Derek Nystrom's Avatar

Derek Nystrom

@dereknystrom

Indolence capable of energies. I teach and write about various things, mostly stuff on screens. McGill, English. He/him.

1,167
Followers
911
Following
123
Posts
12.12.2024
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by Derek Nystrom @dereknystrom

Drop an album that was important to you when you were 19

16.02.2026 02:12 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

I saw him open for Jonathan Richman. Not an intuitive pairing, until you realize that they both deal in raw, unprocessed emotion, just at different ends of the spectrum. Anyway, he played that song, and it slayed everyone in the room.

14.02.2026 16:27 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
High School English and the Making of American Readers Abstract. The high school English classroom is the most influential literary institution in the United States, and the most overlooked by literary scholars

As some of you may know, I’m writing a book on the history of high school English in the United States, and I’m excited to share a new article from that projectβ€”β€œHigh School English and the Making of American Readers”—out today in American Literary History! 🧡

academic.oup.com/alh/article/...

13.02.2026 19:21 πŸ‘ 278 πŸ” 103 πŸ’¬ 12 πŸ“Œ 24

It does really hit you that American artists of color continue to make these aesthetically incredible, thematically rich works of art and the white supremacists that rule this country are just complete dullards

09.02.2026 03:55 πŸ‘ 3512 πŸ” 596 πŸ’¬ 25 πŸ“Œ 23

america could be such a cool fucking place if we’d just let it be

09.02.2026 01:32 πŸ‘ 6633 πŸ” 1125 πŸ’¬ 52 πŸ“Œ 38

Oh no!!!!

30.01.2026 18:17 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Letter From Minnesota: β€œIf They Take Me and Leave the Children…” Today is Tuesday, January 27th, 2026. I got gas for the first time this year by myself. The gas station was mostly empty. I drove into the station, heart thudding in my chest. I did everything as f…

This is brilliant writing. And a devastating read.

lithub.com/letter-from-...

30.01.2026 04:18 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

We’re just not a free country.

Any American watching this play out between regime forces and journalists overseas would recognize it for what it is.

29.01.2026 05:49 πŸ‘ 5697 πŸ” 2394 πŸ’¬ 132 πŸ“Œ 201
Preview
Dan McQuade, 1983–2026 | Defector Dan McQuade, our friend and colleague, died this week at the age of 43. He is survived by his wife and young son. At the end of 2024, Dan was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer. The news of his diag...

Oh this is truly sad news.

defector.com/dan-mcquade-...

29.01.2026 01:02 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
Video thumbnail

brass solidarity band performing β€œstand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting β€œthe people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis

27.01.2026 00:22 πŸ‘ 23474 πŸ” 7825 πŸ’¬ 331 πŸ“Œ 883

Worth noting that one reason you’re benefitting so fully from the Star-Tribune’s timely, extensive coverage of unfolding events is that it’s a metro newspaper that hasn’t been systematically starved to further enrich shareholders and executives.

24.01.2026 22:47 πŸ‘ 5079 πŸ” 1175 πŸ’¬ 22 πŸ“Œ 27

It seems clear Alex Pretti, a healthcare worker, was murdered for engaging in the exact kind of community care we hope all care workers to embody: the kind that doesn’t stop at the threshold of the hospital, the clinic, but that aims to care for and support the community where and how they can

24.01.2026 19:05 πŸ‘ 2190 πŸ” 553 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 9

Yall outside of MN need to know that observers are STILL out protecting their neighbors. Right now. They know the news and they’re still out there.

24.01.2026 16:41 πŸ‘ 7207 πŸ” 1755 πŸ’¬ 35 πŸ“Œ 38

So great that they got the Grain Belt bridge sign in the shot.

24.01.2026 03:52 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A picture of the Mary Tyler Moore statue in downtown Minneapolis, depicting the iconic moment from the show where she throws her hat in the air. But the hat has been covered over with a protesters cardboard sign, reading β€œFUCK ICE.”

A picture of the Mary Tyler Moore statue in downtown Minneapolis, depicting the iconic moment from the show where she throws her hat in the air. But the hat has been covered over with a protesters cardboard sign, reading β€œFUCK ICE.”

On a downtown street in Minneapolis, as people stream out from the massive march, Mary Tyler Moore says β€œfuck ice.”

23.01.2026 22:29 πŸ‘ 12250 πŸ” 2788 πŸ’¬ 96 πŸ“Œ 243

"They were detained but acting as first responders to the man who had detained them." ...
'I was hit so hard with the fact that this man would not do this for me, [Amundson] said. ...
'We were willing to do for this man, this human, what they were not willing to do for Renee Good,' Zemien said."

24.01.2026 02:49 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Man, my hometown looks fucking beautiful.

23.01.2026 22:55 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image

It’s -9 degrees. Downtown Minneapolis is packed for the anti-ICE rally and the crowd keeps growing

23.01.2026 20:16 πŸ‘ 37397 πŸ” 10900 πŸ’¬ 806 πŸ“Œ 971

An excellent thread.

22.01.2026 04:53 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Image from A New Leaf (Elaine May, 1971)

Image from A New Leaf (Elaine May, 1971)

It is embarrassing that I had not seen this until last night, but good golly, what an absolutely delightful, cockeyed movie. I can't think of another film with its kind of comic sensibility.

17.01.2026 16:10 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

pulling this reflection on white silence/fear over here, too:

15.01.2026 16:41 πŸ‘ 5008 πŸ” 2138 πŸ’¬ 106 πŸ“Œ 292

Likewise!

15.01.2026 16:50 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Amazing! Congrats, Josie!

15.01.2026 15:37 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Re-watched this the other night, and literally every shot has something funny happening in it.

12.01.2026 22:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Not helping someone who got stuck in snow or ice is the Minnesota equivalent of taking a shit on their car hood.

09.01.2026 18:09 πŸ‘ 1866 πŸ” 332 πŸ’¬ 48 πŸ“Œ 19

This is an excellent and terrifying essay.

09.01.2026 17:01 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

they’re abducting our neighbors and putting them in concentration camps and they’ll shoot you in the fucking face if you don’t cheer them on while they’re doing it.

07.01.2026 18:08 πŸ‘ 6805 πŸ” 2118 πŸ’¬ 18 πŸ“Œ 31

I am enjoying the latest Knives Out, but it's 144 minutes? I fear that young people will grow up thinking that 90 minutes is not an appropriate length for movies--only for individual episodes of a limited series British police procedural.

27.12.2025 03:10 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Amazing!!!! Congrats, Xander!

19.12.2025 16:14 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

That said, my Quebecoise partner routinely refers to him as James LeBron.

18.12.2025 23:35 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0