Lakis Polycarpou
@lpolycarpou.bsky.social
Novelist, journalist. Author of August in the Vanishing City.
Read more at https://www.lakispolycarpou.com/
Read more at https://www.lakispolycarpou.com/
At first glance, I misread this headline as "girls desire to marry plumbers," and I thought, good for them.
US high school girls’ desire to marry plummets, poll finds
The percentage of girls aged 17 and 18 looking to marry has fallen from 83% in 1993 to 61% in 2023.
www.semafor.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:09 PM
At first glance, I misread this headline as "girls desire to marry plumbers," and I thought, good for them.
Everyone knows that the best way to deal with a bully is to complain a little at first, but give them what they want in the end. It's just common sense.
November 10, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Everyone knows that the best way to deal with a bully is to complain a little at first, but give them what they want in the end. It's just common sense.
Reposted by Lakis Polycarpou
The margins by which Prop 50 won is the biggest story of night.
November 5, 2025 at 1:07 PM
The margins by which Prop 50 won is the biggest story of night.
This post wins the prize
COUNT I
Kat Abughazaleh did, while law enforcement was in heated pursuit, paint what appeared to be the entrance to a cave on a sheer rock wall, causing law enforcement to forcibly bonk into said wall.
COUNT II
The same thing on a different wall, but then a train came out and ran us over???
Kat Abughazaleh did, while law enforcement was in heated pursuit, paint what appeared to be the entrance to a cave on a sheer rock wall, causing law enforcement to forcibly bonk into said wall.
COUNT II
The same thing on a different wall, but then a train came out and ran us over???
October 30, 2025 at 4:35 AM
This post wins the prize
Reposted by Lakis Polycarpou
after millions of views and shares of my Portland Frog art. (thank you all🙏🏾) I got requests to highlight priests, and chickens, and Chicagoans, and T-Rexes, and more… all of us who refuse to bend the knee. so this is for US.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.
October 10, 2025 at 9:11 PM
after millions of views and shares of my Portland Frog art. (thank you all🙏🏾) I got requests to highlight priests, and chickens, and Chicagoans, and T-Rexes, and more… all of us who refuse to bend the knee. so this is for US.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.
Love this.
This is what No Kings Day felt like 🐸🐔🦄🐿️✨
“Tʜɪs ɪs ᴡʜᴀᴛ Dᴇᴍᴏᴄʀᴀᴄʏ ʟᴏᴏᴋs ʟɪᴋᴇ!“ 🗣️✨
This country belongs to the people.
#StandTALL 🚀🗣️
(Prints at www.Nikkolas.Art)
“Tʜɪs ɪs ᴡʜᴀᴛ Dᴇᴍᴏᴄʀᴀᴄʏ ʟᴏᴏᴋs ʟɪᴋᴇ!“ 🗣️✨
This country belongs to the people.
#StandTALL 🚀🗣️
(Prints at www.Nikkolas.Art)
October 20, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Love this.
Better headline: "President loses his shit over no kings protest."
The evil and idiocy was foreseeable but I admit I didn't quite expect how childish American fascism would be
President Trump posted what appeared to be an A.I.-generated video on social media showing him wearing a crown and flying a jet labeled “King Trump” that dumps brown liquid on protesters. He shared the video on Saturday, the same day that protesters participated in mass “No Kings” demonstrations.
October 20, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Better headline: "President loses his shit over no kings protest."
The original Tron is proof (if you needed it) that no, the '80s were not that cool. Feels like they're scraping the bottom of the IP barrel with this movie. @wired.com #tron #TronAres
‘Tron: Ares’ Wants to Gaslight You About the Future of AI
The latest film in the “Tron” franchise seems to have not learned any lessons from sci-fi movies past—or from current reality.
www.wired.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:58 PM
The original Tron is proof (if you needed it) that no, the '80s were not that cool. Feels like they're scraping the bottom of the IP barrel with this movie. @wired.com #tron #TronAres
Reposted by Lakis Polycarpou
Truly disgusting
ICE detained an autistic 5 year old girl in Leominster, Mass
Using this child-a US citizen-as bait to lure her father-who has lived in the country for 20 years-out so they could arrest him
How do these people live with themselves
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8AmrWut/
ICE detained an autistic 5 year old girl in Leominster, Mass
Using this child-a US citizen-as bait to lure her father-who has lived in the country for 20 years-out so they could arrest him
How do these people live with themselves
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8AmrWut/
A Leominster family who has lived in the United States for more than 20 years said federal immigration agents held their 5-year-old daughter, who is a US-citizen and autistic, in custody outside their...
