iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

SPY magazine is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a free substack! All the best Trump bits in one place! You know what they say: show me the bankrupt 1980s casino operator and I’ll show you the corrupt 2020s president. Follow the link to subscribe… spymagazine.substack.com/p/coming-soo...

spymagazine.substack.com

Coming Soon — Spy at 40

Spy Magazine’s Anniversary Chronicle of a Certain Short-Fingered Vulgarian

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I had a great time talking to Harris Alterman and Dave Ross about their fake tech ad campaign. Their ongoing (I hope) project is funny and pointed. Check it out before AI kills us all!

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D. M. S. Fick - now with more cake! @dmsfick.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

The local library recommends Hollywood High: A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies by @brucehandy.bsky.social in their enewsletter.

Book cover of Hollywood High. Text says, "Library Staff Recommendations
Hollywood High: A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies by Bruce Handy
Adult Nonfiction
Journalist Bruce Handy takes a stab at documenting the chronology of the teen film industry. Beginning with the inception of the word "teen," Handy gives the reader an in-depth look into the roots of being a young adult in the history of the United States and how the demographic had its influence upon Hollywood. Each chapter is devoted to a different film: Mickey Rooney's Andy Hardy, Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon's Back to the Beach, James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause, and Molly Ringwald's Pretty in Pink all make an appearance. Handy's book reads as part essay/part gossip magazine with many behind-the-scenes facts relayed about each film. Movie enthusiasts will surely enjoy revisiting the films of their youth.
- Nicole

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

From Flushing to Place Vendome: Wes Anderson and curator Jasper Sharp have exactingly recreated the artist Joseph Cornell’s basement Queens studio—part Santa’s workshop, part hoarder’s paradise—in Paris. I learned what went into making this massive, wonderful mess: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

newyorker.com

The Re-Assemblage of Joseph Cornell

Wes Anderson and Jasper Sharp teamed up to recreate the artist’s famous Flushing studio—only this time it’s at a Gagosian gallery in Paris.

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Cheryl Lynn Eaton @cheryllynneaton.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

He could have bought so many friends with that money.

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

I wrote an op-ed about Bruce Springsteen’s breakthrough moment in the context of aspirational 1970s male rock stardom (I.e. what he meant to doofy normcore teenage boys like me)… www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/o...

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

I talked comedy and politics and cowardly networks with Dick Smothers. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Just caught this lovely “Briefly Noted” that ran in last week’s New Yorker. Thank you anonymous critic! The last line summarizes the book way better than I ever have.

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David Kuhne @davidkuhne.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

As bad as the Sphere Wizard of Oz might be it’s still impressive people are traveling to Las Vegas and paying $200 a ticket to see an 86 year old movie

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piesdaughter.bsky.social @piesdaughter.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

LA gave the resistance “skateboarder🛹 dude”, DC added a “sub sandwich🥖launcher”!

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Stretch Ledford @stretchledford.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Beautiful bit of wordsmithery by @brucehandy.bsky.social

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

I delve deeply into the sociopolitical symbolism of submarine sandwich throwing as protest… www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | I’ll Have My Resistance on a Roll. Hold the Mayo.

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Russell Ricard @russellricard.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

@brucehandy.bsky.social's Hollywood High. Incisive look at pop culture through lens of teen movies. Serious, critical analysis. Underpinnings of teen life/psychology told in Handy’s signature voice: Humor w/reportage. Great read for pop culture, movie buffs, academics. #popculture #teenmovies

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

It’s funny because it’s true.

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Helen in the LA Times! link.latimes.com/view/6532ace...

link.latimes.com

Los Angeles Times

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

I have addressed a topic of national concern. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Brad Pitt, Whom So Proudly We Hail

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Title story from Helen Schulman’s wonderful new collection, “Fools for Love,” published today by @theatlantic.com (free link!) www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

theatlantic.com

Fools for Love

A short story

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/11/s...

