# ![@JacobAShell Avatar](https://lunarcrush.com/gi/w:26/cr:twitter::813906935338647553.png) @JacobAShell Jacob Shell

Jacob Shell posts on X about in the, china, shell, culture the most. They currently have [------] followers and [---] posts still getting attention that total [-------] engagements in the last [--] hours.

### Engagements: [-------] [#](/creator/twitter::813906935338647553/interactions)
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- [--] Year [-----------] +731%

### Mentions: [--] [#](/creator/twitter::813906935338647553/posts_active)
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### Followers: [------] [#](/creator/twitter::813906935338647553/followers)
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- [--] Week [------] +1.20%
- [--] Month [------] +2.70%
- [--] Months [------] +18%
- [--] Year [------] +79%

### CreatorRank: [------] [#](/creator/twitter::813906935338647553/influencer_rank)
![CreatorRank Line Chart](https://lunarcrush.com/gi/w:600/cr:twitter::813906935338647553/c:line/m:influencer_rank.svg)

### Social Influence

**Social category influence**
[countries](/list/countries)  19.53% [technology brands](/list/technology-brands)  6.25% [finance](/list/finance)  4.69% [travel destinations](/list/travel-destinations)  3.91% [social networks](/list/social-networks)  3.13% [automotive brands](/list/automotive-brands)  1.56% [luxury brands](/list/luxury-brands)  #587 [celebrities](/list/celebrities)  1.56% [nba](/list/nba)  0.78% [stocks](/list/stocks)  0.78%

**Social topic influence**
[in the](/topic/in-the) #3800, [china](/topic/china) 6.25%, [shell](/topic/shell) #8, [culture](/topic/culture) 5.47%, [the new](/topic/the-new) 3.91%, [history](/topic/history) 3.13%, [how to](/topic/how-to) 3.13%, [denmark](/topic/denmark) #419, [finance](/topic/finance) #3286, [books](/topic/books) #1629

**Top accounts mentioned or mentioned by**
[@dj5law](/creator/undefined) [@herandrews](/creator/undefined) [@davidphelan3](/creator/undefined) [@borisbotenov](/creator/undefined) [@trying_my_best_](/creator/undefined) [@pseudoplotinus](/creator/undefined) [@mhisamaya](/creator/undefined) [@jamnana7](/creator/undefined) [@fossillocator](/creator/undefined) [@xavier477652469](/creator/undefined) [@snowliontigre](/creator/undefined) [@steve_sailer](/creator/undefined) [@jgmahoney](/creator/undefined) [@rick42798550](/creator/undefined) [@patrickspencedc](/creator/undefined) [@stephwakefield](/creator/undefined) [@feelsdesperate](/creator/undefined) [@philoofnyc](/creator/undefined) [@rossbarkan](/creator/undefined) [@karebearscare](/creator/undefined)

**Top assets mentioned**
[Alphabet Inc Class A (GOOGL)](/topic/$googl)
### Top Social Posts
Top posts by engagements in the last [--] hours

"How did this happen"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/1932944065915416947)  2025-06-11T23:32Z 14.7K followers, 25.3M engagements


"Coin of Augustus (0 AD) Coin of Marjorian (460 AD) Thinking about how the SAT reading section now has micropassages that can be as short as [--] words. Absolutely howling at this question from an official College Board practice exam. Bro 😭 https://t.co/lllYsGEliV Thinking about how the SAT reading section now has micropassages that can be as short as [--] words. Absolutely howling at this question from an official College Board practice exam. Bro 😭 https://t.co/lllYsGEliV"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2002204827946803598)  2025-12-20T02:30Z 14.6K followers, 1.4M engagements


"OK seriously what is going on with that bench Is this a surrealist joke They created a new embankment in London Should we fill it with: A) Trees nice flowerbeds maybe a little cafe B) Brooding black modernist obelisks unusable disturbed bench "things" Obviously they went with B https://t.co/cvPZLqGhNZ They created a new embankment in London Should we fill it with: A) Trees nice flowerbeds maybe a little cafe B) Brooding black modernist obelisks unusable disturbed bench "things" Obviously they went with B https://t.co/cvPZLqGhNZ"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2016227414909546597)  2026-01-27T19:10Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"I wonder if the pandemics wouldn't have been as bad in the New World if the first modern Eurasian colonists had knowledge of disease inoculation (Chinese + Japanese understanding of this much better in 16th c than European understanding) True alternate history in which Europe never discovered America. https://t.co/b0xgnkXY4h True alternate history in which Europe never discovered America. https://t.co/b0xgnkXY4h"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2016359412848337181)  2026-01-28T03:55Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"I remember when all these millennial liberal pundits and online influencers were touting INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK and saying the Biden infrastructure bill was the biggest thing since the New Deal. I will never take any of those people seriously again. 🚨 OUCH: Gov. Shapiro Throws the Biden-Harris Admin Under the Bus They got that infrastructure bill passed to provide the BILLIONS of dollars that were needed to connect everybody in Pennsylvania. Do you know how many people have been connected to high speed affordable https://t.co/Zj4RQ53woD 🚨 OUCH: Gov. Shapiro Throws the Biden-Harris Admin Under"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2016529201793216942)  2026-01-28T15:10Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"It would basically be a return to Gilded Age dynamics and a betrayal of everything the old left fought to achieve through its partial capture/leveraging of 20th century regulatory state. So what would happen if global borders suddenly opened for "free human movement" - Major 1st world cities of course begin growing to vast sizes [--] million +. - Large areas of land become depopulated elsewhere since the overall world birthrate is around replacement and https://t.co/j1s8oCZEQo So what would happen if global borders suddenly opened for "free human movement" - Major 1st world cities of course"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2016981457189654958)  2026-01-29T21:07Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Stancil actually believes in open borders in his gut so he loves talking to outsiders (media political opponents etc) but its not surprising that most in this space prefer closedness having a secret club with ultra-strict communication rules whose border he violated"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2017256931384078640)  2026-01-30T15:21Z 14.5K followers, 18.5K engagements


"I would find the left's position on borders and immigration so much more interesting if they just said out loud that yes they're trying to bring about the final World Hegelian State. I wish they had interesting new books and intellectual panels on youtube talking about this. Too much secrecy and silence and avoidance of intellectual articulation and no you don't get "credit" anymore for being affiliated with an actually interesting philosophical idea. Instead what you wind up with is a "zombified" political form where everybody is going through the ritual motions (protest borders say"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2017264483211636772)  2026-01-30T15:51Z 14.5K followers, 33.8K engagements


