Dr. James Hooks
@jameshooks.bsky.social
Alum at all the apps you hate. Including that one.
http://medium.com/@jameshooks
http://tiltheday.com
http://medium.com/@jameshooks
http://tiltheday.com
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KINGSLEY
There are lives that arrive like weather, and there are lives that arrive like light. Kingsley was my light.
medium.com
In 16 months, I have lost my mentor, my uncle; my hero, my father; and now my heart—Kingsley.
Those who know me understood the symbiotic relationship between my dog and me. He’s been at my side for just shy of 20 years, and has been the most consistent, loving presence in my life.
Here’s his story
Those who know me understood the symbiotic relationship between my dog and me. He’s been at my side for just shy of 20 years, and has been the most consistent, loving presence in my life.
Here’s his story
Reposted by Dr. James Hooks
"The Transformers do not endorse the views of the President" okay, great, yeah, it's very normal that you had to say that. This is an ordinary world where things make sense. It's normal that I'd wake up to an official statement from cartoon robots denouncing the man who has the nuclear codes.
September 10, 2026 at 4:47 PM
"The Transformers do not endorse the views of the President" okay, great, yeah, it's very normal that you had to say that. This is an ordinary world where things make sense. It's normal that I'd wake up to an official statement from cartoon robots denouncing the man who has the nuclear codes.
Reposted by Dr. James Hooks
This is lovely. Great writing from James.
August 28, 2026 at 8:48 AM
This is lovely. Great writing from James.
Reposted by Dr. James Hooks
"Heroes come from wherever children can find them."
What an incredible read and tribute.
What an incredible read and tribute.
August 27, 2026 at 11:12 PM
"Heroes come from wherever children can find them."
What an incredible read and tribute.
What an incredible read and tribute.
Reposted by Dr. James Hooks
I cried big fat tears as I read this and THEN cried even harder as I read it out loud to my wife and kids. Dr. Hooks perfectly captured how I’m feeling today.
August 27, 2026 at 11:28 PM
I cried big fat tears as I read this and THEN cried even harder as I read it out loud to my wife and kids. Dr. Hooks perfectly captured how I’m feeling today.
Reposted by Dr. James Hooks
Please take a minute and read this magnificent piece from Hooks on the passing of Peter Cullen.
Thanks to @tfuinfo.bsky.social for sending my way
Our Robot Dad by @jameshooks.bsky.social medium.com/p/our-robot-...
Thanks to @tfuinfo.bsky.social for sending my way
Our Robot Dad by @jameshooks.bsky.social medium.com/p/our-robot-...
Our Robot Dad
What Peter Cullen, best known for his role as Optimus Prime, meant to me.
medium.com
August 27, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Please take a minute and read this magnificent piece from Hooks on the passing of Peter Cullen.
Thanks to @tfuinfo.bsky.social for sending my way
Our Robot Dad by @jameshooks.bsky.social medium.com/p/our-robot-...
Thanks to @tfuinfo.bsky.social for sending my way
Our Robot Dad by @jameshooks.bsky.social medium.com/p/our-robot-...
Rest in peace, Peter Cullen.
Til all are one. 🕊️
Til all are one. 🕊️
August 27, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Rest in peace, Peter Cullen.
Til all are one. 🕊️
Til all are one. 🕊️
We’re only on Earth for a brief, accidental moment.
Make magic.
Make magic.
August 27, 2026 at 6:19 AM
We’re only on Earth for a brief, accidental moment.
Make magic.
Make magic.
A government can begin removing a name from institutional memory long before anyone touches a hull. People simply stop using it, document after document and meeting after meeting, until the number begins to sound ordinary and the name begins to sound provisional.
This is how a man disappears twice.
This is how a man disappears twice.
Names and Heroes
On the American practice of keeping the deed and discarding the man who did it
medium.com
August 21, 2026 at 11:08 PM
A government can begin removing a name from institutional memory long before anyone touches a hull. People simply stop using it, document after document and meeting after meeting, until the number begins to sound ordinary and the name begins to sound provisional.
