The Baffler
@thebaffler.com
Political and cultural criticism. Since 1988. Online and in print. https://thebaffler.com/
Writing for @thebaffler.com, @nimabassiri.bsky.social examines the MAHA effort to reform psychiatric diagnosis - I loved this piece, both as a MAHA critic myself, and having had the chance to work with Nima on his terrific book, Madness and Enterprise: thebaffler.com/latest/overm...
Overmedicalization and Its Discontents | Nima Bassiri
The MAHA camp turns to psychiatric reform and the alleged problem of overmedicalization.
thebaffler.com
Starting in the 1980s, Taiwanese companies expanded by building factories in China’s Special Economic Zones. Now, in search of cheap labor and profitable opportunities in the AI boom, they’ve turned to another part of the world: the Texas-Mexico border.
Democracy Chips | Gabriel Antonio Solis
Texas has become a hub for Taiwanese firms hoping to take advantage of maquiladoras just over the border.
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Over the past ten years, there has been a reported surge in disability claims and accommodations granted to students at American universities. The MAHA movement sees a troubling epidemic—but is that really what’s happening? thebaffler.com/latest/overm...
Overmedicalization and Its Discontents | Nima Bassiri
The MAHA camp turns to psychiatric reform and the alleged problem of overmedicalization.
thebaffler.com
The horror-inspired drag of The Boulet Brothers pits sexy spiderwomen and sleazy clowns against one another for the title of Supermonster. Liby Hays describes the trash couture phenomenon that’s become a reality television sensation.
Read for Filth | Liby Hays
Rather than assimilate queerness into a digestible package, Dragula’s monsters evolve into a fearsome new species.
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From the Archives: On the anti-psychiatry movement, which can be too quick to dismiss the efficacy of drugs and too eager to get in bed with groups like Scientologists.
The Anti-Antidepressant Syndicate | Jess McAllen
Why would Scientology, a religion with a gospel of self-improvement and wealth accumulation, get involved in debates over mental health?
thebaffler.com
In our most recent issue, Natalia Mendoza writes on the resistance to fossil fuel infrastructure in Mexico. thebaffler.com/salvos/termi...
Terminal Velocity | Natalia Mendoza
Along the path of fossil fuel from Texas to Sinaloa, many courageous people who are fighting to protect their world.
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“We cannot ignore the ableist onslaught of suspicion and hostility that has been directed at neurodiversity as a movement, community, and identity.” thebaffler.com/latest/overm...
Overmedicalization and Its Discontents | Nima Bassiri
The MAHA camp turns to psychiatric reform and the alleged problem of overmedicalization.
thebaffler.com
Brazil’s answer to country music and the cowboy, sertanejo culture valorizes American-style frontiersmanship, elevates industrial-scale agriculture, and cozies up to the right-wing elite. thebaffler.com/outbursts/ro...
Rodeo Clowns | Sam Cowie
Brazil has fused the codes of the American West onto its own supposedly endless tropical frontier of savannah and rainforest.
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The Baffler is hiring a part-time administrative coordinator to join us in our New York office. Help assist with the day-to-day operations of our magazine (invoicing, customer service, etc.) Apply by tomorrow (8/5) to be considered! thebaffler.com/jobs/adminis...
Administrative Coordinator (part-time)
The Baffler Foundation’s administrative coordinator will provide administrative and operations support to our magazine. The coordinator works closely with the business team and acts as a central…
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We have plenty of reasons to be skeptical of modern psychiatry. But as @jessmcallen.bsky.social wrote back in 2021, we should also be skeptical of groups and figures railing against it—especially when they rely on bad data and fearmongering.
The Anti-Antidepressant Syndicate | Jess McAllen
Why would Scientology, a religion with a gospel of self-improvement and wealth accumulation, get involved in debates over mental health?
thebaffler.com
“Sertanejo culture and the agribusiness machine have swallowed up local culture the way vast soybean plantations swallow up family farmers.” thebaffler.com/outbursts/ro...
Rodeo Clowns | Sam Cowie
Brazil has fused the codes of the American West onto its own supposedly endless tropical frontier of savannah and rainforest.
thebaffler.com
All is not well in the campaign to Make America Healthy Again—and it’s not just because of the movement’s fracturing alliance with the Trump administration. @nimabassiri.bsky.social writes on MAHA’s newfound obsession: the alleged problem of overmedicalization.
Overmedicalization and Its Discontents | Nima Bassiri
The MAHA camp turns to psychiatric reform and the alleged problem of overmedicalization.
thebaffler.com
“I couldn’t imagine being so sure about something that affects so many people in different ways, so sure that I could confidently declare universal truths about what does or doesn’t work.”
The Anti-Antidepressant Syndicate | Jess McAllen
Why would Scientology, a religion with a gospel of self-improvement and wealth accumulation, get involved in debates over mental health?
thebaffler.com
Leina Gabra reports on New York City’s “reinstate and compensate” movement, originally organized on behalf of teachers and municipal employees who refused the Covid vaccine—and now welcomed with open arms into the MAHA movement.
There’ll Be Health to Pay | Leina Gabra
In New York, the “reinstate and compensate” movement treats mutual obligation as akin to tyranny.
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Poetry from Baffler no. 84: “Olive Oil Boy” by Edward Salem.
