadblocks like that makes me stop.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
ICE must be abolished. It has become a lawless, rogue agency. Federal law enforcement agencies must follow the law, if they're going to have any credibility enforcing it.
We are demanding justice for Renee Good and the prosecution of ICE agent Jonathan Ross for her murder.
We are demanding justice for Renee Good and the prosecution of ICE agent Jonathan Ross for her murder.
January 15, 2026 at 4:47 PM
ICE must be abolished. It has become a lawless, rogue agency. Federal law enforcement agencies must follow the law, if they're going to have any credibility enforcing it.
We are demanding justice for Renee Good and the prosecution of ICE agent Jonathan Ross for her murder.
We are demanding justice for Renee Good and the prosecution of ICE agent Jonathan Ross for her murder.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
This is absolutely terrifying.
"Palantir is working on a tool for ICE that populates a map with potential deportation targets, brings up a dossier on each person, and provides a 'confidence score' .... ICE is using it to find locations where lots of people it might detain could be based."
www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
‘ELITE’: The Palantir App ICE Uses to Find Neighborhoods to Raid
Internal ICE material and testimony from an official obtained by 404 Media provides the clearest link yet between the technological infrastructure Palantir is building for ICE and the agency’s activit...
www.404media.co
January 15, 2026 at 3:50 PM
This is absolutely terrifying.
Just read a comment that said, “police lights are just bisexual lighting” and I am speechless because it’s kinda true.
January 15, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Just read a comment that said, “police lights are just bisexual lighting” and I am speechless because it’s kinda true.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
I have never cheered harder for a tiny red dot.
The red dot is a baby North Atlantic right whale trying to migrate up the east coast of the United states.
The blue streaks are fast moving shipping vessels entering and leaving New York City harbor.
One collision and the whale is dead.
We need *mandatory* speed limits for these vessels! 🧪🦑🌍
The blue streaks are fast moving shipping vessels entering and leaving New York City harbor.
One collision and the whale is dead.
We need *mandatory* speed limits for these vessels! 🧪🦑🌍
January 14, 2026 at 11:50 PM
I have never cheered harder for a tiny red dot.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
99% chance this is what they mean
January 14, 2026 at 5:25 PM
99% chance this is what they mean
It’s not, but it’s a good start.
January 14, 2026 at 3:11 PM
It’s not, but it’s a good start.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Every obsessive critic of "wokeness" embodies the actual qualities that they attribute to "wokeness." In this case, the mentality that any obstacle you encounter is discrimination bsky.app/profile/park...
There’s a certain kind of aging provocateur who can’t imagine losing on the merits, so every loss becomes proof of discrimination.
Like... dude, you lost to Ricky Gervais. I don't think it was about "wokeness." variety.com/2026/awards/...
Like... dude, you lost to Ricky Gervais. I don't think it was about "wokeness." variety.com/2026/awards/...
January 14, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Every obsessive critic of "wokeness" embodies the actual qualities that they attribute to "wokeness." In this case, the mentality that any obstacle you encounter is discrimination bsky.app/profile/park...