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Jack Sheehan

@jacksheehan.bsky.social
784 followers 462 following 67 posts

Writer, Historian, Photographer. Writing: Baffler, NYT, WaPo, Irish Times, Guardian, Polygon, London Magazine, The Fence, Tribune etc. Represented by Tyler Monson at Sterling Lord Literistic. jackosiochain@gmail.com jacksheehan.substack.com

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Reposted by Jack Sheehan
Wendy Lyon @wendylyon.eurosky.social · 01/10/2026
Once again it needs to be stressed that this is something happening across the board in Irish immigration- changes in practice leading to refusals that would not have occurred in previous years. We are in a very dark time for the rights of people migrating to Ireland and their families.
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"There is an air of profound exhaustion to the administration, which is deeply unpopular and, critics say, out of ideas, invested only in tending its own grievances." www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
irishtimes.com
Opinion: Trump media boycott will hurt him most of all. There are bigger threats to press freedom
There’s plenty of solidarity for the White House press pool, while far more urgent threats to journalists are being ignored
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Thank you! And I love this concept, as someone who has spent a bit of time in Tucson, this is so interesting to see!
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Jesse Hawken @jessehawken.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
One of the pleasures of working on my Prefab Sprout series on @junkfilterpod.bsky.social, reading the comments from their YouTube clips; a nurse during the AIDS crisis who found strength in that confusing time in his life from “The King of Rock ‘N Roll” (“I love this song and it tears my heart out”)
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Leor Galil @imleor.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Yes!!
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Something different (read: not depressing) this week from me in the Irish Times. I’ve been fascinated by the little stories in YouTube comments for a long time and during the PhD hit on the idea of them as an accidental, international oral history archive. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
irishtimes.com
Jack Sheehan: To most, YouTube comments are a cesspit. To me, they’re a glorious accidental archive
People’s memories, and the way they choose to recount them, have worth beyond the confines of what we consider to be capital-H History
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Dean Van Nguyen @deanvannguyen.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
The great Jess Kav on the soul-searching (or lack thereof) in the Irish music scene over the last week or so
open.substack.com
Angel At The Table
The thicket of un-grooming and the Irish music industry
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
"Don't a novel about the experience of being in an MFA workshop while still in said workshop. There are many already, some of them are even excellent, but this will be self-limiting, and no one wants to read a roman à clef of themselves in real time." jacksheehan.substack.com/p/a-matter-o...
jacksheehan.substack.com
A Matter of Degree
Why and how to do an MFA, MA, or M.Phil. in Creative Writing
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
I wrote about who commits crimes and who gets punished for the @irishtimes.com this week: www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
irishtimes.com
The scale of corruption in Trump’s second administration is head-spinning
Self-censorship in Trump's America is increasingly common and despite the administration’s growing unpopularity, criticism is muted
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Robert Rubsam @robrubsam.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
A recent reading, 📷 by @jacksheehan.bsky.social, pin courtesy of @carolineavenue.bsky.social
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
There But for Fortune open.substack.com/pub/jackshee...
open.substack.com
There But for Fortune
Phil Ochs (1940–1976)
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Rep. Robert Garcia @robertgarcia.house.gov · 08/04/2026
The U.S. must ensure that any ceasefire agreement includes Lebanon. Netanyahu is brutally bombing Beirut, killing civilians, and destroying critical infrastructure. This regional war must end now.
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omgisme @omgisme.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
A firefighter in Istanbul performed CPR on a cat affected by a fire, bringing it back to life.😍👍💙
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T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
As in Gaza, now in Lebanon. www.aljazeera.com/features/202...
aljazeera.com
How Israel is destroying healthcare infrastructure in southern Lebanon
Israel's attacks on hospitals, medical centres and healthcare workers are fuelling displacement and a health crisis.
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Wendy Erskine @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Give it a go
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
"But surely, you say, writing is a career? Theoretically, anything is a career, but until you start regularly making your rent with it, calling it one feels somewhat overoptimistic, like declaring yourself CEO at Me on LinkedIn." open.substack.com/pub/jackshee...
open.substack.com
Employment History
Work Experience, 2006 – Present
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Laura Keating @lorekeating.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
I keep seeing "all authors use AI, the real issue is they're being forced to be sneaky about it" headlines. Full stop No. This is a lie peddled for normalization. It's schoolyard-level pressure tactics "C'mon, all the cool kids are already doing it. We won't tell. It's fine. We're on your side."
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
What I've learned from 20 years of work (little): open.substack.com/pub/jackshee...
open.substack.com
Employment History
Work Experience, 2006 – Present
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Mondoweiss @mondoweiss.net · 30/03/2026
BREAKING: Israel's Knesset has passed a law to execute Palestinian detainees. Death by hanging. Mandatory sentencing. No pardon. 90 days to carry out. It applies through military courts with a 96% conviction rate. It does not apply to Israelis.