Olive Oil Boy | Edward Salem
But if I had a kid, I’d want her / to be Palestinian all the way.
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Each August, the Barretos Rodeo Festival celebrates Brazilian cowboy culture, agribusiness, and the right-wing politics that elevates the two. @samcowie84.bsky.social writes on beef, brutality, and Bolsonarismo in our latest issue.
Rodeo Clowns | Sam Cowie
Brazil has fused the codes of the American West onto its own supposedly endless tropical frontier of savannah and rainforest.
thebaffler.com
Good money can be made scaremongering about modern medicine. Back in 2021, @jessmcallen.bsky.social wrote on those who’ve aligned themselves against Big Pharma.
The Anti-Antidepressant Syndicate | Jess McAllen
Why would Scientology, a religion with a gospel of self-improvement and wealth accumulation, get involved in debates over mental health?
thebaffler.com
“Diseases do not care about our personal freedoms, political leanings, or whether we trust the powers that be.”
There’ll Be Health to Pay | Leina Gabra
In New York, the “reinstate and compensate” movement treats mutual obligation as akin to tyranny.
thebaffler.com
“First, let’s get something straight: our apartment does not have bedbugs. Which is strange, since it’s hosted every other kind of vermin.”
Delusional Parasitosis and Me | Will Boisvert
In New York, bedbugs don’t need to bite, or even make a cameo appearance, to provoke scorched-earth militance in the city’s class struggle.
thebaffler.com
After being put on unpaid leave from her job as a school teacher for refusing the Covid-19 vaccine, Rachel Maniscalco helped found the “reinstate and compensate” movement. Leina Gabra reports on their fight for “medical freedom.”
There’ll Be Health to Pay | Leina Gabra
In New York, the “reinstate and compensate” movement treats mutual obligation as akin to tyranny.
thebaffler.com
Foot traffic in the restaurants might be down, but against all odds, people are still eating Sweetgreen—poopy parasites be damned. A few years ago, Aaron Timms went long on the tyranny of the salad chain.
Everywhere in Salad Chains | Aaron Timms
The corporate salad appears has emerged from the pandemic stronger than ever—a dominant culinary form of the knowledge economy.
thebaffler.com
“If you love a chewy, bloody skirt or a stewed bottom round, I don’t think you would like Wagyu. It can’t be cooked for too long, or it will melt away to nothing. It can’t be cooked for too short a time, or the fat running through it will remain firm.”
Against Wagyu | Dylan Levi King
In Japan, beef is an imposition as improbable as the American bases.
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With cyclospora on our minds, these aren’t lettuce’s salad days—far from it. But back in 2023, Aaron Timms wrote about Sweetgreen, Chopt, and their ilk, purveyors of what we might now call the “slop bowl.”
Everywhere in Salad Chains | Aaron Timms
The corporate salad appears has emerged from the pandemic stronger than ever—a dominant culinary form of the knowledge economy.
thebaffler.com
“You want to think the future is going to be great. But here, on the far south edge of Texas, you can glimpse what our overlords actually have in mind for us by way of a future.”
Rocket Racket | Joseph Bullington
SpaceX is transforming the wildlife refuges of South Texas into testing sites for the rockets it promises will one day terraform Mars.
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Across the country, activists and their legal teams are fighting to loosen public health regulations and mandates around school vaccine requirements. Leina Gabra writes on medical autonomy and mutual obligation.
There’ll Be Health to Pay | Leina Gabra
In New York, the “reinstate and compensate” movement treats mutual obligation as akin to tyranny.
thebaffler.com
In Trump’s America, the pestilence du jour is cyclosporiasis, but let us not forget the other horrors that plague the nation. In 2012, Will Boisvert wrote on the humble bedbug and the scorched-earth militance it inspires.
Delusional Parasitosis and Me | Will Boisvert
In New York, bedbugs don’t need to bite, or even make a cameo appearance, to provoke scorched-earth militance in the city’s class struggle.
thebaffler.com
In a recent issue, Noah McCormack wrote on our new age of orality—one where we apparently aren’t talking all that much. thebaffler.com/salvos/we-us...
Sure, the threat of parasite-borne cyclosporiasis hangs heavy over the country—but what about cimex lectularius? Have you thought of them? From the Archives: Will Boisvert writes on the humble bed bug.
Delusional Parasitosis and Me | Will Boisvert
In New York, bedbugs don’t need to bite, or even make a cameo appearance, to provoke scorched-earth militance in the city’s class struggle.
thebaffler.com
The number of beef farms in Japan has fallen off in recent years, but as Dylan Levi King points out, cattle were already an unlikely source of red meat for the country.
Against Wagyu | Dylan Levi King
In Japan, beef is an imposition as improbable as the American bases.
thebaffler.com
Another day, another accolade for Ben Lerner. Earlier this year, @anathanwest.bsky.social set aside the hype and searched Lerner’s body of work for substance.
A Portrait of the Artist as an Artist Portraying the Artist | Adrian Nathan West
The seduction of the topical has dogged Ben Lerner since his first poetry books.
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Barack Obama@barackobama.bsky.social · last wk.It’s that time of year again: here are some of the books I’ve enjoyed this summer. If you’ve read any good ones, let me know!
