Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Howard Eissenstat

David Webster @dwebster.bsky.social · 3h

www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/looki...

Looking for a tenured teaching job? I’ve got one piece of advice: get lucky

By reinforcing the myth of meritocracy, we perpetuate a system grounded in cruelty and false promises. It needs to stop, says David Webster

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Clément Plaisant @cplaisant.bsky.social · 11h

After Ekrem İmamoğlu and Özgür Özel, is Mansur Yavaş the Turkish government's next target? The Palace appears to be stepping up its operations against the CHP-run municipality of Ankara, which has already been the subject of judicial investigations for some time.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Turkish Prosecutors Plan Misconduct Probe of Ankara Mayor Yavas

Turkish prosecutors have requested official permission from the country’s interior ministry to investigate Ankara’s mayor, a move likely to further heighten political tensions.

www.bloomberg.com

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 22h

Another CHP Mayor/potential rival to Erdoğan in the prosecutor's crosshairs

medyascope @medyascope.tv · 22h

Ankara Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığı, Mansur Yavaş ile ilgili soruşturma izni istedi

Ankara Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığı, Mansur Yavaş ve Özel Kalem Müdürü Nevzat Uzunoğlu için İçişleri Bakanlığı'ndan izin istedi.

medyascope.tv

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 19h

I think it's funny that Stephen Miller believes that people like JD Vance or Tucker Carlson think he's a real American just because he spews the same hateful bile they do.

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

I’m a tenured professor with an endowed chair.

Looking back, I don’t think the freshly minted PhD version of me could land a job in today’s market. I was smart, I was driven — but mostly, I was lucky.

More of us in academia need to admit that.

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 22h

Another CHP Mayor/potential rival to Erdoğan in the prosecutor's crosshairs

medyascope @medyascope.tv · 22h

Ankara Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığı, Mansur Yavaş ile ilgili soruşturma izni istedi

Ankara Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığı, Mansur Yavaş ve Özel Kalem Müdürü Nevzat Uzunoğlu için İçişleri Bakanlığı'ndan izin istedi.

medyascope.tv

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

In fairness, MIT's prestige and wealth also make some of its policies absolutely impossible for other, less well endowed, institutions.

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d

MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

I don't find AI very useful for writing, but I find it very useful for tracking down scholarly literature in areas where I am not particularly expert. Part of this is simply that the academic search engines have been so filled with dross that they have become increasingly difficult to use.

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

Few of us were expecting the U.S. to engage in national hari-kari. And many of us still are having trouble wrapping our heads around it.

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, Trump probably did it for all the wrong reasons — but let’s be honest: I can’t see any U.S. president since Reagan willing to play hardball with Bibi and force a ceasefire like this.

I’ll take that win. And I'm happy to give Trump that credit.

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

I’m a tenured professor with an endowed chair.

Looking back, I don’t think the freshly minted PhD version of me could land a job in today’s market. I was smart, I was driven — but mostly, I was lucky.

More of us in academia need to admit that.

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Reposted by Howard Eissenstat

Dov Waxman @dovwaxman.bsky.social · 1d

The ceasefire in Gaza, now in effect, depends on the promise given by an inveterate liar and conman (Trump) to a ruthless terrorist organization (Hamas) that he will prevent another serial liar, conman, and war criminal (Netanyahu) from resuming the war:

Trump promised not to let Israel break Gaza ceasefire to get deal

Israel broke one ceasefire. Trump told the mediators he wouldn't let it happen this time.

www.axios.com

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, Trump probably did it for all the wrong reasons — but let’s be honest: I can’t see any U.S. president since Reagan willing to play hardball with Bibi and force a ceasefire like this.

I’ll take that win. And I'm happy to give Trump that credit.

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Gürkan Özturan @obefintlig.bsky.social · 1d

📰 My latest article addressing #MediaFreedom, access to news, public space and judicial pressure in Turkey, based on our Media Freedom Monitoring Report as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), is now available on @daktilo1984.bsky.social.

🗞 Read it here: daktilo1984.com/d84intellige...

Media Freedom in Turkey: The Judiciary’s Tight Grip on the Public Sphere - Daktilo 1984

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) has published its latest Media Freedom Monitoring Report, focusing on the first half of 2025 and one of the countries in focus is Turkey. The results paint a soberi...

daktilo1984.com

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

My kid deserves a trophy too!

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Rep. Buddy Carter: "Donald Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. That's why I'm introducing a resolution today that will honor him with the Nobel Peace Prize."

(It doesn't work like that lol)

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

I don't know about "Nashville," but there are definitely country performers who continue to "speak for the little guy."

Here's what I listen to. All seem to me "in the spirit" of Johnny.

open.spotify.com/playlist/1LD...

Spotify – Web Player

open.spotify.com

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Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 2d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Arang Keshavarzian @keshavarziana.bsky.social · 26d

I had the opportunity to review Elham Fakhro's excellent and highly timely book on the Abraham Accords. It sheds light on Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, the GCC, and the US at this current moment. merip.org/2025/09/the-...

The Limits of Protection and Profits—Five Years into the Abraham Accords - MERIP

On September 15, 2020, US President Donald Trump was joined at the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to sign th...

merip.org

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Clément Plaisant @cplaisant.bsky.social · 1d

#Kalin's role in the Gaza peace talks : "The Turkish head of Intelligence is very close to Witkoff and to #Hamas, and the Turkish intensive role was crucial in putting the pressure on Hamas to agree to the deal and not to walk away from the table" 1/2
blogs.timesofisrael.com/we-can-begin...

The Blogs: We can begin to breathe again: Initial thoughts on this morning’s developments

A quick take on the end of the war from my backchannel perspective: It could have been done long ago; Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize

blogs.timesofisrael.com

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

This is a key point. There is a ceasefire.

There is little interest in "a solution," at least not one that includes real Palestinian agency or autonomy.

Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 1d

Excluding Marwan Barghouti from the list of prisoners for release means none of the parties are serious about the second stage of the agreement (replacing Hamas with an alternative administration) let along any "peace" prospects

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

Spent a couple of minutes trying to figure out what the hell happened to Bluesky... How did all this crapola end up in my timeline?

Then I realized that I had somehow slipped from "following" to "discover"

Not for the first time.

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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 1d

Excluding Marwan Barghouti from the list of prisoners for release means none of the parties are serious about the second stage of the agreement (replacing Hamas with an alternative administration) let along any "peace" prospects

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László Szerencsés @szerlasz.bsky.social · 1d

Outrage one day, admiration the next.

Vučić’s reaction to Turkey's drone sales to Kosovo captures the fragile pragmatism holding Serbia–Turkey relations together.

✍️ My latest in Balkan Insight: balkaninsight.com/2025/10/10/t...

Turkey’s Drone Sales to Kosovo Test its Friendship with Serbia

A shipment of Turkish-made military drones to Kosovo reignited old tensions between Ankara and Belgrade. But after initially accusing Turkey of imperial ambitions, Serbia’s president backtracked, high...

balkaninsight.com

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Starfish Who Can’t Think Something Witty @irhottakes.bsky.social · 6d

Honestly, it kinda feels like we're out of takes at this point. Like everyone's already said everything they had to say and we're done here.

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Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 1d

I have a couple of cases of Monster in my office. I like coffee better, but I don't want to spend the time going to the campus bookstore every two hours

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