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kevin
@kevinng.bsky.social
· Dec 30
Aida review — the Met’s tacky show is Las Vegas meets ancient Egypt
Angel Blue’s impassioned singing as the heroine of Verdi’s opera is the highlight of a dispiriting night at the Metropolitan Opera in New York
www.thetimes.com
It’s been a busy 2025, and here are some of the favourite things I’ve written!
I started off the year covering the Met’s Aida for @thetimes.com, which was marred by a sick tenor and a director who hadn’t read his Edward Said:
I started off the year covering the Met’s Aida for @thetimes.com, which was marred by a sick tenor and a director who hadn’t read his Edward Said:
Reposted by kevin
clearly she was onto something seeing as how they fucking killed her
January 14, 2026 at 2:21 AM
clearly she was onto something seeing as how they fucking killed her
Reposted by kevin
"...No nurse should be asked to accept less pay, fewer benefits, or less dignity for doing lifesaving work. Our nurses have kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable.” —New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani
The Largest Nurses Strike in New York City History Just Kicked Off
Nearly 15,000 healthcare workers across New York City are on the picket lines demanding safe staffing and workplace protections.
inthesetimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 5:22 PM
"...No nurse should be asked to accept less pay, fewer benefits, or less dignity for doing lifesaving work. Our nurses have kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable.” —New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani
Reposted by kevin
It’s out in German and will be soon in English: Jeff Brown and I considered the new Matthias Pintscher opera DAS KALTE HERZ at Staatsoper Berlin.
Matthias Pintscher und Daniel Arkadij Gerzenberg hängen in ihrer neuen Oper ›Das kalte Herz‹ dem Märchen allerhand Hintergrunderzählungen und neue Figuren an. Kann das funktionieren? Die Nachbesprechung am Tresen van-magazin.de/mag/matthias...
January 13, 2026 at 10:13 AM
It’s out in German and will be soon in English: Jeff Brown and I considered the new Matthias Pintscher opera DAS KALTE HERZ at Staatsoper Berlin.
Reposted by kevin
I went to see Hamnet and found it pretty tedious, though I may be allergic to this genus of weepy period piece:
A ★★ review of Hamnet (2025)
I think I'm pretty allergic to weepy 16th-century period pieces populated by it-boy movie stars with perfect teeth and chiseled beards and Oscar fantasies, though I tried to approach this one with an ...
letterboxd.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:24 AM
I went to see Hamnet and found it pretty tedious, though I may be allergic to this genus of weepy period piece:
Reposted by kevin
BREAKING: Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife has made a “transformational” donation to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group. This large gift comes just months after the Trump administration shut down counseling services for queer youth.
My latest for @wired.com:
My latest for @wired.com:
MacKenzie Scott Donates $45 Million to the Trevor Project
Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife has made a donation to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group that the organization calls “transformational.”
www.wired.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:33 PM
BREAKING: Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife has made a “transformational” donation to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group. This large gift comes just months after the Trump administration shut down counseling services for queer youth.
My latest for @wired.com:
My latest for @wired.com:
Reposted by kevin
Really saddened and shocked to hear of Andrew Clements' death. A wonderful critic, matchless on 20 and 21st century music, and a great colleague and friend to whom I owe an immense debt of gratitude for his role in giving me my own break as a critic. It's a huge loss. And he will be greatly missed.
January 11, 2026 at 10:29 PM
Really saddened and shocked to hear of Andrew Clements' death. A wonderful critic, matchless on 20 and 21st century music, and a great colleague and friend to whom I owe an immense debt of gratitude for his role in giving me my own break as a critic. It's a huge loss. And he will be greatly missed.
Reposted by kevin
we’re in the vet’s office waiting room and they just called for Agamemnon. we all looked at the Great Dane but it turns out Agamemnon is an orange kitten in a backpack that makes him look like an astronaut cheese puff
January 11, 2026 at 5:27 PM
we’re in the vet’s office waiting room and they just called for Agamemnon. we all looked at the Great Dane but it turns out Agamemnon is an orange kitten in a backpack that makes him look like an astronaut cheese puff
Reposted by kevin
Immigration agents have shot at least nine people since September. All of them have been in cars.
