Sign in

The Baffler

@thebaffler.com
26K followers 102 following 3.9K posts

Political and cultural criticism. Since 1988. Online and in print. thebaffler.com

PostsRepliesMedia
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 1h
The midterm elections are on the horizon. Should we put any faith in the forecasters predicting the outcome? Back in 2018, Jeff Hauser unpacked the delusions of data-addicted political scientists. thebaffler.com/outbursts/th...
thebaffler.com
The Do-Nothing Discipline | Jeff Hauser
There’s a distinctly Trumpian quality to the self-justifications proffered by the fundamentalist political scientists.
031
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 4h
John Wilson’s “The History of Concrete” is nominally about the material that holds our cities together. But it’s equally as interested in the creative process and the difficulties of making—and funding—an unconventional documentary.
thebaffler.com
How to Make a Documentary the Hard Way | Clara Cuccaro
Documentarian John Wilson has made a career out of his obsession with the mundane.
050
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 18h
“If there’s something dissonant about presenting his pornographic, pearls-and-glue constructions amid the alpine compounds of billionaires, there’s also something so oddly apropos it’s comical.” thebaffler.com/latest/mothe...
thebaffler.com
Mother of Pearls | Jeremy Lybarger
Arch Connelly’s work was a flashbang: vulgar and excessive to the point of camp.
022
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 20h
In our new issue, Kurt Woerpel describes the physical and mental exhaustion of accessing medical treatment. thebaffler.com/odds-and-end...
thebaffler.com
Pure Life | Kurt Woerpel
The perks of this regimen are few—and the costs are many.
020
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 22h
“‘Chimes’ isn’t so much about a gay man struggling with addiction as it is about the almost unbearable afterlife. After the rush of drugs comes the banality of living—and then what?” thebaffler.com/latest/despe...
thebaffler.com
Desperate Living | Eric Dean Wilson
In “Chimes: A Monologue,” Tom Cole probes the banality and desperation of living.
030
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 23h
When words begin emerging from the surface of the earth, cultic mania sweeps the globe. Adherents search for more messages or the identity of the author. Is it God? Aliens? Or could it be a cater waiter bearing a tray of prawn cocktails? thebaffler.com/fiction/birt...
thebaffler.com
Birth of the Author | Aliyah Knight
From a distance, they can only make out some of the words.
010
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 29/09/2026
From the Archives: Jeff Hauser stares down the cult of fundamentalist political scientists bent on predicting us into oblivion. thebaffler.com/outbursts/th...
thebaffler.com
The Do-Nothing Discipline | Jeff Hauser
There’s a distinctly Trumpian quality to the self-justifications proffered by the fundamentalist political scientists.
030
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 29/09/2026
The Aspen Museum of Art has mounted the first large-scale survey of Arch Connelly. Jeremy Lybarger writes on the flashbang alchemy of the queer artist.
thebaffler.com
Mother of Pearls | Jeremy Lybarger
Arch Connelly’s work was a flashbang: vulgar and excessive to the point of camp.
010
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 29/09/2026
Adam Jentleson wants to drag American politics away from the brink of right-wing authoritarianism and out of the hands of left-wing “groups.” In his new book, he turns to history for guidance, and misreads what he finds. thebaffler.com/latest/stupo...
thebaffler.com
Stupormajority | Chris Lehmann
In his new book, Adam Jentleson offers a blueprint for reviving the Democratic Party’s political fortunes. No one should follow it.
132
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 28/09/2026
“There is no consistent agreement among the leading figures in the field about what to do about the inconvenient fact that economic statistics published in advance of an election are subject to revision after the election.” thebaffler.com/outbursts/th...
thebaffler.com
The Do-Nothing Discipline | Jeff Hauser
There’s a distinctly Trumpian quality to the self-justifications proffered by the fundamentalist political scientists.
041
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 28/09/2026
“Chimes” presents a searing portrait of a man who yearns to escape the confines and responsibilities of his mundane reality. Eric Dean Wilson reviews Tom Cole’s new novel of enlightenment and derangement.
thebaffler.com
Desperate Living | Eric Dean Wilson
In “Chimes: A Monologue,” Tom Cole probes the banality and desperation of living.
000
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 28/09/2026
The Baffler is excited to once again partner with @jewishcurrents.bsky.social for Jewish Currents Live on Sunday, October 11, in Brooklyn, NY. It’s an all-day program, featuring speakers, panels, and performances. Get your tickets now!
jewishcurrents.org
Jewish Currents Live
JC Live is an all-day gathering of performance, learning, and discussion convened by Jewish Currents.
054
Reposted by The Baffler
ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 23/09/2026
this is good thebaffler.com/latest/stupo...
thebaffler.com
Stupormajority | Chris Lehmann
In his new book, Adam Jentleson offers a blueprint for reviving the Democratic Party’s political fortunes. No one should follow it.
