Joshua Rivera
@jmrivera.bsky.social
writer for hire. bylines at Vulture, Slate, The Ringer, and Vanity Fair. movies and tv and games and books and
Pinned
Joshua Rivera
@jmrivera.bsky.social
· Nov 25
Oh I never did an intro post. So:
I’m a writer interested in pop culture and how we make meaning from it. I was entertainment writer at polygon, and before that had stints at EW, GQ, and freelanced everywhere. Stories saved my life and I want to help people understand them, and each other, better.
I’m a writer interested in pop culture and how we make meaning from it. I was entertainment writer at polygon, and before that had stints at EW, GQ, and freelanced everywhere. Stories saved my life and I want to help people understand them, and each other, better.
Had a Boston creme donut and put on hard boiled, 2026 on track to be the best year of my life
January 1, 2026 at 6:24 AM
Had a Boston creme donut and put on hard boiled, 2026 on track to be the best year of my life
feel like new years rockin eve has gone downhill since planet fitness got involved
January 1, 2026 at 4:57 AM
feel like new years rockin eve has gone downhill since planet fitness got involved
ok I wasn’t gonna say anything but I’m covering the stranger things finale at a local theater and you have no idea how lit this shit is
January 1, 2026 at 1:14 AM
ok I wasn’t gonna say anything but I’m covering the stranger things finale at a local theater and you have no idea how lit this shit is
first full year back on the freelance beat! thank you to my editors and anyone who has read or shared my stuff, it’s been a tough one but I think I got a few good pieces off. I think this Netflix House one is probably my favorite
slate.com/culture/2025...
slate.com/culture/2025...
Netflix Has Gone Physical. It’s … Weird, to Say the Least.
What it’s like visiting Philadelphia’s Netflix House, a disorienting experience housed in a giant mall.
slate.com
December 31, 2025 at 10:21 PM
first full year back on the freelance beat! thank you to my editors and anyone who has read or shared my stuff, it’s been a tough one but I think I got a few good pieces off. I think this Netflix House one is probably my favorite
slate.com/culture/2025...
slate.com/culture/2025...
Reposted by Joshua Rivera
Finally wrote up my favorite games of the year, and tried to put into words why I think Shadow Labyrinth is this year's very best.
December 31, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Finally wrote up my favorite games of the year, and tried to put into words why I think Shadow Labyrinth is this year's very best.
Reposted by Joshua Rivera
A great end-of-year read from @jmrivera.bsky.social
Solving mysteries in a world without answers
aftermath.site/mystery-games-...
aftermath.site/mystery-games-...
December 31, 2025 at 9:10 PM
A great end-of-year read from @jmrivera.bsky.social
been working all through liminal week so I am a very strange kind of stressed that is out of step with the world. I am basically like the daywalker, blade
December 31, 2025 at 8:50 PM
been working all through liminal week so I am a very strange kind of stressed that is out of step with the world. I am basically like the daywalker, blade
Reposted by Joshua Rivera
Just hit publish on @avclub.com's year in review, which could not possibly include ALL of our favorite pieces of 2025, but it does reflect where we've been and where we're going.
www.avclub.com/best-of-the-...
www.avclub.com/best-of-the-...
The best of The A.V. Club: Our favorite pieces from 2025
The best of The A.V. Club: Our favorite pieces from 2025
www.avclub.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Just hit publish on @avclub.com's year in review, which could not possibly include ALL of our favorite pieces of 2025, but it does reflect where we've been and where we're going.
www.avclub.com/best-of-the-...
www.avclub.com/best-of-the-...
Reposted by Joshua Rivera
BREAKING:
The House Judiciary Committee just released — on New Year's Eve — the 255-page transcript of Jack Smith's closed door deposition.
House Republicans continue their attempts to bury Smith's testimony.
Read it all here: tinyurl.com/cndtn3ez
The House Judiciary Committee just released — on New Year's Eve — the 255-page transcript of Jack Smith's closed door deposition.