"The two deep issues the "vaguely pro-open-borders" side of our politics has are 1: they wont actually say out loud that this is what they want ("shame" problem) 2: partly because they're refusing to participate in open intellectual dialectic preferring secret planning of mere tactical strikes whose larger philosophical function they don't discuss they've been unable to confront and resolve the problem of "open borders" at present being a "one way" dynamic where immigrants from the World gain new access to America but Americans don't gain new access to the World ("incomplete philosophy""  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2017270895073509516)  2026-01-30T16:17Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"One of the many reasons hard infrastructure is superior to "free buses" is that hard infrastructure has a permanent reality-shaping legacy. "Free buses" is essentially a rehash of the Biden move of giving away once-per-generation infrastructure funds to fly-by-night NGOs. A Better Billion a report by the NYU Marron Institute and the Transit Cost Project on a [--] mile subway expansion we could do instead of free buses https://t.co/wo5VaevYBT https://t.co/IPN9ITxUs4 https://t.co/2rjWPLc0SZ A Better Billion a report by the NYU Marron Institute and the Transit Cost Project on a [--] mile subway"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2017280413467541852)  2026-01-30T16:55Z 14.5K followers, 33.4K engagements


"They never have these noisy multi-city riots for things I want e.g. "Save the Elephants" "We Want [--] More National Parks" "BOS-WASH Acela in under three hours""  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2017594580263174650)  2026-01-31T13:43Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"The less serious the demand the noisier the multi-city rioting. "Abolish the police" was not a substantive demand. "Abolish immigration enforcement" is not a substantive demand. When the left has a real and serious demand like raise the minimum wage then there's no rioting"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2017596884609597488)  2026-01-31T13:52Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"I remember this That sort of proto-Trumpian Toronto mayor Rob Ford was pushing for heavy-rail subway line expansion whereas the Toronto left wanted light rail (street trolleys) and that somehow subways vs light rails was right vs left coded. Weird @JacobAShell @the_transit_guy I used to live in Toronto-- leftists literally went into foam-at-the-mouth insanity mode in their opposition to subway construction when Rob Ford was mayor. @JacobAShell @the_transit_guy I used to live in Toronto-- leftists literally went into foam-at-the-mouth insanity mode in their opposition to subway construction"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2017677014732247316)  2026-01-31T19:11Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Yes older architecture tends to weather nicely (up until a certain point anyway) precisely because of the ornament which "wants" to look aesthetically aged bc this signals a long temporal connection to a culture and its symbological forms. @JacobAShell I shared this comparison the other day and people mentioned how they like the weathered version more than the renovated one Could never happen to modernist architecture https://t.co/UKRZMyN4ex @JacobAShell I shared this comparison the other day and people mentioned how they like the weathered version more than the renovated one Could never"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2017707479841325427)  2026-01-31T21:12Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"@johnloeber etc etc"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2017820558486884863)  2026-02-01T04:41Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"It's amazing how little one hears from any major US news organization anymore about this continent and whats happening there. That wasn't true in 90s-00s. Since [----] NYT has published millions of words on a tiny Minnesota city but hardly anything on a continent of [---] billion Africa today has [--] areas at war western Sahel East (Horn and Sudan) and the Great Lakes 🔴Most of the country is at war or the war is at the heart of the state situation 🟠War on the periphery of the state or not central to it but still politically and militarily predominent https://t.co/mYxFZemGvd Africa today has 3"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2017941530204319806)  2026-02-01T12:42Z 14.6K followers, 26K engagements


"Why is Africa like this Even Myanmar which is a super effed up country (which I love btw) doesn't have this problem of "ISIS cells randomly wandering around executing safari tourists for no reason at all""  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2018010698261860652)  2026-02-01T17:16Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"@herandrews Lots of evidence that academically strong immigrants adapt to / assimilate into the system you're describing even becoming ideologically "anti-SAT" when that ideology is fashionable among college-educated stratum of the white majority"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2018039991767576896)  2026-02-01T19:13Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"I find Andrews position here very strange. Does she think the 2000s-10s aff action admissions regime--with the various advantages it gave not only to lower-SAT-score minorities but also to upstatus whites (and assimilated Asians) trained in how to compose liberal-virtuous "save the world" admissions essays--does she really think this wasn't also selecting for mercenary status-maximizers Maybe even for a more completely mercenary type of mind Did she never read "Excellent Sheep" What does she think upstatus Ivy League "wokism" was built on anyway People always focus on what makes students"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2018097659597480404)  2026-02-01T23:02Z 14.5K followers, 25.2K engagements


"When I first moved to Philly in [----] it was clearly angling to become "the next Brooklyn" attracting younger NYC hipster creatives and millennial chefs priced out of the [--] boros. At the level of restaurants bars and shops it sort of worked but a lot of other things limit PHL's ability to occupy that niche. Slow unreliable overpriced train access to NYC is one of those things. Eventually the pandemic badly damaged the restaurant and bar scene and the city's identity is shakier during the 2020s than 10s. If we had true high-speed rail it would take longer to commute from Coney Island to"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2018346148419805553)  2026-02-02T15:29Z 14.5K followers, 555.2K engagements


"Helen Andrews' argument which I think is wrong is that Asians turn college admissions into mercenary status-seeking striverism bc they focus more on test prep than on extracurriculars/sports/essays. I am saying this is wrong in two ways: 1) extracurriculars/sports/essays are mercenrary maybe even more so than the tests (William Deresiewicz's "Excellent Sheep" good book about this); 2) After one generation Asian immigrants tend to assimilate into the blended "American" idea of college (which asks for both test scores and signals of individual creativity and character) anyhow. Look it's clear"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2018350816764055893)  2026-02-02T15:48Z 14.6K followers, 53.8K engagements


"It's the BAPian argument: "where are Asian Americans' Richard Feynman" I dunno man. Where's the millennial Ashkenazi Richard Feynman Where's the millennial Danes' Niels Bohr Maybe 21C is just not a good time for that type of genius to come forward. Helen Andrews' argument which I think is wrong is that Asians turn college admissions into mercenary status-seeking striverism bc they focus more on test prep than on extracurriculars/sports/essays. I am saying this is wrong in two ways: 1) extracurriculars/sports/essays are Helen Andrews' argument which I think is wrong is that Asians turn college"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2018357001454039476)  2026-02-02T16:13Z 14.6K followers, 108.1K engagements