57713
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 28/09/2026
“This is the difficulty of applying any pat formula to political history: The variables are too far-flung and idiosyncratic to sit still long enough for typecasting.” thebaffler.com/latest/stupo...
thebaffler.com
Stupormajority | Chris Lehmann
In his new book, Adam Jentleson offers a blueprint for reviving the Democratic Party’s political fortunes. No one should follow it.
022
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 28/09/2026
“A new Author makes themself known almost every minute, often but not always spouting tales of divine intervention or near-death experiences or, most commonly, demonic possession.” thebaffler.com/fiction/birt...
thebaffler.com
Birth of the Author | Aliyah Knight
From a distance, they can only make out some of the words.
000
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 28/09/2026
Data journalists love to claim they can predict the outcome of any election. Historically, they’ve tanked. Why’d we listen to them in the first place? From the Archives: Jeff Hauser takes on the forecasters. thebaffler.com/outbursts/th...
thebaffler.com
The Do-Nothing Discipline | Jeff Hauser
There’s a distinctly Trumpian quality to the self-justifications proffered by the fundamentalist political scientists.
040
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 28/09/2026
“Much like the war on terror, great power competition—and thus, reindustrialization—is designed to last forever.” thebaffler.com/latest/up-ag...
thebaffler.com
Up Against the Wall | Julia Gledhill
Companies like Hadrian are embracing AI-enabled automation to expedite weapons production.
060
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 27/09/2026
In Tom Cole’s “Chimes: A Monologue,” an unnamed narrator sorts through a lifetime of addiction, self-destruction, and experimentation brought to a screeching halt by Covid-19 lockdowns. thebaffler.com/latest/despe...
thebaffler.com
Desperate Living | Eric Dean Wilson
In “Chimes: A Monologue,” Tom Cole probes the banality and desperation of living.
000
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 27/09/2026
From Sydney to Sidon to County Clare to Minneapolis, a mysterious text begins to emerge on the earth’s many surfaces. Read new fiction from Aliyah Knight on our site now: thebaffler.com/fiction/birt...
thebaffler.com
Birth of the Author | Aliyah Knight
From a distance, they can only make out some of the words.
021
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 26/09/2026
“Through all of this, my medical team has haggled with the insurance company on my behalf. Insurance has never felt like a partner, but instead like an obstacle to treatment.” thebaffler.com/odds-and-end...
thebaffler.com
Pure Life | Kurt Woerpel
The perks of this regimen are few—and the costs are many.
060
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 25/09/2026
“Israel’s technological revolution—its ‘magic’—didn’t appear like a rabbit out of a hat.” thebaffler.com/latest/the-g...
thebaffler.com
The Global Garage | Will Meyer
Militarized frontiers get a tech-savvy makeover.
010
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 25/09/2026
“Supermajority” purports to offer the Democrats a roadmap out of the wilderness. The way forward, it insists, is away from “ideology” and towards “heterodoxy”—a fancy term for a very familiar kind of centrism. thebaffler.com/latest/stupo...
thebaffler.com
Stupormajority | Chris Lehmann
In his new book, Adam Jentleson offers a blueprint for reviving the Democratic Party’s political fortunes. No one should follow it.
281
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 25/09/2026
Fantasies of control and debasement mix with memory in a new novel by Tom Cole. Yet amid orgies and benders real and imagined, there is occasional clarity—even enlightenment. Eric Dean Wilson reviews “Chimes.”
thebaffler.com
Desperate Living | Eric Dean Wilson
In “Chimes: A Monologue,” Tom Cole probes the banality and desperation of living.
030
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 25/09/2026
In our new issue, Kurt Woerpel recounts how often the only thing keeping needy patients from medical bankruptcy are doctors willing to stick their necks out. thebaffler.com/odds-and-end...
thebaffler.com
Pure Life | Kurt Woerpel
The perks of this regimen are few—and the costs are many.
030
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 25/09/2026
The future of American manufacturing is here. Defense tech company Hadrian has opened a new facility in Alabama, lured by the kind of tax incentives that fail consistently on their promise to stimulate the economy. thebaffler.com/latest/up-ag...
thebaffler.com
Up Against the Wall | Julia Gledhill
Companies like Hadrian are embracing AI-enabled automation to expedite weapons production.
111
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 25/09/2026
In new fiction from Aliyah Knight, prose emerges in unexpected places, rising up in the grass, pouring forth from the mouth of babes, and inscribing itself onto ancient cliff faces and a woman’s fingers.
thebaffler.com
Birth of the Author | Aliyah Knight
From a distance, they can only make out some of the words.
