Ian Pajer-Rogers
@ianpajerrogers.bsky.social
Music, sports, comedy, politics. Everyone thinks they have the best dog and everyone is right. Posts here are all me and don't reflect any organization I work for.
Free speech wins today in Pittsburgh.
📣A federal court just ordered U of Pittsburgh to lift the suspension of the campus club Students for Justice in Palestine and reinstate its full privileges after affirming that an open advocacy letter they sent was protected free speech under the U.S. Constitution. www.aclupa.org/cases/sjp-pi...
Students for Justice in Palestine at Pitt v. University of Pittsburgh - ACLU of Pennsylvania
On April 15, 2025, the ACLU of Pennsylvania sued the University of Pittsburgh on behalf of Students for Justice in Palestine at Pitt (SJP-Pitt), a university-affiliated organization that the school pl...
www.aclupa.org
August 28, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Free speech wins today in Pittsburgh.
We all have to decide how we live our lives in turbulent political times. Do we resist? Or do we look away and hope that the bad stuff misses us and our loved ones? What I’m Still Here makes clear is that when a government starts to come for people, it’s already too late to reconsider your options.
I'm Still Here
This film is alarmingly relevant in 2025.
open.substack.com
March 14, 2025 at 1:10 PM
We all have to decide how we live our lives in turbulent political times. Do we resist? Or do we look away and hope that the bad stuff misses us and our loved ones? What I’m Still Here makes clear is that when a government starts to come for people, it’s already too late to reconsider your options.
If you go into Riff Raff with low expectations, you might even enjoy it. But given the heavy hitter cast whose acting barely keeps this movie afloat for some 100 minutes, the audience probably deserves a lot better.
Riff Raff's excellent actors can't save it
But the impressive cast does its best.
ianpajerrogers.substack.com
March 7, 2025 at 2:06 PM
If you go into Riff Raff with low expectations, you might even enjoy it. But given the heavy hitter cast whose acting barely keeps this movie afloat for some 100 minutes, the audience probably deserves a lot better.
Having seen plenty of movies that the Academy has declared Best Picture worthy over the years, I can comfortably say that a Best Picture win for The Substance would be a major coup for the horror genre and a significant, and welcome, shift for the Academy voters.
The Substance: Can it win Best Picture?
Coralie Fargeat's film is just the eighth horror movie to be nominated for Best Picture.
open.substack.com
March 2, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Having seen plenty of movies that the Academy has declared Best Picture worthy over the years, I can comfortably say that a Best Picture win for The Substance would be a major coup for the horror genre and a significant, and welcome, shift for the Academy voters.
One Of Them Days is a fun and funny movie in a time when we could probably all use a little more fun and funny. If the audience in the packed theater where I saw this movie was any indicator, I’m not alone in either sentiment.
One Of Them Days: Keke kills and SZA shines
One Of Them Days is a fresh take on a classic comedy formula: we need to find a bunch of money by a deadline.
open.substack.com
January 28, 2025 at 1:49 PM
One Of Them Days is a fun and funny movie in a time when we could probably all use a little more fun and funny. If the audience in the packed theater where I saw this movie was any indicator, I’m not alone in either sentiment.
"Watching [Elon Musk's] Nigel-no-friends attempts to be popular, his endless pathetic tweets that read as though they come from the brain of an 11-year-old poser, has made me start to believe we should bring back bullying."
I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers | Rebecca Shaw
Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s desperation to be cool as they suck up to Donald Trump is so cringe it makes my skin crawl
www.theguardian.com
January 21, 2025 at 3:34 PM
"Watching [Elon Musk's] Nigel-no-friends attempts to be popular, his endless pathetic tweets that read as though they come from the brain of an 11-year-old poser, has made me start to believe we should bring back bullying."
Me, outside smoking a cig as I type this 🥶
a close up of a chewbacca laying on a white surface
ALT: a close up of a chewbacca laying on a white surface
media.tenor.com
January 21, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Me, outside smoking a cig as I type this 🥶
The National Aviary in Pittsburgh is a treasure.
January 17, 2025 at 8:21 PM
The National Aviary in Pittsburgh is a treasure.
The Last Showgirl is about clawing back that humanity and proving to a world whose doubt is ever-growing that yes, I still matter. I’m still here. And I still have things to do.
The Last Showgirl: Pamela Anderson with an Oscar-worthy performance
For those of us who grew up in or lived through the 90s, Pamela Anderson was an inescapable sex icon. Now she could win an Academy Award.
open.substack.com
January 17, 2025 at 2:01 PM
The Last Showgirl is about clawing back that humanity and proving to a world whose doubt is ever-growing that yes, I still matter. I’m still here. And I still have things to do.