This is how a man disappears twice.
This is how a man disappears twice.
Intellect, as we operationalize it, can be measured. What can be measured can be credentialed. What can be credentialed can be hoarded.
Wisdom, the inconvenient cousin, keeps showing up in the wrong bodies, in the wrong zip codes, out of the mouths of people who never took the test.
Wisdom, the inconvenient cousin, keeps showing up in the wrong bodies, in the wrong zip codes, out of the mouths of people who never took the test.
The Presumption of Authorship
On intellect, wisdom, and an American machinery that has learned to mistake speed for truth
medium.com
August 7, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Intellect, as we operationalize it, can be measured. What can be measured can be credentialed. What can be credentialed can be hoarded.
Wisdom, the inconvenient cousin, keeps showing up in the wrong bodies, in the wrong zip codes, out of the mouths of people who never took the test.
Wisdom, the inconvenient cousin, keeps showing up in the wrong bodies, in the wrong zip codes, out of the mouths of people who never took the test.
You inherit the obligation to remember accurately. You inherit the burden of asking questions that make a room go still. You inherit the temptation to become the thing that wounded you.
Every generation receives that final temptation in a different language. Mine speaks fluent outrage.
Every generation receives that final temptation in a different language. Mine speaks fluent outrage.
Questions of Mercy
Questions of Mercy One of the last long conversations I had with my father was about his house. The primary bedroom needed work. Something under the carpet had gone soft, and he had been meaning to …
medium.com
August 1, 2026 at 3:39 PM
You inherit the obligation to remember accurately. You inherit the burden of asking questions that make a room go still. You inherit the temptation to become the thing that wounded you.
Every generation receives that final temptation in a different language. Mine speaks fluent outrage.
Every generation receives that final temptation in a different language. Mine speaks fluent outrage.
Americans picture wrongful conviction as forensic failure. The mechanism that does the actual work is older than any machine and costs nothing at all.
Somebody says a thing.
Somebody says a thing.
The Nearest Witness
On the dead who cannot testify, the families who do, and the machinery that believes whoever speaks first
medium.com
July 25, 2026 at 1:13 PM
Americans picture wrongful conviction as forensic failure. The mechanism that does the actual work is older than any machine and costs nothing at all.
Somebody says a thing.
Somebody says a thing.
Finally, someone is going to talk to Mitch McConnell
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and stalwart ally of President Trump who was a forceful advocate for an interventionist U.S. foreign policy, has died of “a brief and sudden illness,” his office said. He was 71. nyti.ms/4plLwei
July 12, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Finally, someone is going to talk to Mitch McConnell
White people had and have been trained to read Black proximity as depreciation, and an entire industry learned to profit from the lesson.
In Service, Never in Possession
In Service, Never in Possession There is a stair in my house the builders refused to leave plain. The risers are set with tile — Aztec-inspired, geometric, the glaze gone soft and oceanic with …
medium.com
June 29, 2026 at 2:52 PM
White people had and have been trained to read Black proximity as depreciation, and an entire industry learned to profit from the lesson.
Marriage begins with a promise so old most people no longer hear how strange it is. When the body fails. When age arrives. When illness comes through the door and will not leave.
I will stay.
I will stay.
The Story of Bonnie Kornhaber
The Story of Bonnie Kornhaber Marriage begins with a promise so old most people no longer hear how strange it is. Two people stand before witnesses and swear themselves into one another’s …
medium.com
June 8, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Marriage begins with a promise so old most people no longer hear how strange it is. When the body fails. When age arrives. When illness comes through the door and will not leave.
I will stay.
I will stay.
This was the founding bargain. Liberty for some. Labor from others.
The Country We Carried
The Country We Carried We have been here for all of it. Before the flag knew what it wanted to mean, before the anthem learned to swell in stadiums, before the country taught its children to place …
medium.com
June 1, 2026 at 12:02 AM
This was the founding bargain. Liberty for some. Labor from others.
We honor birth because birth flatters us. Old age accuses us.
