The Baffler
@thebaffler.com
Political and cultural criticism. Since 1988. Online and in print. https://thebaffler.com/
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The Baffler
@thebaffler.com
· Oct 28
The poptimists and sloptimists have won. Our new issue, “After Words,” describes our postliterate moment, when everything from serious criticism to literary fiction to children’s books seems on the verge of being replaced by content trash.
thebaffler.com/issues/no-81
thebaffler.com/issues/no-81
From the Archives: A.S. Hamrah on Thomas Kinkade, his branded merchandise, and the American Dream on the installment plan.
A Cottage for Sale | A.S. Hamrah
The way Thomas Kinkade sells his paintings certainly bespeaks a desire to make people pay.
thebaffler.com
December 26, 2025 at 2:30 PM
From the Archives: A.S. Hamrah on Thomas Kinkade, his branded merchandise, and the American Dream on the installment plan.
“With enough conspiratorial flair, just about anyone can be a fire-breathing radical.”
Phantom Threat | Hannah Gais
With enough conspiratorial flair, just about anyone can be a fire-breathing radical.
thebaffler.com
December 25, 2025 at 8:45 PM
“With enough conspiratorial flair, just about anyone can be a fire-breathing radical.”
Before the ADA, 80% of deaf students went to specialized residential schools. Afterwards, many got mainstreamed into public schools and given access to accommodations and ASL interpretation. But this could be socially—and linguistically—isolating.
Manual Labor | Andrew Leland
How deaf artists and writers are grappling with a second Trump administration keen on dismantling the Americans with Disabilities Act.
thebaffler.com
December 25, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Before the ADA, 80% of deaf students went to specialized residential schools. Afterwards, many got mainstreamed into public schools and given access to accommodations and ASL interpretation. But this could be socially—and linguistically—isolating.
“I was seven or eight when I last felt the Christmas cheer, when my grandmother came to visit, by train, from this very town. She had brought along some presents. Santa had nothing on Grandma. That asshole never gave me anything in person.”
Picture Postcards From Train Stations | Sven Popović
This is also how I confirm my theory about our skewed recollections of everything that happens.
thebaffler.com
December 25, 2025 at 5:30 PM
“I was seven or eight when I last felt the Christmas cheer, when my grandmother came to visit, by train, from this very town. She had brought along some presents. Santa had nothing on Grandma. That asshole never gave me anything in person.”
As Michael Oswell’s exhibit from our most recent issue demonstrates, the AI slurry we’re being force-fed was derived from the advertising nonsense that came before it.
Did You Know? | Michael Oswell
Press return to see results.
thebaffler.com
December 25, 2025 at 3:41 PM
As Michael Oswell’s exhibit from our most recent issue demonstrates, the AI slurry we’re being force-fed was derived from the advertising nonsense that came before it.
“‘The Christmas Cottage’ is a meta-movie like ‘Synecdoche, New York’—its alternate title could be ‘Being Thomas Kinkade’—but it’s a meta-movie for God-fearing grandparents.”
A Cottage for Sale | A.S. Hamrah
The way Thomas Kinkade sells his paintings certainly bespeaks a desire to make people pay.
thebaffler.com
December 25, 2025 at 1:20 PM
“‘The Christmas Cottage’ is a meta-movie like ‘Synecdoche, New York’—its alternate title could be ‘Being Thomas Kinkade’—but it’s a meta-movie for God-fearing grandparents.”
“On Christmas Eve she announced that she was about to give birth, but that her guardian angel had told her she must do this completely alone to increase her suffering. She was locked in a little house; the whole convent prayed.”
Magdalena of the Cross (Spain, 1487–1560) | Eliot Weinberger
She had visions; she fell into ecstasy. She made a lame man walk and a deaf man hear. Someone looked in her eyes when she was in a trance . . .
thebaffler.com
December 25, 2025 at 1:44 AM
“On Christmas Eve she announced that she was about to give birth, but that her guardian angel had told her she must do this completely alone to increase her suffering. She was locked in a little house; the whole convent prayed.”
It’s Christmas Eve. Join us as we revisit A. S. Hamrah’s heartwarming classic essay on the financial crisis and the direct-to-DVD Thomas Kinkade biopic, “The Christmas Cottage.”
A Cottage for Sale | A.S. Hamrah
The way Thomas Kinkade sells his paintings certainly bespeaks a desire to make people pay.
thebaffler.com
December 24, 2025 at 11:01 PM
It’s Christmas Eve. Join us as we revisit A. S. Hamrah’s heartwarming classic essay on the financial crisis and the direct-to-DVD Thomas Kinkade biopic, “The Christmas Cottage.”
