Jonathan Basile
@jonothingeb.bsky.social
Postdoc at UofT, Institute for Hist & Phil of Sci & Tech, 20th C literature and science, viruses, evolutionary theory, deconstruction, libraryofbabel.info. Author: Virality Vitality (https://sunypress.edu/Books/V/Virality-Vitality)
Pinned
This little pathogen I’ve created now has a life of its own. Virality Vitality, on the subterfuges of reproduction and contagion, has just been published!
Unfortunately, only in hardcover for the time being (sunypress.edu/Books/V/Vira...); if you’d like to read it just get in touch!
Unfortunately, only in hardcover for the time being (sunypress.edu/Books/V/Vira...); if you’d like to read it just get in touch!
I'm particularly interested in the analysis of the bullroarer as representing "male anal power" - so I'd be interested in anything on anal birth/rebirth
Can anyone recommend any recent anthropological or other writing on the bullroarer?
January 30, 2026 at 2:40 AM
I'm particularly interested in the analysis of the bullroarer as representing "male anal power" - so I'd be interested in anything on anal birth/rebirth
Can anyone recommend any recent anthropological or other writing on the bullroarer?
January 29, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Can anyone recommend any recent anthropological or other writing on the bullroarer?
Timothy Clark reviews Toadvine's Memory of the World -- the book tries to wed phenomenology and naturalism, to recognize the radical alterity of animality and deep time within our experience. Clark argues that he nonetheless domesticates this alterity: olrsupplement.com/2026/01/28/t...
The Memory of the World, by Ted Toadvine - The OLR Supplement
Toadvine advocates a phenomenology that grapples with the alterity of the natural world and deep time, while perhaps flattening that alterity himself
olrsupplement.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Timothy Clark reviews Toadvine's Memory of the World -- the book tries to wed phenomenology and naturalism, to recognize the radical alterity of animality and deep time within our experience. Clark argues that he nonetheless domesticates this alterity: olrsupplement.com/2026/01/28/t...
Reposted by Jonathan Basile
What all the crowd shots won’t show you is this energy extends to the rest of the metro. There are additional huge gatherings of people all around the cities, ICE watch is visible on so many street corners, walk a few blocks and you’ll pass people clearly in the middle of distro
This is the scene in downtown Minneapolis this afternoon, where thousands of people have braved -25F wind chills to protest ICE operations in Minnesota.
More: https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/a-sea-of-people-thousands-turn-out-for-anti-ice-march-in-downtown-minneapolis
Pic: Mike Auger
More: https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/a-sea-of-people-thousands-turn-out-for-anti-ice-march-in-downtown-minneapolis
Pic: Mike Auger
January 23, 2026 at 10:40 PM
What all the crowd shots won’t show you is this energy extends to the rest of the metro. There are additional huge gatherings of people all around the cities, ICE watch is visible on so many street corners, walk a few blocks and you’ll pass people clearly in the middle of distro
Reposted by Jonathan Basile
Read Jonathan Basile's "Will This Too Have Been a Tree?Biblical and Biological Trees of Life-Science" from last year's volume of the journal SubStance, avaiable at @projectmuse.bsky.social
muse.jhu.edu/article/959048
muse.jhu.edu/article/959048
January 22, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Read Jonathan Basile's "Will This Too Have Been a Tree?Biblical and Biological Trees of Life-Science" from last year's volume of the journal SubStance, avaiable at @projectmuse.bsky.social
muse.jhu.edu/article/959048
muse.jhu.edu/article/959048
A new review of Aaron Schuster's How to Research Like a Dog -- a psychoanalytic reading of Kafka that aims to discover new modes of science, philosophy, and political (non-)agency in his animal stories: olrsupplement.com/2026/01/21/f...
For a New Mythology of Reason: Aaron Schuster’s How to Research Like a Dog: Kafka’s New Science - The OLR Supplement
Schuster's psychoanalytic reading of Kafka presents a new mode of science and philosophy as compulsive not knowing, and a politics of non-agency
olrsupplement.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:55 PM
A new review of Aaron Schuster's How to Research Like a Dog -- a psychoanalytic reading of Kafka that aims to discover new modes of science, philosophy, and political (non-)agency in his animal stories: olrsupplement.com/2026/01/21/f...
