The older I get, the less insecure I am about naming my [secret] superpower(s). Mine is grammar & writing well--and editing others well. I can make your prose sound better. ;-) (As a result, I really appreciate a good edit-job on my own stuff too.) What's YOUR secret superpower (not your job)?

I’m astonished by the ability of my fellow humans to forget the events we all just lived through. Folks remember the masks and the remote school. The million US dead are rarely mentioned. Folks, we lived through a plague.

So it's farewell to the History subject area at the University of Hertfordshire, not the first nor the last to go. One of the best departments in the country, just extinguished like a snap of the fingers. Think of the waste. (1/2)

From the mouths of teens: “States should provide AI literacy as soon as students get access to classroom devices; AI use should be banned on all graded tests; and teachers can require an oral defense of any project from a student suspected of using AI inappropriately.” www.npr.org/2026/07/30/n...

Adults have struggled to set rules for AI in school. These teens figured it out

Should students be allowed to use AI on assignments? What about on tests? Who should teach AI literacy? About 100 teenagers got together to try to decide.

npr.org

We know this. It’s MAGA morons who believe the bullsh*t Trump sells them.

A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster, by @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social . This may be the most important work of non-fiction I've ever read, useful to me both as a human being and as a writer of fiction. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301070...

A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit: 9780143118077 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

A New York Times Notable Book Chosen as a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune “A landmark book.....

penguinrandomhouse.com

Going to make this into a thread of the best of the Odyssey tiktoks that Zoé sends me!

Want more like the Odyssey? Read the story of how Alexander became "the Great." While many would describe him as a thing of legend, he was very real, and this is what really happened . . . Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/1626498970 Follow Dr. Jeanne Reames: @mathetria.bsky.social

The level of abject *idiocy* about the world .... (Although I am probably not alone in wishing Wakanda did exist.)

Asperas Bompar@asperasbompar.bsky.social · 6d ago

Wakanda tariffs going to get doubled now

Remember: during COVID states had to fight for ventilators and PPE; FEMA would swoop in and seize shipments of such life-saving commodities, to redistribute to red states. The same happened this year, with disaster aid cleared by FEMA, witheld from states which voted for Harris. 100% abuse of power

Most Useful Purchase of the Past Year: well, a new garage door, as the old was dying. But more fun: my LavAzza coffee machine. I am *never* going back to American coffee. Came home after latest Med-area conference and bought my own. Tried US coffee once since, mostly to confirm how bad it is. LOL

My father, both an old telephone man (GTE) + a product of the Depression & WWII (b. 1924), rabidly disliked convos in public on cell phones. His reason: even if the one in public knew it public, the other speaker didn't necessarily, and that = breach of privacy. At least rude, if not illegal.

Mar Hicks@histoftech.bsky.social · last wk.

For many years, people didn’t randomly film others in public—not because we didn’t have the technology, but because the social contract said you didn’t do that. That’s why Meta is going full court press on their PR and celebrity endorsements. They remember how people ran google glass outta town.

Despite the teaser image, this isn't about Nolan's film. Better people reviewed that. Instead, I discuss a range of things involving the translation of the ancient world into ours in fictional form--and my own experience doing so as both historian & writer. #Homer #AncientBluesky #ClassicsBluesky

Taking Ancient History to Story in Film or Fiction

YouTube video by Let's Talk Alexander the Great & Ancient Macedonia

youtu.be

I think people who do not work in media have trouble grasping how genuinely terrifying it is watching organization after organization (even those ostensibly held by entities able to fund them!) continually get carved down into nothing. Lights going out all over

Asher Elbein@asherelbein.bsky.social · 2w ago

"Most of the affected employees were at National Geographic, both at the cable network as well as editorial and operations." 🫠

One other things about the entire Anthropic mess is that a LOT of academic authors had material stolen, and none of that is copyrighted, or assumed to be so. They went through and harvested articles. I probably had more of my academic work stolen than fiction. All journal articles/book chapters.

KJ Charles@kjcharleswriter.com · 2w ago

I have written to @societyofauthors.bsky.social asking that they call for publishers to compensate the authors whose US copyright they failed to register. That's a *lot* of authors.

Well bless your heart. Historically accurate to *what*, hon? It's not like Homer was "historically accurate" himself. He wouldn't even have known what you meant by that....