In the months since Charlie Kirk’s assasination, the pro-Trump right has accelerated its scorched earth war on the left. @hannahgais.bsky.social writes on the dangerous ambiguities of NSPM-7 and recent executive orders.
Phantom Threat | Hannah Gais
With enough conspiratorial flair, just about anyone can be a fire-breathing radical.
thebaffler.com
December 24, 2025 at 8:45 PM
In the months since Charlie Kirk’s assasination, the pro-Trump right has accelerated its scorched earth war on the left. @hannahgais.bsky.social writes on the dangerous ambiguities of NSPM-7 and recent executive orders.
In our most recent issue, @quailty.bsky.social considers contemporary deaf art and writing—particularly Rachel Kolb’s “Articulate” and Sara Nović’s “True Biz”—which navigates the many contradictions of deaf life in America.
Manual Labor | Andrew Leland
How deaf artists and writers are grappling with a second Trump administration keen on dismantling the Americans with Disabilities Act.
thebaffler.com
December 24, 2025 at 6:01 PM
In our most recent issue, @quailty.bsky.social considers contemporary deaf art and writing—particularly Rachel Kolb’s “Articulate” and Sara Nović’s “True Biz”—which navigates the many contradictions of deaf life in America.
A year of The Baffler makes the perfect last-minute gift. Share The Baffler with your friend or relation—now for 20% off, when you use promo code YB25H2.
Give the Gift of THE BAFFLER
Share the gift of The Baffler with your friend or relation this holiday season. When you purchase a gift subscription, your lucky recipient will get five print issues and complete digital access to…
thebaffler.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:52 PM
A year of The Baffler makes the perfect last-minute gift. Share The Baffler with your friend or relation—now for 20% off, when you use promo code YB25H2.
From podcasters to passport bros, from eco-saboteurs to bodybuilders, we turned our discerning eye on a broad spectrum of human endeavor in 2025. Check out a round-up of some of our favorite work.
Our Year of The Baffler, 2025
The Baffler looks back in anger at 2025.
thebaffler.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:41 PM
From podcasters to passport bros, from eco-saboteurs to bodybuilders, we turned our discerning eye on a broad spectrum of human endeavor in 2025. Check out a round-up of some of our favorite work.
On orality, education, and the d/Deaf binary:
Manual Labor | Andrew Leland
How deaf artists and writers are grappling with a second Trump administration keen on dismantling the Americans with Disabilities Act.
thebaffler.com
December 24, 2025 at 1:20 PM
On orality, education, and the d/Deaf binary:
“When Oscar Wilde wrote that ‘a sentimentalist is simply one who desires to have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it,’ he didn’t know that someday an American painter would find a way to make sentimentalists pay for it in monthly installments.”
A Cottage for Sale | A.S. Hamrah
The way Thomas Kinkade sells his paintings certainly bespeaks a desire to make people pay.
thebaffler.com
December 24, 2025 at 1:44 AM
“When Oscar Wilde wrote that ‘a sentimentalist is simply one who desires to have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it,’ he didn’t know that someday an American painter would find a way to make sentimentalists pay for it in monthly installments.”
Cochlear implants are divisive within deaf culture. For the protagonist of Sara Nović’s “True Biz,” they are both curse and catalyst. But Rachel Kolb’s memoir maintains a more ambivalent relationship to what the technology can offer.
Manual Labor | Andrew Leland
How deaf artists and writers are grappling with a second Trump administration keen on dismantling the Americans with Disabilities Act.
thebaffler.com
December 23, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Cochlear implants are divisive within deaf culture. For the protagonist of Sara Nović’s “True Biz,” they are both curse and catalyst. But Rachel Kolb’s memoir maintains a more ambivalent relationship to what the technology can offer.
In their tidy new hermitage, Harmony and Rapture seek to build a small, gentle life. But nature hasn’t forgotten them, and they must either unseal the poison and pollute the natural order or consent to sharing their apartment with the rats.
Brodifacoum and the Divine Child | Ari Braverman
Is there such a thing as a night squirrel? Do bats land? What color are possums at night?
thebaffler.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:45 PM
In their tidy new hermitage, Harmony and Rapture seek to build a small, gentle life. But nature hasn’t forgotten them, and they must either unseal the poison and pollute the natural order or consent to sharing their apartment with the rats.
A subscription to The Baffler is the gift that keeps on giving.
Give the Gift of THE BAFFLER
Share the gift of The Baffler with your friend or relation this holiday season. When you purchase a gift subscription, your lucky recipient will get five print issues and complete digital access to…
thebaffler.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:22 PM
A subscription to The Baffler is the gift that keeps on giving.
