Alex Huntsberger
@huntsy.bsky.social
Ex-theater critic, ex-Oregonian, ex-Chicagoan, ex-drinker, ex-smoker, current dad, suburbanite, and occasional writer. Never not a theater kid.
RIP Tom Stoppard. Still my favorite playwright. Probably will always be.
This description from THE REAL THING of what writing IS—in form and in function—is even more elite than it is elitist.
This description from THE REAL THING of what writing IS—in form and in function—is even more elite than it is elitist.
November 29, 2025 at 11:38 PM
RIP Tom Stoppard. Still my favorite playwright. Probably will always be.
This description from THE REAL THING of what writing IS—in form and in function—is even more elite than it is elitist.
This description from THE REAL THING of what writing IS—in form and in function—is even more elite than it is elitist.
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
It's weird to not only have lived through an information revolution but also now living through its undoing, all within less than a generation.
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 12:19 PM
It's weird to not only have lived through an information revolution but also now living through its undoing, all within less than a generation.
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
to have an affair with one longshot presidential candidate twice your age that you’re profiling may be regarded as a misfortune; to have two looks like carelessness
November 18, 2025 at 1:44 AM
to have an affair with one longshot presidential candidate twice your age that you’re profiling may be regarded as a misfortune; to have two looks like carelessness
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
The fact that a lot of leftists despise Parks and Rec - one of the best and most sympathetic depictions of non-cop government in modern media - is a symptom of the fact that a lot of the left has no idea how to actually implement the policy proposals they want to enact.
The reason 30 Rock succeeds years later while parks and rec has aged like a toilet full of milk, is that 30 Rock doesnt shy away from portraying Liz Lemon as an obvious villian with a victim/hero complex, whereas Leslie Knope was played just a straight hero character, even tho she is a neolib shill
November 5, 2025 at 6:02 PM
The fact that a lot of leftists despise Parks and Rec - one of the best and most sympathetic depictions of non-cop government in modern media - is a symptom of the fact that a lot of the left has no idea how to actually implement the policy proposals they want to enact.
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
Theatre Y's series of ambulatory immersive theater walks always offer interesting perspectives, passionate honesty, a glimpse at cool parts of North Lawndale, and chance for communal reflection. Here's my @chicagoreader.com review of "In Good Company." chicagoreader.com/performing-a...
Ritual and respite - Chicago Reader
Theatre Y's In Good Company community theater walk asks us to "reflect on community, democracy and belonging—one step at a time."
chicagoreader.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Theatre Y's series of ambulatory immersive theater walks always offer interesting perspectives, passionate honesty, a glimpse at cool parts of North Lawndale, and chance for communal reflection. Here's my @chicagoreader.com review of "In Good Company." chicagoreader.com/performing-a...
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
this is the website for elder millenials with humanities degrees. everyone has done the reading on why people invest meaning in public buildings. you can’t fool me
October 23, 2025 at 11:53 PM
this is the website for elder millenials with humanities degrees. everyone has done the reading on why people invest meaning in public buildings. you can’t fool me
If you’re coming for Eugene, you’re going to need to come through me—
(Is dispatched easily)
(Is dispatched easily)
Eugene, Oregon catching strays in the mayoral debate
October 23, 2025 at 12:14 AM
If you’re coming for Eugene, you’re going to need to come through me—
(Is dispatched easily)
(Is dispatched easily)
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
Eugene, Oregon catching strays in the mayoral debate
October 23, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Eugene, Oregon catching strays in the mayoral debate
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
Hardly the greatest of horrors out there but saw a video of a young guy bringing a scale to a club to embarrass women on camera and I really and truly think for the health of the nation we need to bring back Jackass, this young man should be filming shopping cart stunts for his boys instead.
October 5, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Hardly the greatest of horrors out there but saw a video of a young guy bringing a scale to a club to embarrass women on camera and I really and truly think for the health of the nation we need to bring back Jackass, this young man should be filming shopping cart stunts for his boys instead.
One Battle After Another is the movie that dares to ask:
“What if Leonardo DiCaprio played a Danny McBride character?”
WHAT’S UP HOMIE
“What if Leonardo DiCaprio played a Danny McBride character?”
WHAT’S UP HOMIE
October 6, 2025 at 12:04 AM
One Battle After Another is the movie that dares to ask:
“What if Leonardo DiCaprio played a Danny McBride character?”
WHAT’S UP HOMIE
“What if Leonardo DiCaprio played a Danny McBride character?”
WHAT’S UP HOMIE
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
Protesters block a car at the Broadview ICE facility in Chicago.
September 26, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Protesters block a car at the Broadview ICE facility in Chicago.
