Neil ‘Professor Neil’ Shyminsky
@neilshyminsky.bsky.social
English professor; co-editor of Spaces & Places of Canadian Popular Culture; feminist dad; he/him; @professorneil on TikTok; @professor_neil on Instagram
https://linktr.ee/neilshyminsky
https://linktr.ee/neilshyminsky
I allow the conversation about ‘common sense’ in my communication classes to come up organically (it always does) because it’s the best way to look at how its appearance conceals a bias. Sometimes it’s not conscious? But just as often it’s actively weaponized to reframe bias as undeniable truth.
“Common sense is common sense,” Schultz said. “I don’t need a report, one way or the other, to tell me that. I just firmly believe that minors should not be transitioning.”
This really gives the game away. As we've said, no amount of evidence would ever satisfy them. It's ideological.
This really gives the game away. As we've said, no amount of evidence would ever satisfy them. It's ideological.
January 5, 2026 at 2:03 PM
I allow the conversation about ‘common sense’ in my communication classes to come up organically (it always does) because it’s the best way to look at how its appearance conceals a bias. Sometimes it’s not conscious? But just as often it’s actively weaponized to reframe bias as undeniable truth.
It took 360 days but we found it, the video of the year:
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 27, 2025 at 6:45 PM
It took 360 days but we found it, the video of the year:
TikTok’s moderation makes zero sense. I posted sponsored content. Clicked the box to indicate as much. Tagged the brand as sponsor. And it was removed for violating sponsored content rules IMMEDIATELY. I also can’t appeal - I’m given the option but the submit button simply… doesn’t work. Ffs
December 24, 2025 at 3:07 PM
TikTok’s moderation makes zero sense. I posted sponsored content. Clicked the box to indicate as much. Tagged the brand as sponsor. And it was removed for violating sponsored content rules IMMEDIATELY. I also can’t appeal - I’m given the option but the submit button simply… doesn’t work. Ffs
Got a diagnosis of a type IV allergic reaction, which prompted a joke about how I ‘look like [i’ve] been poisoned’. The cause is still a mystery, though, because it wasn’t poison ivy. So that’s fun.
December 18, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Got a diagnosis of a type IV allergic reaction, which prompted a joke about how I ‘look like [i’ve] been poisoned’. The cause is still a mystery, though, because it wasn’t poison ivy. So that’s fun.
Fun fact: I turn 44 later this month! 🙃
![The Cut
https://www.thecut.com
Feeling Old: 44 Is the First Big Aging Cliff
for Millennials
Research shows that aging hits Us harder at
distinct moments
the first at 44. Elder millennials are
headed for the cliff.
[IMAGE of Jung-Jae Lee in SQUID GAME]
I'm fucked.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cilflthhvjzz6dz6k765zjwa/bafkreiffqjv3uhdnqffgcyaesf2n7yy576a3jvzm2ubeonr6kfore664aa@jpeg)
December 7, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Fun fact: I turn 44 later this month! 🙃
This FAQ for baseball player Jhostynxon García somehow doesn’t include what I imagine is the *most* frequently asked question about him:
December 7, 2025 at 4:30 AM
This FAQ for baseball player Jhostynxon García somehow doesn’t include what I imagine is the *most* frequently asked question about him:
Utilities $300
Mortgage $1500
Blackberries $200
Raspberries $400
Strawberries $3,600
Someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. My toddler is bankrupting us.
Mortgage $1500
Blackberries $200
Raspberries $400
Strawberries $3,600
Someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. My toddler is bankrupting us.
December 2, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Utilities $300
Mortgage $1500
Blackberries $200
Raspberries $400
Strawberries $3,600
Someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. My toddler is bankrupting us.
Mortgage $1500
Blackberries $200
Raspberries $400
Strawberries $3,600
Someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. My toddler is bankrupting us.
Reposted by Neil ‘Professor Neil’ Shyminsky
This is a really remarkable video essay on contemporary film and the theories of Laura Marks. It's making me think about movies in a new way.
Why Movies Just Don't Feel "Real" Anymore
YouTube video by Like Stories of Old
www.youtube.com
November 16, 2025 at 7:40 PM
This is a really remarkable video essay on contemporary film and the theories of Laura Marks. It's making me think about movies in a new way.
The son of a former Conservative Prime Minister - who also inexplicably hosts 1 of the country’s few mainstream media political tv shows - thinks the left in Canada says ‘pretty abhorrent things that simply don’t exist on the right’ and I have to wonder whether he’s a terrible liar or just an idiot.
November 15, 2025 at 2:58 PM
The son of a former Conservative Prime Minister - who also inexplicably hosts 1 of the country’s few mainstream media political tv shows - thinks the left in Canada says ‘pretty abhorrent things that simply don’t exist on the right’ and I have to wonder whether he’s a terrible liar or just an idiot.
I don’t know what this actually says because this is what i heard:
‘You know that thing you enjoy doing? We can make a robot that replaces you. And those people who enjoy watching you do it? Yeah, fuck those suckers.’
Thanks, AI company, I hate everything you said and stand for.
‘You know that thing you enjoy doing? We can make a robot that replaces you. And those people who enjoy watching you do it? Yeah, fuck those suckers.’
Thanks, AI company, I hate everything you said and stand for.