The American Disappearance
The American Disappearance America loves a beginning. We love the swollen belly, the baby shower, the tiny shoes placed like prophecy on a nursery shelf. We love the ultrasound photograph, the gender ...
medium.com
May 24, 2026 at 12:59 AM
We honor birth because birth flatters us. Old age accuses us.
There was no funeral.
No room where people gathered and said his name. No eulogy. No burial with its small, crucial permission to weep in public. No casseroles, no condolence cards, no good chair to cry in. No ceremony to mark the end of a man’s life because I was not allowed to give him one.
No room where people gathered and said his name. No eulogy. No burial with its small, crucial permission to weep in public. No casseroles, no condolence cards, no good chair to cry in. No ceremony to mark the end of a man’s life because I was not allowed to give him one.
One Year Later
One Year Later There was no funeral. I want you to hold that for a moment before we go any further, because the absence of it shapes everything that follows. There was no room where people gathered …
medium.com
April 28, 2026 at 2:02 PM
There was no funeral.
No room where people gathered and said his name. No eulogy. No burial with its small, crucial permission to weep in public. No casseroles, no condolence cards, no good chair to cry in. No ceremony to mark the end of a man’s life because I was not allowed to give him one.
No room where people gathered and said his name. No eulogy. No burial with its small, crucial permission to weep in public. No casseroles, no condolence cards, no good chair to cry in. No ceremony to mark the end of a man’s life because I was not allowed to give him one.
Reposted by Dr. James Hooks
Notice how the most celebrated and successful space mission in *decades* was run by at least 50% “DEI hires”—not all white men? And not even all Americans. Maybe diversity *is* strength . . .
April 11, 2026 at 2:25 AM
Notice how the most celebrated and successful space mission in *decades* was run by at least 50% “DEI hires”—not all white men? And not even all Americans. Maybe diversity *is* strength . . .
Reposted by Dr. James Hooks
NYT reporting that under this ceasefire each ship will pay $2M to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. It was $0 before Trump launched this illegal war.
100-130 ships pass the Strait daily.
Trump just gave Iran an extra $100M-$130M per day. Masterful gambit, sir. Impeach and remove this fascist—NOW.
100-130 ships pass the Strait daily.
Trump just gave Iran an extra $100M-$130M per day. Masterful gambit, sir. Impeach and remove this fascist—NOW.
April 8, 2026 at 12:17 AM
NYT reporting that under this ceasefire each ship will pay $2M to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. It was $0 before Trump launched this illegal war.
100-130 ships pass the Strait daily.
Trump just gave Iran an extra $100M-$130M per day. Masterful gambit, sir. Impeach and remove this fascist—NOW.
100-130 ships pass the Strait daily.
Trump just gave Iran an extra $100M-$130M per day. Masterful gambit, sir. Impeach and remove this fascist—NOW.
Reposted by Dr. James Hooks
To whoever did this at the #NoKings in Boston: Thank you.❤️
It made me tear up. And we must to be reminded of needless damage to humanity that results directly from the careless, bellicose bluster coming from the Pentagon and White House.
It made me tear up. And we must to be reminded of needless damage to humanity that results directly from the careless, bellicose bluster coming from the Pentagon and White House.
March 28, 2026 at 6:46 PM
To whoever did this at the #NoKings in Boston: Thank you.❤️
It made me tear up. And we must to be reminded of needless damage to humanity that results directly from the careless, bellicose bluster coming from the Pentagon and White House.
It made me tear up. And we must to be reminded of needless damage to humanity that results directly from the careless, bellicose bluster coming from the Pentagon and White House.
Easy to say when you’re
a) 62
b) a civilian with no military service
a) 62
b) a civilian with no military service
Rob Schneider calls to ‘restore the military draft’ in the US amid war with Iran
Rob Schneider calls to ‘restore the military draft’ in the US amid war with Iran
‘The Hot Chick’ star says ‘every American’ should serve two years in the military once they reach 18
trib.al
March 29, 2026 at 12:16 AM
Easy to say when you’re
a) 62
b) a civilian with no military service
a) 62
b) a civilian with no military service