TikTok video by The Boston Globe
www.tiktok.com
October 13, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Truly disgusting
ICE detained an autistic 5 year old girl in Leominster, Mass
Using this child-a US citizen-as bait to lure her father-who has lived in the country for 20 years-out so they could arrest him
How do these people live with themselves
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8AmrWut/
ICE detained an autistic 5 year old girl in Leominster, Mass
Using this child-a US citizen-as bait to lure her father-who has lived in the country for 20 years-out so they could arrest him
How do these people live with themselves
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8AmrWut/
"The entirely innocent people whom the regime liquidated by the millions, the "objective enemies" in Bolshevik language, knew that they were "criminals without a crime."
- Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism
www.lakispolycarpou.com/the-punisher...
- Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism
www.lakispolycarpou.com/the-punisher...
October 10, 2025 at 7:28 PM
"The entirely innocent people whom the regime liquidated by the millions, the "objective enemies" in Bolshevik language, knew that they were "criminals without a crime."
- Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism
www.lakispolycarpou.com/the-punisher...
- Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism
www.lakispolycarpou.com/the-punisher...
Thinking about what it means for the administration to fetishize The Punisher.
The Punisher and the Regime
A lot of insane things happened this week.
ICE stormed an apartment building in Chicago using unmarked trucks and a helicopter. The agency broke down doors (allegedly without warrants) and dragged pe...
www.lakispolycarpou.com
October 9, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Thinking about what it means for the administration to fetishize The Punisher.
I had some thoughts.
How's that Civil War Going?
A both/and story.
Quick note to subscribers: I've decided to move my newsletter from Substack to Ghost for several reasons. Hopefully, you won't notice a difference, but if you have any issues, don't...
www.lakispolycarpou.com
October 9, 2025 at 12:16 AM
I had some thoughts.
Reposted by Lakis Polycarpou
Can't believe they're making me side with Big Pharma for the 2nd time in five years.
September 23, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Can't believe they're making me side with Big Pharma for the 2nd time in five years.
When people complain that “GPT-5 is wearing the skin of my dead friend,” it suggests that OpenAI was probably right to make the new version less sycophantic. Serious question, though: if you love it so much, why can't you just prompt GPT-5 to behave like GPT-4?
The Day ChatGPT Went Cold
www.nytimes.com
August 21, 2025 at 3:43 PM
When people complain that “GPT-5 is wearing the skin of my dead friend,” it suggests that OpenAI was probably right to make the new version less sycophantic. Serious question, though: if you love it so much, why can't you just prompt GPT-5 to behave like GPT-4?
South Park may or may not be the hero we need right now, but it's definitely the one we deserve.
July 24, 2025 at 8:23 PM
South Park may or may not be the hero we need right now, but it's definitely the one we deserve.
I always respected Hitchens. Even when he was on the "wrong" side of an issue (like his support for the Iraq war) he argued from a position of conscience. This video truly is chilling — and a reminder that even in the realm of authoritarianism, not all regimes are the same. (Thanks to TMH).
TMH on Substack
"One of the most chilling—annihilatingly chilling, actually—videos ever made in the 20th century"
substack.com
July 1, 2025 at 2:10 AM
I always respected Hitchens. Even when he was on the "wrong" side of an issue (like his support for the Iraq war) he argued from a position of conscience. This video truly is chilling — and a reminder that even in the realm of authoritarianism, not all regimes are the same. (Thanks to TMH).
Reposted by Lakis Polycarpou
I've come to the horrible conclusion that the only reason ICE looks like this (under an administration that LOVES a uniform!) is that in the not-distant future, they want civilian vigilantes taking it upon themselves to do more violent versions of this same work. And they'll be indistinguishable.
June 20, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I've come to the horrible conclusion that the only reason ICE looks like this (under an administration that LOVES a uniform!) is that in the not-distant future, they want civilian vigilantes taking it upon themselves to do more violent versions of this same work. And they'll be indistinguishable.
Reposted by Lakis Polycarpou
The Turnip Regime doesn’t want anyone to see this. It’s a little too close to home. It would be a shame if it went viral….
June 18, 2025 at 10:00 PM
The Turnip Regime doesn’t want anyone to see this. It’s a little too close to home. It would be a shame if it went viral….
Among other important points, Charlie Sykes point out that the attacker was dressed like a policeman -- highlighting even more the importance of law enforcement identifying themselves.
Sunday newsletter: American Horror open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
American Horror
9 days in June
open.substack.com
June 16, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Among other important points, Charlie Sykes point out that the attacker was dressed like a policeman -- highlighting even more the importance of law enforcement identifying themselves.
Totalitarian kitsch everywhere. (Thanks to Paul Krugman for the recent reminder of Milan Kundera).
They look like prisoners of war.
I did not edit this, this is the actual parade with the actual music being played.
CINEMATIC
CINEMATIC
June 16, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Totalitarian kitsch everywhere. (Thanks to Paul Krugman for the recent reminder of Milan Kundera).