House Republicans continue their attempts to bury Smith's testimony.
Read it all here: tinyurl.com/cndtn3ez
December 31, 2025 at 7:35 PM
BREAKING:
The House Judiciary Committee just released — on New Year's Eve — the 255-page transcript of Jack Smith's closed door deposition.
House Republicans continue their attempts to bury Smith's testimony.
Read it all here: tinyurl.com/cndtn3ez
The House Judiciary Committee just released — on New Year's Eve — the 255-page transcript of Jack Smith's closed door deposition.
House Republicans continue their attempts to bury Smith's testimony.
Read it all here: tinyurl.com/cndtn3ez
how many comas do people fall into every year on average in Hawkins, Indiana do you think
December 31, 2025 at 7:26 PM
how many comas do people fall into every year on average in Hawkins, Indiana do you think
Reposted by Joshua Rivera
In one of my final two pieces for the year, I wrote about why I couldn’t stop trying to solve mysteries in 2025
aftermath.site/mystery-game...
aftermath.site/mystery-game...
Solving Mysteries In A World Without Answers
I spent 2025 solving mysteries in order to survive 2026
aftermath.site
December 31, 2025 at 3:16 PM
In one of my final two pieces for the year, I wrote about why I couldn’t stop trying to solve mysteries in 2025
aftermath.site/mystery-game...
aftermath.site/mystery-game...
Love the party these two throw for their listeners at the end of every year. Stick around and you might hear a little message from me, among many other illustrious guests
✨ IT'S HERE ✨
Join us in celebrating Into the Aether's 2025 Game of the Year Spectacular, an unsurprisingly lengthy mp3 file for you and yours packed to the brim with the very best games the year had to offer.
Listen at intothecast.online, and share it with a friend if you're feeling generous. 💞
Join us in celebrating Into the Aether's 2025 Game of the Year Spectacular, an unsurprisingly lengthy mp3 file for you and yours packed to the brim with the very best games the year had to offer.
Listen at intothecast.online, and share it with a friend if you're feeling generous. 💞
December 31, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Love the party these two throw for their listeners at the end of every year. Stick around and you might hear a little message from me, among many other illustrious guests
so much of stranger things is seeing a bunch of people do the @rangedtouch.bsky.social “Blaze is psychic” bit but with deadly seriousness
December 31, 2025 at 5:02 PM
so much of stranger things is seeing a bunch of people do the @rangedtouch.bsky.social “Blaze is psychic” bit but with deadly seriousness
This is something that makes the new season of stranger things incredibly annoying once you clock it
www.tiktok.com/t/ZTh1YF9xV/
www.tiktok.com/t/ZTh1YF9xV/
The new season of Stranger Things is awesome #strangerthings #milliebobbiebrown #randynewman #vecna #sadiesink
TikTok video by Kevin T. Porter
www.tiktok.com
December 31, 2025 at 4:18 PM
This is something that makes the new season of stranger things incredibly annoying once you clock it
www.tiktok.com/t/ZTh1YF9xV/
www.tiktok.com/t/ZTh1YF9xV/
Reposted by Joshua Rivera
*serenely watching the sunset from the porch of a picturesque farmhouse* This life — the wife life — is all I ever wanted. But it ain’t for everyone. Some folks don’t wanna be tied down. Some folks prefer solitude. Some folks are even gay fer fellas, and heck, I reckon they’re doin just fine
January 13, 2025 at 8:04 PM
*serenely watching the sunset from the porch of a picturesque farmhouse* This life — the wife life — is all I ever wanted. But it ain’t for everyone. Some folks don’t wanna be tied down. Some folks prefer solitude. Some folks are even gay fer fellas, and heck, I reckon they’re doin just fine
Reposted by Joshua Rivera
one of the underlying premises of One Battle After Another is that revolutionaries are people, not political archetypes, and they are flawed—cowardly,selfish, impatient, short-sighted—in the way people tend to be flawed
one issue with the Takes on OBAA is that it is a layered and dense movie that demands viewers actually watch it and try to take it on its own terms which a lot of people are terminally unable to do
December 31, 2025 at 3:53 PM
one of the underlying premises of One Battle After Another is that revolutionaries are people, not political archetypes, and they are flawed—cowardly,selfish, impatient, short-sighted—in the way people tend to be flawed
In one of my final two pieces for the year, I wrote about why I couldn’t stop trying to solve mysteries in 2025
aftermath.site/mystery-game...
aftermath.site/mystery-game...
