Michael Magras
@michaelmagras.bsky.social
Book critic, film buff. Writings in The New Yorker, Times Literary Supplement, The Economist, BookPage, Shelf Awareness, Kirkus, and more.
Maybe the problem is that sensible people don't want to pay $15 per person to sit in a movie theatre and watch films with rude patrons who won't shut up. They'd rather stay home, pay less, start the film whenever they want, eat their own food, and have a better time. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/b...
25 Movies, Many Stars, 0 Hits: Hollywood Falls to New Lows
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Maybe the problem is that sensible people don't want to pay $15 per person to sit in a movie theatre and watch films with rude patrons who won't shut up. They'd rather stay home, pay less, start the film whenever they want, eat their own food, and have a better time. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/b...
If I'm going to complain online, I feel it's only right to praise online as well. Town councilors and a police sergeant have reached out to me to try and solve the gun problem in our Maine community. They didn't have to. It looks like they may be listening. I'm grateful to them for contacting me.
November 8, 2025 at 5:06 PM
If I'm going to complain online, I feel it's only right to praise online as well. Town councilors and a police sergeant have reached out to me to try and solve the gun problem in our Maine community. They didn't have to. It looks like they may be listening. I'm grateful to them for contacting me.
And even better: Despite the cowardly refusal of @mainedems.bsky.social to back the initiative, Maine voters supported a red flag law by a vote of 60 to 40 percent.
BREAKING: Maine voters reject a sweeping Republican-backed anti-voting ballot measure that would have created a new photo ID requirement for voting, eliminated programs that expanded access to absentee ballots, ended the state’s permanent absentee voter list and more. Story to come.
November 5, 2025 at 3:10 AM
And even better: Despite the cowardly refusal of @mainedems.bsky.social to back the initiative, Maine voters supported a red flag law by a vote of 60 to 40 percent.
Reposted by Michael Magras
Zohran Mamdani has won the New York City mayoral race. Mamdani will be the first Muslim and first person of South Asian descent to serve as the city’s mayor. At 34 years old, he would also be the youngest mayor to run City Hall in modern history. nymag.com/intelligence...
November 5, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Zohran Mamdani has won the New York City mayoral race. Mamdani will be the first Muslim and first person of South Asian descent to serve as the city’s mayor. At 34 years old, he would also be the youngest mayor to run City Hall in modern history. nymag.com/intelligence...
Reposted by Michael Magras
BAD BAD GIRL is a unique mashup of literary novel and memoir that tells the fictionalized story of Gish Jen’s mother, from her 1924 birth in Shanghai to her death in the United States in 2020.
www.bookpage.com
October 27, 2025 at 8:30 PM
BAD BAD GIRL is a unique mashup of literary novel and memoir that tells the fictionalized story of Gish Jen’s mother, from her 1924 birth in Shanghai to her death in the United States in 2020.
Hi, Maine Democratic Party (@mainedems.bsky.social). I just received your fundraising solicitation. You ignored eight messages--eight--in which I asked you why the party isn't advocating for further gun control measures. Friendly advice: Don't treat your allies as if their voices don't matter.
October 22, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Hi, Maine Democratic Party (@mainedems.bsky.social). I just received your fundraising solicitation. You ignored eight messages--eight--in which I asked you why the party isn't advocating for further gun control measures. Friendly advice: Don't treat your allies as if their voices don't matter.
I won't name names, but some people on this platform are using the sad occasion of Diane Keaton's death to take pot shots at a director they hate, to the point of wishing him dead. To those people: I get that you choose to believe a certain story, but keep your despicable thoughts to yourself.
October 11, 2025 at 8:53 PM
I won't name names, but some people on this platform are using the sad occasion of Diane Keaton's death to take pot shots at a director they hate, to the point of wishing him dead. To those people: I get that you choose to believe a certain story, but keep your despicable thoughts to yourself.
A magnificent performance from one of the greatest films ever made. RIP, Diane Keaton. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXy9...
Annie Hall (5/12) Movie CLIP - Awkward Annie (1977) HD
YouTube video by Movieclips
www.youtube.com
October 11, 2025 at 8:09 PM
A magnificent performance from one of the greatest films ever made. RIP, Diane Keaton. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXy9...
