Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

haylie swenson @hayliebswenson.bsky.social · 18h

Just realized Jason Bateman's character in Black Rabbit is his character in Juno 20+ years in the future

Reposted by haylie swenson

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 22h

Without comment.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

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haylie swenson @hayliebswenson.bsky.social · 22h

I don't have time to write this, but someone should write about the Wes Anderson-ness of One Battle After Another. The French 75! The Christmas Adventurer's Club! Benicio del Toro!!

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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 22h

anyway I'm off to go dump all my deepest secrets into an AI therapist bot run by a sociopathic technofascist

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

The current paradigm of "AI"— all of its, e.g., embedded values, design, cultural deployment, & structural affordances— has been repeatedly demonstrated to harm both critical skills development & the structure & maintenance of the relational social fabric.

That sounds pretty anti-pedagogical, to me

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 1d

“One of the negative consequences AI is having on students is that it is hurting their ability to develop meaningful relationships with teachers, the report finds. Half of the students agree that using AI in class makes them feel less connected to their teachers.”

Rising Use of AI in Schools Comes With Big Downsides for Students

A report by the Center for Democracy and Technology looks at teachers' and students' experiences with the technology.

www.edweek.org

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dr. caitlin m. green @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social · 5d

michael?
peter.

Page from fox in socks by dr seuss. Drawing of weird little four legged bugs with faces.
Text reads:
What do you know about tweetle beetles?
Well
When tweetle beetles fight, it's called
a tweetle beetle battle.

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Playoffs Eschewer @scratchbomb.bsky.social · 2d

not to skate over the dumb homophobia here but there’s this bizarre delusion in America that cities (people living close together for communal and economic reasons, a mode of living as old as civilization) are unnatural while suburbs (hermetic sprawl invented circa 1950) are natural

Berny Belvedere @bernybelvedere.bsky.social · 3d

fellas is it gay to live in a city

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NEH Union - AFGE L3403 @nehafge3403.bsky.social · 3d

The cuts at the National Endowment for the Humanities go far deeper than any of these agencies - almost 70% of 179 people were terminated, despite no change to the agency's budget.

There were no savings here - only idealogical destruction. #NEH

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 3d

How much smaller the federal workforce is now vs. a year ago
Ed Dept 42%
OPM 33%
HUD 31%
Treasury 29%
Defense (civilian jobs) 22%
Small Biz Admin 21%
Energy 20%
Interior 15%
HHS 14%
SSA 11%
EPA 10%
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How Much Smaller Is the Federal Work Force? Shutdown Plans Offer a Clue.

The number of federal employees has been trimmed by thousands since President Trump took office, according to contingency plans drawn up by federal agencies.

www.nytimes.com

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haylie swenson @hayliebswenson.bsky.social · 2d

Spaghetti Os

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 3d

What foods do you love that you fully acknowledge make you a pervert for loving them?

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 2d

I love that the Zoology department was integral to finding text about Merlin that was otherwise invisible to the human eye.

Rare Merlin and King Arthur text found hidden in binding of medieval book

The ‘extremely significant' text was hidden for centuries.

www.popsci.com

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Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 3d

I'm genuinely starting to think that the people who say they want to see American's really fight back are really saying they want a specific kind of visible, stereotypical depiction of protest, and have zero zero tolerance for the kind of groundwork it takes to make change happen.

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jeff computers @helldude.bsky.social · 3d

the wave of weaponized nostalgia for 90s-style multiculturalism and political correctness is gonna hit different

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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 3d

Yesssss www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/c...

Groups Sue E.P.A. Over Canceled $7 Billion for Solar Energy

www.nytimes.com

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haylie swenson @hayliebswenson.bsky.social · 3d

Struggling to capture the full glory of this t-shirt from the @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social

A white t-shirt with a cartoon illustration of a rat scaling the Empire State Building like King Kong. Large text reads “RAT’S AMORE”

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haylie swenson @hayliebswenson.bsky.social · 6d

Here’s my conspiracy theory about Wood: I think it was written for Sabrina but she already had a song about her thighs

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Philip Bump @pbump.com · 6d

smart people: this is a violation of the constitution
me: the antecedent of “you” is the ice officers and cops

David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 6d

Oh he can just unilaterally pass unconstitutional laws now huh ok

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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 6d

Repost to showe thyne appreciacioun for the social media folks at Merriam Webster, the best arounde!

