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Derek Kompare

@dkompare.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.2K following 1.8K posts

Media scholar/eulogist, higher ed administrator, teacher, spouse, parent, child, procrastinator, physical media omnivore, flâneur. Disappointed with the internet since 1995. I don't do RPs or auto-follow-backs. Posts do not reflect views of my employer!

PostsRepliesMedia
Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 8h
Pondering the viability of a NIL collective for our visual and performing arts students.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My new campus hero is the kid who wears the all-white suit every day (complete with white headphones and tennis shoes) who smells faintly of clove cigarettes. He’s like his own 2000s “The” band or a self-contained Wes Anderson protagonist.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The layered temporalities of academic life take a collective psychic toll. Especially these days, when there are more of them than ever demanding simultaneous attention.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Wait, people think there are still inescapable pop songs in this era of algorithm-delivered pop culture? 🤔 (Speaking as a Texan who only listens to Bandcamp, NTS, and his own Plex library and was not aware of (and still haven’t heard) something called “Choosing Texas” until this morning.)
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
If you’re looking for a slightly off-the-radar show on that list with some amazing women characters and performances, I’ll put in a pitch for Andor, if you haven’t yet seen it.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Perfection. www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/cha...
mcsweeneys.net
“Charlie Brown Must Stay the Course”: A Football Kick Autopsy Report by the Democratic Party
“The central lesson of this cycle is not that Charlie Brown should stop trusting Lucy. It is that Charlie Brown must do a better job explaining why trusting ...
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Another faculty job at SMU Meadows! This one is to lead our growing Sports Media program in Journalism. Details in the link! apply.interfolio.com/191548
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
My all-animation variant. The Gravity Falls-P&F era was magical for those of us with Gen Z kids (who grow up and introduce you to Smiling Friends).
A list of top animated TV Shows of the 21st century, including Gravity Falls, Smiling Friends, Phineas and Ferb, Over The Garden Wall, The Backyardigans, Samurai Jack, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Creature Commandos, Justice League Unlimited, and Bluey.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Calling on the power of industrial-grade processed sugar to please make it feel like fall in Texas, instead of permanent early August.
A pile of candy corn
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Happy new book day to one of my newest Meadows colleagues, Assistant Professor of Art History Ravi Binning! press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
press.uchicago.edu
The Medieval Art of Fear
A bold new approach to medieval art and architecture’s shaping of psychosomatic experience. ​  In the medieval world, experiences of fear attained a mystical significance: monks, urban publics, and ev...
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Reminder: we have open faculty positions at SMU Meadows! Art History! Film! Theatre! And more to come! Apply now! www.smu.edu/meadows/abou...
smu.edu
Employment
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A caveat that there are a few biggies that I haven’t gotten around to yet, and another dozen or so that I have seen that fall just off the list. My top 10 In no particular order…
A grid of thumbnail art for a ten best TV shows list, including Mad Men, Andor, Survivor, Pluribus, Severance, Breaking Bad, Parks and Recreation, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Arrested Development
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
It's worth pondering if this whole lawsuit was always an elaborate bit of theatrics, destined to result in an almost toothless settlement designed to minimize any corporate discomfort. As these things often turn out. Condolences to Hollywood, and, well, all of us.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Human societies have always produced and capitalized on mass despair under the cover of “a good life,” but never at this scale, velocity, and relentless saturation from cradle to grave.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
💯 The only intelligence officer and President combo I would trust to prevent this scenario is, unfortunately, IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and President Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett).
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Finding the sweet spot between continuity and change is difficult, but I’m increasingly convinced that universities should not prioritize placating the feelings and habits of senior faculty, staff, administrators, trustees, or donors.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Another great thread from Cory on how we can acknowledge LLMs’ ability to replicate the statistically likely, yet remain justifiably skeptical of its ability to actually understand anything it does or produce anything interesting or surprising.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
“Pff. Sell-out.”
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I agree with most of what Nev suggests in this thread, and appreciate how he gets at specific parts of the drama machinery.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Biggest reaction during the Emmys last night in our house was my SO learning of the passing of her first TV crush, Randolph Mantooth.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
The thing about learning how the sausage is made is that the sausage-makers usually don't know exactly exactly how the sausage is made, and that sometimes there are new sausage-makers who want to try many new ways of making sausage. In the meantime, the sausage factory production line never stops.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
It’s September, so that always means football, pumpkin spice, Halloween planning, and establishment Democrats reliably damping the enthusiasm of the party’s most motivated voters.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
What Cory says. AI is fake and humans are gullible and delusional (and mostly shit at digital security). pluralistic.net/2026/09/12/g...
pluralistic.net
Pluralistic: LLMs are real, AI is fake (12 Sep 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Got my flu and COVID shots today, and I guess that counts as being punk rock in 2026.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
THIS.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Another great bit o’ cultural critique from Charlie Jane. I love the point about the need to separate the aesthetic from the ethos, as it applies not only to noir but to every genre out there. buttondown.com/charliejane/...
buttondown.com