Reposted by Jonathan Basile
Ahhh it’s so good!
Finally! A critique of AI that deconstructs the humanist subject. My thanks to Víctor Betriu Yáñez: olrsupplement.com/2026/01/15/i...
Is a Derridean Critique of Generative AI Possible?Writing Machines and Logocentrism without Subject - The OLR Supplement
Finally, a critique of AI that deconstructs the humanist subject on which most existing critiques rely
olrsupplement.com
January 16, 2026 at 11:03 PM
Ahhh it’s so good!
Finally! A critique of AI that deconstructs the humanist subject. My thanks to Víctor Betriu Yáñez: olrsupplement.com/2026/01/15/i...
Is a Derridean Critique of Generative AI Possible?Writing Machines and Logocentrism without Subject - The OLR Supplement
Finally, a critique of AI that deconstructs the humanist subject on which most existing critiques rely
olrsupplement.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Finally! A critique of AI that deconstructs the humanist subject. My thanks to Víctor Betriu Yáñez: olrsupplement.com/2026/01/15/i...
Reposted by Jonathan Basile
Unions and community orgs are calling for a Minnesota-wide shutdown in 10 days to protest the ferocious assault by federal immigration agents. They're saying on Jan 23, no work, no school, no shopping. SEIU Local 26, UNITE HERE Local 17, & others are supporting, w/ more to join. By me, Amie Stager
“We Are Facing a Tsunami of Hate”: Amid ICE Crackdown, Unions and Community Groups Call for Minnesota Shutdown in 10 Days
Following the ICE murder of Renee Good and an assault on the state by federal immigration forces, a labor-community coalition is calling for residents to refuse to work, shop or go to school on Januar...
inthesetimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:30 PM
Unions and community orgs are calling for a Minnesota-wide shutdown in 10 days to protest the ferocious assault by federal immigration agents. They're saying on Jan 23, no work, no school, no shopping. SEIU Local 26, UNITE HERE Local 17, & others are supporting, w/ more to join. By me, Amie Stager
I made the mistake of publishing this fascinating interview with Jeremy Gilbert on January 6, when people may have been a little distracted - so sharing it again for anyone who may have missed it:
Here’s me talking about everything from the philosophy of Jacques Derrida to the prospects for Your Party. A real honour to have been interviewed with such rigour and sympathy by the brilliant Aleksander Kopka, and to have the interview published on the website of the Oxford Literary Review.
Kicking off a new year of The OLR Supplement! An interview with @jemgilbert.bsky.social by Aleksander Kopka, on the political legacy of Derrida, building solidarity and mobilizing collectives, and neoliberalism and socialism in the 21st Century: olrsupplement.com/2026/01/06/t...
January 13, 2026 at 3:42 PM
I made the mistake of publishing this fascinating interview with Jeremy Gilbert on January 6, when people may have been a little distracted - so sharing it again for anyone who may have missed it:
A wonderful essay by @erikmbaker.bsky.social that situates academic organizing against Trump and genocide in a long history that includes Science for the People and early 20th-century predecessors: jewishcurrents.org/higher-eds-b...
Higher Ed's Bad Bargain
To salvage academic freedom amid Trump’s attacks, universities must break from their Cold War compromise with US militarism.
jewishcurrents.org
January 13, 2026 at 3:33 AM
A wonderful essay by @erikmbaker.bsky.social that situates academic organizing against Trump and genocide in a long history that includes Science for the People and early 20th-century predecessors: jewishcurrents.org/higher-eds-b...
Reposted by Jonathan Basile
Here’s me talking about everything from the philosophy of Jacques Derrida to the prospects for Your Party. A real honour to have been interviewed with such rigour and sympathy by the brilliant Aleksander Kopka, and to have the interview published on the website of the Oxford Literary Review.
Kicking off a new year of The OLR Supplement! An interview with @jemgilbert.bsky.social by Aleksander Kopka, on the political legacy of Derrida, building solidarity and mobilizing collectives, and neoliberalism and socialism in the 21st Century: olrsupplement.com/2026/01/06/t...
