Matthew Rozsa
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rozsa.bsky.social
Matthew Rozsa
@rozsa.bsky.social
I'm a journalist writing about capitalism for Democracy at Work.
“Like the man said, ‘Can happiness buy money?’”
- Stanley Kubrick via Frank Silvera, “Killer’s Kiss”

Because the answer was "no" in 1955, and remains "no" in 2025, "Killer's Kiss" remains depressingly relevant.

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/to-underst...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
To understand Zohran Mamdani, watch this Stanley Kubrick movie!
"Killer's Kiss" was released in 1955, when Kubrick had yet to become a famous director.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:11 PM
May 17, 2004: "The Day After Tomorrow" premieres in Mexico City.

In the scene when Americans illegally cross the border to Mexico to flee the superstorm, a huge cheer erupted from the Mexican crowd.

I wish I'd been there.

www.salon.com/2024/06/22/t...
November 13, 2025 at 1:45 PM
"Can happiness buy money?" asks Vincent Rapallo in "Killer's Kiss."

"No!" answers everyone who has tried to be happy without money in capitalist societies.

Thus I explained Zohran Mamdani's victory through "Killer's Kiss."

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/to-underst...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
To understand Zohran Mamdani, watch this Stanley Kubrick movie!
"Killer's Kiss" was released in 1955, when Kubrick had yet to become a famous director.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Never forget Trump-Epstein!

Trump and Epstein are part of the same club.

Kubrick's magnum opus, "Eyes Wide Shut," is about the Trump-Epstein universe.

Kubrick is dead.

The world he exposed is still very much alive.

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/trump-epst...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
Trump, Epstein and Kubrick: A genius director died making this prophetic film
I discuss the 1999 movie "Eyes Wide Shut."
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:58 PM
"A good society doesn’t depend upon having a great police force or having a great criminal element... A good society depends upon the cops and the crooks getting better!"
- Norman Mailer (1969)

Thanks to Zohran Mamdani, I'll recommend "Managing Mailer."

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/is-zohran-...
Is Zohran Mamdani the next Norman Mailer?
Mamdani's candidacy for New York City mayor is similar to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist's similar attempt in 1969.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:41 PM
“Like the man said, ‘Can happiness buy money?’”

- Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera), “Killer’s Kiss”

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/to-underst...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
November 12, 2025 at 4:25 PM
New Yorkers want their politics to be driven by ideas.

Norman Mailer ran an idea-based mayoral campaign in 1969; Zohran Mamdani ran one in 2025.

Because of social media, Mamdani was more successful than Mailer.

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/is-zohran-...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
Is Zohran Mamdani the next Norman Mailer?
Mamdani's candidacy for New York City mayor is similar to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist's similar attempt in 1969.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:19 PM
"Is Zohran Mamdani the next Norman Mailer?" I asked in July.

Both men ran for New York City mayor on bold programs.

Yet Mailer lost in the 1969 Democratic primaries, while Mamdani won the entire 2025 election.

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/is-zohran-...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
Is Zohran Mamdani the next Norman Mailer?
Mamdani's candidacy for New York City mayor is similar to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist's similar attempt in 1969.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:23 AM
I interviewed former US Senator Chris Dodd about whether President Trump is a literal Nazi.

Dodd's grandfather was a prosecutor at Nuremberg.

@democracyatwork.bsky.social

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/is-trump-a...
Is Trump a Nazi? I asked a former Senator, and the son of a Nuremberg lawyer, that key question
His answer may surprise you
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:37 AM
I wish we lived in a timeline when Mailer won the 1969 mayoral election.

Or: I wish we didn't live in a timeline when New Yorkers needed Mamdani in 2025 due to widespread poverty.

Barring that: I'm glad Mamdani won!

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/is-zohran-...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
Is Zohran Mamdani the next Norman Mailer?
Mamdani's candidacy for New York City mayor is similar to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist's similar attempt in 1969.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:58 PM
“Like the man said, ‘Can happiness buy money?’”
- Vincent Rapallo

I like "Killer's Kiss" more than its own filmmaker, Stanley Kubrick.

Among its many virtues, it explains the rise of democratic socialists like Mamdani.

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/to-underst...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Mamdani is not anti-Semitic.

Trump is anti-Semitic.

If you disagree, get some knowledge; read my take for @democracyatwork.bsky.social.

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/stop-sayin...
Stop saying Zohran Mamdani is anti-Semitic, Debra Messing etc.!
I've survived violent anti-Semitism; this isn't just dumb, it's insulting.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:30 PM
"Like the man said, 'Can happiness buy money?'"
- Vincent Rapallo from the 1955 film noir "Killer's Kiss"

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/to-underst...
To understand Zohran Mamdani, watch this Stanley Kubrick movie!
"Killer's Kiss" was released in 1955, when Kubrick had yet to become a famous director.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:48 PM
"Like the man said, 'Can happiness buy money?'"
- Vincent Rapallo from the 1955 film noir "Killer's Kiss"

New Yorkers elected Zohran Mamdani because the bleak conditions chronicled in "Killer's Kiss" persist 70 years later.