I'm Sick of Noir
For the next couple days, you can pre-order my upcoming novel Good Things Are Coming Your Way from Barnes & Noble for 25 percent off with the code...
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Glorious new OST release from @lalalandrecords.bsky.social with four dark and dangerous golden age scores from Friedhofer, Rózsa, Kubik, and Roemheld, including these two all-time scorchers.
The CD cover to the 2026 La La Land Records release of the scores of Double Indemnity (1944) and Ace in the Hole (1951)
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Happy 60th to everyone who put in the time on the Paramount lot (and, for the last decade, in Toronto) making hundreds of episodes and films around this wild idea of exploring and co-existing in the galaxy, and to all the fans and fan-creators all over the world who've celebrated and extended it.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Grateful for all the talented people who can make interesting and challenging ideas and stories out of hoary pop culture texts created many decades back under conditions both radically identical and radically different to conditions today. Thank you for not spoon-feeding us the same old same old.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
This.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I always love a Josey Records sale weekend, but I lack the mental stamina and digital dexterity to flip through the many, many unsorted $1 racks. Maybe someday.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Fantastic critique of the idea of the “monoculture” from @charliejane.bsky.social, including a reminder that there never really was such a thing anyway. buttondown.com/charliejane/...
buttondown.com
This Hot New Buzzword Is Toxic and Bad For Culture
Red Alert! Shields up! You only have until Monday to ask your local comic book store to reserve a copy of my Star Trek comic, Zero Point, even though it...
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Feeling a bit funky this Bandcamp Friday. God knows I need it. This month’s haul: Some neo-brasileira via Austria… curiocurio.bandcamp.com/album/curi-c...
curiocurio.bandcamp.com
Curió Curió, by Curió Curió
11 track album
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Adventures in tech: my USB-C laptop power cable plug completely disabled by a teeny tiny silicon bead (from one of those tiny anti-moisture packets you’re supposed to throw away) it picked up at the bottom of my bag.
A close-up of a USB-C plug showing a tiny clear silicon bead stuck inside of it.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This whole piece. 🔥 "What you feel in your heart towards the series is almost entirely irrelevant. What matters is what you do, because J. K. Rowling is out there doing a lot of things." defector.com/its-time-to-...
defector.com
It’s Time To Grow Up | Defector
HBO’s new Harry Potter TV series is premiering this Christmas Day. Under current plans, it will last at least a decade. The trailer looks like the original films were run through an AI generator, but ...
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Adding a 2-player Maimai arcade game to my dream house inventory. If it's your first time here, you have to maimai.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
An illuminating look into Sony's plans, via what academic research they're interested in funding. I would imagine it's a typical slate for every tech and media company now. TLDR - more AI and cloud infrastructure everywhere, less direct human creative involvement. www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/...
sony.com
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
You know you’ve arrived when all the happy couples in your junk mail look like this.
A happy man and woman, each with white hair and probably in their late 60s.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Really enjoyed this. Essential reading on the political economy and cultural impacts of AI and the entire tech project. More please! www.versobooks.com/products/332...
versobooks.com
Medium Hot
Medium Hot is the essential handbook for our present conjuncture, exploring the limits of art and technology. Hito Steyerl argues that these practices cannot be divorced from economic and political co...
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Coyote vs Acme is delightful. Grateful to all involved for their sisyphean persistence to get this made and released.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Texans: check your voter registration! Link below. goelect.txelections.civixapps.com/ivis-mvp-ui/...
goelect.txelections.civixapps.com
IvisMvpUi
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Make your favorite film sound as boring as possible without giving away the title: A tall middle-aged man goes to Paris for a business meeting, visits a friend, and has dinner at a new restaurant.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Currently listening to Vince Guaraldi in a desperate ploy to lower the temperature at least 40 degrees. 🥵
static.klipy.com
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Alt: An animated image from the cartoon "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," with Linus walking into a pumpkin patch holding a sign that reads "Welcome, Great Pumpkin."
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
We're hiring faculty at Meadows! First up is this tenure-track position (Assistant or Associate rank) in Theatre Studies in our fantastic and eclectic Theatre division. apply.interfolio.com/191543
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Man, everything in the 2020s has consequences. So much for the endless benders of crime, general mayhem, and flying motorcycles that defined life in 2010s Los Santos.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
This this this! And we need strange and amazing people now more than ever.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A sadly familiar story of big media simply stealing from small media.
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Damn. Another absolute icon gone. May we all learn from them about making art and living life. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/au...
theguardian.com
Tim Curry, star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Stephen King’s It, dies aged 80
A prolific performer across stage, screen and TV, the actor starred in Legend, Clue and It, but will always be associated with the flamboyantly camp rock’n’roll musical in which he made his breakthrou...
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
This. 💯
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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
“Icon” is used a lot to describe a lot of people, but has rarely applied so perfectly to anyone as it does now. One of the very best of us. RIP. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...
theguardian.com
Dolly Parton, country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80
Songwriter of I Will Always Love You, Jolene and 9 to 5 also invested millions in child literacy, Covid-19 vaccine development and other causes
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