November 13, 2025 at 1:02 AM
I don’t know what this actually says because this is what i heard:
‘You know that thing you enjoy doing? We can make a robot that replaces you. And those people who enjoy watching you do it? Yeah, fuck those suckers.’
Thanks, AI company, I hate everything you said and stand for.
‘You know that thing you enjoy doing? We can make a robot that replaces you. And those people who enjoy watching you do it? Yeah, fuck those suckers.’
Thanks, AI company, I hate everything you said and stand for.
Reposted by Neil ‘Professor Neil’ Shyminsky
Because the huge Anthropic class action settlement limits eligibility to works registered w/ US Copyright Office, non-US writers are mostly locked out. But there's a similar proposed class action covering Canadian authors (click Documents link, then Amended Notice) www.cfmlawyers.ca/class-action...
Anthropic PBC AI Copyright - CFM Lawyers
www.cfmlawyers.ca
November 2, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Because the huge Anthropic class action settlement limits eligibility to works registered w/ US Copyright Office, non-US writers are mostly locked out. But there's a similar proposed class action covering Canadian authors (click Documents link, then Amended Notice) www.cfmlawyers.ca/class-action...
I was asked by the CBC what it would take to save the college system. I replied that since Doug Ford loves giving $ to his pals, maybe we should see if Ford Fest’s hot dog supplier is available to become president of our school. I hope they run the quote as an excuse to mention this again:
Venue of $10M Skills Development Fund recipient, partners now licensed as an ‘adult entertainment club’
For decades, Zlatko Starkovski has leased the historic Exhibition Place building, which hosted PC fundraisers and the party’s campaign manager’s wedding in recent years
www.thetrillium.ca
November 10, 2025 at 4:25 PM
I was asked by the CBC what it would take to save the college system. I replied that since Doug Ford loves giving $ to his pals, maybe we should see if Ford Fest’s hot dog supplier is available to become president of our school. I hope they run the quote as an excuse to mention this again:
I tweeted on Threads yesterday that men make terrible electoral choices - and added a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that men just shouldn’t be allowed to vote. (In seriousness, tho, I think removing voting rights is always bad and we should instead expand voting to as many people as possible.)
/1
/1
November 8, 2025 at 2:17 PM
I tweeted on Threads yesterday that men make terrible electoral choices - and added a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that men just shouldn’t be allowed to vote. (In seriousness, tho, I think removing voting rights is always bad and we should instead expand voting to as many people as possible.)
/1
/1
This is maybe the least shocking thing I’ve heard all year but it’s still disappointing.
had sort of hoped the new scott galloway manliness book would not be a flat out hate read. but alas...
November 4, 2025 at 8:25 PM
This is maybe the least shocking thing I’ve heard all year but it’s still disappointing.
For my progressive and left-of-center🇺🇸 friends, this is cool: a political donation platform that directs you to the close races where your money will make the biggest impact, based on the issues you care about. It specifically seeks out campaigns that need funds and stand a real chance of winning.
OATH
Your one-stop-shop for political giving
bit.ly
November 4, 2025 at 2:30 AM
For my progressive and left-of-center🇺🇸 friends, this is cool: a political donation platform that directs you to the close races where your money will make the biggest impact, based on the issues you care about. It specifically seeks out campaigns that need funds and stand a real chance of winning.
Sports fandom guarantees you’ll be unhappy most of the time. There are far more losers than winners! But at least you get to be unhappy in a community.
November 2, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Sports fandom guarantees you’ll be unhappy most of the time. There are far more losers than winners! But at least you get to be unhappy in a community.
If anyone remembers anything from this Blue Jays World Series run, I hope it’s this: never slide on a force play at first or home. Never.
November 2, 2025 at 3:47 PM
If anyone remembers anything from this Blue Jays World Series run, I hope it’s this: never slide on a force play at first or home. Never.
If you see this, quote with a vampire that isn’t Dracula
October 29, 2025 at 12:59 AM
If you see this, quote with a vampire that isn’t Dracula
World Series Game One! (The last picture was taken immediately after the Barger grand slam)
October 25, 2025 at 8:36 PM
World Series Game One! (The last picture was taken immediately after the Barger grand slam)
Reposted by Neil ‘Professor Neil’ Shyminsky
WERE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES OH MY FUCKING GODDDDDD
October 21, 2025 at 3:05 AM
WERE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES OH MY FUCKING GODDDDDD
Reposted by Neil ‘Professor Neil’ Shyminsky
A story in three parts
October 16, 2025 at 3:33 PM
A story in three parts
…what kind of group chats was Vanc€ involved in when he was in college???
October 15, 2025 at 6:21 PM
…what kind of group chats was Vanc€ involved in when he was in college???
I’m certain that this meme is too online to work as a softball team logo but I would LOVE to make this my softball team’s logo.
October 12, 2025 at 2:52 PM
I’m certain that this meme is too online to work as a softball team logo but I would LOVE to make this my softball team’s logo.
Reposted by Neil ‘Professor Neil’ Shyminsky
Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world,... I feel like I can't take it. And my heart is just going to cave in.
October 11, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world,... I feel like I can't take it. And my heart is just going to cave in.
Reposted by Neil ‘Professor Neil’ Shyminsky
When the Yankees get eliminated
October 9, 2025 at 2:44 AM
When the Yankees get eliminated