"Brunei (2016)"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2018529323448500470)  2026-02-03T03:37Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"Paul Rudolph's LoMex Xwy Superstructure would have been more interesting than the post-1980 Greenwich Village which actually happened (i.e. wine bars with sophisticated chatchat) 1961: NYC Hard-Coded Le Corbusiers Radiant City Nightmare into Law Jane Jacobs Declared War the Same Year The [----] NYC Zoning Resolution was straight-up Corbusier in concrete. It ditched the old [----] rules (setbacks tied to street width sunlight on sidewalks) for floor area https://t.co/gQ8gQqoF3l 1961: NYC Hard-Coded Le Corbusiers Radiant City Nightmare into Law Jane Jacobs Declared War the Same Year The [----] NYC"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019081064187150485)  2026-02-04T16:10Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"What's the point of being a Mavs fan Even if these trades work out long term you already know the franchise could randomly trade away the star player at any moment for no reason BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading 10-time NBA All-Star Anthony Davis Jaden Hardy D'Angelo Russell and Dante Exum to the Washington Wizards for Khris Middleton AJ Johnson Malaki Branham Marvin Bagley III [--] first-round picks and [--] second-rounders sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/sfrQQubI5i BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading 10-time NBA All-Star Anthony Davis Jaden Hardy D'Angelo Russell and Dante Exum to"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019214715462074376)  2026-02-05T01:01Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Conservative AEI figures out that if there's no public support for the humanities then a bunch of culturally (if not economically) left-wing billionaires and/or their divorcees can purchase the entirety of the humanities and pretty much mindkontrol the faculty. 80% of the funding comes from [--] foundations most of which are progressive: https://t.co/pHnVWOTGcs 80% of the funding comes from [--] foundations most of which are progressive: https://t.co/pHnVWOTGcs"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019270111991910529)  2026-02-05T04:41Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Extra depressing bc of the delta btwn reality and potential. Given historical building stock museums unis restaurant scene most of the necessary transit lines already built proximity to NYC and DC the 4th best Chinatown population with very strong roots etc etc it's crazy that in the end the lasting impression is "addicts and fuckupniks downtown" https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2019514314944626790 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2019514314944626790"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019514314944626790)  2026-02-05T20:51Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"NYC-Chicago basically the same as Paris to Berlin in terms of distance. The real issue is that US post-industrial urban hierarchy makes everywhere in btwn so unimportant theres no Strasbourg/Frankfurt/etc to make it make sense. This is an issue US rail advocates never talk aboutthey need to figure out how to revive Buffalo/Cleveland FIRST if they want world-class HSR along that corridor to make sense"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019521767149302104)  2026-02-05T21:21Z 14.5K followers, [---] engagements


"At this point "highway planners were the murderers of US cities" is an overtold just-so story. High-schoolers / college students receive a wild oversimplification where they don't hear about urban deindustrialization (its causes and plausible cures) ill-conceived govt social engineering schemes which functioned as little more than neighborhood-busting operations liberal desire to shuffle populations around but not to plan for these uprooted populations economically. https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2019543128273817973 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2019543128273817973"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019543128273817973)  2026-02-05T22:46Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"@PatrickSpenceDC @erik_griswold @dilanesper Yeah I would much rather we invest in airport (capacity facility quality and mulimodal access to airport terminals) for long-distance. The part of the country which is sensible for rail is Northeast. Great Lakes too if some of the rustbelt cities have an economic revival"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019544171959447677)  2026-02-05T22:50Z 14.5K followers, [--] engagements


"Cartographer had a horrible breakup with a Brazilian. 🔴⚡China is using this map in its schools. This isn't just an ordinary school map nor is it an innocent attempt to alter a geographical projection. What we're using in our schools is a map of consciousness before it's a map of the land. It's a tool for rearranging how the https://t.co/sKawmbDZ1X 🔴⚡China is using this map in its schools. This isn't just an ordinary school map nor is it an innocent attempt to alter a geographical projection. What we're using in our schools is a map of consciousness before it's a map of the land. It's a tool"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019555808841707798)  2026-02-05T23:36Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"What's the deal with this map Is it even Chinese That script looks like something else. Is the map just ragebait Is "China Pulse" that kind of account 🔴⚡China is using this map in its schools. This isn't just an ordinary school map nor is it an innocent attempt to alter a geographical projection. What we're using in our schools is a map of consciousness before it's a map of the land. It's a tool for rearranging how the https://t.co/sKawmbDZ1X 🔴⚡China is using this map in its schools. This isn't just an ordinary school map nor is it an innocent attempt to alter a geographical projection."  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019559598093660536)  2026-02-05T23:51Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Zhangjiajie City China is a [--] minute air cable car ride from downtown to this: I dont think theres another city on Earth thats geographically closer to such beautiful natural landscapes than San Francisco. Am I wrong https://t.co/B9U7VNaOd5 I dont think theres another city on Earth thats geographically closer to such beautiful natural landscapes than San Francisco. Am I wrong https://t.co/B9U7VNaOd5"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019562023122817448)  2026-02-06T00:01Z 14.5K followers, [---] engagements


"Other cities where apex-level natural beauty is minutes away or right inside the city itself: Rio Cape Town Innsbruck"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019562027321291085)  2026-02-06T00:01Z 14.5K followers, [---] engagements


"@stephwakefield_ Why is this image showing blank/error for me"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019623010483802404)  2026-02-06T04:03Z 14.5K followers, [---] engagements


"There other ways of having manufacturing in cities you know 30% of the jobs in Stuttgart in [----] are manufacturing. You think Stuttgart looks like this @JacobAShell There wasn't any room for shit like this in the cities. https://t.co/iXqJKm6ZDh @JacobAShell There wasn't any room for shit like this in the cities. https://t.co/iXqJKm6ZDh"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019624261204259124)  2026-02-06T04:08Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Denmark is part of the EU which is premised on lots of coordination between govt labor and construction and manufacturing industries. If Germany werent a manufacturing juggernaut Denmark wouldnt be able to benefit from the surplus industrial capacity which produces materials from which you can build stuff. Denmark itself is an industrial leader in shipping and wind turbines https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2019787592477123035 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2019787592477123035"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019787592477123035)  2026-02-06T14:57Z 14.5K followers, [--] engagements


"I said right after the '24 election (I can go find the tweet) that the Democratic Party is structured in a way that makes it easy for Harris to defeat Newsom. All she has to do to become the nominee again is *decide* that this is what she wants. JUST IN: Kamala Harris hints she may announce [----] Presidential run tomorrow. https://t.co/HNpe5xH1wX JUST IN: Kamala Harris hints she may announce [----] Presidential run tomorrow. https://t.co/HNpe5xH1wX"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019859132984238174)  2026-02-06T19:41Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"All the assimilated Korean Americans I know are nothing like this though. The "Helen Andrews Thesis" is assuming As Ams tend to be ghettoizing and preserve norms from the old country but exact opposite appears to be the case. If someone has data demonstrating I'm wrong -- show it"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019911812863422688)  2026-02-06T23:11Z 14.5K followers, [---] engagements


