Natasha Ochshorn
@nochshorn.bsky.social
Keeps writing new bios late at night. Graduate worker at CUNY writing on desire and grief in fantasy fiction. Writes about genre at Unwinnable. Makes music as Bunny Petite. BK lifer. She/hers
In which I don’t really care what the others are supposed to represent, and I’m accidentally a little mean to my Pop.
"It’s important to understand Carol as a person instead of a representative, not only for a better understanding of how fiction works, but for a better understanding of how people work."
@nochshorn.bsky.social pushes against an allegorical reading of Pluribus:
@nochshorn.bsky.social pushes against an allegorical reading of Pluribus:
Pluribus - Unwinnable
Allegory works better at a more remote, mythic level where the specifics of character matter less than their function in the story.
unwinnable.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:03 AM
In which I don’t really care what the others are supposed to represent, and I’m accidentally a little mean to my Pop.
Reposted by Natasha Ochshorn
My mission this year is to get a new subscriber to Unwinnable every day. For 5 bucks, you get two monthly magazines, a back issue archive of 95 issues of Exploits and the satisfaction of supporting freeform cultural criticism free of the usual online publishing nonsense: unwinnable.com/subscribe/
February 9, 2026 at 10:02 PM
My mission this year is to get a new subscriber to Unwinnable every day. For 5 bucks, you get two monthly magazines, a back issue archive of 95 issues of Exploits and the satisfaction of supporting freeform cultural criticism free of the usual online publishing nonsense: unwinnable.com/subscribe/
When I tell my kid that I love him he nods his head sagely and says, “yeah, yeah” like, duh you do. We should all be so certain that we are loved.
February 7, 2026 at 12:57 PM
When I tell my kid that I love him he nods his head sagely and says, “yeah, yeah” like, duh you do. We should all be so certain that we are loved.
Took me 11 minutes to cry at the Olympics
February 7, 2026 at 1:13 AM
Took me 11 minutes to cry at the Olympics
My season 1 finale post starts by quoting Dennis Duffy, get excited.
At the end of every episode of Mad Men I’m like “I have no idea what I’m going to say about this” and then I write a thousand words of #thoughts. Amazing show.
February 6, 2026 at 12:22 AM
My season 1 finale post starts by quoting Dennis Duffy, get excited.
At the end of every episode of Mad Men I’m like “I have no idea what I’m going to say about this” and then I write a thousand words of #thoughts. Amazing show.
February 6, 2026 at 12:00 AM
At the end of every episode of Mad Men I’m like “I have no idea what I’m going to say about this” and then I write a thousand words of #thoughts. Amazing show.
Unironically, I have been wishing and a hoping for this, and I’m very pleased, BUT this is the funniest stretch of weather to make this announcement.
nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/02/04/c...
nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/02/04/c...
City Council to Bring Back Year-Round Outdoor Dining After Adams-Era Decimation - Streetsblog New York City
New York City's curbside outdoor dining will return to being year-round, Council Speaker Julie Menin announced on Wednesday.
nyc.streetsblog.org
February 5, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Unironically, I have been wishing and a hoping for this, and I’m very pleased, BUT this is the funniest stretch of weather to make this announcement.
nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/02/04/c...
nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/02/04/c...
One Battle After Another would also be a good title for The Lord of the Rings.
February 3, 2026 at 10:38 PM
One Battle After Another would also be a good title for The Lord of the Rings.
My sister’s groundhogs day report. #neverforget #restinpowerchuck
February 2, 2026 at 1:48 PM
My sister’s groundhogs day report. #neverforget #restinpowerchuck
A sincere thanks to everyone posting Catherine O’Hara clips, especially the SCTV stuff I’m not familiar with.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay1c...
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay1c...
Best in Show Cookie Guggleman and Bulge
YouTube video by Brendan Barry
m.youtube.com
January 30, 2026 at 7:26 PM
A sincere thanks to everyone posting Catherine O’Hara clips, especially the SCTV stuff I’m not familiar with.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay1c...
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay1c...
Tonight was Mac n cheese taste test. All white cheddar shells. Trader Joe’s took it!
January 30, 2026 at 3:04 AM
Tonight was Mac n cheese taste test. All white cheddar shells. Trader Joe’s took it!
Reposted by Natasha Ochshorn
perfect album!
to "ANTI" at 10: for me, one of the great records of its decade; the capstone (as of now) to a marvelous run
January 28, 2026 at 7:22 PM
perfect album!
I dreamt I dressed up as Jessica Alba dressing up as disco Barbie in Never Been Kissed and no one knew who I was. :(
January 27, 2026 at 12:57 PM
I dreamt I dressed up as Jessica Alba dressing up as disco Barbie in Never Been Kissed and no one knew who I was. :(
But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail of my task, though Gondor should perish, if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in days to come. For I also am a steward
I do not have many complaints about the LOTR movies but I dearly wish Gandalf’s “for I am a Steward too” banger of a speech had made the cut.
January 23, 2026 at 11:20 PM
But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail of my task, though Gondor should perish, if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in days to come. For I also am a steward
Lots of Boromirs out there on the AI cheerleading squad
every app and piece of tech in the world trying to force me to use AI makes me believe that actually I would be quite good at resisting the temptation to use the One Ring
January 23, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Lots of Boromirs out there on the AI cheerleading squad
I do not have many complaints about the LOTR movies but I dearly wish Gandalf’s “for I am a Steward too” banger of a speech had made the cut.
