Dr. Mike Sell
@profmikesell.bsky.social
English Prof, Indiana University of Pennsylvania • Writing 'Playful Literature: Stories, Games, Theories' • Founder, The Digital Storytelling Project • Co-author, 'Systemic Dramaturgy' (Southern Illinois UP) • Unionized Faculty (IUP-APSCUF) • he/him
Pinned
Dr. Mike Sell
@profmikesell.bsky.social
· Nov 13
In an era when gaming literacy is fundamental to understanding popular culture and technological power, 'Ready Reader One' examines the role of videogame literature in explaining not only how we play videogames, but the stories we tell with, about, and around them.
lsupress.org/978080718089...
lsupress.org/978080718089...
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
One final bump for my TCM program tonight. I hope you'll be able to check it out. Love y'all.
My prime time program with TCM on November 17th covers Robert Altman's COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME and the Gay Bar Christmas Picture SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE. SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE doesn't screen anywhere very often and doesn't have a DVD in circulation.
November 17, 2025 at 6:13 PM
One final bump for my TCM program tonight. I hope you'll be able to check it out. Love y'all.
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
50 years ago this week, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert made the first pilot for their TV show. In honor of this huge anniversary, I created my definitive “Best of Siskel & Ebert” article - 50 of their best reviews from across their entire career. 👍🏻👍🏻
The 50 Best Siskel & Ebert Reviews
screencrush.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:52 PM
50 years ago this week, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert made the first pilot for their TV show. In honor of this huge anniversary, I created my definitive “Best of Siskel & Ebert” article - 50 of their best reviews from across their entire career. 👍🏻👍🏻
If we’re kicking the guy with the Nazi tattoos out of the tent (and good riddance!) then why would we ever invite someone with a long record of hateful statements and brutal policy positions in?
Raskin: We are a big tent. We must be a huge, vast tent. I say this is a party that’s got room for Marjorie Taylor Greene if she wants to come over.
November 17, 2025 at 6:49 PM
If we’re kicking the guy with the Nazi tattoos out of the tent (and good riddance!) then why would we ever invite someone with a long record of hateful statements and brutal policy positions in?
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
If you’re in Pittsburgh, I cannot recommend more enthusiastically Morcilla in Lawrenceville. Thoughtful, unfussy, flavorful food. There short rib is incomparable. morcillapittsburgh.com
Morcilla - Pittsburgh, PA
The family-style menu fosters a convivial environment with a focus on small plates, while Severino’s signature charcuterie program takes on a Spanish accent. The beverage selection feature...
morcillapittsburgh.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:28 PM
If you’re in Pittsburgh, I cannot recommend more enthusiastically Morcilla in Lawrenceville. Thoughtful, unfussy, flavorful food. There short rib is incomparable. morcillapittsburgh.com
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
The festive season is here! What better time to take your adventurers into the scrumpdillyicious delights of the bestselling 'Curse of the Sugarplum Fairy'? A trifle of Wonka, Adventure Time, and Cronenberg, it comes with the Complete User's Guide to Sucromancy!
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/3...
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/3...
November 16, 2025 at 4:21 PM
The festive season is here! What better time to take your adventurers into the scrumpdillyicious delights of the bestselling 'Curse of the Sugarplum Fairy'? A trifle of Wonka, Adventure Time, and Cronenberg, it comes with the Complete User's Guide to Sucromancy!
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/3...
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/3...
Let's just say it's good to have a job where you're leading a three-hour discussion on the films of Jordan Peele with a group of students who have been deep into Horror Cinema, Affect Theory, and Monster Studies for three months.
November 17, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Let's just say it's good to have a job where you're leading a three-hour discussion on the films of Jordan Peele with a group of students who have been deep into Horror Cinema, Affect Theory, and Monster Studies for three months.
Finished watching One Battle After Another last night, first time at-home watch, and I can't count how many times I skipped back a few seconds to rewatch a shot, a line delivery, a bit of shot-music synchronicity. A beautifully crafted film.
a man wearing sunglasses and a beanie talking on a phone with the caption " you know i don t remember that part
Alt: Leo as Pat/Bob in One Battle After Another wearing sunglasses and a beanie talking on a phone with the caption " you know i don t remember that part
media.tenor.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Finished watching One Battle After Another last night, first time at-home watch, and I can't count how many times I skipped back a few seconds to rewatch a shot, a line delivery, a bit of shot-music synchronicity. A beautifully crafted film.
