Cory Doctorow: People claim that "'AI is changing everything' but ... admit that what they mean is that they're pretty sure that AI will change everything. Eventually. After we allow it to consume all the planet's energy, carbon, water and financial resources." www.thenerve.news/p/cory-docto...

Cory Doctorow: The people who tell you ‘AI is changing everything’ are lying

It has become impossible to tell managers mesmerised by artificial intelligence that the tools are not, in fact, helpful. So employees just play along with the fiction to keep their jobs, writes our t...

thenerve.news

Manufacturing fake threats while subsidizing real ones to the tune of $6.7 trillion.

Jeff Sharlet@jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 8h ago

What if the Right's lurid claims were true? Malignant, deceptive forces are infiltrating every community, killing little old ladies and robbing children of their futures? And yet mainstream media mostly ignores the real cause? This is true--but it's fossil fuels.

AJ Casson’s Magnetawan in 1932 v Magnetawan in 2026.

Given that Elvis also preyed on teenage girls, Trump's cosplay is entirely fitting. www.aol.com/articles/don...

Donald Trump posts bizarre AI photo of himself as Elvis in social media meltdown - AOL

Donald Trump posted a wild AI-generated photo of himself as Elvis Presley on Saturday, offering no explanation for the image as the Iran war continues to intensify

aol.com

American Christianity in one social media post.

#RealAcademicBios

eileen chengyin chow@chowleen.bsky.social · 4d ago

"When the first of August came round, the Professor realized he had pleasantly trifled away nearly two months at a task which should have taken little more than a week." -Willa Cather (from The Professor's House, 1925)

August as an academic

If you have an academic in your life, please be gentle with them this weekend because they're probably freaking the fuck out.

Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman.bsky.social · 5d ago

Because the 1st is a Saturday, “How is it August already?!” will be observed today, Friday, July 31, 2026. Please panic accordingly.

Christopher Walken voice: “More gold!” #snl

Dom Ervolina@dominicervolina.com · 7d ago

Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino posted this video of the Oval Office and it somehow looks even more embarrassing than I realized

Didn’t realize Patti Smith was a five-point Calvinist who believes in limited atonement.

Joel S.@joelhs.bsky.social · 5d ago

The first line of the first song on the first album by Patti Smith is "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine."

I have seen friends spend over $500 just on the decorations for their kid's party and you know we don't have to do this kind of stupid shit, right people? www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Kids' birthday parties are getting more expensive. Some parents are now asking for cash tips | CBC News

Many argue you shouldn't throw a party if you can't afford it, while others defend the practice given costs for everything are skyrocketing. But when did the expectations for children's parties get so...

cbc.ca

Can you all please stop with the accusations that Trump was asleep at Lindsey Graham's funeral? Trump, known for his considerable piety, is obviously deep in prayer.

Molly Jong-Fast@mollyjongfast.bsky.social · last wk.

So sleepy

The unwavering commitment to generative AI, when all it does is extract resources and produce nothing of value, borders on religious mania. The cry of its supporters: "Though AI slay me, yet will I trust in AI."

Job opening: Assistant Professor of Christianity in Late Antiquity at Loyola Marymount University lmu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Career...

Assistant Professor of Christianity in Late Antiquity, Department of Theological Studies

Our Invitation The Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University (LMU), a Carnegie classified R2 institution in the mainstream of American Catholic higher education, seeks…

lmu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Amherst College's Department of Religion seeks a scholar of Hebrew Bible and ancient Judaism for a tenure-track position at the rank of assistant professor, beginning on July 1, 2027. aarsbl.org/jobs/

Things I wish I could make a living doing: 1. Hiking 2. Camping 3. Running (very slowly) 4. Napping

So just watched Toy Story 5 and it was... mid? Toy Story universe so cute and sweet, but really lacking the wit and humour that defined earlier movies.

Woody: So This Is It After All We Been Through

ALT: Woody: So This Is It After All We Been Through

static.klipy.com

Only in the stupidest of all possible worlds does it make sense to ask Grok to adjudicate moral questions.

Yesterday, firetruck blows past us with sirens blaring. 15 y.o.: "How come everyone celebrates cops but rarely firemen and paramedics?" Me, beaming with pride: "Dude, you've just described copaganda perfectly without ever hearing the term!"

Many such words.

Ryan Turnbull@ryankturnbull.bsky.social · 2w ago

We need a moratorium on the word “praxis”. Just say “practice”. It’s fine. No need to broadcast that you went to grad school.

I've been having a hard time focusing on research lately. New books can't hold my attention. And so I tried rereading a book I loved. Didn't work. So now I'm going to try hate-reading. Can pure spite do the trick?

Emailing me with a request to contribute to a volume you are editing but beginning the email with a generic "Dear Colleague" is a bold strategy.

Working through some @mcmasterreligion.bsky.social files and I came across these two gems: E. P. Sanders dominating the Texas gridiron as he mentally outlines Paul and Palestinian Judaism!

Congratulations to Marc Lodge Andrew Lagace (PhD 2025) on the publication of his book, Hare Krishna in China, in the Routledge Religion in Contemporary Asia Series! www.routledge.com/Hare-Krishna...

Is this really the best of all possible worlds because damn.

Don't use AI to write religious studies scholarship. Use religious trauma like a real scholar.

If you haven't watched Netflix's Marty: Life Is Short (a doc about 🇨🇦ian, #Hamont, @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social alum Martin Short), you really should. It's beautiful!

I'm not a Christian, but as a Jewish person, one of the things I have always appreciated about Christianity is the imagining of God's quite literally suicidal empathy for God's own creation.

The Amish Anglo-Catholic@amishcatholic.bsky.social · 2w ago

In case anyone missed it, Bishop Coughlin just released a screed defending Gad Saad

Time to crank up the smoke again! www.cbc.ca/news/world/l...

Trump threatens Canada with new 50% tariffs in latest ramp-up of trade war | CBC

cbc.ca

I used to break out in literal sweats when my babies cried in public. All I wanted was to calm them. I remember well the heavy shame of it all.

Kat Abughazaleh@katmabu.bsky.social · 2w ago

I cannot overstate how much I hate when people are dicks about babies crying in public (especially airplanes). Do you think the parent is having a good time right now?? Do you think they are not aware of the situation??? Are you going to negotiate with a literal infant????