Selections from my newsletter, The Forty-Year-Old Grad Student (renamed Digital Grey Gardens).
- Academia has made me doubt every single word I write. As I write this my heart is beating fast. Did I use correct grammar? Will the red lines pop up on Microsoft Word? Will I see the red marks of a track change? A comment that says, "I don't understand what you mean here." Or the question: "Do you ever […]
- I take my designation as the arbiter of camp and satire seriously. So it’s important for me to make a call on the new “camp” entry, the opening credits to The Peacemaker. I never intended to watch the show, but more than once I have been told by the internet headlines that the credits are the best thing that has […]
- When did the gym become a performance art studio? I blame YouTube. I blame fitness influencers. I blame the hacking culture. I blame optimizing. I’m walking the indoor track (15K steps a day!) and a man in front of me sprints for ten seconds then stops. He lunges so hard I see parts of him I never knew existed. Back […]
- Weakness of the Cat Papier Ditch The Living Individual Frankie Broccoliboy Perpendicular Fathers Jesus and the Person Young The Condo of Forever 21
- I saw Dune a month ago in the theaters, and rarely felt much coldness in a movie. The characters were ice figures come to life. At some point, I just settled into my situation and enjoyed it for what it was. Visually stunning. And a romance between mother and son. I watched it again on HBO and appreciated it more- […]
- Marika arrived at the windowless, stainless steel studio 48 minutes and 20 seconds before air time. That was three minutes and twenty seconds earlier than her call time. For three minutes and twenty seconds, she stood on the roof and smoked a cigarette. Smoking was forbidden in her contract, but that would be the least of anyone's worries. Back in […]
- In this house, we believe: You stand back and wait for people to exit the elevator before entering. Backing into a parking space is a useless waste of time. Everything bad can be blamed on capitalism. Fandom is not a personality. Adam Driver owes his career to Lena Dunham. The media is the message. Alison Roman was right about Chrissy […]
- Movies about a privileged white woman with no sense of self who are driven to the edge of sanity by pervasive surveillance, all while living in a fantastic house. Spencer (2021)Mother! (2017)Melancholia (2011)Queen of Versaille (2012)Jane Eyre (2011) Also, I recommend: This announcement of the theme of the next American Studies Association conference. When you read the list of topics, […]
- [This is a reprint of last year's Halloween list….so sue me.] It’s the Halloween edition, so I’m sharing the videos that are the scariest and have stayed with me like a living nightmare. You have been warned! Yes, these are even spookier than “Everybody.” Genesis, “Land of Confusion” (1986) Genesis has been misremembered as some sort of adult contemporary goof […]
- Season 2, Episode 22; "Diamond In the Rough" as Reviewed By Lars Von Trier Romance is a falsehood, only pain and suffering provides us with the human experience. However, the mother stares grimly at the daughter, a grown woman enveloped in the stink of her own loneliness. The mother offers her a metaphorical teat: she is trying to purchase a […]
- I watched both Dune and Titane so I am currently leaning into my THOUGHTS about each. Like thinkpiece-level thoughts. Meanwhile, here's things to read by people who are better at organizing their thoughts than me: “The Liberty Way”: How Liberty University Discourages and Dismisses Students’ Reports of Sexual Assaults ‘Ethically bankrupt’ blog (The Return of Tenure Tales of Terror! Professor […]
- I reached my goal of reading 75 books in 2021. This included reading for pleasure and reading for my dissertation. If it sounds like I am bragging, it's because I'm bragging. I rarely reach such lofty goals I set out for myself. It is really important to me to retain my identity as a reader, something that I've held, well, […]
- Season 2, Episode 10, "Love, Rose"; As Reviewed By The Designer of Dorothy's Monstrous Teal Crushed-Velvet Tuxedo Dress Some people live on this earth, contributing nothing, taking up resources, just existing. I am lucky that I have made my contribution to the world, and will die knowing my legacy. It is this: Ah, yes. When we have a tall, lean […]
- An Onion article appeared in 2013 that I still think about constantly: Find the thing you're most passionate about and do it on nights and weekends. At the time of 2013, I was in a stressful job that was supposedly a coveted job, but it made me miserable because well…not even to get into that. I escaped into a Ph.D. […]
- Do you have a piece of cultural ephemera that you know exists and are dying to see? I can't think of another example other than my own answer, but just nod along. I've been lucky enough to do archival work on a project about popular romance authors, and this popped out of a publishing trade mag. Image here Finding and […]
- If you love workplace drama + creative types + very online people, this one's for you. Everyone (online) is talking about this NYT piece, Who is the Bad Art Friend? I am Team Sonya. I was slightly in her favor while reading this…people can write about anything they want. Dawn's jealousy was clear. She also donated a kidney and was […]
- Recommended reading: Towards a Unified Theory of Peloton. Today was my first day at special Peloton Academy. Only special people got invited. So I was wondering why I was here! I had incredible flexibility, but I wasn't as cool as the other instructors. My hair was not as full as Hannah's. I wasn't as fun as Ally. I wasn't gay […]
- I don't usually count things that happen on Twitter an event, but this was a moment that made me think about the state of the content creator/audience relationship. I was playing Candy Crush while watching A Real Housewives show on Hulu and in an automated play algorithm, the first episode of Y: The Last Man started playing. It was fine; […]
- This weekend, I am reading Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon. Here's some other things to read: The Elizabeth Holmes Line: Sunny made me do it Ebooks Are an Abomination (LOL) Bad Faith: Andrew Sullivan’s infinite repression Anti-Vax Covid Deathbed Videos Are Wildly Popular. They’re Also Disturbing Is 'The Bachelor' Just a Christian Dating Show Now? The Third Force: On stupidity and […]
- I love to hate on Rachel Hollis! She is a Christian influencer who, after a viral post, launched an empire with the world's most obvious self-help and girl-bossing support. She has held LGAT conferences where people pay thousands, considering herself a petite Tony Robbins. Here's a longer article about her current downfall. She is grifting in plain sight. This is […]
Robin Hershkowitz, Ph.D. 