Charles Olney
@olneyce.bsky.social
VAP at Emory Political Science. Until recently, Associate Professor at UTRGV. I study justice, democracy, political identity, and law. But mostly post about women's football and my dog.
Uppsala, Sweden
Uppsala, Sweden
Reposted by Charles Olney
It Won't Be Long takes the melodrama of the girl-group sound and turns it into a rock and roll thunderclap. The #Beatles didn't keep any ironic distance from that emotional intensity. They gave themselves over to it completely
https://beatles208.substack.com/p/75-it-wont-be-long
https://beatles208.substack.com/p/75-it-wont-be-long
75. It Won't Be Long
A girl-group inspired potboiler that turns melodrama into a rock and roll classic
beatles208.substack.com
September 25, 2026 at 3:01 PM
It Won't Be Long takes the melodrama of the girl-group sound and turns it into a rock and roll thunderclap. The #Beatles didn't keep any ironic distance from that emotional intensity. They gave themselves over to it completely
https://beatles208.substack.com/p/75-it-wont-be-long
https://beatles208.substack.com/p/75-it-wont-be-long
Reposted by Charles Olney
At the start of the most astonishing scene in Peter Jackson's Get Back, Paul has nothing. Less than four minutes later, John has arrived, the whole band is playing, and a number-one single has sprung into existence before our eyes
https://beatles208.substack.com/p/80-get-back
https://beatles208.substack.com/p/80-get-back
80. Get Back
What a gift to be able to watch the birth of a number one hit
beatles208.substack.com
September 24, 2026 at 3:28 PM
At the start of the most astonishing scene in Peter Jackson's Get Back, Paul has nothing. Less than four minutes later, John has arrived, the whole band is playing, and a number-one single has sprung into existence before our eyes
https://beatles208.substack.com/p/80-get-back
https://beatles208.substack.com/p/80-get-back
I do basically agree that people are too invested in identity=electability arguments. But ‘you can win if you’re a generational political talent (running against an unpopular war and a financial collapse)’ does not prove very much.
The black guy named Barack Hussein Obama got elected president twice. There is no "are they electable" argument. Anyone is electable if they're charismatic and solid on policy.
Because the priority should be winning. The Dem presidential candidate should be 1)is this person not awful(is there something disqualifying ), 2)is this person the most electable Dem that is not awful and didn’t do something disqualifying. Is it fair? No. But that’s a fight for a different time
September 22, 2026 at 10:33 PM
I do basically agree that people are too invested in identity=electability arguments. But ‘you can win if you’re a generational political talent (running against an unpopular war and a financial collapse)’ does not prove very much.
No, the conclusion should be that these are two different candidates, running for two different jobs, against two different opposing candidates, who are therefore differentiated in many different ways. SMH
September 11, 2026 at 9:18 PM
No, the conclusion should be that these are two different candidates, running for two different jobs, against two different opposing candidates, who are therefore differentiated in many different ways. SMH
Reposted by Charles Olney
Can't Buy Me Love is probably the least intrinsically-interesting of the #Beatles 1964 mega-hits, but it's a perfect avatar for their year of world domination beatles208.substack.com/p/91-cant-bu...
91. Can't Buy Me Love
The relentless enthusiasm of Paul McCartney and the peak of Beatlemania
beatles208.substack.com
July 27, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Can't Buy Me Love is probably the least intrinsically-interesting of the #Beatles 1964 mega-hits, but it's a perfect avatar for their year of world domination beatles208.substack.com/p/91-cant-bu...
Reposted by Charles Olney
George wrote Love You To only a few months after picking up the sitar, which remains one of the most impossible facts in a #Beatles story full of impossible facts beatles208.substack.com/p/93-love-you-to
93. Love You To
George wrote this song just a few months after picking up the sitar. That is every bit as impossible as it sounds
beatles208.substack.com
July 25, 2026 at 4:04 PM
George wrote Love You To only a few months after picking up the sitar, which remains one of the most impossible facts in a #Beatles story full of impossible facts beatles208.substack.com/p/93-love-you-to
Reposted by Charles Olney
The problem with voter ID laws is that white people are NOT overconfident. It's a "velvet rope regime" where white people's shoddy ID will be "good enough" and Black people's identical ID gets scrutinized and votes possibly thrown out by some 2020 election denialist running a local board.