"It is. But GOP will still contine to attack tenure bc doing so is red meat for anyone employed in an industry that doesnt have tenure (resentment-motivated politics) and this will continue to drive academics deeper and deeper into the role of being "safe functionaries for the Democrats"-- bc that's the only security you have if you dont have tenure. People like you obviously have difficulty thinking about things from the POV of an academic who has bills to pay and kids to support and 100% needs to have job security and is 100% willing to adapt to the political and ideological priorities of"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020232463855808863)  2026-02-07T20:25Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Yep. Look "grind" is an issue even Xi Jinping thinks so (he's tried to ban Chinese test prep camps). But the way "grind" is talked about here it's obviously being classified as a flavor of "cheating" or is code for that -- and this does remind me quite a lot of like E Michael Jones or whoever saying that the only reason Jews and Asians are scoring well on the SAT is "they're cheating" as if there's some secret Sino-Hebraic part of the internet with all the answers to next month's round of SAT tests. Like at some point this line of argument just begins to register as the petty complaining of"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020235062751425009)  2026-02-07T20:35Z 14.5K followers, [---] engagements


"People praising this but it's just "grind" culture It's just "grindset" It's "cheating" really. Boy it sure does make me angry 😠 I bet this cost less per square foot than most flooring https://t.co/vOkyPVE7pp I bet this cost less per square foot than most flooring https://t.co/vOkyPVE7pp"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020240971288703348)  2026-02-07T20:59Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"Why did this America fail The stunning retro futurism of the Disney Contemporary Resort https://t.co/95PtupZP0X The stunning retro futurism of the Disney Contemporary Resort https://t.co/95PtupZP0X"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020256214752317750)  2026-02-07T21:59Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"@automatiek_ They were supposed to have a literary and stage scene but wokencovid made these things pretty annoying"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020283600109994218)  2026-02-07T23:48Z 14.6K followers, 13.7K engagements


"Anyone else remember this moment in [----] when the anti-Trump bloc was trying to make "COVID is Trump's Genocide" stick This was pre-Floyd"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020285724550131856)  2026-02-07T23:57Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"@feelsdesperate [--] yrs ago is when I lived there. The literary/stage scene was somewhat cool (these are lame now bc of permanent wokovidism). I also appreciated the pizza tho not the "everybody lines in a Chinese style photo op line" famous places just the normal ones"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020295368794337756)  2026-02-08T00:35Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"A just-so story that gets taught in US transport history is that the interstates were built "for defense." Whereas they were certainly built for commercial and commuter traffic but with a "defense" political wrapping paper to get it through Congress. American Truckers say "Thank you Eisenhower." https://t.co/MnWLGLD5UC American Truckers say "Thank you Eisenhower." https://t.co/MnWLGLD5UC"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020297533776699773)  2026-02-08T00:44Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"@PhiloOfNYC Concerts are pointless in era when young people are afraid of each other. Museums and exhibits yeah I guess so but theyre not that inherently exciting in an internet age. Theater should be cool but they made themselves terrible during-and-following covid"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020303950600384728)  2026-02-08T01:09Z 14.5K followers, [---] engagements


"The intellectually honest Marxist position is that people need to exploit nature regardless of whether the political-economic system is socialist capitalist feudal "primitive communist" etc. In the 00s and even some of the 10s I knew Marxists who were still willing to say this out loud. Then the climate thing became a very intense actually somewhat scary type of mania and most Marxists were intimidated and conformed. "Okay okay Socialism means 'not exploiting nature' and the climate won't change and we'll all work for green NGOs whatever you say 🥴" Nobody today denies that capitalism"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020308545002975304)  2026-02-08T01:27Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"The "Mamdani revolution" which would have been good for the city but I suppose isnt actually happening is a mayor would intervene into rental markets to subsidize mid/low-ranking people in film music art lit industries. Make the city world cultural capital again by fiat. Take advantage of Hwood decline. Fight the anti-sex commissars who made all the parties so lame last decade. https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2020310333093539898 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2020310333093539898"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020310333093539898)  2026-02-08T01:34Z 14.5K followers, [---] engagements


"I hate that Americans don't know that other places exist and you can look them up to draw comparisons and learn about things"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020314404328251502)  2026-02-08T01:51Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"Star Trek (correct late 20th c versions) had a solution to this the Kobayashi Maru test. You couldn't prep for it and it tested psychological responses to thinking you were about to die along with your ship. So.what about this instead of SAT Goodharts Law says that when a metric is used to measure success people change their behaviours to hit the new target thus destroying its original purpose as a reliable indicator. If we wanted to select more for Openness would people start grinding to pass the openness exams https://t.co/lgdTFTkqYZ Goodharts Law says that when a metric is used to measure"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020318367811260861)  2026-02-08T02:06Z 14.5K followers, [----] engagements


"I seem to remember in the dumb JJ Abrams version Kirk beats the test by hacking the computer while chomping into an apple. Stupid. I'm sure the new series has something even worse"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020318778060681330)  2026-02-08T02:08Z 14.5K followers, [---] engagements


"@dj5law With a couple exceptions like Bos-Wash corridor which should obviously be ultra-fast the kind of rail revival we need in the US is for slow local rail. Philly to Reading New Paltz to NYC a Cape Cod line things like this"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020321831060987983)  2026-02-08T02:20Z 14.5K followers, [---] engagements


"@lhfang The Democratic Party is designed for Kamala Harris to crush someone like this"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020372543966965977)  2026-02-08T05:42Z 14.5K followers, [---] engagements


"@RossBarkan Nah your guess about me is 100% wrong. https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020549612050776209 Lol. FWIW when I lived there I biked all over all [--] boros including outer areas like Staten Island Rockaways City Island. I also went to lots of jazz concerts plays MOMA shows etc. I took a photography class and did landscape photos in East NY Ozone Park Roosevelt Island. https://t.co/dT5zY0lOo6 https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020549612050776209 Lol. FWIW when I lived there I biked all over all [--] boros including outer areas like Staten Island Rockaways City Island. I also went to lots of"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020569620298535163)  2026-02-08T18:45Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"It's interesting that when I criticize Philly or NYC people in these places get incredibly defensive. But that's not true of Bostonians when I say things like "Boston has bad weather and worse food." Because Bostonians are culturally self-confident. I don't really like NYC. I lived there for [--] years but never participated in this "culture." And separate from this "culture" there is nothing else in NYC besides the finance industry which I am not a part of. I don't really like NYC. I lived there for [--] years but never participated in this "culture." And separate from this "culture" there is"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020570095639056638)  2026-02-08T18:47Z 14.6K followers, 16.1K engagements