January 23, 2026 at 11:15 PM
I do not have many complaints about the LOTR movies but I dearly wish Gandalf’s “for I am a Steward too” banger of a speech had made the cut.
It’s true
"Under an allegorical reading we have to think of Carol as being right or wrong: hero or antihero. If instead her circumstances are taken literally, she can be a person in a situation instead of an idea embattled against her opposite."
Natasha Ochshorn (@nochshorn.bsky.social) on Pluribus.
Natasha Ochshorn (@nochshorn.bsky.social) on Pluribus.
January 23, 2026 at 8:58 PM
It’s true
TBH I was nervous to get into episode 6 because Weiner is all in on Zionism, but Rachel Menken’s point that “the good place” is also “the place that cannot be” resonates in many directions! What makes Israel Utopia for some is why it fundamentally should not exist.
ICYMI: "[T]his is the most of an ensemble this show has been so far, connected by the distance between the good place they find themselves in and the unreality that undermines it."
@nochshorn.bsky.social recaps Mad Men S1E5 and S1E6:
@nochshorn.bsky.social recaps Mad Men S1E5 and S1E6:
THAT'S WHAT THE BLOG IS FOR! Mad Men S1E5–S1E6 - Unwinnable
More things that cannot be.
buff.ly
January 23, 2026 at 7:46 PM
TBH I was nervous to get into episode 6 because Weiner is all in on Zionism, but Rachel Menken’s point that “the good place” is also “the place that cannot be” resonates in many directions! What makes Israel Utopia for some is why it fundamentally should not exist.
Reposted by Natasha Ochshorn
First, the amazing cover by @alderdoodle.bsky.social! Usually our covers reflect one of the features, but this time around I got the idea of having something that evoked the promise and mystery of a new year.
January 23, 2026 at 4:54 PM
First, the amazing cover by @alderdoodle.bsky.social! Usually our covers reflect one of the features, but this time around I got the idea of having something that evoked the promise and mystery of a new year.
Wow this Zohran guy is a menace!
January 23, 2026 at 3:41 AM
Wow this Zohran guy is a menace!
Need Jennifer Tilly as a traitor so bad
January 23, 2026 at 3:24 AM
Need Jennifer Tilly as a traitor so bad
I proposed sledding Sunday and my husband said he’s scared because he hasn’t done it since he went with Zohran Mamdani and broke his wrist.
January 23, 2026 at 1:30 AM
I proposed sledding Sunday and my husband said he’s scared because he hasn’t done it since he went with Zohran Mamdani and broke his wrist.
This week: Don is NOT Dick Whitman anymore, and Jews don’t all feel the same way about Israel!
"[T]his is the most of an ensemble this show has been so far, connected by the distance between the good place they find themselves in and the unreality that undermines it."
@nochshorn.bsky.social recaps Mad Men S1E5 and S1E6:
@nochshorn.bsky.social recaps Mad Men S1E5 and S1E6:
THAT'S WHAT THE BLOG IS FOR! Mad Men S1E5–S1E6 - Unwinnable
More things that cannot be.
unwinnable.com
January 23, 2026 at 1:16 AM
This week: Don is NOT Dick Whitman anymore, and Jews don’t all feel the same way about Israel!
This movie blew my fucking mind as a kid and it did… not as an adult, but WOW what a collection of faces on screen.
New today on the site:
"In THE NAME OF THE ROSE (1986), Connery does not present as capable but instead confident despite his incapabilities, a tendency that here feels like zen touched with zany, more Zardozy than Bonded, arresting in a tonsure."
- @frankfalisi.bsky.social
"In THE NAME OF THE ROSE (1986), Connery does not present as capable but instead confident despite his incapabilities, a tendency that here feels like zen touched with zany, more Zardozy than Bonded, arresting in a tonsure."
- @frankfalisi.bsky.social
The Name of the Rose (1986): The Mystery of Faith
The Name of the Rose calls itself, in its own opening credits, “a palimpsest of Umberto Eco’s novel”—a provocative, generative, and not altogether unpretentious appellation to lay claim to.
www.brightwalldarkroom.com
January 22, 2026 at 12:17 PM
This movie blew my fucking mind as a kid and it did… not as an adult, but WOW what a collection of faces on screen.
I wrote about why you shouldn’t be looking for looking for allegories in Pluribus, and a little on why that’s the most dull way to understand art. Have some feelings!
Rise from the ashes and begin anew. This month's issue of Unwinnable Monthly features @aeneas-nin.bsky.social on Re-Animator, @kellymerka.bsky.social on Phoenix Springs and our regulars on the topics poking their brains.
Buy: buff.ly/LRotYmo
Subscribe: buff.ly/L0T9hxk
Buy: buff.ly/LRotYmo
Subscribe: buff.ly/L0T9hxk
January 22, 2026 at 12:46 AM
I wrote about why you shouldn’t be looking for looking for allegories in Pluribus, and a little on why that’s the most dull way to understand art. Have some feelings!