@jesterholm.bsky.social Thanks, Jeff. Other residents and I have politely asked town officials multiple times to stop this. Since they won't, I plan to publicly embarrass them at every opportunity. We'll see what that does to the town economy.
October 9, 2025 at 10:21 PM
@jesterholm.bsky.social Thanks, Jeff. Other residents and I have politely asked town officials multiple times to stop this. Since they won't, I plan to publicly embarrass them at every opportunity. We'll see what that does to the town economy.
Once again, we're listening to loud gunfire in @freeportmaine.bsky.social. Town officials were informed that many residents who suffer from anxiety are traumatized by this, but they refuse to stop it. A police sergeant even came to our home and tried to intimidate me into dropping my complaint. 1/2
October 9, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Once again, we're listening to loud gunfire in @freeportmaine.bsky.social. Town officials were informed that many residents who suffer from anxiety are traumatized by this, but they refuse to stop it. A police sergeant even came to our home and tried to intimidate me into dropping my complaint. 1/2
There's still a lot of time left and much to learn, but in the off-chance anyone is listening: Jordan Wood, U.S. Senate candidate from Maine, supports an expansion of red flag laws. I asked gun enthusiast @grahamformaine.bsky.social three times for his thoughts on gun control. He wouldn't answer me.
18 people died in Lewiston because we didn’t have red flag laws on the books. We can never allow it to happen again.
Vote Yes on Question 2.
Vote Yes on Question 2.
September 28, 2025 at 12:47 PM
There's still a lot of time left and much to learn, but in the off-chance anyone is listening: Jordan Wood, U.S. Senate candidate from Maine, supports an expansion of red flag laws. I asked gun enthusiast @grahamformaine.bsky.social three times for his thoughts on gun control. He wouldn't answer me.
Yet another magazine article about Graham Platner in which the interviewer didn't ask this competitive shooter for his thoughts on badly-needed gun reform. I asked him three times (I'm a Maine progressive), but he won't respond. Could someone please ask him? I'd like to hear his thoughts.
Sarah Jones interviews Graham Platner, who’s running as a Democrat to replace Susan Collins in the Senate.
Can a Populist Oyster Farmer End Susan Collins’s Career?
Sarah Jones interviews Graham Platner, who’s running as a Democrat to replace Susan Collins in the Senate.
nymag.com
August 30, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Yet another magazine article about Graham Platner in which the interviewer didn't ask this competitive shooter for his thoughts on badly-needed gun reform. I asked him three times (I'm a Maine progressive), but he won't respond. Could someone please ask him? I'd like to hear his thoughts.
@jesterholm.bsky.social Thanks, Jeff.
August 28, 2025 at 12:55 AM
@jesterholm.bsky.social Thanks, Jeff.
A @freeportmaine.bsky.social police officer just told me 200-db explosions of gunfire that terrify unsuspecting residents are reasonable if they occur before 10 PM. Folks, could you please boost this post (on this day of the latest school shooting) and help me pressure them to stop this? Thank you.
August 27, 2025 at 11:45 PM
A @freeportmaine.bsky.social police officer just told me 200-db explosions of gunfire that terrify unsuspecting residents are reasonable if they occur before 10 PM. Folks, could you please boost this post (on this day of the latest school shooting) and help me pressure them to stop this? Thank you.
Hi, Town of Freeport, Maine. It's 6:40 PM, and we're listening to extremely loud, rapid gunfire from a backyard shooting range in our part of Freeport. Other residents and I have complained about this issue multiple times. Why have town officials repeatedly refused to put a stop to it?
Public Hearing is scheduled at the 9/2 Freeport Town Council meeting at 6pm at 30 Main St to discuss items including proposed moratorium that prohibits charging the general public to park in the Village Commercial District 1 and Village Commercial District 2 to be effective retroactive to 6/24/25.
August 27, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Hi, Town of Freeport, Maine. It's 6:40 PM, and we're listening to extremely loud, rapid gunfire from a backyard shooting range in our part of Freeport. Other residents and I have complained about this issue multiple times. Why have town officials repeatedly refused to put a stop to it?
Reposted by Michael Magras
From today's @financialtimes.com #TomLehrer
July 29, 2025 at 5:17 PM
From today's @financialtimes.com #TomLehrer
If I may add to this excellent appreciation of Tom Lehrer: "Wernher von Braun" is hilarious, but it's even funnier when you know that the intro music is a variation on Haydn's "Deutschlandlied," which begins, "Deutschland über alles" ("Germany above all"). www.newyorker.com/culture/post...
