Tanya Paperny

19 Nov 2024

listen, recreating "old twitter" will not save us. we need to do something different. i for one will be using this platform to be IRREVERENT and GAY

Read the latest from my brilliant friend Tresha Ward: "When I learned of Chancellor Kamar Samuels’ vision for integrated NYC schools, I was thrilled, energized and eager to support — and I still am. But I’m perplexed by the lack of progress more than nine months into his tenure."

The 74@the74.bsky.social

A recent essay by Nikole Hannah-Jones has revived the conversation about school integration and access to excellent schools in New York City. But what is the city doing to reach those goals? bit.ly/4emNDtL

Tanya Paperny reposted

The 51st

@51st.news

Replying to @tpaperny.bsky.social

Thank you, Tanya! We're so glad to have people power on our side and appreciate you spreading the word as we work towards the goal of 500 new paid members by 2027! People can join here: 51st.news/signup

Celebrating 2 years of @51st.news! In a note to readers, they wrote that *5 companies* control 90% of the media, and *9 of America’s 10 richest men* are media execs and owners 🤢 The 51st is DC's worker-owned newsroom, and I hope you support them today and every day ✊

listen, i'm an industry outsider, but basically what i gather from this paramount-warner merger is that the new megacorporation is staunchly anti-worker and staunchly pro-israel?? am i wrong??

The U.S. Department of Defense has spent more than $49 milion on catering for the National Guard troops who’ve been pacing our streets this past year. That’s more than next year’s entire budget for the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.

rage-inducing factoid via @730dc.bsky.social via @washingtonsun.com

Jason Song Quinn (Comms Open)

26 Aug

just ordered a safety handle for the shower, guess my age

Tanya Paperny reposted

@hulkhoquinn.bsky.social

26 Aug

Think about Miss Piggy. She lost a best friend and now an ex-lover in matter of 24 hours.

19 Aug

ME: I got a C+ in "Newspaper Production" & that was my second worst grade in high school ALSO ME: I'm a professional writer

Tanya Paperny@tpaperny.bsky.social

a background check process for a teaching gig is requesting a copy of my HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPT 🎓 i graduated over TWO DECADES AGO 😂

19 Aug

a background check process for a teaching gig is requesting a copy of my HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPT 🎓 i graduated over TWO DECADES AGO 😂

13 Aug

[family dollar] CASHIER: i'm sorry sir, but we don't actually sell generational wealth

FR🎃 V🎃@frovo.bsky.social

[dollar tree] CASHIER: i’m sorry sir but we don’t actually sell trees that grow dollars ME: get me the manager

30 July

Caption contest! (CC @cmzparker5.bsky.social)

30 July

(sinkhole on the 5000 block of 12th Street, N.E., after a water main break caused the roadway to collapse and a DC Water truck to become trapped)

21 July

Being greeted by all three of these alerts on Saturday was WILD 😓 @capitalweather.com

Tanya Paperny reposted

washingtoncitypaper.comThe Real Locals’ Calendar of Alternative Events for America’s 250thThere are plenty of local performances, exhibits, and art projects to celebrate the Semiquincentennial instead.

Replying to @tpaperny.bsky.social

Looking for local events to mark the 250th anniversary without being a Nazi sympathizer? Check out this list I co-curated @wcp.bsky.social of visual art, performance, panel discussions, and more: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7882...

washingtoncitypaper.comA Guide to Black History, Rebellion, and Creativity in D.C.For America's 250th, Natalie Hopkinson takes readers on a tour of 19 places that embody the legacy of how freedom actually came to the city.

This past weekend in DC, the fascists fascist-ed, the climate climate-d, and the fireworks polluted. Here's a list of good stuff to check out in DC that's non-fascist, non-polluting, and pro-Black, pulled together by our very own Natalie Hopkinson: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7881...

washingtoncitypaper.comThe Real Locals’ Guide to America’s 250thBig U.S. anniversaries have always been complicated. The Semiquincentennial is no different, but City Paper is here to help you navigate it.

If you want to know how smart folks across DC are thinking about this fucked-up time we're all living through: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7881...

Tanya Paperny reposted

The Onion

@theonion.com

TJ Maxx Adds Meat https://theonion.com/tj-maxx-adds-meat/

This is precisely the type of important and overlooked history I was getting at with my recent piece washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7881...

The Onion@theonion.com

The Onion looks back on 250 years of American exceptionalism. Watch now on youtube.com/theonion.

ah yes, the dulcet tones of late stage gentrification construction

Tanya Paperny reposted

Washington City Paper

@wcp.bsky.social

1 July

The Real Locals’ Guide to America’s 250th—stories about the people and places making up a fuller picture of this country’s anniversary. American University professor Natalie Hopkinson and City Paper columnist Tanya Paperny, along with some of Hopkinson’s former students, worked on this series.

Happy birthday to my paternal grandmother, Калерия Николаевна Озерова, Kaleria Nikolaevna Ozerova, who would have been 108 years old today. Here's a bit about her literary acts of resistance:

He'd go on to write many important works, including the famed "Gulag Archipelago." In 1970, Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize, and "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" was specifically mentioned in the award citation. But Solzhenitsyn was too afraid to attend the acceptance event.

