Last week, on May 29, New York City Mayor Mamdani fired New York Sheriff Anthony Miranda and appointed Edwin Raymond as his replacement. Thi
An essay by Steven Thrasher that's a bit of a follow up to his new book The Overseer Class.
Relatedly — and this isn't an essay w/ some message, just a blog entry and perhaps an author rec — last week went to a book reading for the very first time! I normally wouldn't, but Steven invited me in our DMs on bsky and sooo... I felt compelled to drag my butt out.
(I shied from actually meeting him bc the book-signing line was giant, I was starving, and I wasn't going to jump in out of turn either like, "Hey, I'm the guy you discuss Swahili fish curry with!" Idk, extroversion doesn't help with shyness. If there's an impediment to seize onto, I will be a weenie and fucking make use of it.)
There wasn't much "reading" actually, which my brother and I both 1. expected/assumed would be the format (it is when depicted in shows and movies!! <- ignore this Murderbot-sounding bullshit jfc) and 2. thought was way cooler than a pure reading. Like, a book can be read on your own; give us something juicy. (Plus Steven narrated his own audiobook version of The Viral Underclass, so I've already listened to him reading plenty haha.) Instead, he'd brought Victor Ray with him and they had a discussion/interview. Plus an artist, Teymour Abdel Aziz, flew in from Switzerland for this talk; he'd made paintings in dialogue with Steven's new book so he talked about them and the way Steven's ideas about American policing are echoed internationally, specifically tying it to problems in Egypt and the Palestinian genocide. Really interesting time! I kind of fell in love with one of the paintings, which had been propped up against the bookcase right next to me while Steven was talking, and I lingered for quite a while after, staring at it. Like a mini museum visit!
There was a second version of this painting, like a bloodbath sequel, with a lot more red paint and erratic lines between and around the two subjects, but I only photographed the one that spoke to me and drew me in.
Had trouble finding it on my phone to share it bc the thumbnail looked like a map to me haha. My vague recollection of the artist's intention under cut so you can either read it or ignore it, as you prefer.