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

You know you’re in France when the train station newsstand has a Vivian Maier bookazine.

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

How it started. How it’s going.

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

A rave for Hollywood High from Kyle Smith in the WSJ! www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Yesterday was the 39th anniversary of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Today is the 39th anniversary of his return to Ben Stein’s Econ class. Celebrate by reading this thoughtful and generous consideration of Hollywood High by Hillary Kelly in the Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

theatlantic.com

Fast Times and Mean Girls

What the great teen movies tell us about American adolescence

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

An evening at Rizzoli in NYC to celebrate "Hollywood High” with me and Lili Anolik, author of "Didion & Babitz." June 16, 6:00! There's overlap: Eve B went to the real Hollywood High and Joan D was a fan of beach party movies--as readers of “HH” already know! www.eventbrite.com/e/hollywood-...

eventbrite.com

Hollywood High by Bruce Handy with Lili Anolik

Bruce Handy's lively, provocative, and affectionate cultural history of teen movies.

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Terrific interview with Neil Leifer. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/25/a...

nytimes.com

The Greatest Sports Photo Ever Made Turns 60

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

A perspicacious (IMHO) review of Hollywood High by Mark Judge in the @washingtonexaminer. Behind a paywall, but here’s the money quote….

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New York Times Opinion @nytopinion.nytimes.com · 24/05/2025

“The new Tom Cruise movie, ‘Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,’ is nearly as exhausting to watch as it must have been to make,” @brucehandy.bsky.social writes. “Is it possible Mr. Cruise and audiences alike would be better off if he didn’t go quite so hard?”

nytimes.com

Opinion | Give Yourself a Break, Tom Cruise. Give Us All a Break.

It’s hard to suspend disbelief watching a movie when you’re thinking about how much Tiger Balm went into its making.

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Andrew Whitehead @andrew-whitehead.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

Great opening from @brucehandy.bsky.social here: “a movie shouldn’t make you feel like you’ve been cornered at a party by a guy who can’t stop telling you how freaking amped he is.” 😂 (And I’m still excited to see it.) www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Why Must Tom Cruise Keep Dangling From Biplanes?

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David M. Stewart @filmnerddave.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Check out @brucehandy.bsky.social's entertaining and delightful new book, Hollywood High.

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

I did a Q&A with Nell Minow at Roger Ebert dot com who very generously calls “”Hollywood High” “an absolute delight.” Read all the way through to find out why I think you must watch “Gidget” tonight! www.rogerebert.com/interviews/m...

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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Lowkey really enjoy this logo. Just give me a happy bird. This bird isn’t smug, he isn’t condescending, he just loves the game.

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Growing up authoritarian! An excerpt from “Hollywood High” in @vanityfair on why The Hunger Games” remains the perfect franchise for the Anxious Generation… www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/st...

vanityfair.com

Dystopia Now: Why ‘The Hunger Games’ Still Speaks Volumes About Teens, War, Propaganda, and More

An exclusive excerpt from the new book ‘Hollywood High,’ a deep dive into decades’ worth of teen movies.

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

In honor of its pub date, an excerpt from “Hollywood High” in @vulture ! How “Twilight” made abstinence cool (sort of). www.vulture.com/article/twil...

vulture.com

Twilight Was Just What an Oversexualized Generation Needed

In its depictions of teenage desire, the series took a cue from chaste high-school movies of long ago.

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

An excerpt from “Hollywood High” in the @hollywoodreporter: how Mickey Rooney created the template for teen movie stardom (while “going through the ladies like a hot knife through fudge,” in the words of first wife Ava Gardner). www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

hollywoodreporter.com

Mickey Rooney and the Invention of the Teen Idol

For three straight years last century, the diminutive actor was Hollywood’s undisputed box-office champion, and the unlikeliest of role models/sex symbols for America’s adolescents, thanks to his role...

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Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

hollywoodreporter.com

Mickey Rooney and the Invention of the Teen Idol

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