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
!!👇
Set in 1915, @danchaon.bsky.social's spellbinding new novel, "One of Us," explores American marginalization and violence via telepathic twins in a traveling circus. Just out from @henryholtbooks.bsky.social. Here's my rave review for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/b...
In This Circus Tale, Telepathic Twins Aren’t Even the Freak Show
www.nytimes.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:28 PM
!!👇
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
you know you're in the rust belt when you pass a free-standing birth clinic, a gun shop, and an ELCA in a historic church building all on the same block.
September 14, 2025 at 6:33 PM
you know you're in the rust belt when you pass a free-standing birth clinic, a gun shop, and an ELCA in a historic church building all on the same block.
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
The Chicago Theater Bike Ride returns on Saturday, commemorating people we've lose in the community and raising funds for those in need. Here's my @chicagoreader.com Ghost Light column on it. chicagoreader.com/performing-a...
Riding to remember - Chicago Reader
The 2025 Chicago Theater Bike Ride commemorates the many members of the performing arts community lost in the last year.
chicagoreader.com
September 4, 2025 at 6:03 PM
The Chicago Theater Bike Ride returns on Saturday, commemorating people we've lose in the community and raising funds for those in need. Here's my @chicagoreader.com Ghost Light column on it. chicagoreader.com/performing-a...
Explaining to my One-year-old that sleep deprivation is considered torture under the Geneva Convention
August 29, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Explaining to my One-year-old that sleep deprivation is considered torture under the Geneva Convention
I pray this marriage holds. Because a divorced, fortyish Taylor Swift would be a force too powerful for this reality to hold.
August 27, 2025 at 12:20 AM
I pray this marriage holds. Because a divorced, fortyish Taylor Swift would be a force too powerful for this reality to hold.
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
brutal...Michael Phillips is one of the best and his criticism was one of the few reasons to read the Tribune for people outside Chicago...this also feels like an end for the rich history of film criticism within chicago newspapers (the papers that gave us siskel and ebert, after all)
A bit of news: The Chicago Tribune has deemed the post of film critic non-essential, and therefore zeroed-out that post. My options were to take a newsroom reassignment to be named later, or a buyout to be taken more or less immediately. So...(1/3)
August 19, 2025 at 2:49 PM
brutal...Michael Phillips is one of the best and his criticism was one of the few reasons to read the Tribune for people outside Chicago...this also feels like an end for the rich history of film criticism within chicago newspapers (the papers that gave us siskel and ebert, after all)
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
👎 👎 👎 👎 👎 👎 👎 👎
A bit of news: The Chicago Tribune has deemed the post of film critic non-essential, and therefore zeroed-out that post. My options were to take a newsroom reassignment to be named later, or a buyout to be taken more or less immediately. So...(1/3)
August 19, 2025 at 2:45 PM
👎 👎 👎 👎 👎 👎 👎 👎
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
The Devaluation of Expertise (part 157 of ???)
Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips announces he has taken a buyout and the Trib is eliminating his post. Unless I am missing someone I believe this leaves the nation's third-largest city without a single full-time film writing gig.
August 19, 2025 at 3:02 PM
The Devaluation of Expertise (part 157 of ???)
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
Ooof. This is a hard one.
Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips announces he has taken a buyout and the Trib is eliminating his post. Unless I am missing someone I believe this leaves the nation's third-largest city without a single full-time film writing gig.
August 19, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Ooof. This is a hard one.
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
insane
Area Critic (Me) Needs New Job.
Reach out if you want me to write for you! Doesn't have to be reviews!
Reach out if you want me to write for you! Doesn't have to be reviews!
Vanity Fair Will Refocus on Hollywood and Cut Back Some Coverage Areas, Says New Editorial Director
Vanity Fair will scale back certain areas of coverage, including shutting down The Hive, to focus on entertainment and culture, editorial director Mark Guiducci said.
variety.com
August 12, 2025 at 5:36 PM
insane
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
I've seen discourse you people wouldn't believe
August 11, 2025 at 4:51 PM
I've seen discourse you people wouldn't believe
My favorite Companion and Doctor
August 9, 2025 at 3:48 AM
My favorite Companion and Doctor
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
Okay, one more. My favorite Companion and Doctor.
August 9, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Okay, one more. My favorite Companion and Doctor.
Reposted by Alex Huntsberger
Lots of people won't read substack for very good reasons (I'm still in the process of getting off of it & just haven't had time, honestly) so... here is a screenshot w/ alt text of my new poem for your reading/sharing pleasure. Each line is taken from a different Dem fundraising email or text.
August 7, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Lots of people won't read substack for very good reasons (I'm still in the process of getting off of it & just haven't had time, honestly) so... here is a screenshot w/ alt text of my new poem for your reading/sharing pleasure. Each line is taken from a different Dem fundraising email or text.