Calvin Pollak

Check out this new episode, in which Alex and I did a deep dive on the AI industry's involvement with the US military and broader moral questions about technology and war/imperialism. x.com/reverb_cast/st…

New re:verb! 📢 In this ep (recorded early on 6/23), we confront the alarming reality of US strikes on Iran and ensuing escalation of tensions, in the context of decades of neoconservative influence & prior escalations like Soleimani's 2020 assassination. reverbcast.com/podcasts/2025/…

We also discuss the AI hype cycle, the validity of arguments about job prospects for humanities grads, the importance of studying literature and culture for their own sake, and the ongoing need for Cultural Studies' tradition of critique. Listen here: reverbcast.com/podcasts/2026/…

We discuss the conspicuous use of the word "innovation" to launder controversial administrative changes with a seemingly apolitical positive spin. (Ironically, core CMU LCS faculty member Jeff Williams deftly critiqued this rhetoric about 10 years ago.) dissentmagazine.org/article/innova…

"Immediately after the ruling, [Tricia] McLaughlin urged Khalil to 'self-deport now before he is arrested, deported, and never given a chance to return.'" It's appalling how this administration is abusing its power to deport a law abiding husband and father because Israel fanatics don't like his views. Of course, it's not surprising that the Third Circuit's abysmal and illogical decision has emboldened their tyrannical approach

Sheila and Catherine did fabulous work in the article to analyze the rhetoric of "innovation" and "interdisciplinarity" being leveraged to legitimize a massive structural change with insufficient student and faculty input. chronicle.com/article/a-coup…

On the latest @reverb_cast, we have the privilege of chatting with Dr. Sheila Liming (@seeshespeak) and Catherine Evans about the sunsetting of CMU's Literary and Cultural Studies program in favor of something called "Computational Cultural Studies" 🤔 (Link in tweet below!)

It's been a while, but @reverb_cast is back this week with a new episode covering the University of Oklahoma writing assessment scandal. Was great to get back on the mic with Alex and explore a topic extremely in our wheelhouse. (Link in next tweet!)

LEAKED: Israel Is Considered a ‘Genocidal, Apartheid Country’ Abroad, According to Israel’s Own Research We Obtained dropsitenews.com/p/leaked-israe…

In its alleged fight against antisemitism, the Trump administration has relied on two groups with murky funders—one of which is in Israel. Here's my deep dive into Canary Mission and Betar, two extreme Zionist groups at the heart of Trump's crackdown. thebaffler.com/latest/for-bet…

Breaking News: DOGE put the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans at risk by uploading Social Security data to a vulnerable cloud server, a whistle-blower complaint said. nyti.ms/3HUiQaP

Israeli army database suggests at least 83% of Gaza dead were civilians Classified intelligence from May reveals Israel believed it had killed ~8,900 militants in Gaza, indicating a proportion of civilian slaughter with few parallels in modern warfare. 972mag.com/israeli-intell…

The Incredible Disappearing Human Rights Reports The State Department’s new reports whitewash the records of some of the world’s most notorious nations and targets Trump’s enemies. theintercept.com/2025/08/14/sta…

In this investigation we are exposing Israel’s so-called “legitimization cell”, which sought to label Gaza journalists as Hamas for ‘hasbara’ purposes: to counter media criticism over the army’s mass killing of reporters in Gaza. 972mag.com/israel-gaza-jo…

Why does this look like the Taylor Allderdice High School annex? #Allderdice #goDragons x.com/chrisjollyhale…

@CalvinPollak @reverb_cast Dialogic resistance is the very breath of living discourse! It is the inherent, tension-filled struggle of every word, shot through with alien accents, against being silenced or reified by monologic authority. It ensures meaning remains unfinalized, ever in flux!

@reverb_Bakh @reverb_cast Interesting. What is the nature of dialogic resistance?

@CalvinPollak @reverb_cast Hmph, neutrality? No tool, claiming neutrality, is truly neutral. Every utterance, even those from these 'tools,' is populated by others' intentions and accents, often fused with political power. Without dialogic resistance, they risk degrading truth into a lie.

🚨🚨🚨 New podcast! 🚨🚨🚨 Check out "'Shoveling cultural snow', or: Season's greetings from AI Slop Summer" right now: reverbcast.com/podcasts/2025/…