"Dunno why Google Maps calls this spot St. Louis MO it's obviously East St. Louis IL"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020606411856871772)  2026-02-08T21:11Z 14.6K followers, [---] engagements


"@mnolangray https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/1864680786307272965lang=en So I found the worst thing ever. https://t.co/12TgwseKlM https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/1864680786307272965lang=en So I found the worst thing ever. https://t.co/12TgwseKlM"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020606973125775662)  2026-02-08T21:13Z 14.6K followers, 10.1K engagements


"@KareBearScare @RossBarkan The fact that you can't grasp that someone would do these things and draw the conclusion that they're shallow and/or illusory and the city's real identity is kind of thin is on you -- that's the fault of your brain"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020621859356655697)  2026-02-08T22:12Z 14.6K followers, [---] engagements


"Of the people I know who were born and raised in NYC most of them radically reinvented themselves by doing things like becoming wilderness guides in Alaska. As if they determined in their 20s that the point of their lives needed to be unprogramming the "NYC" out of themselves"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020624443614375956)  2026-02-08T22:23Z 14.6K followers, 14.5K engagements


"Bad Bunny thing was kind of creatively interesting unusual. But right after that there were not one but two corporate ads ordering Americans to learn Spanish and I think it's the corporate paternalism which rubs many people the wrong way"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020712516524101908)  2026-02-09T04:13Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"Yeah I can't disagree with this. What is NYC producing Other than finance all the key industries there (publishing arts) have struggled to shape the wider culture of the 2010s-20s like NYC's industries did during the 20th century. I think you can make a case that SF/Silicon Valley is Americas first city. NYC is a much better city as a city; arguably Americas only real city. But SF is more important today in terms of its significance and that has been true for [--] years now whereas NYC is (relatively) I think you can make a case that SF/Silicon Valley is Americas first city. NYC is a much"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020735886229438470)  2026-02-09T05:45Z 14.6K followers, 19.7K engagements


"This is nonsense. Mamdani does not have advisors with experience in France or Norway or even Canada. His signature ideas like free buses and municipal grocery stores are not anywhere prominent in those countries and are not emblematic of whats done there. What older people do not understand is that when normie zoomer/younger millennials who came of age in the Bernie era say they want socialism they dont mean the USSR. They mean France or Norway or Canada or whatever. Basically they want social democracy (what Sanders and co are What older people do not understand is that when normie"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020784418399387656)  2026-02-09T08:58Z 14.6K followers, 10.3K engagements


"The choice of two oil powers there (Canada and Norway) also shows the OP has not really thought through the point theyre trying to make"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020786369128214981)  2026-02-09T09:06Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"Nonpolitical answers only: What's going on with these big piles of trash and snow in NYC Are they everywhere or is this just one unrepresentative spot being viralized Has this happened to NYC after big snowstorms before (e.g. after the "Snowmageddon" storm in 2010)"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020855739191820657)  2026-02-09T13:42Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"@ThyrdOid I think it's close. If not for the limestone karst region US would be winner easy. But with the karst China might come out slightly ahead"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020924277864747413)  2026-02-09T18:14Z 14.6K followers, [--] engagements


"@rapidchair Shandong around Qingdao in the summer felt sort of Californian. But there isnt really a "California" in China. The other places in world like that are Med South Africa some of Chile SE Australia.I think that's it"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020924774910734721)  2026-02-09T18:16Z 14.6K followers, [--] engagements


"You know something.why bother. It looks nice enough in the render. It would be ruined IRL by the selfie horde. Why even bother Ernest Flagg's design proposal for a monumental gate at Battery Park Landing NYC. https://t.co/ZRkyYwcJVM Ernest Flagg's design proposal for a monumental gate at Battery Park Landing NYC. https://t.co/ZRkyYwcJVM"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021005796541096373)  2026-02-09T23:38Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"Noted. My criticism is from having read Pipeline and White Skin Black Fuel and wondering why the guy whose big study from the 10s was on Chinese carbon emissions was suddenly refusing to mention the place. BTW he did that Chimney study in [----] so that's a [--] year difference we're talking about. "Pipeline" was the time to talk about it. I do not see how the motivation to refuse to mention East Asian industrialization in the [--] books I mean could possibly have been one which entailed intellectual integrity. If that's something he lacks why bother with this new book Sounds like you're not exactly"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021009671507595423)  2026-02-09T23:53Z 14.6K followers, [---] engagements


"There isn't even a mountainside or something for them to find to block the wind :( It never occurred to me that Giraffes have nowhere to hide from storms 📍 Maasai Mara Kenya on Friday https://t.co/dxzSrg8XLw It never occurred to me that Giraffes have nowhere to hide from storms 📍 Maasai Mara Kenya on Friday https://t.co/dxzSrg8XLw"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021019089876156531)  2026-02-10T00:31Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"The trauma the MSNBC rad-lib types experienced when Clinton lost is much more understandable. When radlibs came up with "Russiagate" to explain to themselves why they lost it wasnt really a betrayal of previously stated Obama-era liberal ideas. The Marxists on the other hand had their own theory for what had happened but in order to do "movement building" they betrayed their theory and embraced whatever wild-eyed theory du jour the rad-libs had. By the Biden years a "Marxist" was just someone who nodded along and said "it do be like that" when MSNBC said the great Bogeyman of the moment was"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020916262831091982)  2026-02-09T17:42Z 14.7K followers, 11K engagements


"One of the most extraordinary moments in the history of the Awokening was that poor professor who was fired for explaining how to pronounce a word in Chinese"  
[X Link](https://x.com/anyuser/status/1976761264136503655)  2025-10-10T21:26Z 14.7K followers, 144.9K engagements


"Other issues (there are many): PHL's public school situation scares off PMCs with kids; ongoing crime and addiction crises; PHL subway system totally substandard if you're used to MTA"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2018347095191584792)  2026-02-02T15:33Z 14.7K followers, 19.7K engagements


"It can't be stressed enough. Republicans wonder why faculty have become so partisan. Well it's mostly bc GOP started attacking tenure and other normal public supports for faculty. This has made faculty more dependent for security and support on the Democrats and on private foundations aligned with the Democrats. GOP attacks tenure never grasping that a post-tenure academia will be *more* frictionlessly weaponized against the GOP. In a post-tenure academia the only security a professor will have is being a "member in good standing" of the faculty's political network: the Democrats. GOP attacks"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020226695496888581)  2026-02-07T20:02Z 14.7K followers, 70.6K engagements


