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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler

@isaacbutler.bsky.social
10K followers 750 following 7K posts

Cultural critic and historian, author, podcaster, non-Zionist Jew. Co-host: CHARM OFFENSIVE. Writer: THE METHOD: HOW THE 20TH CENTURY LEARNED TO ACT

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Moby Dick @mobydickatsea.bsky.social · 10h
everything was filled with sperm, except the captain’s pantaloons pockets
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 12h
I think the weirdest thing about that Chris Rock interview is that neither Rock nor Marchese, who profess to both love The Apartment, remember that Lemmon didn‘t procure Shirley MacLaine…. he provided *the titular apartment*.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
For the good people of slate dot com I explored the career and mysteries of one Robert Pattinson, the most (intentionally) misunderstood actor of his generation: slate.com/culture/2026...
slate.com
He Was an Object of Mockery. Now He’s Looking Like the Next Brad Pitt. I Think I Know What Changed.
“R-Patz” was a derided teen heartthrob. Now he’s in four of the biggest movies of the year and seems headed for his first Oscar nomination.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This season of slow horses is a real return to form.
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Bill @bill-of-lefts.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Mamdani is basically the ideal “left-wing of the possible” politician but it’s not good enough for these people. their problem is he’s actually a mensch who doesn’t hate Jews
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
For the good people of slate dot com I explored the career and mysteries of one Robert Pattinson, the most (intentionally) misunderstood actor of his generation: slate.com/culture/2026...
slate.com
He Was an Object of Mockery. Now He’s Looking Like the Next Brad Pitt. I Think I Know What Changed.
“R-Patz” was a derided teen heartthrob. Now he’s in four of the biggest movies of the year and seems headed for his first Oscar nomination.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I just find it impossible to believe that anyone involved in programming END CREDITS at The Shed, up to and including Steve McQueen, who made it, thinks it’s good, or even, like, finished as a work of art.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Folks who have read the new China Mievelle… is it relatively well written on a sentence level like The City and The City or relatively badly written on a sentence level like Bas Lag?
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elias isquith @eliasisquith.blog · 26/09/2026
name one bog troll who wasnt a dick. that's right. you can't.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Gee I wonder who the sources were.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Gee I wonder who the sources were.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
There’s a beautiful new edition of Evan S. Connell’s Mrs. Bridge, which is on my personal great American novel shortlist. if you’ve never read it, now’s your chance! i have yet to meet a single reader who didn’t have their world changed by reading it: mcnallyjackson.com/book/9781582...
mcnallyjackson.com
Mrs. Bridge: A Novel
"Again and again. . . I find myself being a Mrs. Bridge evangelist, telling them that it’s a perfect novel, and then pressing copies on them. . . What writing! Economical, piquant, beautiful, true." —...
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Shaul Magid remains the most essential Jewish writer about Zionism around: lareviewofbooks.org/article/anti...
lareviewofbooks.org
Snow Globe Palimpsest | Los Angeles Review of Books
Benjamin Moser delivers biographical sketches of Jews who refused to abandon the Diaspora.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
For whatever it’s worth, two of. the best tv shows I’ve seen this year— The New Years and Hal and Harper— have both been, oddly enough, on Mubi. The actual best show I’ve seen this year is probably East of Eden, which will be on Netflix soon. all are, probably not coincidentally, limited series!
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Russell Cohn @russellcohn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I see “The Jews took down Platner” is now an explanation
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
A hundred best tv shows of the 21st century begs the question of whether there have been a hundred good tv shows in the 21st century.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Oh really? Someone is hunting the Slow Horses?
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Barry Deutsch @barrydeutsch.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The Art of Persuasion Read more cartoons! —> #Policartoon Support the cartoons! —>patreon.com/barry
TRANSCRIPT
Panel 1:
A woman and a man sit on a low stone wall in a park. The woman is upset; the man listens.

WOMAN: And now the Democrat in the race is backing some anti-trans laws! I’m not sure I can vote for that.

MAN (thinking): Uh-oh. Democrats need every vote. How can I convince her to vote for the Democrat anyway?

Panel 2:
The woman and man walk through the park, the woman ahead of him.

WOMAN: Of course, the Republican is even worse. But if Democrats turn against trans people… I’m so frightened.

MAN (thinking): I’ve got to be empathetic and persuasive.

Panel 3:
Close-up of the man, looking thoughtful with his hand on his chin.

WOMAN (off-panel): Look at what happened to the UK — they’ve now got two anti-trans parties. If we let that happen here, trans rights are dead.

MAN (thinking): Okay, I think I know how to reassure her and get her vote.

Panel 4:
The man is suddenly furious, leaning toward the startled woman and pointing at her.

MAN: You’re a Trump supporting moron and you deserve to die!

CHICKEN FAT WATCH
PANEL 1:
A good dog with a halo peers out a window. A hand sticks out of a hole in a tree holding a sign that says SEND CANDY.

PANEL 2:
Groucho peeks from behind some bushes. A poster nailed to a tree reads "Background gag to come and it'll be so funny!" A bad rabbit (we know it's bad because it's smoking) sits beside a bad worm (also smoking). A bottle lying in the grass is labeled "BARRY BEER" and has a disturbed-looking drawing of Barry. A mouse holds a knife to a cat; the cat raises its front paws in surrender.