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🌈Dr. Franken Frizzle 🎃 @swilua.bsky.social · Sep 3

curly hair is an adventure because sometimes you wake up and it looks great and sometimes you wake up and it looks incomprehensibly bad and there is no way to know what kind of day today is going to be until, like Perseus, you tiptoe to take a fateful look into the mirror

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haylie swenson @hayliebswenson.bsky.social · 7d

YES!

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haylie swenson @hayliebswenson.bsky.social · 7d

THIS. I'm honestly thinking about going again, it was so so cathartic and wonderful to watch in DC, right now.

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Steven W. Thrasher is finishing The Overseer Class @thrasherxy.bsky.social · 7d

"NO CASH ACCEPTED" is a global crisis. I have seen this on three continents now. It's anti-poor, anti-youth, anti-immigrant and pro-surveillance. I had thought it was an American problem, then a Western one, but surveillance capitalism is taking over even the smallest transactions globally.

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haylie swenson @hayliebswenson.bsky.social · 7d

Submit it to Bright Wall, Dark Room! They just did a call for essays about political movies

Reposted by haylie swenson

Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 8d

For centuryes we have tolde storyes of dangers from the voyde, vicious powers who lure wyth human voyces, who hide behinde human faces. Thei weaken the bondes of communitye, steal thoughtes, hurt our soules, appeal to our worst, & sow discord. Now we have made that shitte real ourselves wyth Gen AI.

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 8d

One of my favorite anecdotes from THE PREHISTORY OF THE FAR SIDE: "That doesn't sound like the Jane Goodall we know."

A few days after this cartoon was published, my syndicate received a very indignant letter from someone representing the Jane Goodall Institute.
Not only did my syndicate and I both get read the Riot Act, there was a vague implication that litigation over this cartoon might be around the corner.
I was horrified. Not so much from a fear of being sued (I just couldn't see how this cartoon could be construed as anything but silly, but because of my deep respect for Jane Goodall and her well-known contributions to pri-matology. The last thing in the world I would have intentionally done was offend Dr. Goodall in any way.
Before I had a chance to write my apology, another complication arose.
The National Geographic Society contacted my syndicate and expressed a

desire to reprint the cartoon in a special centennial issue of their magazine. My editor, aware of what had just occurred, declined, explaining why.
Apparently, whoever it was that sent the inquiry from National Geographic was shocked. They told my editor that "that doesn't sound like the Jane Goodall we know." They did some checking themselves, and an interesting fact was eventually discovered: Jane Goodall loved the cartoon. Furthermore, she was totally unaware that any of this "stuff" was going on. Some phone calls were made, and the cartoon was not only reprinted in the centennial issue of National Geographic, but was also used by her Institute on a T-shirt for fund-raising purposes.
I've since had an opportunity to visit Dr. Goodall at her research facility in Gombe. It's a wonderful place (sort of like right out of National Geographic).
"To refer to Dr. Goodall as a tramp is inexcusable even by a self-described 'loony' as Larson. The cartoon was incredibly offensive and in such poor taste that readers might well question the editorial judgment of running such an atrocity in a newspaper that reputes to be supplying news to persons with a better than average intelligence. The cartoon and its message were absolutely stupid." —Excerpt from the above-mentioned letter that started the ruckus

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This Day (A History Podcast) @thisdaypod.com · 14d

Announcing a good ol’ fashioned Teach-In in Washington, DC on Sunday, October 26th.

We’ll convene for a series of lectures, stories, and conversations to celebrate and stand up for the work of history and museums.

Shoutout to @natedimeo.bsky.social for bringing this idea to us.

See you in DC!

A poster announcing a teach-in in washington DC.

Sunday, October 26th - Sunup to Sundown
Washington, DC - The National Mall
“AMERICA’S FRONT YARD”

FEATURING KELLIE CARTER JACKSON, NICOLE HEMMER, DEREK MUSGROVE, NATE DIMEO, TRESSIE MCMILLAN COTTOM, AMANDA SEALES, JODY AVIRGAN, JAMES FALLOWS, MARTHA JONES, MARCIA CHATELAIN, PAUL BUTLER, NATHAN CONNOLLY, AND MORE

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