Josh Cook's avatar

Josh Cook

@joshthelibromancer.bsky.social

778 followers 566 following 1295 posts

Co-owner of Porter Square Books. Author of The Art of Libromancy & An Exaggerated Murder. Opinions my own. linktr.ee/joshthelibromancer

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Amanda Smith's avatar Amanda Smith @amandasmith.bsky.social
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Call your rep today to encourage them to support AOC’s articles of impeachment. I will block anyone who tells me why they, personally, cannot and therefore why it’s pointless.

28 replies 197 reposts 719 likes

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Porter Square Books's avatar Porter Square Books @portersqbooks.bsky.social
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No event in Cambridge tonight, so we've got time for some book recommendations! Maybe you're still trying to find your "summer read." Maybe you're one book away from a personal pan pizza. Maybe you're thinking "Let's see if I can stump Josh." Whatever the reason, we got you tonight!

4 replies 2 reposts 7 likes

Reposted by Josh Cook

Parker Molloy's avatar Parker Molloy @parkermolloy.com
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I think it's less that the left is "fighting to keep him" than the left is staying out of the fight by acknowledging that he said he's staying in and throwing their support behind the nominee.

3 replies 4 reposts 143 likes

Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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Elizabeth Warren too, whose statement was even more directly supportive of Biden.

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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Oh I know. And I actually think that's part of the problem, at least at the Big 5 level where they have the resources to do fact-checking. This is more complicated for smaller publishers but if S&S is going to call a book nonfiction they should make sure, as far as possible, that it is.

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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Digging in a little more, a publisher really only has two jobs. 1. Decide which books are valuable to the public 2. Do everything they can to make sure the books they publish validate their decisions to publish them. Publishing's relationship to the right-wing fails at both.

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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You know what book is actually a real slog? One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I guarantee it is 3x longer than you think it is.

2 replies 0 reposts 10 likes

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Meg W's avatar Meg W @winikat.bsky.social
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Such a cool bookstore and a great opportunity!

0 replies 2 reposts 8 likes

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Porter Square Books's avatar Porter Square Books @portersqbooks.bsky.social
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See you all Thursday evening for our BlueSky Book Club!

2 replies 3 reposts 7 likes

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Claire Willett's avatar Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social
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for those who were following along with this conversation, Amy is heroically running point on a research/writing/design project to build social media shareable graphics to educate the uninformed persuadable voter about Project 2025. sign up here if you want to share your skills!

7 replies 119 reposts 175 likes

Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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And just do I don't have an aneurysm: Moderate Democrats are a bulwark against fascism in large part because they chose not to stop it when they had the chance. They could have packed the Supreme Court & passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Act & we would not be in this position now!

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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I *could spend all night arguing that every incremental change started as a radical idea & was often kept alive by radical activism or I can just block & spend that time watching my kid pick clover flowers in the park.

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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... ... because they are right about nearly every single issue & all the centrists/moderates/reactionaries (who are the ones with the power to say, expand the Supreme Court) have only ever offered a less directly destructive version of the status quo that is profoundly difficult for almost everyone

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Griselda Gimpel's avatar Griselda Gimpel @griseldagimpel.bsky.social
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Because primaries are coming up in some states: vote for the most progressive Democrat during the primaries. There IS a progressive wing if the Democratic Party, and the primaries are the place to grow it.

1 replies 2 reposts 4 likes

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⏱📋David Steinberg⏱📋's avatar ⏱📋David Steinberg⏱📋 @zzyzx.bsky.social
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My solution is to try to be radical locally, implement those solutions there and the ones that work start to become moderate positions.

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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I *think the answer is: 1. Primary safe Dem seats from the left. 2. Run/vote/organize in state & municipal elections. 3. Use ballot initiatives. We've seen progressive success with all of these. It's really just national elections where are hands are tied.

0 replies 0 reposts 2 likes

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Preeti Chhibber's avatar Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social
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a;sdfkasdf;af lmfaoooooooooo yes i love it cry harder

0 replies 31 reposts 170 likes

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Mr. Am I Being Detained 's avatar Mr. Am I Being Detained @gonebabygone.bsky.social
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Bro if France resists the tide of fascism and we don’t it will be so fucking embarrassing

9 replies 106 reposts 530 likes

Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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I may flesh this out a bit more, but one really important election strategy point I haven't seen made: Losing to Trump will NOT teach centrist/reactionary/moderate Democrats to value young & progressive voters. They have had MANY opportunities to learn before & they are just never going to.

2 replies 1 reposts 7 likes

Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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Here's what really drives me nuts about this. Of all of the things the press could critique Biden for (and they've got some options!) they're focusing on perhaps the only thing that DOESN'T DISTINGUISH HIM FROM TRUMP! They're both old dudes, worn out by a presidential term, & starting to show it!

