I am of the mindset that the Odyssey is also a very very dark comedy. You don’t film the soldiers running away to ships almost the exact same way FIVE TIMES and not expect that.
It’s a powerful speech, but I think a necessary counterpart is accounts of the emancipated celebrating the Fourth. It’s essential to know the joy that comes with liberation, and what America means to those who were denied it for so long.
Sarah J. Jackson@sjjphd.bsky.social · last mo.Just here to post this again like I do every year, not only because Douglass was one of the founding philosophers of American liberty but because I am so moved by the kids Frederick Douglass’ descendants deliver “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”
I'm having a deeply frustrating and sad time on the job market, and I would really like to feel that the things I do on my own time and dwindling dime matter, which are mostly running this public scholarship website with a bunch of resources for scholars trying to make a difference Please share it:
Dr. Vaughn Joy@gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · 3mo agoThis is a thread for historians: Our most important use of our professional skills is informing the public of our shared past, especially at times like this. Human histories of the costs of Jim Crow, what this all means in accessible terms, it needs to get out. Resources and publication options:
Happy #MayDay! & even more importantly, happy International Workers' Day, the holiday that led to the first U.S. Labor Day celebrations taking place on May 1st as well, as I wrote about for @talkingpointsmemo.com long ago. Continued solidarity, all! 🗃️ talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/radical...
The Forgotten Radical History Of Labor Day
It’s become commonplace to complain about how the true meanings of our...
talkingpointsmemo.com
“I have a PhD in atmospheric physics. I spent a decade measuring greenhouse gases from satellites. The thing that made me good at it was reading poetry. It trained me to notice what was not being said in a dataset. Every critical decision I made as a scientist was interpretation, not computation.”
The Humanities Are the Moat
Twenty years of defunding the disciplines that teach judgement. Now we are surprised nobody can tell when AI is wrong.
theslowai.substack.com
Otherwise known as Elon Musk’s worst day ever
Department of Class Solidarity@solidaritydept.bsky.social · 3mo agoToday is Freedom Day in South Africa, marking the end of apartheid and the country’s first steps to becoming a multi-racial democracy. It was a victory achieved through domestic struggle, international solidarity…and the cause of labor. Here’s how unions helped beat apartheid 🧵
Sam struggled with his own weariness and he took Frodo’s hand; and there he sat silent till deep night fell. Then at last, to keep himself awake, he crawled from the hiding place and looked out. The land seemed full of creaking and cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or of foot.
"Humboldt lived and moved in a cloistered society of eager conformists, sternly held in place by the notoriously bureaucratic state of Prussia."
Speech That Plays It Safe Does Not Remain Free for Long
Fierce disputation and colorful variety are often a sign of a society in good health, not terminal decline.
liberalcurrents.com
AI is like if the only opinions you were allowed to have about aerospace are “airplanes aren’t real” and “we should give a klansman handing out cardboard wings and telling people to jump off buildings a trillion dollars.”
KPD Max von Sydnow@mpdeejay.bsky.social · 6mo agoFlatting "AI" into the dumbest LLMs on the planet is going to be a disaster for the industry.
I don’t know how to tell people but part of nonviolent protest is provoking a violent response. The point is to break unjust laws. Activists don’t assume the state will be nonviolent.
Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · 6mo agoLast week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
"PEACE ISN'T WHAT YOU ASK FOR WHEN THE BOOT IS ALREADY ON SOMEONE'S NECK. PEACE IS WHAT THE POWERFUL ASK FOR WHEN THEY DON'T WANT TO BE INTERRUPTED."
Marjorie James Keenan@unenthusiast.com · 6mo agow/ alt-txt
Fascinating story
Kenny Evans@kennethmevans.bsky.social · 7mo agoTerrific article that offers a different and much needed perspective on the development of the US social contract for science, and also previews our upcoming article on Texas state biomedical research policy in @issuesinst.bsky.social issues.org/locusts-fede...
semi-regular reminder that ICE was only created in 2003 when you are asked to imagine a world without ICE, you're basically being asked to remember where you were when Lilo & Stitch came out
“He reads it. He cites it. And he makes it accessible to a national audience.” Very cool moment @historians.org #AHA26 recognizing @jamellebouie.net’s exceptional engagement w history and historians in his brilliant opinion writing.
sure sure you can have hegemony by trade, ideology and cultural influence, but does that make your dick hard?
I named my fists Jack and Aubrey, and you're about to get a Surprise!
Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 8mo agoI named my fists Common and Sense because I'm about to bring the Paine
"A liberal arts education encompasses the arts, the humanities, the social sciences and STEM. It rejects the notion that some branches of knowledge are more important than others. Instead, it emphasizes that tackling the big questions of our current moment requires cross-disciplinary approaches."
Andrea Kaston Tange@aktange.bsky.social · 10mo agoMy latest: "Numerous studies show that majors in the humanities—typically, in departments of English, history, philosophy, religious studies, classics and languages—lead students to employment and life satisfaction outcomes as positive as those for majors traditionally championed as 'practical.'”
Many people are to thank for this, the politicians who wrote it, the advocacy organizations who lobbied tirelessly for it, me who posted about it a few times, the constituents who mobilized for their communities. All equally important contributors to the process imo.
M. Nolan Gray 🥑@mnolangray.bsky.social · 10mo agoLadies and gentlemen, we did it. SB 79 has been signed.
Over 150,000 people in Den Haag calling on the Dutch government to do something to stop Palestinian genocide.
Especially if you're on the fence about it, protest today. Fascism is isolating and lonely. Its very goal is to make you feel like you're the only person unwilling to accept a cult of personality. On days like today you fully realize there are more of us than there are them. You will feel better.
In light of the discourse, I’m boosting a piece I wrote recently about why Democrats should focus on changing public opinion rather than chasing it.
The Tyranny of Public Opinion
The battle over trans rights shows that Democrats have forgotten the fundamentals of politics
stringinamaze.net