David
@dchandler.bsky.social
Currently teaching, reading, and writing, in that order. I enjoy looking at old boats.
Pinned
David
@dchandler.bsky.social
· Sep 25
A while ago, I decided to take a crack at writing short fiction. Check out my first published story in 'Bitter Become the Fields' from @hornsandrattles.bsky.social !
Reposted by David
My humanities dept was relevant. Majors were up. Courses were 100% enrolled. Revenue positive, GE serving, etc etc. We were still eliminated.
The problem is ideological administrative destruction. Couldn’t write a report, a self study, or a spreadsheet against that.
The problem is ideological administrative destruction. Couldn’t write a report, a self study, or a spreadsheet against that.
'For humanities departments to continue to matter, they must challenge the modern world rather than accommodate it. Indeed, the most useful lesson the humanities have to offer today is a profoundly countercultural one: Difficulty is good, an end in its own right.' 2/2
December 15, 2025 at 1:24 PM
My humanities dept was relevant. Majors were up. Courses were 100% enrolled. Revenue positive, GE serving, etc etc. We were still eliminated.
The problem is ideological administrative destruction. Couldn’t write a report, a self study, or a spreadsheet against that.
The problem is ideological administrative destruction. Couldn’t write a report, a self study, or a spreadsheet against that.
Reposted by David
Wild that this is happening at the same time that the Popularist crowd has decided to declare a jihad against any kind of climate policy.
This is incredible (good news too): “After a 40% fall in 2024 in battery equipment costs, it’s clear we’re on track for another major fall in 2025…The economics for batteries are unrecognizable, & the industry is only just getting to grips with this new paradigm”
www.pv-magazine.com/2025/12/12/b...
www.pv-magazine.com/2025/12/12/b...
Batteries now cheap enough to make dispatchable solar economically feasible
Energy think tank Ember says utility-scale battery costs have fallen to $65/MWh outside China and the United States, enabling solar power to be delivered when needed.
www.pv-magazine.com
December 14, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Wild that this is happening at the same time that the Popularist crowd has decided to declare a jihad against any kind of climate policy.
It's impossible to teach anyone anything under these rules. There must be something that kills your ability to educate people when you become an administrator. They're the worst.
From the Oklahoma U student paper: the school is now saying it will automatically suspend faculty (with pay) in response to student complaints
www.oudaily.com/news/ou-poli...
www.oudaily.com/news/ou-poli...
December 13, 2025 at 8:03 PM
It's impossible to teach anyone anything under these rules. There must be something that kills your ability to educate people when you become an administrator. They're the worst.
We could do easily (and cheaply) overhaul education by getting ed tech out of the classroom, but we don't. We don't because bad products pushed on dumb administrators in the name of "efficiency" is a big business at our expense.
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
December 13, 2025 at 2:10 PM
We could do easily (and cheaply) overhaul education by getting ed tech out of the classroom, but we don't. We don't because bad products pushed on dumb administrators in the name of "efficiency" is a big business at our expense.
Turning 'Animal Farm' into a dreamworks-style, jokey kids movie is like a '30 Rock' bit
December 13, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Turning 'Animal Farm' into a dreamworks-style, jokey kids movie is like a '30 Rock' bit
Reposted by David
increasingly clear that the academy’s mad rush into AI & concordantly away from the humanities corresponds to that same shift in the priorities of intelligence & defense funding—so accustomed to it now that they no longer know how to do anything different. the university as cargo cult
Administrators are inking deals with OpenAI and inviting Palantir onto campus, ignoring faculty expertise and rolling out unproven data-thieving surveillance snake oil tech on our studens, staff and us. Enough.
Artificial Intelligence and Academic Professions
Educational technology, or ed-tech, including artificial intelligence (AI), continues to become more integrated into teaching and research in higher education, with minimal oversight. The AAUP’s ad ho...
www.aaup.org
December 10, 2025 at 8:30 PM
increasingly clear that the academy’s mad rush into AI & concordantly away from the humanities corresponds to that same shift in the priorities of intelligence & defense funding—so accustomed to it now that they no longer know how to do anything different. the university as cargo cult
I read a few stories from this collection on Kindle, and when I finished "Tiptoe," I preordered this book. Barron's onto something special with this collection, and it deserves a special edition.
ARTWORK REVEAL: @slimyswampghost.bsky.social depicts the ghastly visage of Lord Barrow the Knight Perilous from @lairdbarron.bsky.social's NEW story, "The Glow of a Moldering Star."
Find both in the limited hardcover of Not a Speck of Light.
Pre-order: badhandbooks.com/preorders/no...
Find both in the limited hardcover of Not a Speck of Light.
Pre-order: badhandbooks.com/preorders/no...
December 9, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I read a few stories from this collection on Kindle, and when I finished "Tiptoe," I preordered this book. Barron's onto something special with this collection, and it deserves a special edition.
Sweet, fancy Moses...
“I look down at the crashing swell. Alone at the after-party, a kind of honeymoon in hell. I am on the list, a bit of grave misfortune. I am in the New York Post, even worse. The ink is black, the pages yellow. Everything, some kind of lie. What of doubt? Scientists cannot see the soul.”
Sentences From American Canto That Sent Me To The Hospital
I reviewed Olivia Nuzzi's American Canto for Slate. There's far less RFK Jr. in it than you'd expect.
substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Sweet, fancy Moses...
Buddy, you couldn't get a confession like this out of me if you threatened to murder me with a gun. He sounds like a terrible father.
Jimmy Fallon: "And do you use ChatGPT when raising your baby?"
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
December 9, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Buddy, you couldn't get a confession like this out of me if you threatened to murder me with a gun. He sounds like a terrible father.