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
I had an exchange (in my terrible Spanish) with Andry José Hernández Romero, the gay Venezuelan asylum seeker sent, without due process, to an El Salvadoran prison by the US. I told him that I posted a photo of him on here each day he was in captivity & he responded. He said I could share. ❤️
![[my clunky translation]
MJM: This sounds silly, but I posted a photo of you every day when you were in captivity in El Salvador. Over 500,000 people liked the posts. We all think of you. ANDRY: The love and beauty of the American people is immense. MJM: Well, you’re pretty amazing, Andry. ANDRY: & still a lot of work to do but my goal is to say thank you, in front of all of you, in the United States.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:64wqxwi66lsrjsy32ri77z7h/bafkreid6tkxdzs6jedd5yklz6mfouiqqxr4h7d7upd7raw4kvwwozpf7iu@jpeg)
November 17, 2025 at 3:30 AM
I had an exchange (in my terrible Spanish) with Andry José Hernández Romero, the gay Venezuelan asylum seeker sent, without due process, to an El Salvadoran prison by the US. I told him that I posted a photo of him on here each day he was in captivity & he responded. He said I could share. ❤️
Reading Laura Marks' The Skin of the Film and finding her idea of "haptic visuality" deeply relevant to Horror Cinema. In contrast to memory, the textural techniques of horror (the scream, the squelch, the surface of the skin) evoke an embodied experience of the uncanny and the abject. Hello, essay!
November 17, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Reading Laura Marks' The Skin of the Film and finding her idea of "haptic visuality" deeply relevant to Horror Cinema. In contrast to memory, the textural techniques of horror (the scream, the squelch, the surface of the skin) evoke an embodied experience of the uncanny and the abject. Hello, essay!
Love how the guy makes clear that the child "was not my student" like it's perfectly cool that he was horning on the children in the hall.
epstein emails released and everyone coming out as a pedophile to defend donald trump
November 17, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Love how the guy makes clear that the child "was not my student" like it's perfectly cool that he was horning on the children in the hall.
Critical gender studies but guys justifying pedophilia.
epstein emails released and everyone coming out as a pedophile to defend donald trump
November 17, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Critical gender studies but guys justifying pedophilia.
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
Coming up Tuesday Nov 18 at @columbiauniversity.bsky.social Reparations and the Human: A Conversation with David L. Eng. Respondents: Sonali Thakkar and Jack Halberstam !! This should be great. @dukepress.bsky.social english.columbia.edu/events/repar...
Reparations and the Human: A Conversation with David L. Eng. Respondents: Sonali Thakkar and Jack Halberstam | The Department of English and Comparative Literature
english.columbia.edu
November 17, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Coming up Tuesday Nov 18 at @columbiauniversity.bsky.social Reparations and the Human: A Conversation with David L. Eng. Respondents: Sonali Thakkar and Jack Halberstam !! This should be great. @dukepress.bsky.social english.columbia.edu/events/repar...
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
November 16, 2025 at 11:43 PM
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
reminded of eric williams's observation about britain's relationship to its history with slavery. "British historians wrote almost as if Britain had introduced Negro slavery solely for the satisfaction of abolishing it."
holy shit: “Among the 2,000 UK adults surveyed, 85% were unaware that Britain forcibly transported more than 3 million Africans to the Caribbean, 89% did not know that Britain enslaved people in the Caribbean for more than 300 years” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Caribbean reparations leaders in ‘historic’ first UK visit to press for justice
CRC mission will seek to deepen public understanding of Britain’s colonial legacy and its lasting impact
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:11 PM
reminded of eric williams's observation about britain's relationship to its history with slavery. "British historians wrote almost as if Britain had introduced Negro slavery solely for the satisfaction of abolishing it."
Groovy.
November 16, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Groovy.
Energy Vampire, this Hassett guy.
KARL: The president claims that Thanksgiving costs are down 25%. Does he know that's not true?
HASSETT: Well if you look at Walmart--
KARL: Wait a minute. I've gotta stop you. The Walmart package this year contains much less than the one last year. That's why the price is less.
HASSETT: Well if you look at Walmart--
KARL: Wait a minute. I've gotta stop you. The Walmart package this year contains much less than the one last year. That's why the price is less.
November 16, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Energy Vampire, this Hassett guy.
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
The press contact for FACE THE NATION is amanda.leonard@paramount.com if anyone wants to explain to them why people might care about a massive pedophile sex trafficking ring that apparently implicates the president and several other powerful men.