S.E. Danesti@seedanesti.bsky.social · 2w ago

I'm sure that Homer always envisioned that learning machines would be the ones to tell his story 3,200 years later... 🙄

@kateelliottsff.bsky.social

Dear Canada, As a native Californian, you’ve always been there when we needed you and you are always ready to lend a helping hand during our fires. I am so sorry for the loss of a Canadian life that was doing what Canadians are known for, being a good and kind neighbor. - Most Americans

Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · 2w ago

Angus: We have these MAGA politicians basically threatening they’re going to come over the border if we don’t fix the climate catastrophe. We’ve always crossed the border to help each other. We’re mourning the loss of a Canadian firefighter who died in Colorado, helping put out an American fire.

It's been two months since a federal judge ruled that ICE must stop arresting people at immigration courts in Manhattan—remember, ICE grabs people who are being law-abiding and coming to mandatory immigration hearings—but ICE keeps doing it anyway. www.courthousenews.com/ice-makes-ar...

ICE makes arrests at NYC immigration court despite court ban

The agency has made at least six arrests in Manhattan immigration courts since a federal judge restricted the practice in May.

courthousenews.com

Canada has approx. 369 million hectares of forests — only 30% are accessible by roads US has approx. 304 million hectares of forests — 70% are accessible by roads When we have wildfires in Canada in areas not accessible it makes it harder to put them out. Facts matter, don’t lecture us.🖕

This. Your editor would send you off to Think Harder. (Because, however unfortunately, fiction has to make some kind of sense…)

David DeWitt@daviddewitt.bsky.social · 3w ago

If I wrote a satire about a people that didn’t believe in climate change shrouded in wildfire smoke, and who just made massive cuts to science and medical research and food safety, experiencing an outbreak of explosive diarrhea, I’d be criticized as a hack for being so obvious.

Long before Freud, dreams & how to make sense of them fascinated ancient thinkers. Mirjam E. Kotwick's The Ancient Interpretation of Dreams is the first book-length study of dream interpretation in classical Greece. Out now! Explore a free preview: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...

Congrats we just made it impossible to come here for a PhD www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/16/m...

Trump administration limits student visas to four years, changing longstanding policy - The Boston Globe

The new rule, which also restricts the international students’ ability to transfer schools or change majors without approval in their first year, will go into effect in mid-September.

bostonglobe.com

Best line yet about the stupidity of the Great Lupita Debate: "Lovers of classical literature have been asking, Will [Nolan's Odyssey] hew close enough to Homer’s vision? Or, perhaps more accurately, Will it hew close enough to their vision of Homer’s vision? On the right, pundits have bemoaned...

🚨🚨🚨 Republicans in the Senate have drafted S. 4925, their companion to the House's HR 7616 bill. This nationwide book banning bill shows the GOP's priorities during the quiet summer season. S. 4925 is already in the HELP subcommittee. bookriot.com/senate-bill-...

Republican Senators Introduce Nationwide Book Ban Companion Bill, S. 4925

Republican Senators have introduced a nationwide book ban bill in the Senate, S. 4925 and it's a warning of their summer plans.

bookriot.com

Yes! That really was a pretty good rendition, special effects aside.

Hannah Walser@hkpmw.bsky.social · 3w ago

I’m excited to see Nolan’s Odyssey but I have to speak my truth: *my* Athena will always be Isabella Rossellini

Once again, Hegseth and Trump are resegregating the military along racial and sexual lines. It’s disgraceful. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/u...

Opportunities Narrow for Women as Hegseth Blocks More Promotions

For the first time in more than a decade, no active-duty female Navy officers are likely to be promoted to admiral this year.

nytimes.com

"The number-one driver of extinction [is] damage and harm to their habitat... So if you're no longer counting that as harm under the law, you're not going be able to protect any of the listed species." They love to watch the world burn as long as they get paid. #Pinks

Environmental groups sue government to stop a big change to the Endangered Species Act

By altering the definition of the word "harm" as used by the Endangered Species Act, the Trump administration may limit how wildlife is protected in the United States. Environmental groups are suing.

npr.org

To get you in the mood. My friend Bettina @ancientlyric.bsky.social sings the opening of the Odyssey. :-)

Odyssey 1.1-10 ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα. Ancient Greek. Lyre. Bettina Joy de Guzman

YouTube video by Bettina Joy de Guzman

youtu.be