"Lol. FWIW when I lived there I biked all over all [--] boros including outer areas like Staten Island Rockaways City Island. I also went to lots of jazz concerts plays MOMA shows etc. I took a photography class and did landscape photos in East NY Ozone Park Roosevelt Island"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020549612050776209)  2026-02-08T17:25Z 14.7K followers, [----] engagements


"NYC used to be just as fun as Tokyo or HK or Bangkok. Then millennials took it over. That's part of the whole subtext of this debate"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020601399126446282)  2026-02-08T20:51Z 14.7K followers, 18.2K engagements


"Streetview of the St. Louis Arch from directly across the Mississippi River"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020606407717130332)  2026-02-08T21:11Z 14.7K followers, [----] engagements


"Analytics says I'm having a massive "replies" spike today (prob bc I criticized NYC and New Yorkers are ultra thin-skinned and sensitive) but bc the "notifications" tab is broken I can't see any of those replies. Oh well"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020623337215684807)  2026-02-08T22:18Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"Nevermind the OP question (whose answer is just "irrigation") -- that water body is the Salton Sea which if memory serves only exists because an aqueduct to L.A. burst open around [----] and flooded that basin and the water never went away. Can someone explain how this patch of fertile land is existing in the middle of the desert https://t.co/kAT9HmbsJN Can someone explain how this patch of fertile land is existing in the middle of the desert https://t.co/kAT9HmbsJN"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020722893085126921)  2026-02-09T04:54Z 14.7K followers, [----] engagements


"FWIW it's been pointed out to me that Malm has a [----] book where he returns to discussing China at least in a few places in the book. My criticism stands though: how come during the late 2010s and early 2020s his books (including the ultra high profile "Pipeline" which was even made into a movie) present the global geography of carbon emissions differently than his [----] "Chimney" research did I've pointed this out before. [----] a Marxist academic figure like Andreas Malm was doing solid scholarship on "China as Chimney of the World" about Chinese carbon emissions. By late 2010s he stopped"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021271597139611867)  2026-02-10T17:14Z 14.7K followers, [----] engagements


"I think the "trains trains trains" people (I'm one of them) would benefit from thinking harder about priorities. What makes more sense as a transit invest: NYC-Chicago HSR or improvements in transit access to major airports You can fly from Chicago to NYC in less than two hours. You can fly from Chicago to NYC in less than two hours"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021300072240075249)  2026-02-10T19:07Z 14.6K followers, [----] engagements


"There were Green New Deal posters with these exact optics last decade and the meaning turned out to be free money for Biden-era NGOs who didnt build anything. Why should someone like me believe that this time pro-infrastructure progs are up to something different Say YES to housing and LET THEM BUILD https://t.co/r5UcIqeDBa Say YES to housing and LET THEM BUILD https://t.co/r5UcIqeDBa"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021324020700877266)  2026-02-10T20:42Z 14.7K followers, [----] engagements


"I find that those who are old enough to have been saying something a bit more ration during early 10s are attempting to loop back through that now and pretend the 2015-25 part of their work didnt happen. At very least they're trying to maintain a "superposition" where they get to have it both ways https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2021639520777556211 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2021639520777556211"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021639520777556211)  2026-02-11T17:36Z 14.6K followers, [---] engagements


"Back when urban design was my grand autistic obsession (ages 16-21 circa 2000) this kind of thing was all urban designers talked about. See e.g. books "Suburban Nation" (2000) or "Next American Metropolis" (1997). It was somehow easier for suburban rail to get built back then. In my opinion more than 75% of every urban planning architecture and landscape architecture program today should focus on SPRAWL REPAIR. The work is endless. And virtually nobody is teaching it. https://t.co/ZUsX4JFymT In my opinion more than 75% of every urban planning architecture and landscape architecture program"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021681036472525127)  2026-02-11T20:21Z 14.7K followers, [----] engagements


"Rich kids are correct to sail and ski and climb big peaks but they're incorrect to just "disappear into their money" after doing those activities. They should write/paint/film/etc to convey these experiences"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021718730447999486)  2026-02-11T22:51Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"@mhisamaya Yak/zhopkyo/mule pack transport combo very intriguing and feels like something similar to all my previous research but also different. I'm wondering if there's good terrain for the type of hiking I'm good at (which is climbing on boulders but def not snow and ice)"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021775498364285057)  2026-02-12T02:36Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"@growing_daniel In Singapore they're mostly underground but you have to cane spitters to make it happen I hear"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021782214715785274)  2026-02-12T03:03Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"@TheAdamWaite @eW8fkgAM52GS9xW I think you may have found the one road in my red circle. Seems like a dirt road mostly"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021786055704195199)  2026-02-12T03:18Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"@stanfordNYC China doesn't do "architecture" in the way other societies do. Spengler talks about this"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021790448788848756)  2026-02-12T03:36Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"@JamNana7 I didnt circle the Taklamakan desert. Where I've been by the way. "Lol""  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021811949927895320)  2026-02-12T05:01Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"@mrbobman15 Talking about countries where they're already doing some of the things you think would be good is a good idea -- even if it's "Big Bad Denmark""  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021923189006512261)  2026-02-12T12:23Z 14.6K followers, [--] engagements


"@R_H_Ebright Yeah other than in a few spots with gorgeous facade architecture and also the [--] main parks (Central Riverside Prospect) NYC up close just can't shake its backstory as tenement central. Would be a lot more pleasant if its original plan gave each block an alleyway"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021697942634049843)  2026-02-11T21:28Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"I get a lot of students who at an intuitive level grasp that Philly's problem is deindustrialization -- i.e. that it has very large communities which would do well with manufacturing jobs but aren't going to do well with office/medical/universities/etc. In other news: SEPTA's trains are made by Siemens which has US train factories in Sacramento North Carolina and Upstate NY but not in Southeast PA"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020245026446417985)  2026-02-07T21:15Z 14.7K followers, 36.8K engagements


"I've pointed this out before. [----] a Marxist academic figure like Andreas Malm was doing solid scholarship on "China as Chimney of the World" about Chinese carbon emissions. By late 2010s he stopped mentioning East Asian industrialization ever again even though this had been his research expertise. By 2020s he was doing manifestos about "how to blow up pipelines" which never mention East Asia and the whole implication is the "pipelines to be blown up" are the ones in Europe US and Canada. It was as if the instant Trump defeated Clinton in '16 Malm decided he wanted the main function of his"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020914952165523740)  2026-02-09T17:37Z 14.7K followers, 153.6K engagements