Margaret Brennan to Tom Suozzi: "Can you explain the focus this past week in the House by Democrats on the Jeffrey Epstein files? Is this a tactic to distract from the failure to extract healthcare changes?"
November 16, 2025 at 5:06 PM
The press contact for FACE THE NATION is amanda.leonard@paramount.com if anyone wants to explain to them why people might care about a massive pedophile sex trafficking ring that apparently implicates the president and several other powerful men.
One of the singular pleasures of my parenting life is watching my brother trashtalk one of my sons, watching my son give it back as good as they got it, and the whole tussle operating at the highest level of wicked wit.
November 16, 2025 at 4:50 PM
One of the singular pleasures of my parenting life is watching my brother trashtalk one of my sons, watching my son give it back as good as they got it, and the whole tussle operating at the highest level of wicked wit.
I've spent decades--literally, decades--fighting against the stereotype of the incel guy living in his mother's basement and this f-er just dumps it all into the Styx.
November 16, 2025 at 4:25 PM
I've spent decades--literally, decades--fighting against the stereotype of the incel guy living in his mother's basement and this f-er just dumps it all into the Styx.
The festive season is here! What better time to take your adventurers into the scrumpdillyicious delights of the bestselling 'Curse of the Sugarplum Fairy'? A trifle of Wonka, Adventure Time, and Cronenberg, it comes with the Complete User's Guide to Sucromancy!
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/3...
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/3...
November 16, 2025 at 4:21 PM
The festive season is here! What better time to take your adventurers into the scrumpdillyicious delights of the bestselling 'Curse of the Sugarplum Fairy'? A trifle of Wonka, Adventure Time, and Cronenberg, it comes with the Complete User's Guide to Sucromancy!
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/3...
www.dmsguild.com/en/product/3...
A reminder that 90% POS is still POS
Marjorie Taylor Greene: "I do support him and his administration ... his remarks of course have been hurtful ... unfortunately it has all come down to the Epstein files ... I will continue to do my small part to get the files released."
November 16, 2025 at 4:11 PM
A reminder that 90% POS is still POS
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
The Founders were so concerned about bribery that the Constitution forbids it three separate times. Two emoluments clauses ban officials—unambiguously including the president—from accepting things of value, plus bribery is the only named impeachable offense besides treason.
Unprecedentedly corrupt.
Unprecedentedly corrupt.
To negotiate a trade deal with the President of the United States, the Swiss government arrived with a "special Rolex desktop clock" and "a 1-kilogram personalized gold bar"
www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
How to lobby Trump with Swiss precision: gifts, gold and gab
How the Swiss broke a diplomatic logjam on tariffs by arriving with tributes fit for a king.
www.axios.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:50 PM
The Founders were so concerned about bribery that the Constitution forbids it three separate times. Two emoluments clauses ban officials—unambiguously including the president—from accepting things of value, plus bribery is the only named impeachable offense besides treason.
Unprecedentedly corrupt.
Unprecedentedly corrupt.
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
Don’t. Print. Lies. In. The. Newspaper.
They’re breaking the law & violating the Constitution. These things are not “traditions” or norms.
They’re breaking the law & violating the Constitution. These things are not “traditions” or norms.
This line in the NYT:
“.. the near-complete breakdown of the Justice Department’s traditional independence to prosecute cases based on facts and the law, as opposed to presidential fiat.”
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/u...
“.. the near-complete breakdown of the Justice Department’s traditional independence to prosecute cases based on facts and the law, as opposed to presidential fiat.”
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/u...
Justice Department to Investigate Epstein Ties, but Not to Trump
www.nytimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Don’t. Print. Lies. In. The. Newspaper.
They’re breaking the law & violating the Constitution. These things are not “traditions” or norms.
They’re breaking the law & violating the Constitution. These things are not “traditions” or norms.
Reposted by Dr. Mike Sell
steam is apparently allowing "this game had AI in it that it didn't disclose" as a valid return statement, so if you or anyone you know actually paid $70 for slop, get that money back
Insulting to the players, insulting to the IP, insulting to the medium, the developers. And the craft itself. Fuck you executives who pushed this garbage.
frvr.com/blog/call-of...
frvr.com/blog/call-of...
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is littered with AI art slop, because your $70 means nothing anymore
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is littered with AI generated artwork which makes the $70 feel like a complete rip-off.
frvr.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:10 AM
steam is apparently allowing "this game had AI in it that it didn't disclose" as a valid return statement, so if you or anyone you know actually paid $70 for slop, get that money back