oh my god, the context for the "I'm built for turning Byzantine law into human lightning" line—remarkably, against all odds!—makes it even more insufferable

Jay Willis@jaywillis.net · 8mo ago

You're pitching the 3000-world "definitive reported feature" on how the Supreme Court's shadow docket is destroying democracy, and you say you have a former *Clarence Thomas* clerk talking to you off the record for it? Honestly, fuck you for wasting my time AND for insulting my intelligence

IMPORTANT: Balls & Strikes is looking for new contributors. Here's how to pitch us.

The Good Stories Are Always Worth It

We’re looking for new contributors to Balls & Strikes. Here’s how to pitch us.

ballsandstrikes.substack.com

"Even in rejections, Morrison was building a movement." From the LARB Archives: Examining the power of Toni Morrison's rejections as an editor at Random House: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/there-is-no-point-in-my-being-other-than-honest-with-you-on-toni-morrisons-rejection-letters/

There Is No Point in My Being Other Than Honest with You: On Toni Morrison’s Rejection Letters | Los Angeles Review of Books

Melina Moe writes about the rejection letters Toni Morrison sent as an editor at Random House.

lareviewofbooks.org

I'm in the Star today with a piece on the Carney government's handling of relations with the United States. Last year, Canadians gave Mark Carney a mandate to disentangle our country from the empire to the south. By any reasonable standard, he's done the opposite. Link in first reply.

Super happy to have received this fellowship opportunity as I work through my data involving working-class political and cultural views and what such folks would like to see from government.

American Sociological Association@asanews.bsky.social · 4h ago

ASA is pleased to announce the 2026–2027 cohort of its Policy Outreach Program (POP) Fellowship, which aims to strengthen connections between sociological research and policymakers, legislative offices, think tanks, and other policy leaders. Read about the fellows here: https://bit.ly/4fCa0N5

🤨🥴??

Hey! We're a scrappy little trans news site, and we need your help to keep bringing people news about the trans community by journalists from the transgender community. We're trying to add 50 new members in August. Join us - or help out by sharing this message. Thank you!! <3!!!

Support Our Journalism - Assigned Media

Support OurJournalism Our journalism is only possible through the support of our members! As a supporting member, you’ll receive a special edition of our newsletter, featuring bonus essays and insight...

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I wrote up Whaley's race and my thoughts on her primary opponent's transphobic bag of tricks. xtramagazine.com/power/politi...

Michigan's election dispute reveals how name-change laws are weaponized against trans people | Xtra Magazine

Efforts to list a Michigan statehouse candidate's deadname—from within her own party—reveal the indignities baked into ID systems

xtramagazine.com

Gillian Branstetter@gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 6h ago

In other Michigan news, the state looks set to elect it's first transgender lawmaker. Joanna Whaley won her Democratic primary and will compete in November for a state house seat, beating a primary opponent who tried and failed to disqualify her for not running under her deadname

“A bureaucratic restructuring that leads to the selective elimination of faculty members really puts academic freedom in jeopardy,” said Mark Criley, a senior program officer in the @aaup.org association’s Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure and Governance. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/n...

He Had Tenure. The New School Laid Him Off Anyway.

The professor, a longtime critic of the university, was among 19 educators who lost their positions as the institution navigated financial woes.

nytimes.com

Alright here's my syllabus for this year's American Legal History course. I might make a few tweaks but it's basically done. It also doubles as a great readings list if you're doing a PhD field in American Legal History

Noah Rosenblum@narosenblum.bsky.social · 3w ago

Share your syllabus??

nothing could have prepared me, it's beautiful

Luke Knox@lukeknox.me · 20h ago

in the Québécois version of King of the Hill (“Henri pis sa gang”), Boomhauer is named Papineau and sounds like this

Everything that @chinmayiarun.bsky.social writes is a must-read papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

I wrote about a frustrating, brilliant novel that deals with how devoid of connections and curiosity the world has become, and then, fittingly, I wrote (again) about how AI is ruining the book publishing industry. www.themarisreview.com/the-maris-re...