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/to-underst...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
To understand Zohran Mamdani, watch this Stanley Kubrick movie!
"Killer's Kiss" was released in 1955, when Kubrick had yet to become a famous director.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:00 AM
"Killer's Kiss" is a 1955 film noir that depicts New York City as filled with poverty, crime and hopelessness.

Seventy years later, New York is still like this... and that's why Zohran Mamdani will soon be its next mayor.

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/to-underst...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
To understand Zohran Mamdani, watch this Stanley Kubrick movie!
"Killer's Kiss" was released in 1955, when Kubrick had yet to become a famous director.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:48 PM
My take on Mamdani and the Jews (such as myself) is triggering (a) Zionists and (b) anti-Semites.

Clearly I did something right!

Read my take below.

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/stop-sayin...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
Stop saying Zohran Mamdani is anti-Semitic, Debra Messing etc.!
I've survived violent anti-Semitism; this isn't just dumb, it's insulting.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Anyone who supports Trump has no business criticizing Mamdani for anti-Semitism.

To quote a famous Jew: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

@democracyatwork.bsky.social

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/stop-sayin...
Stop saying Zohran Mamdani is anti-Semitic, Debra Messing etc.!
I've survived violent anti-Semitism; this isn't just dumb, it's insulting.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Mamdani is not anti-Semitic.

Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic.

Saying all Jews are loyal to Israel IS anti-Semitic... but Trump keeps saying that, not Mamdani.

@democracyatwork.bsky.social

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/stop-sayin...
Stop saying Zohran Mamdani is anti-Semitic, Debra Messing etc.!
I've survived violent anti-Semitism; this isn't just dumb, it's insulting.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Zohran Mamdani is not anti-Semitic.

He is not, as Debra Messing claims, a "jihadist."

I'm Jewish and have experienced anti-Semitism.

Mamdani isn't anti-Semitic.

He's criticizing Israel.

I explain it in my latest op-ed.

@democracyatwork.bsky.social

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/stop-sayin...
Stop saying Zohran Mamdani is anti-Semitic, Debra Messing etc.!
I've survived violent anti-Semitism; this isn't just dumb, it's insulting.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:19 PM
"Killer's Kiss" is about an impoverished boxer trying to flee New York with a traumatized taxi dancer he barely knows.

Aside from the taxi dancers, this 1955 story could occur in 2025.

It shouldn't be this way.

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/to-underst...

@democracyatwork.bsky.social
To understand Zohran Mamdani, watch this Stanley Kubrick movie!
"Killer's Kiss" was released in 1955, when Kubrick had yet to become a famous director.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:30 PM
"Killer's Kiss," a 1955 Kubrick movie, explains Mamdani's victory.

People are as poor in 2025 as they were in 1955.

I elaborate on this for my @democracyatwork.bsky.social latest.

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/to-underst...
To understand Zohran Mamdani, watch this Stanley Kubrick movie!
"Killer's Kiss" was released in 1955, when Kubrick had yet to become a famous director.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Thank you @projectcensored.bsky.social for recognizing my coverage of climate change and Antarctica's melting ice caps.

It's terrifying that Silicon Valley is successfully collaborating with Washington to suppress the truth about greenhouse gas emissions.

www.projectcensored.org/antarctic-ic...
Antarctic Ice Sheets Approaching Tipping Point, Studies Find  – Project Censored
www.projectcensored.org
November 5, 2025 at 4:02 PM
"Smoking thousands of sapient beings out of their ancestral and sacred home to steal resources from under their ground is 'more or less' humane."

I'm talking about "Avatar" in that quote.

I'm also talking about reality.

@democracyatwork.bsky.social

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/does-langu...
Does language determine reality? "Avatar"'s Dr. Paul Frommer talks to Matthew Rozsa
Matthew Rozsa talks with Dr. Paul Frommer, the creator of the constructed Na'vi language used in James Cameron's "Avatar" film series.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Dr. Paul Frommer — the linguist behind the Na'vi language in the "Avatar" movies — said language defines how we perceive reality.

The article/video are about the "Avatar" movies... AND about the nature of consciousness.

@democracyatwork.bsky.social

democracyatwork.substack.com/p/does-langu...
Does language determine reality? "Avatar"'s Dr. Paul Frommer talks to Matthew Rozsa
Matthew Rozsa talks with Dr. Paul Frommer, the creator of the constructed Na'vi language used in James Cameron's "Avatar" film series.
democracyatwork.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:13 PM