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Robert McDonald

@lacanmunist

Associate professor of rhetoric at the University of Kansas, author of Works like a Charm: Incentive Rhetoric and the Economization of Everyday Life https://sunypress.edu/Books/W/Works-like-a-Charm

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Latest posts by Robert McDonald @lacanmunist

Preview
a man wearing a blue shirt that says barber vac on it Alt: ITYSL "you sure about that?" meme gif

Rob Thomas: dude, it's *just like* the ocean under the moon
Me:

11.03.2026 17:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

me all semester: Haha fuck yeah!!! I am teaching my students so much!!

me trying to write an exam: Well this fucking sucks. What did I teach them all semester.

10.03.2026 18:42 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

i heard that if you show up to a Whole Foods with a Trader Joe's reusable bag they kill you

08.03.2026 17:30 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

(to my date) yeah i'm a social media influenced

07.03.2026 14:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

substack implies domstack

03.03.2026 20:59 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
"When asses are needed" section from Beyond Good & Evil by Nietzsche

"When asses are needed" section from Beyond Good & Evil by Nietzsche

Nietzsche 🀝 me at the club

02.03.2026 16:47 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
epic handshake meme--"evaluating arguments using the Toulmin model" shaking hands with "encountering ICE", joined together by "show me the fucking warrant"

epic handshake meme--"evaluating arguments using the Toulmin model" shaking hands with "encountering ICE", joined together by "show me the fucking warrant"

26.02.2026 22:51 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

"i said 'pedophile' Paddington is a children's movie." he skipped the intermediary step, that anti-gay propagandists want people think gay folks are pedophiles, which is obviously repulsive and wrong. these verbal outbursts aren't expressions, they're transgressions

25.02.2026 16:58 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Tourette's demonstrates the externality of the unconscious--these aren't "his" words, they're everyone's, and proof that we live in a racist society. but his explanation of the "pedophile" joke about Alan Cumming follows the logic of anti-gay propagandists.

25.02.2026 16:58 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

once met an arrogant mohel. name was Hugh Bris

25.02.2026 16:07 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

ok when women say "i can fix him" they don't mean in the, ahem, veterinary way, right?

25.02.2026 01:08 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

she small on my business til i owner

24.02.2026 00:55 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

"Now you're in the Dunkin' place." (Jordan Peele, if he were a sellout)

23.02.2026 18:35 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

i wish comedy clubs were open tonight so i could workshop a joke. it's something along the lines of, "considering all the snowfall today, it seems like new york city is truly a 'winter wonderland'." i might throw a kicker in there like "paging frosty the snowman!" or something like that

23.02.2026 18:28 πŸ‘ 927 πŸ” 31 πŸ’¬ 41 πŸ“Œ 1
To: Jeffrey epstein[jeevacationΒ©gmail.com]
From: roger schank
Sent: Mon 1/4/2010 12:15:13 PM
Subject: there is a simpler explanation about women and intelligence
intelligence comes about in part from real focus (goal-directed
(this is why you have the absent minded professor caricature)
it is a rare woman who is not first and foremost focussed on what
thinking and feeling about her
hard to be brilliant if you are worrying if you look fat or why
hates you or why you dont own a kelly bag
roger schank
http://www.rogerschank.com/

To: Jeffrey epstein[jeevacationΒ©gmail.com] From: roger schank Sent: Mon 1/4/2010 12:15:13 PM Subject: there is a simpler explanation about women and intelligence intelligence comes about in part from real focus (goal-directed (this is why you have the absent minded professor caricature) it is a rare woman who is not first and foremost focussed on what thinking and feeling about her hard to be brilliant if you are worrying if you look fat or why hates you or why you dont own a kelly bag roger schank http://www.rogerschank.com/

Relevant to today's conversation about AI's inherent sexism, here's an email from cognitive psychologist and early AI theorist Roger Schank, arguing to Epstein that women can't be truly intelligent, because they care too much about what other people think.

23.02.2026 16:34 πŸ‘ 3369 πŸ” 1205 πŸ’¬ 185 πŸ“Œ 305

have we tried throwing things back through the Overton transom?