Cops are taught not to shoot into cars. ICE keeps doing it anyway.
Immigration agents have shot at least nine people since September. All of them have been in cars.
www.motherjones.com
January 11, 2026 at 8:01 PM
Immigration agents have shot at least nine people since September. All of them have been in cars.
Reposted by kevin
If calling a state secret police agent a murderer for committing murder will lead to more murder by the state secret police, it sure seems like the problem is with the secret police
Homan: "We gotta stop the hateful rhetoric. Saying this officer is a murderer is dangerous. It's just ridiculous. It's gonna infuriate people more which means there's gonna be more incidents like this."
January 11, 2026 at 5:08 PM
If calling a state secret police agent a murderer for committing murder will lead to more murder by the state secret police, it sure seems like the problem is with the secret police
Reposted by kevin
"In America, when a officer murders an innocent person, billionaires give them a cash bonus."
NEW: It appears billionaire Bill Ackman has donated $10k to a GoFundMe for Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who killed Renee Good.
Ackman has reposted the fundraiser but hasn’t posted about his own donation.
Ackman has reposted the fundraiser but hasn’t posted about his own donation.
January 11, 2026 at 1:26 PM
"In America, when a officer murders an innocent person, billionaires give them a cash bonus."
Reposted by kevin
The American Dialect Society's Word of the Year is SLOP!
“Slop isn’t a new word. It has moved from the pig sty, to the algorithm, and now forms newcompounds such as sloppunk, slopification, and friend slop,” Dr. Kelly Elizabeth Wright said. “This productivity has no end in sight.” 🧵
“Slop isn’t a new word. It has moved from the pig sty, to the algorithm, and now forms newcompounds such as sloppunk, slopification, and friend slop,” Dr. Kelly Elizabeth Wright said. “This productivity has no end in sight.” 🧵
January 11, 2026 at 5:11 AM
The American Dialect Society's Word of the Year is SLOP!
“Slop isn’t a new word. It has moved from the pig sty, to the algorithm, and now forms newcompounds such as sloppunk, slopification, and friend slop,” Dr. Kelly Elizabeth Wright said. “This productivity has no end in sight.” 🧵
“Slop isn’t a new word. It has moved from the pig sty, to the algorithm, and now forms newcompounds such as sloppunk, slopification, and friend slop,” Dr. Kelly Elizabeth Wright said. “This productivity has no end in sight.” 🧵
Reposted by kevin
excuse me @mayor.nyc.gov, will you invite the unhoused basement bear to live in the greatest city in the world
January 10, 2026 at 5:19 AM
excuse me @mayor.nyc.gov, will you invite the unhoused basement bear to live in the greatest city in the world
On Festen, my favourite opera of 2025
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Festen - Parterre Box
It's a dazzling, shocking, and entertaining 100 minutes - one of the best new operas I've seen.
parterre.com
January 10, 2026 at 5:03 PM
On Festen, my favourite opera of 2025
Reposted by kevin
Gonna have to rename the Streisand Effect the Bari Weiss Effect
A career federal agent says that in 25 years, a fleeing vehicle has never justified killing its occupant, and officers should never stand in front of a running car. CBS reportedly pulled the interview, but it posted on YouTube.
www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...
www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...
Retired ICE agent breaks down deadly Minneapolis shooting
YouTube video by CBS Evening News
www.youtube.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:36 AM
Gonna have to rename the Streisand Effect the Bari Weiss Effect
Reposted by kevin
Can you believe I paid less than a dollar for all these hits?!??!
January 10, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Can you believe I paid less than a dollar for all these hits?!??!
Reposted by kevin
Trump Gets Up, Walks Away From Meeting To Stare Out Window At Ballroom
Trump Gets Up, Walks Away From Meeting To Stare Out Window At Ballroom
Trump Gets Up, Walks Away From Meeting To Stare Out Window At Ballroom
www.huffpost.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Reposted by kevin
The storied Washington National Opera decides to leave the Kennedy Center where it has played since 1971, perhaps the most significant artistic rebuke yet to Trump’s campaign to remake the facility in his image and attach his name to it. @adamnagourney.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/a...