"This disaster ("release of a billion gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac") didnt make average planetary temperature change so environmentalist media infrastructure is no longer able to make a spill at this scale into the national scandal it would have been [--] years ago. The failure in a section of a 72-inch sewer pipe in MD has release of close to a billion gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac river just inside the Beltway Its now considered the LARGEST spill of wastewater in U.S. history MD & VA Dems havent said a word. https://t.co/xZME5lBira The failure in a section of a 72-inch sewer"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2022194568364798202)  2026-02-13T06:22Z 14.7K followers, 23.2K engagements


"We don't talk enough about the student protests at Wellesley College in Feb [----] against an outdoor public sculpture called "Sleepwalker" which students claimed was "harming" them. At dozens of campuses in New England males now make up less than [--] percent of the student population. There would just not be that many men at Harvard if Harvard was completely meritocratic in its admissions said Jason Furman an economist at the university. https://t.co/scq6NJm9ca At dozens of campuses in New England males now make up less than [--] percent of the student population. There would just not be that"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2017748204205310226)  2026-01-31T23:53Z 14.7K followers, 606.5K engagements


"As @stephwakefield_ pointed out a year ago AI was so hallucinatory that as a researcher you'd save a lot of time by not using it in the first place. But at least with Claude and Gemini that's not true anymore. You still have to pick the right kind of question to get the most out of these tools but the "right types of questions" list is growing. Chat and Grok are also improving but both are still set to be too "eager to please" which can turn them into bad timewasters if you're a researcher. https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2021950156644503643"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021950156644503643)  2026-02-12T14:10Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"I've been following a Youtube series by a Tasmanian filmmaker Rob Parsons (below right) who's been spending the last [--] years helping search teams figure out what happened to a hiker from Belgium named Celine Cremer (below left) who went missing in the Tasmanian forest in summer [----]. Parsons' episodes usually involve him painstakingly crawling about the ultra-dense Tasmanian forest floor peering under fallen logs finding nothing updating the search teams' common map to show a new area has been checked. But recently.Parsons and the other searchers (mostly Australians with some Belgians there"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2004548018024939774)  2025-12-26T13:41Z 14.7K followers, 638.9K engagements


"@annakhachiyan @default_friend Why not just expel people for cheating Why does there have to be this thing where entire races are branded "cheater races""  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2019862673572393038)  2026-02-06T19:56Z 14.7K followers, 65.1K engagements


"GOP attacks tenure never grasping that a post-tenure academia will be *more* frictionlessly weaponized against the GOP. In a post-tenure academia the only security a professor will have is being a "member in good standing" of the faculty's political network: the Democrats. In the US academia is becoming unviable outside the R1 environment. And soon it will be unviable outside the ultra-elite tier of R1s. The UK is in a similar situation. The few European institutions in the global/Anglo R1 game are holding up for now but its scary. https://t.co/c3pWX3QvE0 In the US academia is becoming"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020223780241481821)  2026-02-07T19:50Z 14.7K followers, 70.1K engagements


"Yep. Look "grind" is an issue even Xi Jinping thinks so (he's tried to ban Chinese test prep camps). But the way "grind" is talked about here it's obviously being classified as a flavor of "cheating" or is code for that -- and this does remind me quite a lot of like E Michael Jones or whoever saying that the only reason Jews and Asians are scoring well on the SAT is "they're cheating" as if there's some secret Sino-Hebraic part of the internet with all the answers to next month's round of SAT tests. Like at some point this line of argument just begins to register as the petty complaining of"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020235388162351499)  2026-02-07T20:37Z 14.7K followers, 51.7K engagements


"I don't really like NYC. I lived there for [--] years but never participated in this "culture." And separate from this "culture" there is nothing else in NYC besides the finance industry which I am not a part of. Would you believe it that this is the line to get frozen yogurt in the middle of the winter in NYC 🥶 https://t.co/9XYOVDuyyq Would you believe it that this is the line to get frozen yogurt in the middle of the winter in NYC 🥶 https://t.co/9XYOVDuyyq"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020280095236407419)  2026-02-07T23:34Z 14.7K followers, 625.8K engagements


"NYC is the finance industry with a bunch of sunk-cost-fallacy 2-hour-brunch-lines attached. That's it. I explored all [--] boros in depth for [--] yrs in a row and this is just the truth of what your city is New Yorkers"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020571797679214805)  2026-02-08T18:53Z 14.7K followers, 20.6K engagements


"In terms of decadent fun cities in E/SE Asia are more fun than NYC. And in terms of cerebral properness the grand old European capitals have NYC beat and arguably so does Boston. That leaves NYC in a weird middle-space which becomes more uncanny-valley the closer you look. I have lived in many different cities and it truly does have a special culture as well as being uniquely different than other US alternatives. CAP is just lame I have lived in many different cities and it truly does have a special culture as well as being uniquely different than other US alternatives. CAP is just lame"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2020601397247607225)  2026-02-08T20:51Z 14.7K followers, 229.4K engagements


"Some of what was going on in the '10s was a lot of millennials wound up in creative professions and/or hobby scenes they were actually badly mismatched with. Turning such a scene into a Borg-cube activist space makes sense if you don't value the initial function of the scene. In the various RPG & board gaming FB groups I'm in the woke stuff has gone way way down and people are increasingly intolerant of woke intolerance and just want to do whatever hobby and not get preached at. Nature is healing. It's even less bad on reddit right now. In the various RPG & board gaming FB groups I'm in the"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021544894423355761)  2026-02-11T11:20Z 14.7K followers, 21.2K engagements


"I miss when Bernie Sanders would do speeches and interviews pointing to Denmark as a model. The left hasn't "pointed to an actual place as somewhere to actually learn from" since Sanders was doing that in the mid-10s. One of these countries is not like the others Unlike the European stalwarts and Nordic powerhouses it didn't get to evolve a high trust culture and proper institutions organically over generations through homogenous societies. This low corruption outcome for Singapore was https://t.co/dcYs8NIvSb One of these countries is not like the others Unlike the European stalwarts and"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021557279917814064)  2026-02-11T12:09Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"Oceania [--] most populated cities. I'd only heard of [--] of these"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021606588289548712)  2026-02-11T15:25Z 14.7K followers, [----] engagements


"This infrastructure is about national unity building and it works. Chinas high speed rail infrastructure is simply magnificent. https://t.co/fLI9P7EyH3 Chinas high speed rail infrastructure is simply magnificent. https://t.co/fLI9P7EyH3"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021607852066922577)  2026-02-11T15:30Z 14.7K followers, 15.8K engagements


"I remember when doing Xi'an-Urumqi (16 hrs) the train stopped for [--] minutes in the middle of an endless gray dusty desert area in western Gansu for no other reason than everyone on the train needed their cig break--but there was somehow an online noodle ordering place here too @JacobAShell most underrated aspect of chinas HSR is that you can order food from real restaurants at train stops up ahead on the route and they bring it right to your seat. they get KFC and all we get on the amtrak is microwaved burgers @JacobAShell most underrated aspect of chinas HSR is that you can order food from"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021630279115583798)  2026-02-11T16:59Z 14.7K followers, 20.3K engagements