23.02.2026 16:31 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

was trying to figure out the source of Sabrina Carpenter's appeal, and then i remembered Hegel's line, that the secrets of the Egyptians were secrets for the Egyptians as well

22.02.2026 22:58 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The floor plan for the planned ICE concentration camp in Social Circle, Georgia:

22.02.2026 19:15 πŸ‘ 4215 πŸ” 2329 πŸ’¬ 210 πŸ“Œ 246

(Billie Joe Armstrong's manager sprinting into his client's bedroom today) fuck fuck fuck FUCK i knew i forgot something!!!

22.02.2026 18:20 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A grassy yard, with long ditch dug out (bad!) and the saucer section of the NCC-1701-D placed to replicate the crash landing from Star Trek: Generations. Top center in the back is a mural of a deer overlooking the yard. Yes, it's super cool.

A grassy yard, with long ditch dug out (bad!) and the saucer section of the NCC-1701-D placed to replicate the crash landing from Star Trek: Generations. Top center in the back is a mural of a deer overlooking the yard. Yes, it's super cool.

A grassy yard, with long ditch dug out (bad!) and the saucer section of the NCC-1701-D placed to replicate the crash landing from Star Trek: Generations.

A grassy yard, with long ditch dug out (bad!) and the saucer section of the NCC-1701-D placed to replicate the crash landing from Star Trek: Generations.

A grassy yard, with long ditch dug out (bad!) and the saucer section of the NCC-1701-D placed to replicate the crash landing from Star Trek: Generations.

A grassy yard, with long ditch dug out (bad!) and the saucer section of the NCC-1701-D placed to replicate the crash landing from Star Trek: Generations.

The ditch-digging culprit after the fact!!! Archer the dog (wearing her dapper black-and-white checkered bowtie.

The ditch-digging culprit after the fact!!! Archer the dog (wearing her dapper black-and-white checkered bowtie.

Archer will not stop digging up this spot in our backyard, so I decided to turn it into a win-win. #StarTrek #Generations

21.02.2026 01:53 πŸ‘ 531 πŸ” 86 πŸ’¬ 22 πŸ“Œ 8

hear me out: every freestyle/slopestyle skier and snowboarder is obligated to compete in a San Jose Sharks starter jacket

21.02.2026 02:35 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
headline "Alt, Gay & From New Jersey: The Babes of Glory are TikTok Fancam Fuel"

headline "Alt, Gay & From New Jersey: The Babes of Glory are TikTok Fancam Fuel"

look. i'm an open-minded person. but how am i supposed to explain this to my kids? are we, as a society, ready to accept athletes who are "from New Jersey"?

20.02.2026 23:33 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

i vote for 12 Monkeys + Vertigo

20.02.2026 22:16 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I love this idea! How about 12 Monkeys + Hitchcock marathon (okay, just Vertigo for simplicity's sake)

20.02.2026 22:16 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

it's so bad--i was hoping that both teams would pull a "Mighty Ducks" and change uniforms in between periods, but with our luck, both would come out in red, head-to-toe.

20.02.2026 21:51 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

also that quoted tweet is "Uhhhhhhh" and "Let me be clear" erasure

20.02.2026 21:07 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
photo of me on stage with writer/artist Victoria Proctor (I'm wearing a black turtleneck just like Dean from Get Out

photo of me on stage with writer/artist Victoria Proctor (I'm wearing a black turtleneck just like Dean from Get Out

our "Searching the Psyche through Cinema" talk on Get Out was amazing, by the way--great crowd, great questions

and it wasn't even derailed by the fact I unconsciously dressed like Bradley Whitford's character from the movie

20.02.2026 21:03 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

wow. just found out the queen is having an affair with a local butcher. i suspect an unscrupulous Minister pilfered the sirloined letter

19.02.2026 23:16 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Submissive award winners are like "it was an honor just to be dominated"

18.02.2026 23:33 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
Post image

Telling the story of Kurt Gerron in my popular culture class today. A German actor, who acted alongside Marlene Dietrich, who fled Nazi Germany for Amsterdam. He was sent to Theresienstadt, forced to act in propaganda films about the ghetto's "humane" conditions, and gassed at Auschwitz in 1944.

18.02.2026 18:53 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0