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Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 30/03/2026
‘Succulent Chinese meal’ speech added to Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive
theguardian.com
‘Succulent Chinese meal’ speech added to Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive
Jack Karlson’s rallying cry of ‘democracy manifest’ added to national collection of sound recordings that hold historical, cultural and aesthetic significance * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Thirty-five years ago, when Jack Karlson was hauled into a police car outside a Chinese restaurant in Queensland, he couldn’t have known his bombastic speech would be watched by millions around the world, become a meme and now, be preserved for ever in Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive. Karlson’s declaration – “Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest! … What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?” – is one of nine pieces of audio that have been added to the NFSA’s Sounds of Australia collection this year, along with a pedestrian crossing signal and Missy Higgins’ 2004 hit Scar. Continue reading...
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Relevant in light of the huge No Kings mobilizations this week, I wrote about the muted opposition to a widely unpopular war: www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
irishtimes.com
Worldview: The majority of Americans oppose the war. So why aren’t they protesting?
The section of the US public that opposes Donald Trump is exhausted by relentless right-wing dominance of public life
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The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 17/03/2026
What would it take to get to a united Ireland? In 2024, @jacksheehan.bsky.social described the bureaucratic and legal obstacles that stand in the way of a true reunion.
thebaffler.com
Irish Unification, 2024 | Jack Sheehan
It has become common to hear talk from across the political spectrum of the inevitability of Irish reunification. But what, in practice, would it look like?
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
My instant reaction to Zohran's once in a lifetime win www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
irishtimes.com
Opinion: Zohran Mamdani has lifted New Yorkers out of their pessimistic and reactionary funk
The promise is simple: a city worth living in, that everyone can afford to live in
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Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
ENCYCLOPEDIA - Your mangled brain would like you to know there is a boxer called Contact Mike. YOU - Yeah? Any news on my wife's name? How about my mother? ENCYCLOPEDIA - Nope.
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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
As we await a verdict in the trial of Soldier F, another reminder that in 2010 the Bloody Sunday inquiry found - the killings were unjustified - none of the 14 dead (7 of whom were children) had guns - no warnings were given - no soldiers were under threat - the troops were the first to open fire
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The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 23/10/2025
Join us at Spring Bar in Chinatown as we celebrate the launch of Baffler no. 81, “After Words.” 116 Madison St., Manhattan 7–10pm
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
I wrote a potted history of Irish presidential elections, and my favourite political moment of all time, when Gavin Duffy couldn't remember how many people he had hit with his car. Goodbye to Old Gav open.substack.com/pub/jackshee...
open.substack.com
Goodbye to Old Gav
The 2025 Irish Presidential Election
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Thanks pal! Hope you're well!
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Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign @ipsc.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
👑Javier Bardem at the Emmy's yesterday. Discussing the Film Workers' for Palestine pledge: "I won't work" with any company that is in business with Israel: "I cannot work with somebody who justifies or supports the genocide." Can't stop the tide! #BDS #FreePalestine Video: Variety
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
ex-IDF chief confirms Gaza casualties over 200,000 That’s 10% of the entire population of Gaza in 2 years www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
theguardian.com
‘We took the gloves off’: ex-IDF chief confirms Gaza casualties over 200,000
Retired general Herzi Halevi says ‘not once’ had legal advice constrained Israel’s military decisions in the strip
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Lit Hub @literaryhub.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
@jacksheehan.bsky.social on fighting horror and finding hope as slaughter in Gaza continues.
buff.ly
Hearts Touched With Fire: Horror and Hope in a Time of Genocide
Move him into the sun– Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unseen. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now T…
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Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
'The real “productivity gains” seem to come from layoffs and squeezing more work from fewer people not AI.'
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WIRED @wired.com · 19/08/2025
A United States Senate investigation has identified more than 500 credible reports of human rights abuses in US immigration detention since January, including alarming allegations of mistreatment of pregnant women and children.
wired.com
Senate Probe Uncovers Allegations of Widespread Abuse in ICE Custody
Led by US senator Jon Ossoff, the investigation cites hundreds of reports since January, including accounts of miscarriages, child neglect, and sexual abuse at ICE detention centers in dozens of state...
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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
Far right demagoguery - thanks to crucial, repeated validation from the political mainstream - has painted a target on the back of every man of colour in this country. Everyone knows what is likely to happen next.
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 14/08/2025
what's happening in Baltimore really gives the game away. a Dem major has drastically cut violent crime with a services-focused approach, even including police too, and none of these people give a shit popular.info/p/the-secret...
popular.info
The secret to Baltimore's extraordinary year
This April, Baltimore saw five homicides.
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Off Assignment @offassignment.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
This week, we're reading; a review by @jacksheehan.bsky.social of @praddenkeefe.bsky.social's SAY NOTHING; an off-the-rails short story by Maria Margaret Alvarado; and an article by Anna Hezel on wellness capitalism cum hydration industry. These and more in our newsletter: buff.ly/TTiwRs6
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Jack Sheehan @jacksheehan.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Another essay about Palestine, this one with some hope. open.substack.com/pub/jackshee...
open.substack.com
All for Palestine
Hope in a hopeless time.
