Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Helen Rottier

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 10h

I found this a really illuminating thread on what demonstrations do and why they matter.

Dr. Lisa Corrigan @drlisacorrigan.bsky.social · 11h

In social movement studies, we talk about how marches and protests expand the threshold of acceptable risk so that people take more and bigger social risks IN PUBLIC, EN MASSE. This is extremely important for the bourgeois white folks holding signs and building social rapport.

Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 11h

Not a shitpost: #NoKings is feel-good performative activism for comfortable mostly upper and upper middle class white folks and that’s good, actually. Millions of people in the streets protesting a fascist regime is good. It is good for the normie baseline to be massive displays of public dissent.

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RazzumFrazzum @freddiesolo.bsky.social · 15h

"Salesforce" sounds like a capitalist Power Rangers.

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Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 16h

Disabled folks feeling guilty for not protesting today: *it is not your fault* that organizers don’t make an effort to make protests accessible and don’t encourage masking

And despite what folks on Bluesky would have you believe, there are MANY ways to resist and protests don’t have to be your way

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Gabrielle A. Perry, MPH @geauxgabrielle.bsky.social · 1d

We’re a DECADE into this and y’all still refuse to accept that the world you knew pre-2016 is never coming back.

And that world was fucking trash too.

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YK Hong @ykhong.bsky.social · 16h

Protest must prompt action.
Protest must prompt action.
Protest must prompt action.
Protest must prompt action.
Protest must prompt action.
Protest must prompt action.
Protest must prompt action.
Protest must prompt action.
Protest must prompt action.
Protest must prompt action.

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Cen Galdre @cengaldre.com · 19h

folks can complain about the effectiveness of scheduled orderly mass protest but to think about it another way its the closest thing we have to the opening scene of A Muppet Christmas Carol where all the muppets sing "there goes Mr. Dipshit, there goes Mr. Ass" to Scrooge and it clearly bothered him

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It's October... BOO, BITCHES! @alyssonfergison.com · 16h

There aren't a lot of things to be proud of about my home state, but... good on ya, Purdue.

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Br. Dr. Ken Homan, SJ @kenhomansj.bsky.social · 16h

The weather was damp but the spirits were bright at the #NoKings march in downtown St. Louis.

To be Catholic is to care for the poor, the immigrant, and the marginalized. So I dutifully put in my Roman collar and rain coat and headed downtown for democracy.

Picture of hundreds of protestors and umbrellas in front of the Old Courthouse and St Louis Arch

My sign, which contained part of the Magnificat from Luke 1.

He has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones. He had lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things and the rich He has sent away empty.

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Taylor @taylorannnx.bsky.social · 6d

Me: I have no fears

*Glances at my 10 unread emails*

I have one fear

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Helen Rottier @helenrottier.bsky.social · 21h

At the RPGs & Education Panel - @shawnmerwin.bsky.social started with the best writing advice I’ve heard in a loooong time. “Good writing is good writing. To write clearly, you need to think clearly - thinking is writing!” #GameholeCon #AmWriting #AcWriting #AcademicSky

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Helen Rottier @helenrottier.bsky.social · 21h

Dr. Rottier as Doctor Worm for #GameholeCon Day 2 (yesterday)! My highlight was the Promoting Mental Health Through Games panel. Ready for another exciting day!

photo of Helen wearing a white coat and holding drumsticks.

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Dr. Zachary Rubin @rubinallergy.bsky.social · 1d

Friendly reminder: if you ever feel imposter syndrome creeping in, just watch a few clips of RFK Jr. explaining “science.”

Confidence is not the same as competence, and somehow, that’s both terrifying and reassuring.

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Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · 1d

I say possibly bot-run due to message similarity. Either way, remember:

For trolls, the return on investment for stirring up troll shit is infinite: Any reaction is a win.

And when the trolls are literally the govt, then that reaction can then be weaponized via full reach of the federal apparatus.

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$fractalecho.bsky.social$

Rua M. Williams @fractalecho.bsky.social · 1d

Translation: don't feed the trolls. Engagement is food. Block the trolls. Even if they're the feds. Starve the trolls.

Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · 1d

I say possibly bot-run due to message similarity. Either way, remember:

For trolls, the return on investment for stirring up troll shit is infinite: Any reaction is a win.

And when the trolls are literally the govt, then that reaction can then be weaponized via full reach of the federal apparatus.

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deb the jovial ♐♃ @sunoppositemoon.blacksky.app · 1d

I love Chicago. This is community care.

Block Club Chicago @blockclubchi.bsky.social · 1d

Chicago cyclists are buying out tamale carts to keep vendors home and safe from ICE. blockclubchi.co/42KQ57O

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Lissa Harris🐀 @lissaharris.bsky.social · 1d

do not!!! write for publication!!!!! without getting paid!!!!

make them pay you something even if it sucks and you don’t need it

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 2d

Do you have any extremely niche, but serious, ethical stances?

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Hex Anderson @dexanderson.com · 1d

why is buying pants *so damn hard*

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Nimisha Barton @nimishabarton.bsky.social · 1d

Each year I update this table which surveys scholars programs at the top 10 colleges and unis. Were schools that cared so much about DEI in 2020 still committed 5 years later?

Here's what I found:

Following the infamous “Dear Colleague” letter sent out by the Department of Education in February 2025, many colleges and universities rushed to shutter diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices in the hopes of avoiding the fate of so many other institutions—namely, incurring the wrath of the Trump administration that views such programs as giving an unfair advantage to people of color and contributing to “the disenfranchisement of white men.” As of this writing, over 392 colleges and universities across 46 states including the District of Columbia have dismantled their DEI offices. Aggressive far-right government actors and their coordinated attacks on DEI efforts impact this study in a number of ways.

First, last year, many institutions were eager to participate in this study. By contrast, this year was marked by noticeable reticence. Johns Hopkins University opted not to participate in the study. Representatives from Stanford, Northwestern, and Yale did not reply to multiple email inquiries.

Second, information about scholars programs, or really anything related to DEI, is harder to come by on many university websites. This trend towards “disappearing” DEI information is most clearly reflected at Northwestern, which scrubbed their university website entirely earlier this year.

Third, even among those institutions that still offer scholars programs for students from historically marginalized backgrounds, there appears to be a subtle shift in language. As last year’s table demonstrates, many programs highlighted that their target student demographic came from first-generation and/or lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This year, that is less obviously the case.

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Helen Rottier @helenrottier.bsky.social · 1d

I had to run as today’s panel ended, but I will look out for you tomorrow - would love to chat more and grab an emotional support animal!

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they/them might be giants ☭ @babadookspinoza.bsky.social · 1d

Everything would be fine if everybody would just let me teach them how to think.

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 2d

I think it’s weird that people complain about the misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda but then are absolutely unwilling to grapple with the fact that there are folks who have been propagandized and fallen for the mis/disinfo and actually those people are worth trying to reach

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Rabbi Ruti Regan @rutiregan.bsky.social · 2d

Libraries are really cool.

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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 2d

"Your odds of success for this mission will be as easy to decipher as the standard Midwestern 'yeah, no' or 'no, yeah.'"

A Letter to the Troops from a Friendly Chicagoan

Dear Troops, First off, welcome! We’ve been anticipating your arrival in our city, where the wind blows like our reported crime rate, so hold on t...

buff.ly

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Eb @ebthen.bsky.social · 2d

So I was thinking about how much science and technology has been developed and advanced by artists trying to do art more how they wanted to.

All sorts of optical stuff and understandings of light and anatomy.

Plus the way we can learn about history through art.

Which led me to: AI is trash.

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Liberal Librarian, Emotional Support Cuban 📚 🌿🕓 @liberallibrarian.bsky.social · 2d

HOT DIGGITY!!!

Christopher Hale @christopherjhale.bsky.social · 2d

BREAKING: Pope Leo XIV is set to effectively disband Opus Dei in the coming weeks.

This would be the most sweeping internal reform of his pontificate — and a dramatic continuation of Pope Francis’s legacy.

NEW: Pope Leo Set To Break Up Opus Dei

If Pope Leo does indeed approves a plan that effectively dissolves Opus Dei’s structure, it would be the most significant internal action of his short pontificate to date.

open.substack.com

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