“For civil society advocates, the broad strokes that NSPM-7 uses to describe its targets and its obvious disconnect from any clear-eyed analysis of political violence contribute to the threat it poses”
Phantom Threat | Hannah Gais
With enough conspiratorial flair, just about anyone can be a fire-breathing radical.
thebaffler.com
December 23, 2025 at 5:30 PM
“For civil society advocates, the broad strokes that NSPM-7 uses to describe its targets and its obvious disconnect from any clear-eyed analysis of political violence contribute to the threat it poses”
’Tis the season to pour yourself a glass of spiked nog and revisit A.S. Hamrah’s 2010 essay on Thomas Kinkade, “The Painter of Light,” and his saccharine direct-to-DVD biopic, “The Christmas Cottage.”
A Cottage for Sale | A.S. Hamrah
The way Thomas Kinkade sells his paintings certainly bespeaks a desire to make people pay.
thebaffler.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:41 PM
’Tis the season to pour yourself a glass of spiked nog and revisit A.S. Hamrah’s 2010 essay on Thomas Kinkade, “The Painter of Light,” and his saccharine direct-to-DVD biopic, “The Christmas Cottage.”
From labor organizing to eco-saboteurs to professional wrestlers—here’s a helpful (but by no means comprehensive) compendium of some of the sharpest criticism, reporting, and fiction we published over the course of this extremely stupid year.
Our Year of The Baffler, 2025
The Baffler looks back in anger at 2025.
thebaffler.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:30 PM
From labor organizing to eco-saboteurs to professional wrestlers—here’s a helpful (but by no means comprehensive) compendium of some of the sharpest criticism, reporting, and fiction we published over the course of this extremely stupid year.
Under NSPM-7, “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity” are all now cause for suspicion—and possible prosecution. Yet the memo has received vanishingly little press coverage.
Phantom Threat | Hannah Gais
With enough conspiratorial flair, just about anyone can be a fire-breathing radical.
thebaffler.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Under NSPM-7, “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity” are all now cause for suspicion—and possible prosecution. Yet the memo has received vanishingly little press coverage.
Reposted by The Baffler
Despite what you may hear, antifa supersoldiers are not running Portland. (Unfortunately.)
For @thebaffler.com, I wrote about Trump's war on the left, NSPM-7, and his administration's new attempts to mobilize the ressentiment of its supporters. thebaffler.com/latest/phant...
For @thebaffler.com, I wrote about Trump's war on the left, NSPM-7, and his administration's new attempts to mobilize the ressentiment of its supporters. thebaffler.com/latest/phant...
Phantom Threat | Hannah Gais
With enough conspiratorial flair, just about anyone can be a fire-breathing radical.
thebaffler.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Despite what you may hear, antifa supersoldiers are not running Portland. (Unfortunately.)
For @thebaffler.com, I wrote about Trump's war on the left, NSPM-7, and his administration's new attempts to mobilize the ressentiment of its supporters. thebaffler.com/latest/phant...
For @thebaffler.com, I wrote about Trump's war on the left, NSPM-7, and his administration's new attempts to mobilize the ressentiment of its supporters. thebaffler.com/latest/phant...
“The garden is doing its job, providing a beautiful backdrop that ennobles everyone who enters: the birds that fly in from the top down, the humans in the middle with their feet on the dirt and their minds in the air, and the vermin crawling on the ground.”
Brodifacoum and the Divine Child | Ari Braverman
Is there such a thing as a night squirrel? Do bats land? What color are possums at night?
thebaffler.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM
“The garden is doing its job, providing a beautiful backdrop that ennobles everyone who enters: the birds that fly in from the top down, the humans in the middle with their feet on the dirt and their minds in the air, and the vermin crawling on the ground.”
Mob nostalgia is a big industry for Chicago, where Al Capone and Mooney Giancana operated their empire of lucrative assasination and labor influence. The reality under the tommy guns and fedoras is still very much a family affair.
Mob Rules | Caleb Brennan
The decadent and gore-filled half-century that was Chicago’s mobster heyday is still a family affair.
thebaffler.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Mob nostalgia is a big industry for Chicago, where Al Capone and Mooney Giancana operated their empire of lucrative assasination and labor influence. The reality under the tommy guns and fedoras is still very much a family affair.
According to right-wing speechifiers, antifa supersoldiers are trying to destroy America and everything you hold dear. Sometimes, they do it while dressed as Cookie Monster. @hannahgais.bsky.social writes on NSPM-7 and the Trump administration’s war on the left.
Phantom Threat | Hannah Gais
With enough conspiratorial flair, just about anyone can be a fire-breathing radical.
thebaffler.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
According to right-wing speechifiers, antifa supersoldiers are trying to destroy America and everything you hold dear. Sometimes, they do it while dressed as Cookie Monster. @hannahgais.bsky.social writes on NSPM-7 and the Trump administration’s war on the left.