Tim Barrus: Dirt Bike Town

Tim Barrus: Autistic Being Touched

I am autistic. I do not hug. I do not look at faces, and I never look directly at eyes. Covid gave me an excuse to not shake hands. People do not believe that the experience of being touched is not the same for everyone. If I read my books…

BIGWIGGY

I am a communist. Mainly because there are so many little American henchmen I desire to annoy. Guerrilla Theatre: A bank lobby. A department store. A mall lobby. Break up a corporate bigwiggy conference. Sing songs. They hate songs. Parking lots. Free diapers for everyone. Give a die in a…

Tim Barrus: Public Schools Are Finished

I am a communist. I am a writer. Did someone say rejection. The Shibboleth. “Waiting Times” are measured in years. They’re ghosting you. Rejection is when your agent hasn’t called you ever. But you keep waiting because you are a writer and you have hope. Hope is a rarity as…

Tim Barrrus New York Times

Take notes. The distance between Hiroshima and Seoul is 400 miles. The Koreans know it is in reality, the distance to the moon. History speaks volumes. The next itchy player would be Mao Zedong. The 1950s saw enormous instability. Douglas MacArthur wanted to use the bomb again. And he was…

Tim Barrus New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/07/magazine/tilda-swinton-interview.html#permid=138113367 TILDA Take notes. Tilda Swinton gives the New York Times an edge. An edge they frequently cover up with the contradiction between the fact that no one even knows what art is, and the fact that outreach as art for the sake of art even finds its tiny way…

Lydia Polgreen Is the Best

TAKE NOTES Here in Appalachia, they just kill the trans kids. After torturing them. I’ve seen gasoline poured on them. People looked down. At their feet. People walked away. No one would help this screaming, naked kid. I picked up a rug and wrapped him in it and got him…

Walking the Walk

Take notes. We all want to know, is it worth it. This question haunts us as the Internet becomes a utility. The tech oligarchs are not keen on the idea. One of the things FDR did, was bringing electricity to rural America. The people who got electricity last, knew they…

Ross Douthat’s Catholicism is Subordination

Take notes. There is no god. There is no Jesus. There is no heaven. There are no wing rentals for Victoria’s Secret Angels. There are no angels. There are no gates. There is no sane theology. There never was a virgin Mary. Jesus did not walk on water. When Ross…

Tim Barrus, New York Times

Take notes. Great piece. I knew we were in trouble when the Hurricane blew the front door off. I live at the top of a mountain in the Appalachian Blue Ridge. I have survived 22 hurricanes. But nothing like this one. The water was coming at us sideways. There was…

Tim Barrus: New York Times

Take notes. “But voters still trust his positions more than his opponent’s.” Don’t tell me. Show me. I do not believe it. There’s a different standard for showing, and clinging to a narrative that is dubious at best. How do we know that Americans trust Trump more. Where are the…

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Tim Barrus: NC and the Pollsters

Take notes. I lie to polls. This is Appalachia. From this perspective, this piece nails North Carolina. The new NC, and the old NC. It’s difficult to get folks around here to slide into politics. It begins with a shrug. Then, we tiptoe around: I thought Trump was gonna… You’all…