010
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 25/09/2026
“The novel is composed of a dozen or so isolated, cyclical episodes like this—some memories, others fantasies, all somehow both devastating and hilarious—that crescendo, explode, and devolve into self-loathing.” thebaffler.com/latest/despe...
thebaffler.com
Desperate Living | Eric Dean Wilson
In “Chimes: A Monologue,” Tom Cole probes the banality and desperation of living.
020
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 25/09/2026
A new biography examines the rich and vexing career of Richard Fleischer, whose style proves hard to define. thebaffler.com/latest/journ...
thebaffler.com
Journeyman as Everyman | Jonathan Rosenbaum
Should the director Richard Fleischer be regarded as an artist or a functionary?
142
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 24/09/2026
Polymarket and Kalshi would very much like not to be thought of as gambling. In their quest for profit, the prediction markets are likening themselves to another, more respectable industry: insurance. They might just get their wish. thebaffler.com/salvos/infin...
thebaffler.com
The Polymarketification of American Life
Prediction markets have been trying to skirt regulators by selling themselves not as sportsbooks but as insurance.
191
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 24/09/2026
The Trump administration wants to send $2.8 billion worth of arms to Israel. But it’s not just the U.S. government backing the IDF. Silicon Valley has helped advance the occupation of Palestine too. thebaffler.com/latest/the-g...
thebaffler.com
The Global Garage | Will Meyer
Militarized frontiers get a tech-savvy makeover.
071
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 24/09/2026
In Adam Jentleson’s telling, the Democratic Party is in thrall to left-leaning interest groups. To break free and reclaim power, the party must embrace “heterodoxy,” a fancy term for center-right orthodoxy. Chris Lehmann reviews “Supermajority.” thebaffler.com/latest/stupo...
thebaffler.com
Stupormajority | Chris Lehmann
In his new book, Adam Jentleson offers a blueprint for reviving the Democratic Party’s political fortunes. No one should follow it.
030
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 24/09/2026
A new generation of tech founders, investors, and policymakers want to restore America’s manufacturing capacity—to beat China at its own game. Julia Gledhill witnesses their plan in action at the ribbon-cutting for a semi-automated facility in Alabama. thebaffler.com/latest/up-ag...
thebaffler.com
Up Against the Wall | Julia Gledhill
Companies like Hadrian are embracing AI-enabled automation to expedite weapons production.
020
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 24/09/2026
While it’s not clear yet whether CFTC will give the green light, as @davidhill.bsky.social points out, Trump-appointed chair Michael Selig has been a friend to prediction markets so far. thebaffler.com/salvos/infin...
Both Kalshi and Polymarket brought Donald Trump Jr. on as an adviser. Trump Sr. named Michael Selig, a lawyer who previously represented crypto firms, as chair (and sole member) of the CFTC. Selig withdrew the agency’s objections to various prediction market contracts, referring to them as the “prior administration’s frolic into merit regulation.” Selig has chosen not to regulate prediction markets but their regulators: “See you in court,” he told states trying to sue Kalshi and Polymarket. Furthermore, he has issued a full-throated defense of their claim to be insurance-like financial products under the umbrella of federal regulations.
132
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 24/09/2026
The unnamed narrator of “Chimes” recalls very little from his childhood—and even less from a period of heavy drug use in the nineties and early aughts. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, he begins to remember.
thebaffler.com
Desperate Living | Eric Dean Wilson
In “Chimes: A Monologue,” Tom Cole probes the banality and desperation of living.
040
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 24/09/2026
“In ‘Supermajority,’ as in so many other centrist lamentations about a feckless and out-of-touch Democratic Party, matters of political economy exist mostly as a culture-wars sideshow.” thebaffler.com/latest/stupo...
thebaffler.com
Stupormajority | Chris Lehmann
In his new book, Adam Jentleson offers a blueprint for reviving the Democratic Party’s political fortunes. No one should follow it.
140
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 23/09/2026
Poetry by Benjamin Krusling from Baffler no. 85: thebaffler.com/poems/ideall...
thebaffler.com
“ Ideally , with an honest face | Benjamin Krusling
I’d be slung or flung off the face of the earth / such was my attitude toward parties and departments
011
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 23/09/2026
“Those of us who are scandalized by those kinds of bets would feel vindicated, while those who wanted to bet on war and calamity could simply buy stock in Raytheon and Palantir to accomplish the same thing.” thebaffler.com/salvos/infin...
thebaffler.com
The Polymarketification of American Life
Prediction markets have been trying to skirt regulators by selling themselves not as sportsbooks but as insurance.
020
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 23/09/2026
“One of the enduring paradoxes of Hollywood doublethink is the notion that artistry should be downplayed—at least until Oscar night, which usually rewards the most obvious forms of artfulness.” thebaffler.com/latest/journ...
thebaffler.com
Journeyman as Everyman | Jonathan Rosenbaum
Should the director Richard Fleischer be regarded as an artist or a functionary?