The Maris Review, vol 116

The theme of the week is how AI is making the world (more) stupid What I read this week The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams What to do with this frustrating, brilliant novel! I almost wanted to t...

themarisreview.com

This is the angriest anyone has ever been

well well well, we meet again

This Day in Labor History: August 4, 1997. The Teamsters went on strike against United Parcel Service in one of the few major labor victories of the 1990s. Let's talk about it!

Not good timing, but some extremely important points in this now unredacted part of the 2024 Autopsy: -loss more about Dem turnout decline than swing voters -Dem consultants extracting huge $ for bad advice -Biden shouldn'ta run -spam PACs ruining fundraising www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...

Author of Democrats’ 2024 Autopsy Says Party Left Out Key Chapter

A dispute over the chapter between the author and the Democratic National Committee has added to the party’s turmoil as it tries to look forward, not backward.

nytimes.com

Someone please, so I am freed from the tyranny of having to put on pants and leave my house tonight

what time is it? SHUG TIME what time is it? SHUG TIME!!!!!

If you are an expert on air quality and have 10-15 minutes to talk to me today or tomorrow about important things journalists should know while reporting on wildfires and smoke, my DMs are open, or you can email me at karen at OpenNews dot org.

. . . happened again 🥴😬

Andy Carr@andycarr.bsky.social · 4w ago

the absolute jumpscare seeing a R*chel B*tecofer tweet screenshot in the wild on here...put that behind a warning label.

One of the biggest opponents of air conditioning in Texas prisons, as I wrote a few years ago, is now the Mayor of Houston: www.chron.com/culture/arti...

How Houston Mayor John Whitmire kept Texas prisons hot as 'living hell'

"The real solution is don't commit a crime, and you stay at home and be cool."

chron.com

Slate@slate.com · 5d ago

13 percent of deaths in un-air-conditioned Texas prisons between 2001 and 2019, roughly 271 people, were attributable to extreme heat, an average of 14 a year. slate.trib.al/q1sSHua

An absolute hero when it comes to fighting government secrecy and bringing to public one of the most important archives in the history of policing.

Old New York Police Surveillance Is Found, Forcing Big Brother Out of Hiding (Published 2016)

Boxes found in a Queens warehouse contain files about the Black Panthers, the Nation of Islam and the Young Lords.

nytimes.com

Simon Balto@simonbalto.bsky.social · 5d ago

Devastated to hear of Dr. Johanna Fernandez’s passing. I’ve had the privilege of sharing some spaces with her, and she always kept the main thing the main thing. Power, in/justice, organizing — these weren’t abstractions to study but forces to confront and possibilities to engage. Rest in power.

Question to folks who have done/do archival research. What advice (if any) might you have? I'm doing some archival work for the first time for my book project at the Hoover Institution in a few weeks, and am primarily interested in digitizing documents. All comments/thoughts appreciated!

Uppsala University is calling for papers to "Academic Actors under Autocratization". Deadline for abstracts is 1 September. No conference "fee but participants need to cover their own travel and hotel expenses." @iucdubrovnik.bsky.social @aaup.org @sampol.bsky.social @coimbragroup.bsky.social

Conference: Academic Actors under Autocratization – Uppsala University

uu.se

Shoutout every civil procedure professor who finally has a topical case to use to teach personal jurisdiction, it’s a big day

Kash Patel’s Ambitious Defamation Lawsuit Foiled By Basic Civil Procedure Doctrine

The litigious FBI director’s case against a blogger who called him a “blatantly incompetent chud” is no match for International Shoe.

ballsandstrikes.org

This paper is one of three studies published from my dissertation. If you are interested in the others, here's a thread that compiles them all bsky.app/profile/jben...

jon ben-menachem@jbenmenachem.com · last wk.

Now that all of my dissertation papers have been accepted, I'm making a thread that puts all the papers in the same place! I interviewed local crime journalists to learn more about how the decline of local news, digital publishing, and changing attitudes towards criminal justice affect their work.

Autopsies of Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests often conclude that movements produced tough-on-crime backlash. My new study in Work and Occupations finds a different kind of movement outcome: BLM changed how local reporters cover cops and jails. 🧵 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Part of a terrific and urgent symposium on the university in crisis. Many thanks to @jpygold.bsky.social and his BU colleagues for putting this together. www.bu.edu/bulawreview/...