Thinking of Democratic Goals: In Conversation with Jeremy Gilbert - The OLR Supplement
Jeremy Gilbert in conversation on themes of reconstructing solidarity, political mobilization of collectives, horizontal organizing, psychedelic socialism, socialism and neoliberalism in the 21st cent...
olrsupplement.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Here’s me talking about everything from the philosophy of Jacques Derrida to the prospects for Your Party. A real honour to have been interviewed with such rigour and sympathy by the brilliant Aleksander Kopka, and to have the interview published on the website of the Oxford Literary Review.
Kicking off a new year of The OLR Supplement! An interview with @jemgilbert.bsky.social by Aleksander Kopka, on the political legacy of Derrida, building solidarity and mobilizing collectives, and neoliberalism and socialism in the 21st Century: olrsupplement.com/2026/01/06/t...
Thinking of Democratic Goals: In Conversation with Jeremy Gilbert - The OLR Supplement
Jeremy Gilbert in conversation on themes of reconstructing solidarity, political mobilization of collectives, horizontal organizing, psychedelic socialism, socialism and neoliberalism in the 21st cent...
olrsupplement.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Kicking off a new year of The OLR Supplement! An interview with @jemgilbert.bsky.social by Aleksander Kopka, on the political legacy of Derrida, building solidarity and mobilizing collectives, and neoliberalism and socialism in the 21st Century: olrsupplement.com/2026/01/06/t...
Reposted by Jonathan Basile
It was, by every measure, a banner year for The American Vandal.
Every episode is my favorite episode, but here were 2025's top 5 by downloads, starting where you would guess. The episode cited in Slate, Defector, etc. It coined a slogan.
The first of 3 appearances by @yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social
Every episode is my favorite episode, but here were 2025's top 5 by downloads, starting where you would guess. The episode cited in Slate, Defector, etc. It coined a slogan.
The first of 3 appearances by @yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social
Newspapers Worse Than Dead, But Print Is A Rent Strike (A Tale of Today, Episode #15)
with Tressie McMillan Cottom, Gil Duran, Samuel Freedman, Jeff Horwitz, Jeff Jarvis, Andie Tucher, and Yanis Varoufakis
theamericanvandal.substack.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:28 PM
It was, by every measure, a banner year for The American Vandal.
Every episode is my favorite episode, but here were 2025's top 5 by downloads, starting where you would guess. The episode cited in Slate, Defector, etc. It coined a slogan.
The first of 3 appearances by @yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social
Every episode is my favorite episode, but here were 2025's top 5 by downloads, starting where you would guess. The episode cited in Slate, Defector, etc. It coined a slogan.
The first of 3 appearances by @yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social
An exciting part of the past year for me was getting to launch and edit The OLR Supplement: olrsupplement.com - I'll share some of my favorite pieces from the past year below; reach out to me with pitches in the New Year!
The OLR Supplement
The online platform of the Oxford Literary Review, publishing reviews, essays, and interviews attesting to the enduring relevance of deconstructive thinking in today’s contexts.
olrsupplement.com
December 30, 2025 at 6:14 PM
An exciting part of the past year for me was getting to launch and edit The OLR Supplement: olrsupplement.com - I'll share some of my favorite pieces from the past year below; reach out to me with pitches in the New Year!
I did a lot of writing this year that I’m quite proud of - I’d be happy to share any of these pieces with anyone who’s interested:
December 23, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I did a lot of writing this year that I’m quite proud of - I’d be happy to share any of these pieces with anyone who’s interested:
Reposted by Jonathan Basile
Wonderful read...
I wrote this essay to show that the types of biological racism and neoliberal apologia that Slobodian finds among explicit advocates for neoliberalism are prevalent among evolutionary biologists: olrsupplement.com/2025/05/19/g... (Thread)
December 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Wonderful read...
Reposted by Jonathan Basile
arriving better late than never at this fabulous essay olrsupplement.com/2025/05/19/g...