Solving Mysteries In A World Without Answers
I spent 2025 solving mysteries in order to survive 2026
aftermath.site
December 31, 2025 at 3:16 PM
In one of my final two pieces for the year, I wrote about why I couldn’t stop trying to solve mysteries in 2025
aftermath.site/mystery-game...
aftermath.site/mystery-game...
do you know how many hours I spent today trying to write an ending to one fucking piece.
December 31, 2025 at 6:32 AM
do you know how many hours I spent today trying to write an ending to one fucking piece.
INLAND EMPIRE - NINA SIMONE - SINNERMAN (embeddable)
YouTube video by guestninethousand
youtu.be
December 31, 2025 at 5:59 AM
RIP to a goddamn legend
RIP Isiah Whitlock Jr. We loved all the characters you played, especially as Clay Davis.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UXJ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UXJ...
The Wire: Shit Clay Davis Says | HBO
YouTube video by HBO
www.youtube.com
December 30, 2025 at 11:00 PM
RIP to a goddamn legend
Oh shit what a cool graphic! Look at my beautiful team, we’re gonna go far
Here's a recap of our Game of the Year draft. Thanks to everyone who tuned in to Button Mash during this crazy good year of gaming!
open.spotify.com/episode/2Syq...
open.spotify.com/episode/2Syq...
December 30, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Oh shit what a cool graphic! Look at my beautiful team, we’re gonna go far
Now that more of you have seen the movie
December 30, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Now that more of you have seen the movie
Get ahead of the game, anyone who’s anyone is gonna be talking about twin peaks next year.
Give yourself a present: From today through January 1, Barnes & Noble Premium and Rewards members can get 25 percent off their preorder of A PLACE BOTH WONDERFUL AND STRANGE: The Extraordinary Untold History of Twin Peaks with coupon code PREORDER25:
A Place Both Wonderful and Strange: The Extraordinary Untold History of Twin Peaks|Hardcover
For the first time, the complete history of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks—from the landmark, original cult series that changed the course of television to its 25-years-in-the-making sequel—i...
www.barnesandnoble.com
December 30, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Get ahead of the game, anyone who’s anyone is gonna be talking about twin peaks next year.
Reposted by Joshua Rivera
for the holidays: I went blog mode on my modern Star Wars pet peeve: people quoting Kylo Ren like he’s right
kotaku.com/star-wars-la...
kotaku.com/star-wars-la...
Star Wars: The Last Jedi's Most Famous Line Is Still Misunderstood
The real duel of the fates is between me and everyone who keeps taking this quote out of context
kotaku.com
December 29, 2025 at 7:14 PM
for the holidays: I went blog mode on my modern Star Wars pet peeve: people quoting Kylo Ren like he’s right
kotaku.com/star-wars-la...
kotaku.com/star-wars-la...
I’ve come around to thinking Eternals is the funniest thing marvel has ever done. The hubris! Of thinking they could just buy awards bait. And zhao, someone with zero need to do a paycheck job, doing one anyway? Also the way the movie ends with them all getting yeeted out of the MCU? Comedy!
December 30, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I’ve come around to thinking Eternals is the funniest thing marvel has ever done. The hubris! Of thinking they could just buy awards bait. And zhao, someone with zero need to do a paycheck job, doing one anyway? Also the way the movie ends with them all getting yeeted out of the MCU? Comedy!