Would love to see how these results--which test voters' *perceptions* of whether they could provide proof of citizenship--line up with how easily various subsets of voters *actually could* produce proof of citizenship.
In particular ... (1/2)
In particular ... (1/2)
New poll from Strength In Numbers and Verasight this morning: Black voters and Democrats are systematically more likely to say they couldn’t process citizenship. These are **currently registered voters** — and so presumably citizens being disenfranchised.
July 24, 2026 at 2:33 PM
The problem with voter ID laws is that white people are NOT overconfident. It's a "velvet rope regime" where white people's shoddy ID will be "good enough" and Black people's identical ID gets scrutinized and votes possibly thrown out by some 2020 election denialist running a local board.
A petition is going viral demanding Charles III use his powers as King to resurrect John Lennon and George Harrison and reunite the Beatles.
A petition is going viral demanding Gov. Beshear use his powers as governor of Kentucky to install a Democrat to Mitch McConnell's seat.
Sign it to demand he uses it: petition.edwardswire.com/beshear
Sign it to demand he uses it: petition.edwardswire.com/beshear
Gov. Beshear: Appoint A Democrat To McConnell’s Seat
Trump won Kentucky by 30 points — a special election is an automatic Republican win. The Kentucky Constitution gives Gov. Beshear an untested power to appoint a Democrat instead.
petition.edwardswire.com
July 24, 2026 at 5:32 PM
A petition is going viral demanding Charles III use his powers as King to resurrect John Lennon and George Harrison and reunite the Beatles.
Reposted by Charles Olney
Getting Better might be the perfect entry point into the John/Paul partnership: Paul's optimism and John's realism sharpening each other into something neither could have made alone
beatles208.substack.com/p/96-getting-better
beatles208.substack.com/p/96-getting-better
96. Getting Better
It's time to take 'Lennon/McCartney' seriously, and literally
beatles208.substack.com
July 23, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Getting Better might be the perfect entry point into the John/Paul partnership: Paul's optimism and John's realism sharpening each other into something neither could have made alone
beatles208.substack.com/p/96-getting-better
beatles208.substack.com/p/96-getting-better
Brutal from Argentina, of course, but also pretty impressive for Spain to only accumulate 1.2 xG from all those shots
surely the first 90 minute no hitter in a world cup final
July 19, 2026 at 9:24 PM
Brutal from Argentina, of course, but also pretty impressive for Spain to only accumulate 1.2 xG from all those shots
Reposted by Charles Olney
The degree to which the nastiness in the Michigan senate primary exploded the minute Platner dropped out in Maine sure suggests that the most prominent issue at play here is that a bunch of assholes [factional definition neutral] need something to do.
July 19, 2026 at 5:57 PM
The degree to which the nastiness in the Michigan senate primary exploded the minute Platner dropped out in Maine sure suggests that the most prominent issue at play here is that a bunch of assholes [factional definition neutral] need something to do.
Pretty funny that they finally moved on from Southgate and then played the most Southgate game that ever Southgated
July 15, 2026 at 9:22 PM
Pretty funny that they finally moved on from Southgate and then played the most Southgate game that ever Southgated
Always feels a bit like Digne is just some guy who won a contest where the prize was you get to play for the national team.
July 14, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Always feels a bit like Digne is just some guy who won a contest where the prize was you get to play for the national team.
Reposted by Charles Olney
As a teenager, Paul wrote Michelle to try to pick up girls. It ended up being one of their most popular and enduring hits beatles208.substack.com/p/98-michelle
98. Michelle
Straddling the line between parody and sincerity, Michelle is a perfect and somewhat inexplicable gem
beatles208.substack.com
July 14, 2026 at 4:19 PM
As a teenager, Paul wrote Michelle to try to pick up girls. It ended up being one of their most popular and enduring hits beatles208.substack.com/p/98-michelle
In the past three weeks, my five year old has discovered that goals often don’t end up counting and now says it doesn’t feel good to clap when they just ‘get taken away.’ Thanks VAR
July 11, 2026 at 10:27 PM
In the past three weeks, my five year old has discovered that goals often don’t end up counting and now says it doesn’t feel good to clap when they just ‘get taken away.’ Thanks VAR
Reposted by Charles Olney
The Ballad of John and Yoko was their final UK #1, a fact that seems unbelievable no matter how many times I say it. Great song, but one that feels much more like a Plastic Ono Band cut than a #Beatles chart-topper
beatles208.substack.com/p/104-the-ba...
beatles208.substack.com/p/104-the-ba...