Batshit insane to ask people to be impressed that you wrote a prompt. It's like calling yourself a talented artist because you commissioned the painting. Everyone thinking that's work is a colossal fucking idiot.
McDonald's has released an AI-generated Christmas ad
The studio behind it says they 'hardly slept' for several weeks while writing AI prompts and refining the shots — 'AI didn't make this film. We did'
Comments have been turned off on YouTube
The studio behind it says they 'hardly slept' for several weeks while writing AI prompts and refining the shots — 'AI didn't make this film. We did'
Comments have been turned off on YouTube
December 9, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Batshit insane to ask people to be impressed that you wrote a prompt. It's like calling yourself a talented artist because you commissioned the painting. Everyone thinking that's work is a colossal fucking idiot.
Reposted by David
Plex Submits $35 Bid For Warner Bros.
Plex Submits $35 Bid For Warner Bros.
LOS GATOS, CA—In an attempt to fend off growing competition from Paramount and Netflix, Plex CEO Keith Valory announced Monday that the streaming platform had submitted a $35 bid for Warner Bros. Disc...
theonion.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Plex Submits $35 Bid For Warner Bros.
Reposted by David
Every time I boot up Metroid: Dread, I wonder why I play any other games in my library. It's become a new favorite, a new comfort game to pick up during high-stress times.
December 8, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Every time I boot up Metroid: Dread, I wonder why I play any other games in my library. It's become a new favorite, a new comfort game to pick up during high-stress times.
Reposted by David
I dunno man the concept of actually owning something you pay for must be like a drug if you're under 30
Why do Gen Z have a growing appetite for retro tech?
Why do Gen Z have a growing appetite for retro tech?
Gen Z are going retro, with studies showing a resurgence in people buying tech in the modern age that can be dated back decades.
www.bbc.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
I dunno man the concept of actually owning something you pay for must be like a drug if you're under 30
Would pay an embarrassing amount* of money for a Shining Force II one of these.
*probably about $35 max
*probably about $35 max
Console Heroes Sega - Sonic 2/Sonic 3/Street Fighter 2/Altered Beast - Cartridge Diorama Playsets $12.99 each on Amazon buff.ly/6whAfd6
Target buff.ly/ga2692O #ad
Target buff.ly/ga2692O #ad
December 7, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Would pay an embarrassing amount* of money for a Shining Force II one of these.
*probably about $35 max
*probably about $35 max
Reposted by David
the 2026 new horror list is FINALLY LIVE! please share with all your freakiest loved ones: readjumpscares.com/2026-new-hor...
2026’s New Horror Books
All the new horror books coming in 2026, featuring all manner of hauntings, murderers, vampires, monsters, cults, ghosts, and all kinds of nebulous eldritch terrors.
readjumpscares.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:08 PM
the 2026 new horror list is FINALLY LIVE! please share with all your freakiest loved ones: readjumpscares.com/2026-new-hor...
And if Tarantino, as much as I like his work, had ever directed anything as good as the Matthew Lillard scenes in Twin Peaks: The Return, maybe he wouldn't feel the need to shit on quality actors.
Scream and Five Nights at Freddy's star Matthew Lillard has admitted it "it f***ing sucks" to be on the receiving end of an insult from Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino. https://bit.ly/3KD9PnN
December 7, 2025 at 2:48 AM
And if Tarantino, as much as I like his work, had ever directed anything as good as the Matthew Lillard scenes in Twin Peaks: The Return, maybe he wouldn't feel the need to shit on quality actors.
This extends to teaching, I think. The best essays I've encountered this year are unique, personal, reflective, and (of course) weird. We are most ourselves when we indulge in the weird, especially when it comes to writing.
I think it would be fun if writers who love language started intentionally writing more strangely as AI flattens written "content" into a mono-voice. it would cool I think if writers responded by focusing their individual efforts on cultivating a really unique voice that's hard to copy
December 7, 2025 at 12:43 AM
This extends to teaching, I think. The best essays I've encountered this year are unique, personal, reflective, and (of course) weird. We are most ourselves when we indulge in the weird, especially when it comes to writing.
Reposted by David
Tinker Tailor Soulja Boy
December 6, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Tinker Tailor Soulja Boy
"Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death"
I have been half in love with easeful Death"
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 6, 2025 at 6:48 PM
"Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death"
I have been half in love with easeful Death"
Reposted by David
This technology that people in school administrations and higher education are demanding everyone get behind because it's "the future" and "we just have to accept it," which is, nfn, the language of abuse.
The rise of deepfake pornography in schools: ‘One girl was so horrified she vomited’ www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...
The rise of deepfake pornography in schools: ‘One girl was so horrified she vomited’
The use of ‘nudify’ apps is becoming more and more prevalent, with hundreds of teachers having seen images created by pupils, often of their peers. The fallout is huge – and growing fast
www.theguardian.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:59 AM
This technology that people in school administrations and higher education are demanding everyone get behind because it's "the future" and "we just have to accept it," which is, nfn, the language of abuse.
Reposted by David
I'm at the combination
December 4, 2025 at 3:17 AM
I'm at the combination
It's absolute dogshit that a student's bad essay is national news. None of this would have been a big deal for a 25-point grade 15 years ago, before this concerted effort to eliminate trans people. It's insane.
December 2, 2025 at 1:17 AM
It's absolute dogshit that a student's bad essay is national news. None of this would have been a big deal for a 25-point grade 15 years ago, before this concerted effort to eliminate trans people. It's insane.
"This is an ex-parrot! It has ceased to be!"
November 28, 2025 at 9:28 PM
"This is an ex-parrot! It has ceased to be!"