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Eoin Daly @eoinmauricedaly.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
The state no longer employs enough public health nurses to conduct routine checks on infants, but it’s investing in armoured vehicles to protect us from non-existent enemies, all so as - let’s be honest - to try impress euro-Atlantic elites.
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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
It should be a source of profound embarrassment that a bunch of FedSoc lifers are taking a more vocal and principled stand against the corrupt Eric Adams deal than most elected Dems.
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Paul McAuley @unlikelyworlds.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Philip K Dick was right part MCXXXVI
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Saoirse McHugh @saoirsemc.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Ah yes, famously setting fire to the countryside is not “an attack on rural Ireland” but wanting clean water is
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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 02/02/2025
The United States has declared economic war on some of its closest allies and Silicon Valley is itching to use the power of the state to defend its interests at all costs. It’s time for an alliance not just to combat US belligerence, but to build a different vision for tech.
disconnect.blog
We need an international alliance against the US and its tech industry
The United States must face consequences for economic warfare
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Eli Valley @elivalley.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Outside the governor, is there no recourse in NYC to remove a mobster mayor who cut a deal with a terrorist to betray his constituents?
Immigrants, trans people, schoolchildren, women, subway riders, anyone who relies on any sort of government assistance, anyone whose life will be worse under accelerating climate change, all the New Yorkers who need a mayor to advocate for their rights and wellbeing, we're all out of luck. New York City doesn't have a mayor, we have a toadie, a yes man, a hapless MAGA floor manager making sure the shit being doled out from D.C. is jammed in the mouths of all the right people in the five boroughs. Trump controls the man elected to speak for New York City, and, when New Yorkers take to the streets to speak for themselves, Trump will control the man who directs the police who will greet us.
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Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
As the unofficial Dem strategy explainer on here I can't really tell you why Jeffries had such a wimpy response to the Eric Adams quid pro quo. At some point this just becomes a timid resistance to doing anything.
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Gwen Snyder is uncivil @gwensnyder.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Never misses
Every lifelong Catholic I've ever met is like "I think we're supposed to give this food to poor people" and every adult convert is like "the Archon of Constantinople's epistle on the Pentacostine rites of the eucharist clearly states women shouldn't have driver's licenses."
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John Herrman @jwherrman.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Elon Musk's government rampage is also a massive bailout happening in plain sight: For X, for Tesla, for xAI, for the man himself nymag.com/intelligence...
But a little help certainly wouldn't hurt, and it's what Musk's attachment to Trump - not to mention a perception that he is operating with authority and impunity - is starting to deliver. Behind the scenes, it's informing the price of his company's debt. Last August, the Wall Street Journal reported that the $13 billion borrowed for Musk's acquisition was "the worst merger-finance deal for banks since the 2008-09 financial crisis." In late January, the Journal reported that banks are hoping to offload $3 billion of senior loans - the safest ones, in other words — at "90-95 cents on the dollar," which obviously isn't ideal but could be a lot worse. "Musk's recent rise in power and alliance with President Trump," the Journal suggests, "have seemed to help change the narrative around X's fortunes."
Similarly, several advertisers that fled the platform
- which, again, is not just full of stuff that's objectively touchy for big cautious consumer brands who have millions of customers who are Not So Sure About All This, but also run by a guy who told them to fuck themselves after they left - are coming back. Some, like Apple and Amazon, are doing so out of what appears to be political expediency, a sort of shadow president equivalent of throwing a million-dollar token into Trump's inauguration slush fund. Others, however, might suddenly be taking Musk's longshot lawsuit against former advertisers claiming an illegal boycott
- amended to include Nestle, Tyson Foods, Shell, and others over the weekend! - a little more seriously than they did a few months ago.Providing coding assistance is one of the few early ways Al firms have figured out how to make real money, and they also invest a lot in acquiring or licensing non-public training data. Musk owns xAI, an OpenAI competitor that is mingled with X in the form of Grok.
It's raised a bunch of money, hired a bunch of talent, and made big steps to catch up with its more established competitors, including OpenAI, which Musk co-founded, split from, and has since been antagonizing.
Every big AI company is hungry for data and losing money; even within that context, xAI has a lot of catching up to do, especially now that OpenAI is getting its first government contracts. You know what might help with all that? A vague, broad push in Al across the federal government spearheaded by people who have worked at Musk's companies. Or maybe a right of first refusal for a wider range of tech and software contracts across agencies? Petabytes of government-sourced training data would be a bonus.
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down here, we all float, nickel. *you'll float, too.* @snickettes.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
I really really need you guys to make a conscious rejection of generative AI tools part of your ongoing political resistance. Don't use ChatGPT. Turn off Gemini. Don't read the AI results forced upon you at the top of Google search. Don't use AI art generators or support anyone who does. Please.
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