104. The Ballad of John and Yoko
The Ballad of John and Paul and John and Yoko
beatles208.substack.com
July 9, 2026 at 3:05 AM
The Ballad of John and Yoko was their final UK #1, a fact that seems unbelievable no matter how many times I say it. Great song, but one that feels much more like a Plastic Ono Band cut than a #Beatles chart-topper
beatles208.substack.com/p/104-the-ba...
beatles208.substack.com/p/104-the-ba...
Reposted by Charles Olney
Girl is a wistful ode to an imagined love, in the form of an almost-perfect presaging of John's feelings for Yoko
beatles208.substack.com/p/103-girl
beatles208.substack.com/p/103-girl
103. Girl
A song about a dream girl--whose perfection is defined by her casual indifference
beatles208.substack.com
July 9, 2026 at 3:09 AM
Girl is a wistful ode to an imagined love, in the form of an almost-perfect presaging of John's feelings for Yoko
beatles208.substack.com/p/103-girl
beatles208.substack.com/p/103-girl
The US spent two decades as plucky overachievers. Interesting change of pace for them to now be a pretty good team who absolutely wilted under the bright lights.
July 7, 2026 at 1:58 AM
The US spent two decades as plucky overachievers. Interesting change of pace for them to now be a pretty good team who absolutely wilted under the bright lights.
It was a very Bluesky-Brain thing for people to assume that the world was rooting against the US in the World Cup (when in fact global football fans were reasonably warm to the USMNT.
Except it turns out the Bluesky Brainers were kind of right after all.
Except it turns out the Bluesky Brainers were kind of right after all.
July 6, 2026 at 2:45 PM
It was a very Bluesky-Brain thing for people to assume that the world was rooting against the US in the World Cup (when in fact global football fans were reasonably warm to the USMNT.
Except it turns out the Bluesky Brainers were kind of right after all.
Except it turns out the Bluesky Brainers were kind of right after all.
What on earth is happening in Mexico City. This is just nonstop madness
July 6, 2026 at 2:21 AM
What on earth is happening in Mexico City. This is just nonstop madness
Giving me flashbacks to Scotland 3-3 Argentina at the 2019 World Cup, which was possibly even more bonkers of an ending.
July 3, 2026 at 1:15 AM
Giving me flashbacks to Scotland 3-3 Argentina at the 2019 World Cup, which was possibly even more bonkers of an ending.
Football, bloody hell.
July 3, 2026 at 1:05 AM
Football, bloody hell.
My most old-man-yells-at-cloud football opinion is that holding up your arm for an offside call while the ball is in play should be a bookable offense
July 2, 2026 at 11:41 PM
My most old-man-yells-at-cloud football opinion is that holding up your arm for an offside call while the ball is in play should be a bookable offense
Reposted by Charles Olney
The Fool on the Hill is a beautiful song about the haunting isolation of wisdom beatles208.substack.com/p/107-the-fo...
107. The Fool on the Hill
Paul gets philosophical about the burdens of being human
beatles208.substack.com
July 2, 2026 at 1:47 PM
The Fool on the Hill is a beautiful song about the haunting isolation of wisdom beatles208.substack.com/p/107-the-fo...
Reposted by Charles Olney
I'm not saying that Charles Manson correctly divined the meaning. But still, his madness did expose an element of truth here. Helter Skelter really is a shockingly violent song.
July 2, 2026 at 1:53 PM
I'm not saying that Charles Manson correctly divined the meaning. But still, his madness did expose an element of truth here. Helter Skelter really is a shockingly violent song.