Reposted by Ian Pajer-Rogers
Late last year, we joined the Farmworker Legal Aid Clinic at Villanova University to release a report that analyzed thousands of ICE arrest records from across Pennsylvania.
January 13, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Late last year, we joined the Farmworker Legal Aid Clinic at Villanova University to release a report that analyzed thousands of ICE arrest records from across Pennsylvania.
Reposted by Ian Pajer-Rogers
An unintentional yet somehow perfect snapshot of the state of education today
What are we doing here, people?
What are we doing here, people?
January 12, 2025 at 11:42 AM
An unintentional yet somehow perfect snapshot of the state of education today
What are we doing here, people?
What are we doing here, people?
Glad the Pirates can lend their winning ways to the Steelers 🙄
January 11, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Glad the Pirates can lend their winning ways to the Steelers 🙄
Reposted by Ian Pajer-Rogers
The Laken Riley Act manipulates personal tragedy to harm immigrants 🧵
The Laken Riley Act manipulates personal tragedy to harm immigrants
Attacking immigrants is not how we make our communities safer
www.bendthearc.us
January 9, 2025 at 8:29 PM
The Laken Riley Act manipulates personal tragedy to harm immigrants 🧵
RIP President Carter. What a person to turn a tough presidency into such a dignified legacy.
January 9, 2025 at 3:53 PM
RIP President Carter. What a person to turn a tough presidency into such a dignified legacy.
It’s not Fetterman’s brain damage. It’s that he’s a spoiled rich kid who never had to seriously work a day in his life and will continue to do whatever he can to maintain that lifestyle.
January 8, 2025 at 4:50 PM
It’s not Fetterman’s brain damage. It’s that he’s a spoiled rich kid who never had to seriously work a day in his life and will continue to do whatever he can to maintain that lifestyle.
Zuckerberg couldn’t have used a few of his billions to pay someone to advise him not to dress like a guy on the subway trying to get you to listen to his CD?
January 8, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Zuckerberg couldn’t have used a few of his billions to pay someone to advise him not to dress like a guy on the subway trying to get you to listen to his CD?
Reposted by Ian Pajer-Rogers
Translation: He wants its rare-earth minerals for himself. Pro tip: Always look through the nonsense noise for the inevitable grift.
January 8, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Translation: He wants its rare-earth minerals for himself. Pro tip: Always look through the nonsense noise for the inevitable grift.
Reposted by Ian Pajer-Rogers
I really wanted to like A Real Pain. I wanted writer-director Jesse Eisenberg to spin the kind of coming-of-age road trip tale that makes you reflect on your own journey and inspires you to book a ticket of your own to someplace outside your comfort zone. But A Real Pain achieves none of this.
A Real Pain is a real miss
Nevertheless, I’m glad that this road trip movie was produced.
open.substack.com
January 7, 2025 at 1:22 PM
I really wanted to like A Real Pain. I wanted writer-director Jesse Eisenberg to spin the kind of coming-of-age road trip tale that makes you reflect on your own journey and inspires you to book a ticket of your own to someplace outside your comfort zone. But A Real Pain achieves none of this.
Kieran Culkin being zany??? I do declare.
January 6, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Kieran Culkin being zany??? I do declare.
I know I’m supposed to hate the Ravens as a Steelers fan. But between the Lamar Jackson capping off this season with 4000+ yards and that adorable Michael Pierce interception just now, Baltimore might be my low-key #2 team going into the playoffs. Blasphemy, I know.
January 5, 2025 at 12:40 AM
I know I’m supposed to hate the Ravens as a Steelers fan. But between the Lamar Jackson capping off this season with 4000+ yards and that adorable Michael Pierce interception just now, Baltimore might be my low-key #2 team going into the playoffs. Blasphemy, I know.
Pittsburgh weather forecasts will predict snow to stop in 15 minutes for seven hours.
January 4, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Pittsburgh weather forecasts will predict snow to stop in 15 minutes for seven hours.
Nosferatu is everything you could ask for in a remake of the vampire classic. A review.
Nosferatu: Horror fans rejoice
Eggers’ latest offering, Nosferatu, is exactly the movie it purports to be – a straightforward reimaging of the classic Dracula story and a remake of the 1922 film of the same name.
ianpajerrogers.substack.com
January 3, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Nosferatu is everything you could ask for in a remake of the vampire classic. A review.
If you ever danced to a white-boy-Reggae version of “I Can’t Help Falling In Love” in elementary school, then UB40.
January 1, 2025 at 5:37 AM
If you ever danced to a white-boy-Reggae version of “I Can’t Help Falling In Love” in elementary school, then UB40.