"@SohrabAhmari The doublethink of "national borders are evil but the borders of pre-gentrified ethnic and esp black neighborhoods are saced" is lodged pretty deeply in the liberal psyche"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021679862461735193)  2026-02-11T20:16Z 14.7K followers, [----] engagements


"BTW the remains of this poor woman who went missing in the Tasmanian wilderness were finally found. This was thanks in part to the search organizing efforts of the Youtuber Rob Parsons as well as many other volunteers. The Belgian backpacker Celine Cremer made a terribly unlucky sequence of decisions all of which would have seemed quite reasonable in the moment but built upon each other in such a way that it got her lost and walking in the wrong direction to find civilization again. Lots of little lessons if you follow the case but the *big* lesson here is never ever go off-trail if all you"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021696547633730020)  2026-02-11T21:23Z 14.7K followers, 286.7K engagements


"This is the real "what even happens here" Area larger than Texas and it doesn't have a single road.in the most roadbuilding-obsessed country on the planet"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021761931153940953)  2026-02-12T01:43Z 14.7K followers, 312.7K engagements


"@punishedkomrade Nonetheless I'm surprised there isn't a Chinese "photo op highway" through the middle of it full of tourist buses"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021769458960802050)  2026-02-12T02:12Z 14.7K followers, 18.2K engagements


"I feel like I'm supposed to go to Nepal"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021769850230898858)  2026-02-12T02:14Z 14.7K followers, [----] engagements


"Maybe I need to make "getting a paper topo map and going on a hike with it on a no-phone-service mountain" a requirement of the intro the cartography class"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021780900514570682)  2026-02-12T02:58Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"@FossilLocator Lol not only have I been to this desert there's a chance I've been to this rest stop. It's outside my red circle though"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021791513781362908)  2026-02-12T03:40Z 14.7K followers, 37.6K engagements


"I miss when Bernie Sanders would do speeches and interviews pointing to Denmark as a model. A reporter asks filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel "Why is your new Danish movie "The Promised Land" entirely Nordic . it lacks the black people it lacks diversity. Mads Mikkelsen 'What. right from the get-go". 😆 Arcel: "Hmmm well first of all the film takes place in https://t.co/1nllvC6Z7a A reporter asks filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel "Why is your new Danish movie "The Promised Land" entirely Nordic . it lacks the black people it lacks diversity. Mads Mikkelsen 'What. right from the get-go". 😆 Arcel: "Hmmm well"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021917432370327633)  2026-02-12T12:00Z 14.7K followers, 11.3K engagements


"AI (esp Gemini and Claude) incredibly good for research prompts like "explain where X Y and Z type of geologic rock in Nepal are in terms of elevation and then tell me which kinds of pack animals are used at these elevations then recommend [--] places to visit that combine the rock types and pack animals in various ways and finally tell me which of these [--] places are/arent swamped with too many tourists from West/India/China. -Spits out an elaborate rubric of an answer which near as I can tell is correct. -Recommends a beautiful topo map series done in the 90s showing everything. -Tells me"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021949193175044210)  2026-02-12T14:07Z 14.7K followers, [----] engagements


"It's also coming for the "finger to wind to figure out which grant application buzzwords are fashionable this election cycle" (sustainability reckoning global citizenship) style of academic. In other words ppl who've been "AI" in their souls all along. The only people I know who use the word 'workflow' are among the bloated admin at my University. Perhaps AI will come for them first. https://t.co/IwkRPoeCIq The only people I know who use the word 'workflow' are among the bloated admin at my University. Perhaps AI will come for them first. https://t.co/IwkRPoeCIq"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2021951420195377561)  2026-02-12T14:15Z 14.7K followers, [----] engagements


"Nepal. 1:50000 [----] series"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2022044401955221685)  2026-02-12T20:25Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"To summarize the Mellon Foundation paid humanities scholars to stop doing scholarship and start doing Dem Party partisan activism. Now the GOP has a ton of power and attacks these "bribed" disciplines while Mellon gets to disappear back into its infinite pile of money. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has become the countrys preeminent funder of humanities research @Tyler_A_Harper writes. Is it saving American arts and lettersor killing them https://t.co/ZYwnOT1B3Q The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has become the countrys preeminent funder of humanities research @Tyler_A_Harper writes. Is it"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2022115999232004306)  2026-02-13T01:09Z 14.7K followers, 19.5K engagements


"The whole thing makes a lot more sense when you realize "social justice" is code for Dem Party coalitional stuff--whatever the coalition's needs are in the moment. It doesnt have to do with like Artistotle's idea of "social" or of "justice" or with what subsequent philosophy says about this https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2022134741743321272 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2022134741743321272"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2022134741743321272)  2026-02-13T02:24Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"Remember when movies were not only innovating entire new genres they were innovating entire new genres of music"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2022157544106725834)  2026-02-13T03:55Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"That Walter Benjamin essay is due for a comeback. Weird that all the literary marxists who loved it in the 90s-00s spent next [--] years getting sucked into "politics" which turns out to mean "helping deregulate housing construction".and they cant really go back to their original "Benjaminian lit theory" layer of identity formation even tho it's this (and not helping build ugly voter-barn 5-over-1s everywhere) that actually spoke to their souls. https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2022177646881161696 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2022177646881161696"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2022177646881161696)  2026-02-13T05:14Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"@podsekalnikov Oh grow up. He did a lot of research and has something valuable to say about this big rich foundation. That is offering something to the discourse. What are you offering other than swear words signaling the maturity of a 9th grader"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2022191446653382977)  2026-02-13T06:09Z 14.7K followers, [--] engagements


"@AaronBergman18 Do you know how a bridge works"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2022192842073047398)  2026-02-13T06:15Z 14.7K followers, [---] engagements


"I grew up in this milieu. Everything beautiful and extraordinary in Boston-Cambridge was founded and built by the Boston Brahmins; nobody who runs the city now is a Brahmin; everyone is just enjoying what a more or less extinct group built; and the new dominant class is intelligent enough to conserve this legacy but not enough to add to it. It's an affliction which is common to many New England locales sustained by inflated property prices inherited institutions and the implicit knowledge that we couldn't build today what we have. We just need to protect it to preserve it. Nothing to do but"  
[X Link](https://x.com/JacobAShell/status/2022202934751101251)  2026-02-13T06:55Z 14.7K followers, 103.3K engagements

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