1 replies 3 reposts 28 likes

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Courtney Milan's avatar Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com
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A hill I will die on: all white-collar crimes are violent crimes. It's just that the violence is removed from the perpetrator because the perpetrator is wealthy.

38 replies 447 reposts 1711 likes

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Kashana's avatar Kashana @kashana.bsky.social
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“Now that we know felons can be white, we’re massive fans of crime.”

33 replies 529 reposts 2121 likes

Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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Just really LOVE when big publishers do all kinds of marketing around banned books AND give contracts to Republicans & Conservatives. Just the best having your cake & eating it too. THE BEST

0 replies 0 reposts 3 likes

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Ryan Estrada's avatar Ryan Estrada @ryanestrada.com
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Hey, remember how librarians and I were warning everyone that mass book-banning is just step one of a fascist government takeover? Well, some of the same book-banning orgs we warned you about are on the advisory board for Project 2025, whose leader calls it a "second American Revolution.”

8 replies 417 reposts 759 likes

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Prisonculture's avatar Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social
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Nothing is stopping every single Democratic elected official and apparatchik from taking the airwaves every single day to articulately and decisively repeat a set of cogent talking points about Trump (ie 45). Nothing. Dem PACs could be slamming him with ads now. Stop whining and do that.

22 replies 399 reposts 1296 likes

Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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A world of difference between "many things can't be done" & "nothing can be done."

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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Really love that the big news outlets have been reporting on Biden's age & conflict in the party for 2 weeks & the place with the most work being done on Trump's presence in the latest Epstein files seems to be on reddit.

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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I know there are major systemic barriers protecting Republicans but the results from England still give me hope

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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Gotta tell ya, it is wild as fuck being a grown ass adult who, you know, just remembers the course of politics from about when I was 20 until now, watching so many people getting paid to write about politics acting like the only data they have to conclude from are, like, from last year.

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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It's like there was a meeting and someone was like, "When did we last have a really strong surge in subscription?" & someone else was like, "Well, actually..."

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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I guess I don't know why I would I think anyone in the media would, you know, learn literally anything. They never have before!

1 replies 0 reposts 2 likes

Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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Me? Remembering how a major if not the primary object of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was convincing potential Democrat voters to stay home.

2 replies 9 reposts 33 likes

Reposted by Josh Cook

Porter Square Books's avatar Porter Square Books @portersqbooks.bsky.social
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We've got a little time on this Holiday-that-now-feels-very-weird-in-the-context-of-contemporary-events-so-maybe-something-else-to-think-about-for-a-minute-might-be-nice Eve. Who needs a book recommendation?

2 replies 1 reposts 8 likes

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Catboy Slim's avatar Catboy Slim @caymanwent.bsky.social
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This has been a thorn in my side re: the American political landscape; countless articles bemoaning the polarization of America and the loss of civility. As a queer person, it’s hard to see a path to compromise and civility when the right wing has been openly saying I shouldn’t exist my entire life.

10 replies 22 reposts 124 likes

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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Nothing says more about a person than how they treat the most vulnerable members of their society

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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Haven't read whatever awful thing JKR did now, but I can't help but point out that lots and lots of those serious people I mentioned earlier also told us we were overreacting to her transphobia.

1 replies 0 reposts 4 likes

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Mr. Am I Being Detained 's avatar Mr. Am I Being Detained @gonebabygone.bsky.social
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This isn’t “hypocrisy,” he was lying about what he believes so they would confirm him

21 replies 123 reposts 773 likes

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it's gita time's avatar it's gita time @xoxogossipgita.bsky.social
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Being really annoying is praxis. Phone, email, fax, show up in person if that’s an option. Just don’t let up until you’re too irritating to ignore.

21 replies 336 reposts 981 likes

Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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Not disagreeing with your critiques of Biden or Dems, but I don't believe a 2nd Trump administration will motivate centrist/reactionary Dems to value progressive ideas or create space at the national level for a 3rd party. So the protest vote doesn't accomplish its goals while creating more problems

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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You're right that Biden & the Democrats bear a ton of responsibility for this. But I don't believe losing to Trump will make accountable in large part because losing to him the 1st time didn't

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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I'm not voting for a person, or even a party. (I've never been a fan of either) I'm voting for what I see as the best chance to create a more just world in the future. A 2nd Biden admin gives us that chance, here & I believe in Palestine as well.

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Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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we can still make that better world. And we can bring these lessons with us, so that when we are in power, we remember to listen to the kids.

1 replies 0 reposts 5 likes

Josh Cook's avatar Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social
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So here we are, needing to give our votes (& probably energy) to Joe Biden to even have a chance at fixing this fucking mess while those who made it cling to power or ride off to a retirement I can only dream of. I'll vote for that chance. I think you should too because...

2 replies 0 reposts 6 likes