How Tom Lehrer Escaped the Transience of Satire
The late songwriter’s targets are mostly forgotten—so why do new generations keep discovering him?
www.newyorker.com
July 29, 2025 at 12:58 PM
If I may add to this excellent appreciation of Tom Lehrer: "Wernher von Braun" is hilarious, but it's even funnier when you know that the intro music is a variation on Haydn's "Deutschlandlied," which begins, "Deutschland über alles" ("Germany above all"). www.newyorker.com/culture/post...
For those who don't know, Tom Lehrer wrote terrific songs for children (and adults) for "The Electric Company." My favorite is "Snore, Sniff, and Sneeze." Farewell to a unique talent. #TomLehrer www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoRc...
Tom Lehrer - "S-N (Snore, Sniff, And Sneeze)"
YouTube video by Edgar Aldrett
www.youtube.com
July 27, 2025 at 7:37 PM
For those who don't know, Tom Lehrer wrote terrific songs for children (and adults) for "The Electric Company." My favorite is "Snore, Sniff, and Sneeze." Farewell to a unique talent. #TomLehrer www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoRc...
I'm sad, but I'm also laughing, because this is one of the funniest obituaries you will ever read. For my money, Tom Lehrer was the single greatest comedian of the 20th Century. Absolutely brilliant. #TomLehrer www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/a...
Tom Lehrer, Musical Satirist With a Dark Streak, Dies at 97
www.nytimes.com
July 27, 2025 at 7:23 PM
I'm sad, but I'm also laughing, because this is one of the funniest obituaries you will ever read. For my money, Tom Lehrer was the single greatest comedian of the 20th Century. Absolutely brilliant. #TomLehrer www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/a...
Reposted by Michael Magras
Ruben Reyes Jr.’s excellent debut novel uses the device of the multiverse to ask, what if the Salvadoran Civil War hadn’t happened, and the families involved had met a different fate? @marinerbooks.bsky.social
www.bookpage.com
July 2, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Ruben Reyes Jr.’s excellent debut novel uses the device of the multiverse to ask, what if the Salvadoran Civil War hadn’t happened, and the families involved had met a different fate? @marinerbooks.bsky.social
Reposted by Michael Magras
Reposted by Michael Magras
Zohran Mamdani won a victory for his own campaign in NYC but ALSO for a vision of the next Democratic Party: a bolder, more outspoken party that builds multiracial, multiethnic coalitions that speak directly to the aspirations of working-class voters — with an economic agenda that is on their side.
Zohran Mamdani Proves That Power Belongs to the People
In a rebuke to cynical Democratic insiders and the New York Times editorial page, voters backed a democratic socialist for mayor of the nation's largest city.
www.thenation.com
June 25, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Zohran Mamdani won a victory for his own campaign in NYC but ALSO for a vision of the next Democratic Party: a bolder, more outspoken party that builds multiracial, multiethnic coalitions that speak directly to the aspirations of working-class voters — with an economic agenda that is on their side.
Reposted by Michael Magras
A musical giant with the tenderest touch, the great pianist Alfred Brendel has sadly died, aged 94. His performances will blaze in memory; his recordings will inspire for generations to come. He received the RPS Gold Medal in 1992, presented by fellow recipient Yehudi Menuhin.
June 17, 2025 at 2:59 PM
A musical giant with the tenderest touch, the great pianist Alfred Brendel has sadly died, aged 94. His performances will blaze in memory; his recordings will inspire for generations to come. He received the RPS Gold Medal in 1992, presented by fellow recipient Yehudi Menuhin.
Reposted by Michael Magras
Who gets custody of JD in the divorce?
June 5, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Who gets custody of JD in the divorce?
Reposted by Michael Magras
We all know how difficult forgiveness can be. In Kevin Wilson’s colorful novel, RUN FOR THE HILLS, newly introduced half siblings give it their best shot. @eccobooks.bsky.social
www.bookpage.com
May 18, 2025 at 7:00 PM
We all know how difficult forgiveness can be. In Kevin Wilson’s colorful novel, RUN FOR THE HILLS, newly introduced half siblings give it their best shot. @eccobooks.bsky.social