Washington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy Center
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:10 AM
The storied Washington National Opera decides to leave the Kennedy Center where it has played since 1971, perhaps the most significant artistic rebuke yet to Trump’s campaign to remake the facility in his image and attach his name to it. @adamnagourney.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/a...
Reposted by kevin
I will read every interview with Heated Rivalry writer and director Jacob Tierney because his quotes are truly a reporter's dream: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
January 9, 2026 at 11:42 PM
I will read every interview with Heated Rivalry writer and director Jacob Tierney because his quotes are truly a reporter's dream: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Reposted by kevin
Looks like ICE is now cracking down on … Native Americans.
This letter was just posted by the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North/South Dakota:
“Our Nation is a sovereign government and our members are not immigrants. We are not subject to immigration enforcement on our own lands.”
This letter was just posted by the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North/South Dakota:
“Our Nation is a sovereign government and our members are not immigrants. We are not subject to immigration enforcement on our own lands.”
January 10, 2026 at 12:13 AM
Looks like ICE is now cracking down on … Native Americans.
This letter was just posted by the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North/South Dakota:
“Our Nation is a sovereign government and our members are not immigrants. We are not subject to immigration enforcement on our own lands.”
This letter was just posted by the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North/South Dakota:
“Our Nation is a sovereign government and our members are not immigrants. We are not subject to immigration enforcement on our own lands.”
Reposted by kevin
Great @vanityfair.com story about how wealthy Upper East Side "liberals" have gone full QAnon about Mamdani. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/m...
January 9, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Great @vanityfair.com story about how wealthy Upper East Side "liberals" have gone full QAnon about Mamdani. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/m...
Reposted by kevin
In a @phillymag.com exclusive, here's the inside story of how Sasha Suda's reign at the Philadelphia Art Museum fell apart so spectacularly, and the board of directors who made it happen.
Inside the Philadelphia Art Museum’s Epic Meltdown
The exclusive story behind the brutal ouster of Sasha Suda and the new civil war at Philadelphia’s premiere cultural institution
www.phillymag.com
January 9, 2026 at 5:43 PM
In a @phillymag.com exclusive, here's the inside story of how Sasha Suda's reign at the Philadelphia Art Museum fell apart so spectacularly, and the board of directors who made it happen.
Reposted by kevin
A photo essay from @chrisgeidner.bsky.social on Washington, D.C.’s 14th Street protest on Thursday evening.
“The people, united, will never be defeated.“
www.lawdork.com/p/dc-ice-pro...
“The people, united, will never be defeated.“
www.lawdork.com/p/dc-ice-pro...
January 9, 2026 at 3:07 AM
A photo essay from @chrisgeidner.bsky.social on Washington, D.C.’s 14th Street protest on Thursday evening.
“The people, united, will never be defeated.“
www.lawdork.com/p/dc-ice-pro...
“The people, united, will never be defeated.“
www.lawdork.com/p/dc-ice-pro...
Reposted by kevin
Hochul and Mamdani Announce Plan to Make N.Y. Child Care Universal
in a rational world, this policy should make natalists happy, but it probably won't
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/n...
in a rational world, this policy should make natalists happy, but it probably won't
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/n...
Hochul and Mamdani Announce Plan to Make N.Y. Child Care Universal
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:09 AM
Hochul and Mamdani Announce Plan to Make N.Y. Child Care Universal
in a rational world, this policy should make natalists happy, but it probably won't
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/n...
in a rational world, this policy should make natalists happy, but it probably won't
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/n...
Reposted by kevin
More violence. It is not an accident. The goal is to scare us.
BREAKING: Federal immigration officers shoot and wound 2 people in Portland, Oregon, authorities say
Federal immigration officers shoot and wound 2 people in Portland, Oregon, authorities say
Federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, authorities said.
trib.al
January 9, 2026 at 12:23 AM
More violence. It is not an accident. The goal is to scare us.