Brandy Jensen

I got to write about Nancy Lemann! For The New Yorker!

At @defector.com -- the frat pack of 2000s comedy, then and now, the good, the bad, and the less bad... defector.com/is-less-bad-...

'Funny Business' is a trip down memory lane for anyone who remembers the "frat pack" movies well enough to be fond of them, but not so well as to cringe at their dated scenes and elements. defector.com/is-less-bad-...

Every day I read paragraphs that do nothing but hurt me. What do you mean you developed the concept of point of view

really good defector.com/aaron-sorkin...

every now & then someone on the anti-trans side will get cold feet about how openly ugly it's all getting—they want to keep the image of a nice, sensible centrist but it's never enough for them to get off the train

I wrote about the end of Catapult defector.com/catapult-eli...

that’s right

wrote a little bit about a documentary I really liked

i love that the best movie reviews out there are on my favorite sports blog

Legitimately a dream to write something that inspires a reader to "go Martin Luther Mode."

continuing a huge week for the culture section at defector, we’ve got @adamfpetty.bsky.social on Brian Evenson

Vivek Ramaswamy is going after the abusive parent vote: defector.com/vivek-ramasw...

“It’s like if The Insider was released in a world where smoking was more popular than ever, and the Marlboro Man had recently been elected president.”

I wrote about The Ringer/Spotify launching a series of Substacks, the lack of coordination and communication surrounding the strategy, and a failed odyssey of trying to get people involved to talk about it: defector.com/nobody-wants...

really lovely piece of writing/criticism from @sohini.bsky.social

read it in a day

hadn’t really seen anyone talking about this so PSA: the Blacktongue Thief sequel is out

Francis Fukuyama is the last grandpa: defector.com/francis-fuku...

I had so much goddamned fun writing this piece for Defector. Warhammer 40k is fun as hell, and it offers an enormous amount of room for creativity from both fans and the creators working to make media set within the universe.

by god that’s @patrickwyman.bsky.social’s music

This is an actual reason why Bari Weiss’ CBS foreign editor told staff that they could not include reporting on Netanyahu receiving advance warning of a Hamas attack before Oct 7. The astonishing tirade in @status.news www.status.news/p/bari-weiss...

I believe Lena Dunham has both the courage and the vision to add Che Diaz to the Girls reboot

Christine Brennan has not fully lost it, according to Christine Brennan in two baffling phone calls: defector.com/christine-br...

'Fallow' explores a world where big tech has disrupted pregnancy: defector.com/fallow-sarah...

Another mountaineering documentary that asks: What is wrong with these people? defector.com/the-last-fir...

there's a Martin Mull documentary on Netflix that's great and surprisingly very moving

really fun review!! total pleasure to read

This was a great review—succinctly sums up the arguments of the book that it’s reviewing; explains why those arguments are important; transmits the excitement at encountering and engaging with those arguments. And since it’s about the state of publishing today, I hope writers on here read it.

Had the immense pleasure of reviewing Content Machines by @sarahbrouillette.bsky.social for Defector. It's a must-read on the state of the "literary," and much else. Thanks to my editor @brandyjensen.bsky.social!

‘Content Machines’ asks the right questions about publishing in the platform era: defector.com/content-mach...

This is always nice to see, but especially so here since it’s gotta be one of the first quotes from a piece of @defector.com book criticism to make it into a book’s paperback edition. Many more to come thanks to @brandyjensen.bsky.social and team. Huge credit to them for making space for the books.

Man this is good

It turns out you can trace America’s 2008 financial crash, in a roundabout way, to 18th-century Prussia. defector.com/nation-of-bo...

"With that established reality, the Daily Wire is given no choice but to push hard on the message that Muslims are doing a long con as sleeper agents, ready to establish a caliphate at a Virginia college, of all places." defector.com/finally-a-sh...

They quoted me in this New Yorker piece about AI today. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

the genius Sophie Abromowitz is back with an essay on Resident Evil and addiction

Sarah Hagi writing about the Daily Wire movie 🚨

Paula González-Nasser gives location scouts their due: defector.com/paula-gonzal...

Weezer’s ‘Pinkerton’ turns 30 today. I wrote about the album, its immediate failure, its delayed success and how it has aged alongside how I’ve aged. A toast to God’s horniest soldier! defector.com/revisiting-w...

Y'all ready to do some good this week? How I'd Fix Atlanta has once again partnered with Undue Medical Debt to help out a bunch of our neighbors. As always, we need your help. Please give what you can and tell everyone you know. unduemedicaldebt.org/campaign/whe...

Such a fun story: defector.com/how-one-tric...

Many thanks to @brandyjensen.bsky.social for letting me write about the blessed rise and mixed returns of prestige indie action cinema for @defector.com: defector.com/two-indie-ac...

Ed Sheeran delivers pointless statement then cries during latest concert: defector.com/ed-sheeran-d...