030
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 23/09/2026
Hadrian is one of several companies relying on AI to restore U.S. manufacturing dominance. Its founders claim that automated facilities will secure American imperial power and lift up American workers. Both claims seem dubious. thebaffler.com/latest/up-ag...
thebaffler.com
Up Against the Wall | Julia Gledhill
Companies like Hadrian are embracing AI-enabled automation to expedite weapons production.
020
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 23/09/2026
From the Archives: @willinabucket.bsky.social writes on military technology in the “start-up nation” of Israel and the mythic garages of Silicon Valley.
thebaffler.com
The Global Garage | Will Meyer
Militarized frontiers get a tech-savvy makeover.
001
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 23/09/2026
In his blueprint for reviving the Democrats’ political fortunes, Adam Jentleson argues that the party is in thrall to a rigid ideology. But as @chrislehmann.bsky.social writes, that’s about all he gets right.
thebaffler.com
Stupormajority | Chris Lehmann
In his new book, Adam Jentleson offers a blueprint for reviving the Democratic Party’s political fortunes. No one should follow it.
020
Reposted by The Baffler
chrislehmann @chrislehmann.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I wrote up Adam Jentleson's supermajority scam for the old crew at @thebaffler.com thebaffler.com/latest/stupo...
thebaffler.com
Stupormajority | Chris Lehmann
In his new book, Adam Jentleson offers a blueprint for reviving the Democratic Party’s political fortunes. No one should follow it.
173
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 23/09/2026
In our new issue, @davidhill.bsky.social explains how prediction markets are angling to avoid regulatory scrutiny by riding the coattails of another unscrupulous industry: insurance.
thebaffler.com
The Polymarketification of American Life
Prediction markets have been trying to skirt regulators by selling themselves not as sportsbooks but as insurance.
041
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 22/09/2026
“In June, S&P Global reported that U.S. manufacturing jobs declined at a faster rate than at any time since 2009, with the exception of the 2020 pandemic. The manufacturing renaissance that the president promised has yet to materialize.” thebaffler.com/latest/up-ag...
thebaffler.com
Up Against the Wall | Julia Gledhill
Companies like Hadrian are embracing AI-enabled automation to expedite weapons production.
11011
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 22/09/2026
In July of 2021, Marisol García Alcántara was shot in the head by Border Patrol. She survived. And her fight for justice, culminating in an upcoming lawsuit, just might serve as a referendum on the agency’s license to kill. thebaffler.com/salvos/the-r...
thebaffler.com
Shot by the Border Patrol, One Woman Pursues Justice
Can a Mexican woman shot by the Border Patrol while migrating into the United States exact justice from the legal system?
194
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 22/09/2026
From the Archives: Will Meyer investigates how the culture of Silicon Valley was adopted by militaries at home and abroad. thebaffler.com/latest/the-g...
thebaffler.com
The Global Garage | Will Meyer
Militarized frontiers get a tech-savvy makeover.
113
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 22/09/2026
In Devyn Defoe’s “Burnside,” downwardly mobile gig workers in a city that might be Sacramento find a useful scapegoat in the local homeless population, a haze of vaguely Californian violence smothering all. thebaffler.com/latest/after...
thebaffler.com
After the Gold Rush | Emma Hager
In “Burnside,” Devyn Defoe unwinds hazy allegory about the odious delusions of liberal NIMBYism.
010
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 22/09/2026
Richard Fleischer had a tendency to roll with the film industry’s punches, only occasionally adding a jab of his own. As Jonathan Rosenbaum finds, it’s a quality that makes the director’s career challenging to wrap your head around. thebaffler.com/latest/journ...
thebaffler.com
Journeyman as Everyman | Jonathan Rosenbaum
Should the director Richard Fleischer be regarded as an artist or a functionary?
010
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 22/09/2026
For decades, Border Patrol has quietly sent illegal “cover-up” teams to crime scenes involving their agents. Activists have spent years trying to confirm their existence. The shooting of Marisol García Alcántara offered a smoking gun. thebaffler.com/salvos/the-r...
thebaffler.com
Shot by the Border Patrol, One Woman Pursues Justice
Can a Mexican woman shot by the Border Patrol while migrating into the United States exact justice from the legal system?
0135
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 22/09/2026
Earlier this year, Hadrian cut the ribbon on a semi-automated defense tech factory in Alabama. Julia Gledhill reports from the front lines of “reindustrialization.”
thebaffler.com
Up Against the Wall | Julia Gledhill
Companies like Hadrian are embracing AI-enabled automation to expedite weapons production.
022