Rest in power Kaleria (or Lera, as I called her). Thank you for helping to bring this book into the world. Writing, editing, and resistance are in my blood in no small part because of you. (Second photo: despite limited mobility, she always had tea and sweets ready for me when I visited 🖤)

The publication broke the silence and offered a sharp indictment of the USSR's GULAG system. Some even believe that his book started a wave that ultimately broke the back of the USSR — people could no longer deny these truths.

The book was an instant hit. Solzhenitsyn was labeled an enemy of the state and eventually arrested and deported.

"...From there it was sent to the de-Stalinist Khrushchev, who, despite the objections of some top party members, ultimately authorized its publication with some censorship of the text.”

And so, in 1962, Kaleria helped publish a serialized edition of Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” a novel written shortly after his release from a GULAG camp. It was a hugely important moment in Soviet literary history — and history in general.

It was an incredible and important book, they knew, but publishing it was dangerous — Soviet writers were not allowed to refer to the camps. So my grandmother and her colleagues bypassed the official editorial board and sent the manuscript directly to lead publisher Tvardovsky.

According to Wikipedia, “Tvardovsky was so impressed with this detailed description of life in the labor camps that he submitted the manuscript to the Communist Party Central Committee for approval to publish it..."

She was a literary editor at a Soviet magazine called Новый Мир (“New World”), where her team received a novel manuscript based on an author’s real-life experience in the GULAG labor camp system.

4 June

Why are Nirvana shirts trending among Gen-Z and Gen Alpha? I keep seeing them lately.

washingtoncitypaper.comwashingtoncitypaper.com

2 June

If you are organizing DC-area alternative programming for America's 250th, will you let me know? Think: people's histories, local activism, volunteer opportunities, indigenous and Black stories, anti-fascist events, etc.

Tanya Paperny reposted

Mitch Ryals

@mitchryals.bsky.social

10 Apr

A frequent scene at 1940s Club Madre: “Odessa would make her grand entrance into her club—mink from ear to ankle. ... [She] would lead an entourage—a trail of about six or seven beautiful ‘yella gals,’ mostly all for sale, followed by a train of lusty, well-heeled ‘E-lite’ gents.”

Tanya Paperny@tpaperny.bsky.social

In the 1940s, notorious "underground queen" Odessa Madre ran a nightclub where she dealt in drugs, women, and drink. I got to write about the building, which is now home to D.C.’s only Black-owned LGBTQ+ club. Read today's piece in @wcp.bsky.social: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7833...

washingtoncitypaper.comwashingtoncitypaper.com

9 Apr

9 Apr

Hat tip to editor @mitchryals.bsky.social, photographer @darrow-m.bsky.social, and @dcpubliclibrary.bsky.social for being THE best research supporters!

24 Mar

The two events I'm attending tomorrow tell you all you need to know about me: "Legacies of the Gulag: Russian Camps Past and Present" with @michaeldavidfox.bsky.social and @vkaramurza.bsky.social and then art making for the @janeese4dc.bsky.social campaign

18 Mar

I mean the earnest version of that is: I can’t believe we’re all expected to keep working knowing how heads of state and political and movement leaders have built boys’ networks around their predation.

18 Mar

Men are out here being so bad, the least we can do is eat chocolate

15 Mar

FACT #1: a jar of nutella doesn't last more than 2 days in my house FACT #2: i live alone

14 Mar

The United States of America is a pyramid scheme that bankrupts and incarcerates people locally & bombs and annihilates people globally

13 Mar

STOP MAKING CRACKERS SO FANCY THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A VEHICLE FOR DIP

washingtoncitypaper.comOn Places: Repurposing—and Queering—an H Street Corridor Carriage HouseOnce home to the ENIKAlley Coffeehouse—a refuge and an incubator for Black gay and lesbian artists and activists.

11 Mar

As reported by Urban Turf, a forthcoming DC zoning decision could lead to more alley homes. I think this is a good thing. Here's one unusual DC alley home I wrote about recently: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7748...

UrbanTurf: The Authority on Real Estate in the Nation's Capital…@dc.urbanturf.com.web.brid.gy

dc.urbanturf.comThe Decision That Could Lead To More Alley Homes In DC May Be Coming Next Week On Thursday, the Zoning Commission will consider text amendments aimed at making it easier to build in alleys around the city. Keep reading »

11 Mar

this place sucks (generic)

8 Mar

I've never meant this more earnestly than I do right now in 2026: HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 😭

6 Mar

Seeking someone else who is watching the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. @pbs.org special "Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History" and wants to process it with me (ideally, you're either Black or Jewish or both)

4 Mar

Listen, we're living through peak Patriarchy-and-Misogyny-Rule-the-World Times. Who is sending me gifts and money on Sunday, a.k.a. International Women's Day? My gender is many things, but woman is definitely one of them.

2 Mar

ah yes, the age-old "russian mogul commits suicide" line, except this time just add in an "associated with epstein files" bit