PANEL 4:
A giant mouse (?) in a shirt and tie sits on the wall reading a newspaper, called "Daily Blah Blah," whose headline says "Literate Rodent Escapes Lab."
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MisterJayEm @misterjayem.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The deaths aren't part of the plan, that is the plan.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Turns out, as with all stories of AI achievement, the solving of the millennium problem was accomplished through theft of someone's work and done in a way that isn't actually all that useful for humankind! www.npr.org/2026/09/22/n...
npr.org
AI solved one of math's hardest problems. Humanity learned nothing (so far)
OpenAI beat humans to solving the Navier-Stokes problem, but mathematicians say the AI's solution isn't telling them much.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A truly underrated aspect of AOC’s popularity and success is that she comes across as an actual human being, something almost no other politician manages: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/u...
nytimes.com
Will Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Run for President in 2028? Here’s What She Said. (Gift Article)
In a wide-ranging interview, the New York congresswoman offered her most detailed insight yet into how she is thinking about a possible presidential run.
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Matt the Dad Dude @undefeatedmatt.wifeguy.online · 20/09/2026
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Because of the subject matter of Degenerates at Playwrights and many of the swing-for-the-fences choice the play is making, I fear that Christopher Dylan White's performance might get overshadowed. Simply put: they're one of the most exciting actors of their generation.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I think once you believe all screening of students is inherently bad (not unfairly applied but wrong on principle) it doesn’t surprise me exactly that you end up with the chain of disastrous decisions Hannah-Jones made.
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Hourly Garth Marenghi's Darkplace @hourlydarkplace.bagpuss.org · 19/09/2026
02:46
S01E06 The Creeping Moss from the Shores of Shuggoth 4 March 2004
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
When someone says The Wire is copaganda
static.klipy.com
Succession Logan Roy: You Are Not Serious People
ALT: Succession Logan Roy: You Are Not Serious People
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Look, if the actors are game for it it’s not a problem, but i’m kinda surprised we’re still writing stuff venerating directors whose method of self aggrandizement is talking about what nightmares they are to work with: metrograph.com/albert-serra...
metrograph.com
Albert Serra - Journal - Metrograph
From Locarno, an interview with the indefatigable Catalan filmmaker.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I’ve changed my mind. State arts funding is bad now.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
It's baffling that Democrats aren't putting Trump right smack in the center of their messaging about AI. He wants to turn our country over to the tech oligarchs and he's putting us all in extreme danger in the process:
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
One day I will not have the music from Mewgenics in my head, but today is not that day. #tastylegsandcrispythighs
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Whew Good Time sucks. The Brownstein-Safdie coalition are 0/3.
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Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 17/09/2026
There’s a lot going on right now, and Susan Collins is hoping voters won’t notice that she was the deciding vote in confirming another anti-abortion Trump judge to a lifetime appointment.
newrepublic.com
Susan Collins Casts Major Anti-Abortion Vote 6 Weeks Out From Election
The Maine senator voted in favor of a Donald Trump judicial nominee who served on the board of an anti-abortion pregnancy center.
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In a normal, functioning democracy, this would end his presidency tonight.
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David Call @davidscall.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
lolol guess they saw your post bsky.app/profile/nytd...
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Take it from a guy who just wrote a history of the culture wars… this is an insane headline with no basis in reality whatsoever
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Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Omggg @propublica.org Absolute balls of steel to publish this story on the Russian oligarch and Putin crony who apparently funded a bunch of Don Trump Jr’s latest wedding. The president did not attend, but a bunch of mysterious Russian-speaking men did www.propublica.org/article/dona...
propublica.org
Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch
The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large...
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Shana tova! Especially to all the haters and the losers!
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Gregory Mosher @gregorymosher.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Yes to larger point. Miller figured out the American Dream wasn't working by 1949. Mamet wrote Glengarry in the early 80's, years before "greed is good" summed up the decade. My Q: Are such plays being written and not produced, or not written because it's so unlikely that they will be produced?
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
man, fuck this guy. www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...
nbcnews.com
James Talarico says he ‘missed the mark’ on ‘cringey’ comments as Texas general election starts
Republicans have attacked Talarico’s past comments on gender, religion, race and more as the Senate race in Texas heats up.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The thing I remember every 9/11, besides the experience of being in Manhattan that day, is that that week Slate was running a daily correspondence between John Lahr (last of the theater critic public intellectuals) and August Wilson (the penultimate playwright public intellectual )
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I hope every night Christine Todd Whitman is visited, Scrooge-like, by the ghosts of all the first responders who slowly died of horrible respiratory conditions while she told everyone the air was safe.
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Rewatching Buffy with my kid (and watching some of Angel) has led me to think about what must an incredibly bizarre experience for an actor: Getting fired and then having to act in your own final episode where they write you off.
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Jen Johans @filmintuition.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
#Podcast: #WatchWithJen - S7: E23 - Screen Censorship w/ Isaac Butler Award-winning author @isaacbutler.bsky.social returns to the pod to discuss '90s art controversies, Citizen Ruth, South Park, The People vs. Larry Flynt, & his outstanding new book THE PERFECT MOMENT. patreon.com/FilmIntuitio...
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I actually don’t think AI execs are just doing hype when they say the models may be conscious and could destroy humanity within the decade. these companies are sociopathic and so theres bo ethics underlying any of this shit.
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headfallsoff @headfallsoff.com · 09/09/2026
(in the family group chat): that wont matter. without radical change all of this is meaningless in fifteen years. we have no idea how dire things are (in the communist group chat): they should make a turn based final fantasy again with the two minute summon animations
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Whew the Buffy ep get it done has to be the series’ nadir, right
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
obviously yes
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
One must imagine a coyote happy
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The Isaac Who Came In From the Butler @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Coyote V Acme rules. I can’t believe they adapted Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus as a courtroom comedy for children.
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