December 20, 2025 at 10:24 PM
arriving better late than never at this fabulous essay olrsupplement.com/2025/05/19/g...
Here's the final installment of the Adam Kotsko roundtable, where Kotsko reflects on his relationship to Benjamin, Adorno, Hegel, and Agamben, and shares his thoughts about the "end of neoliberalism," Trump, and grifters: olrsupplement.com/2025/12/17/w...
December 17, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Here's the final installment of the Adam Kotsko roundtable, where Kotsko reflects on his relationship to Benjamin, Adorno, Hegel, and Agamben, and shares his thoughts about the "end of neoliberalism," Trump, and grifters: olrsupplement.com/2025/12/17/w...
The Adam Kotsko roundtable continues with an essay by Jay Martin: he builds on Kotsko's The Prince of the World by examining the absence of the devil in Hegel, to explore the indistinction of politics and theology
olrsupplement.com/2025/12/15/e...
olrsupplement.com/2025/12/15/e...
December 15, 2025 at 2:55 PM
The Adam Kotsko roundtable continues with an essay by Jay Martin: he builds on Kotsko's The Prince of the World by examining the absence of the devil in Hegel, to explore the indistinction of politics and theology
olrsupplement.com/2025/12/15/e...
olrsupplement.com/2025/12/15/e...
Excited and proud to share my new essay in ELH! “The Political Climate: Ecocriticism and the Apocalyptic Tone” focuses on John Guillory and Amitav Ghosh as examples of internal and external narrative contextualizations of a crisis in literary criticism muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
December 12, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Excited and proud to share my new essay in ELH! “The Political Climate: Ecocriticism and the Apocalyptic Tone” focuses on John Guillory and Amitav Ghosh as examples of internal and external narrative contextualizations of a crisis in literary criticism muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
The Adam Kotsko roundtable continues with Peter Gratton's reading of Neoliberalism's Demons, a political theology of neoliberalism as governance through debt and guilt that produces the illusion of freedom, updated for a post-neoliberal grift society: olrsupplement.com/2025/12/08/a...
A Hell Without End? Neoliberalism and the Grift Society - The OLR Supplement
Gratton brings into a post-neoliberal age of grift Adam Kotsko's Neoliberalism's Demons, an account of the theological roots of using debt to govern subjects with the illusion of freedom
olrsupplement.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:15 PM
The Adam Kotsko roundtable continues with Peter Gratton's reading of Neoliberalism's Demons, a political theology of neoliberalism as governance through debt and guilt that produces the illusion of freedom, updated for a post-neoliberal grift society: olrsupplement.com/2025/12/08/a...
Keep an eye out for a new book by me early next year!
December 4, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Keep an eye out for a new book by me early next year!
The Adam Kotsko Roundtable continues with an essay by Nils Richber; he draws on Adorno and political theology to describe 'too-late capitalism' as a post-apocalyptic state without eschatological orientation:
olrsupplement.com/2025/12/02/l...
olrsupplement.com/2025/12/02/l...
December 2, 2025 at 2:56 PM
The Adam Kotsko Roundtable continues with an essay by Nils Richber; he draws on Adorno and political theology to describe 'too-late capitalism' as a post-apocalyptic state without eschatological orientation:
olrsupplement.com/2025/12/02/l...
olrsupplement.com/2025/12/02/l...
Very excited to share the latest with you from The OLR Supplement: a roundtable on the work of Adam Kotsko, beginning with an introduction by Peter Gratton. A survey of Kotsko's work from political theology, Zizek, Lacan, and Agamben, to sociopaths and Star Trek: olrsupplement.com/2025/12/01/a...
Adam Kotsko’s Political Theology: An Introduction - The OLR Supplement
Peter Gratton writes an overview of Adam Kotsko's work, from Agamben and political theology to sociopaths and Star Trek
olrsupplement.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Very excited to share the latest with you from The OLR Supplement: a roundtable on the work of Adam Kotsko, beginning with an introduction by Peter Gratton. A survey of Kotsko's work from political theology, Zizek, Lacan, and Agamben, to sociopaths and Star Trek: olrsupplement.com/2025/12/01/a...